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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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How Can Diarrhea Due To Aricept Intake Be Treated?

My mother, 89 yrs. old, has dementia and has been on Aricept for 5 months. Started on 5 mg.for 1 mon., then increased to 10 mg. daily. She has had no improvement of dementia symptoms., but has been experiencing extreme diarrhea. She has celiac disease, so is gluten intolerant, so we thought she must be getting wheat somehow, however she is in a facility that provides her food, so she has little access to unapproved food. I think it may be the medication causing her problem. She cannot keep having this problem as she weighs only 100 lbs., having lost 7 lbs this year. Would switching to Namenda eliminate the diarrhea as a side effect?
posted on Thu, 21 Sep 2017
Twitter Wed, 25 Oct 2017 Answered on
Twitter Thu, 26 Oct 2017 Last reviewed on
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General & Family Physician 's  Response
hi!
yes you should switch to namenta as the donepezil may leads to diarrhea in some people.plus if she already suffering from celeic disease too then be conscious regarding wheet intake .
give her oral fluids a lot like ORS so her body can replace the ongoing minerals loss too.
give her sachet probiotics daily for 7 days..
plus syrup zinc sulphate 2 tbl spoon for 14 days..
hope she get well soon.
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How Can Diarrhea Due To Aricept Intake Be Treated?

hi! yes you should switch to namenta as the donepezil may leads to diarrhea in some people.plus if she already suffering from celeic disease too then be conscious regarding wheet intake . give her oral fluids a lot like ORS so her body can replace the ongoing minerals loss too. give her sachet probiotics daily for 7 days.. plus syrup zinc sulphate 2 tbl spoon for 14 days.. hope she get well soon.