This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

Been taking Aricept for cognitive impairments for almost 2 years now. It along with Namenda has seemed to help get rid of the brain fog and make me able to think. But someone else told me they stopped taking it because it accentuated these problems for them: sensitivity to light, sensitivity to noise, and tinnitus.

Is there a pharmacological basis for this? I'll readily admit I don't know much about things like that, but I know some of you seem to. I am undecided as to whether to try stopping them for a month or 2 to see if the problems abate. Any informed insight would be greatly appreciated.

Batpere,

You may want to have a look at this site and read up on this drug.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/drug ... 03748.html

Harry

the one thing to remember about the aricept is that when u stop taking it if your memory has gooten worse then you drop to that level....have used it in the home i worked at for the demetia and things like that..when i went to one of the clinics on that medication..the one thing they stressed is when someone is taken off of it they can get a little worse...when put back on they stay at the level they dropped to but dont get worse....thats the one thing i have heard about it that isnt the best thing..heard it is a wonderful drug for people....have worked with the medication for yrs...never really heard anything of the other stuff..but of course everyone deals with drugs affects differently....am glad it helps you out with everything..gogd to know its good for something else...

chris

Batpere

I know nothing about Aricept but have done some reading about “Namenda”. I think it is also known as memantine.

Quoting from the MS New Insights and Trends info Dunman posted in another thread:
It’s my understanding memantine is a glutamate antagonist. If it’s true that the damage to myelin, axons and neurons in MS is in part attributable to glutamate toxicity, then memantine may be a promising neuroprotective agent for MS.

This recent article identified memantine as “the drug already on the market” to treat brain disease.
A clinical trial of memantine for cognitive disorders in MS was recently initiated. The clinical trial info also provides some rationale for it and I understand the Dallas site is in the process of coming on line.

Memantine and MS also have an interesting history IMO. With respect to an EAE study, Memantine Ameliorated Neurological Deficits but Not CNS Inflammation

Later research suggested that Memantine Modulated BBB Dysfunction and Neurological Deficits in EAE
Memantine has also proven useful in treating nystagmus associated with MS. This study seems to support an earlier study of nystagmus in MS patients that found:
Here’s some general information about memantine. Memantine: Pharmacological Properties and Clinical Uses

All of this to say it seems to me that if glutamate toxicity is part of the injury cascade in MS, memantine could be a promising therapeutic and neuroprotective agent for us. I was personally elated to find the clinical trial for cognitive disorders was already in progress.

Hope this gives you some “insight” about Namenda (memantine.) I haven’t actually read enough about its side effects to know if it might be the cause of the problems you’re experiencing though. Sorry.

Sharon (excited about the possibilities of memantine and can you believe it's not a hormone )

My most excellent neuro (who has now moved to another state, sigh) put me on both the Aricept and Namenda at the same time, saying that the combination of the two had given the best results in her use of them for MS patients. I initially stopped the Namenda because I thought it was causing me to feel sick to my stomach, but tried again a few months later at her request and things were ok, so I take them both now. She felt, of the two, that Namenda was the more important one to be taking due to its neuroprotective benefits.

Thanks for your lengthy and thoughtful response. It was very appreciated. I'll have to ask Dr Frohman (wish he was my neuro) here in Dallas if I should NOT take dextromethorphan while taking Namenda, due to its being listed in the exclusion criteria for the trial. I have purposefully been choosing cold remedies with that ingredient because they seemed to work the best, but I don't want to take it if it has negative MS side effects.

clint