LOL! and so we do continue meeting :-)

Hi Brian,

We found that a daily multivitamin was helpful, but a lot of any additional
customizing of a vitamin regimen should depend on the particular individual
and their particular needs.

In my mother in law's case, she needed a calcium/magnesium supplement due to
thinning bones.   I do know that one fellow here had his wife on a
customized regimen of certain vitamins, including extra vitamin E and C, and
especially the E has been reported as helpful.   I would give a fish oil
tablet daily too, simply because it good for cholesterol health, and
certainly can't hurt.   You may also take note that fish oil may help with
alzheimers as well due to its effect on the plaques that appear in the brain
being made up of a cholesterol like substance, from what I have read.

So you may need to work with your loved one's particular needs that way, and
customize supplementation.

Some help has been found with anti-inflammatory over the counter stuff, but
one must be careful with that.   A baby aspirin daily would help prevent
cardiovascular stuff and has a mild anti inflammatory effect as well as some
small degree of help for alzheimers.   Gingko Biloba has been shown to help
memory, but one absolutely must be careful with it, since it has a blood
thinning effect, and many elderly people are on blood thinners or aspirin
therapy, and it shouldn't be combined.   So be careful if you are going to
use it, don't combine the two.   Decide which one you want to use, but not
both, and certainly ask your doctor or pharmacist, with regards to combining
with prescription meds.

We gave my mother in law a Tylenol PM every night which helped her fall
asleep and there has been some research that said it was helpful otherwise
also for alzheimers disease.

I would strongly advise that you take advantage of the wonderful
prescription medications that are available today for alzheimers.   Reminyl,
Namenda, Aricept, Excelon..... all help with memory because they actually
work with the faulty brain chemistry.   There was a VAST and noticeable
difference for the worse, when we stopped Ida's Aricept and tried her on
Excelon instead.  Namenda is the newest, and I understand it works best
combined with Aricept.  Reminyl, is also known as Galantamine, is available
without a prescription in health food stores.   Some can be taken together,
some cannot.  But they do work and they are in some instances VERY
effective, and depending on the type of dementia some have said they didn't
work at all.  YMMV, as always.

Also it is important to know that there is additional pharmaceutical help
available for delusions and agitation.   My mother in law was really and
truly suffering from her delusions and we couldn't calm her down.   The
doctor prescribed Risperdol, which seemingly made her almost "normal" in her
every day life.   The trick is to be a very keen observer and know your
patient very well.

My mother in law needed two pills a day but later when her abilities began
to wane even more, we cut her to one a day (of the Risperdol).   Ultimately
as her illness progressed even more, it was removed altogether.  It had a
time when it was really needed, but that time passed and it was no longer
helpful, but actually became a detriment, since it had some effect on
continence issues.

Never forget, all these various meds have side effects.  Some adjust over
time, and some get worse.  In my mother in law's case, she started out with
upset stomach from the Aricept, but later was able to tolerate it very well,
and even to increase the dose when needed without any problem.

The Risperdol has one side effect of increasing ones blood sugar, if not to
actually bring on diabetes.   We felt it was worth the side effects, but it
is always an individual thing, and if you cannot adjust the persons diet to
limit the amount of carbohydrates and sugar while on this medication, it
might not be.

There are no miracles in the vitamin and herb areas, and believe me I
researched.   The prescription meds were most helpful.   Maintaining good
healthy practices, routines, food, and such, was the best way.

Oh, and lest I forget.... TIME is very important.   I always gave her
medications after dinner.   It minimized the gastric symptoms that way.

One more thing; and that is that recognizing that this is an organic brain
disease that is ultimately terminal, is very important.   Unnecessary
testing, invasive procedures and such may create more problems than they are
worth, with your loved one, especially anything involving anesthesia.   A
great many have reported their loved ones never regained the level of
function they were at, after being anesthetized for anything.

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