Are Nuedexta And Namenda Safe For Treatment Of Dementia?

Posted on Tue, 13 May 2014

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Tue, 13 May 2014 Answered on

Wed, 4 Jun 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : My mother had a brain aneurysm in 1971 and is now 76 y.o. She has fairly severe dementia ad occasionally cries out for no apparent reason (lability vs. PBA), The nursing home RNP wants to prescribe Nuedexta and Namenda. the named seems to have a lot of side-affects and poor reviews, and I'm just not sure about adding more meds to her list. Any thoughts?

Answered by Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar (8 hours later)

Brief Answer:
There is no great evidence that they help

Detailed Answer:
Hi,

Nuedexta used for PBA contains Dextometharphon plus quinidine. Namenda has memantine which is commonly prescribed for Alzheimers dementia. Both of them are newer drugs. I have seen Neurologist and Neuropsychiatrists commonly prescribing Namenda but Nuedexta is not routine.

Yes both of them come with a list of side effects. So my suggestion is to approach the regular prescribing doctor / Neuropsychiatrist to weight the benefits vs the risks for your mother.

Hope this helps.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Aparna Kohli