I'm wondering if there are any new stats, on the most beneficial dose of memantine, and whether once a day at bedtime is as beneficial as splitting it up, in other words, what i'm wondering is does it stay as effective in your system for a full 24 hours, or am i losing some benefits by only taking it at bedtime?

Your doc should know the answer.

When the psychiatrist prescribed it for my wife, he prescribed it 10 MG twice a day. Usually, having a med prescribed for twice or three times a day means that a med works best given in spaced out dosages.

On the other hand, if drowsiness or other side effects are a factor, they might recommend taking it all at night. It is somewhat trial and error.

There's a clinical trial for memantine in HD going on and hopefully we'll learn more when it's finished.

My husband only takes it once per day...after supper. No one mentioned spreading it out. I'm curious to know what the results will be.

Using for hd is off label, but for Alzheimers, the manufacturer always recommends that anything over 5 mg be given in a divided dosage. For alzheimers, the therapeutic (standard) dosage is 10 mg twice daily and this is what is done in practice for patients with dementia (although they are titrated upwards gradually to this dose). As Marsha said however, optimal dosage for use in hd is likely to be determined in the future - having said that, I personally would go with twice daily dosing based on the Alzheimers studies - unless side effects are an issue. Usually this has to do with the drug's pharmacokinetics (the timing of the rise and fall of the drug in the blood stream).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/12/2008 08:40PM by kelver1.