My husband's short term memory is getting pretty bad. Today they added Namenda to his medications.
Does anyone have any experience with Namenda and hd patients?
Thanks,
Chris

never heard of it. what is it supposed to do?

My spouse has been on Namenda for a few years. I don't see where it has helped memory. Dr said maybe it will help subdue memory loss progression. We have decided to just keep him on it in the chance that it might help. I don't see any evidence it is doing any good as memory loss has still been significant since he has been taking it. Diagnosed and working 4 1/2 years ago and now has to have someone come and help care for him each day as memory and functionality is so poor.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/30/2012 08:56PM by LizzieAnn.

Here is a link to research articles about memantine. [www.hdlf.org]

This is a drug which looks very promising in HD mouse models but which has not completed clinical trials for people with HD. It is approved for Alzheimer's patients so that is why it is available for prescription off-label.. It appears to have a very narrow therapeutic window in HD. I believe that doctors who are prescribing it for HD are prescribing 10 mg rather than the 20 mg commonly prescribed for AD.

My husband was on Namenda, 10 mg/twice a day earlier this year. His neurologist had some baseline cognitive testing done before he started and then tested him again after he'd been at the full dosage for 3 months. There was marked improvement in a couple of areas and our family's observations agreed. There was no decline in any area, so with those results he continued to take it. Over the next few months, however, he decided that the possible benefits didn't outweigh the side affects he felt like he was experiencing so the Dr. reduced the dosage by half. He lost the side affects, but I think he's lost a little ground since. There's no way to know for sure what can be attributed to what in this short time frame. I've known people who have taken it and felt no change. I appreciated the testing, but in the end it didn't matter here.

I say it's worth a try.

My husband has been on 20mg for 5 years and we both feel like it has helped...Nila

I have been on 20 mg for 3 years. It's hard to know if has helped. I figured it was worth a try if it had the possibility of helping. I feel everything including cognitive function is getting worse rapidly.

:Laura, what side effects was your husband experiencing that made him reduce the dosage?