Question about atypical antipsychotics...

Random interesting thought about those of you (who like me) are on an atypical antipyschotic. I'm sure a lot of you have seen the commercials for these drugs... (I've especially been seeing a lot of commercials for Latuda recently). Anyway my question/thought is... they always say something along the lines of "May cause a stroke or sudden death in elderly patients with dementia" Well what I wanna know is... WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE GET OLD? lol. Do we just stop taking these meds? Because most of these meds are long term solutions right? Drugs that we're on "forever" basically. Idk, just had me thinking today. Thoughts, opinions?

I actually asked my dr this question! I take a medical grade fish oil supplement called vayarin, she said I shouldn't get dementia because I am protecting my brain. Of course that's hopeful thinking...both of my dad's sisters got dementia but he is fine and so is my mom and her siblings. My parents are in their 70s.

Mostly it's a warning for dementia/alzheimer's patients, they get prescribed APs to control aggression and agitation. Not just cause they are old.

I have heard those warnings but never thought about what if we are still on them when we get old. Hopefully neither of us get dementia when we are old so we don't have to worry about it. However I think if we have been on the drug for many years or even decades, the chances of it suddenly making us sick all of the sudden when we turn 65 is slim. That's my take on it.

Awesome! So is the fish oil supposed to prevent dementia/alzheimer's? If so I might have to ask my dr. about this! I'm scared I'll get it because I'm so "forgetful" already lol

Kind of some scary/shocking statistics:

- Alzheimer's disease is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States.
- More than 5 million Americans are living with the disease.
- 1 in 3 seniors dies with Alzheimer's or another dementia. (Scary high number!)
- In 2013, Alzheimer's will cost the nation $203 billion. This number is expected to rise to $1.2 trillion by 2050. (Shows it's either only getting worse, or they factored in population growth)

source: Latest Facts & Figures Report | Alzheimer's Association

My grandpa was on seroquil and had Alzheimer and dementia. Risk and benifits Always have to be evaluated quality of life because more important than risk of death they are slowly learning more hopefully they will have better treatment as we agen

Don't forget that, if I remember correctly, 50% of people over the age of 80 have dementia. This is from one of those mental health stats websites.

tucson

I think that these are the things, that "We", who are in this condition,... are not supposed to think about... Let's just cross the bridge when we get there, and leave those worries behind... living it one day at a time... I am guessing that you are probably decades far from being elderly? So much things can happen in a year, 5 or 10, new inventions, findings and discoveries.

They don't take elderly people off APs if they've been on them forever. Elderly people have bipolar, depression, anxiety etc. too, and those conditions need to be treated. What worries medical experts, nursing-home surveyors and all is that APs are all too often given to elderly patients with dementia to control behaviors, not to suppress mania or manage delusions. APs tend to cause trouble with heart rhythms, and that risk increases with age and debility.

Behaviors seen with dementia are very often able to be managed by actually paying attention to what the behaviors are saying---the patient may be lonely, bored, depressed, upset, hungry. They may need to go to the bathroom. They may be in pain. They may be scared. They may just need a few moments of someone's time. Unfortunately, long-term care facilities aren't set up to meet their needs, they're set up to make money. Staffing is terrible, and nurses/aides have far too many patients to take care of so everybody gets short shrift.

It's absolutely criminal what is done to the frail elderly in this country. They get dementia, then warehoused and drugged so we don't have to deal with them. Soemtimes I think things were better in the old days when people didn't live so long and we didn't have all this technology to keep flogging worn-out bodies whose minds left a long time ago.

Climbing down off my soapbox now.

My mother has dementia. I have helped take care of her mother when she was in the advanced stages of dementia. I do think APs are very inappropriately used on the elderly for the same reasons you have given. But at some point in the progression of dementia, the violent outbursts and irrational out-of-control behavior have to be dealt with before the situation becomes extremely stressful and untenable to the caretaker. So when (and if) my mother gets to this point, I will turn to APs. I would do this not to drug her up, but deal with some of the strong emotional and psychotic aspects of the disease. I have taken care of non-medicated periodic psychosis before with my grandmother. After 2 years of it, I felt I was very very close to having a nervous breakdown. This was at the age of 15. I will never let that happen to me again. I am sure people who have taken care of true latter-stage dementia would understand this.

OK, now we will go to a commercial break...

tucson

I think the same way. I live for today. I am 33 and on the lowest dosage of Haldol (which is a very old medication), and I try and live for today and try not to worry about tomorrow. I worry about things like getting a job, getting married and living the rest of my life in peace. If I die before my time then so be it.

You've got to die of something

All joking aside, I hope that research into our conditions continue and perhaps by the time dementia becomes an issue, there will be other treatments, hopefully even a cure.

It kind of sounds funny the way you put it. but there is an ounce of disturbance in the question, what will they do when you get old? Like someone else said, you may just be used to it and not have to really worry about it, but then if you died would that be the cause of your death?

I agree with you on using APs for the severe psychosis sometimes seen in late-stage dementia. As a nurse who worked in long-term care for most of my career, I never medicated my patients when they were driving me or the other staff crazy, but I did approach their physicians and medicated them appropriately when they were driving THEMSELVES crazy. There are times when it's a kindness to give meds that shut the demons up for a little while and allow the person to rest.

Never thought about it but Is a point. Not like it is going to disappear when we get old.