Information on Donepezil Oral for Alzheimer’s Dementia

Information on Donepezil Oral for Alzheimer’s Dementia
Information on Donepezil Oral for Alzheimer’s Dementia

Alzheimer’s is a progressive disease which primarily makes the patient gradually lose their cognitive ability and worsen over several years.

In the early stages of Alzheimer’s, the memory loss that a patient experiences are mild, but it eventually worsens over time, making an individual lose the ability to speak and respond to the environment.

Since Alzheimer’s currently do not have any cure, efforts towards the treatment of its symptoms are still evolving and provided to find better ways to treat the said disease by mainly delaying its onset, and prevent it from developing.

Dementia, one of its symptoms, can be treated through several medications like the Donepezil HCL. In this article, this drug will be discussed thoroughly to provide the information that you need, which you can use in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease.

 

Understanding Dementia and Alzheimer’s

Alzheimer’s is the most common cause and is considered as the culprit for an individual with dementia— a general term for the decline of cognitive ability and memory loss which is severe enough to interfere with one’s quality of life. With this said, Alzheimer’s is held accountable for about 60 to 80 percent of dementia cases.

Dementia is technically a condition wherein it affects a person’s memory, thinking, and social skills, which affects one person’s daily life. In this case, it is not a specific disease. However, there are several different illnesses which cause this condition.

Although dementia is generally involved with one’s memory loss, memory loss still has different causes. Thus, having memory loss alone does not mean that you have dementia nor the other way around.

About Donepezil

Donepezil is a medication that is used to treat confusion or dementia that is related to the illness of Alzheimer’s disease. To clarify, this drug does not cure Alzheimer’s disease. Instead, it helps improve an individual’s memory, awareness, and the ability to function correctly.

This medication acts as an enzyme blocker, which works by restoring the balance of the brain’s natural substances (also known as neurotransmitters). For additional information, this drug can be purchased at any local pharmacy with a donepezil HCL coupon.

How to use Donepezil HCL

First, you can read the information written of a patient information’s leaflet that is available from your pharmacist before starting to take medicine.

On another note, this medication should be taken by mouth with or without food (as per your doctor’s instruction). This is usually taken once daily before bedtime. However, there are some instances that a person taking this medicine experiences sleep problems, thus, talk to your doctor if ever you experience one and ask about switching it to a morning dose.

In terms of dosage, it will be based on the doctor’s judgment about your medical condition and response to treatment. Now, to reduce the risk of side effects like nausea and diarrhea, the doctor might start you on a low dose and gradually increase it over weeks to months.

What to NOT do

So, if you have started taking Donepezil, what you should not do is to defy your doctor’s instruction and try to adjust dosages or do anything that the doctor did not prescribe you to do so.

Another thing is that not informing or reporting to your doctor anything that is in connection with your medication. For instance, if you did not take the drug for 7 or more days in a row, you should immediately talk to your doctor about it before starting again, or whatever is the action that you want to do.

Side effects of Taking Donepezil

Side effects are normal for drug medications since it will change something in an individual’s body since it will be adjusting to the drug being consumed.

The side effects of this medicine consist of nausea, dizziness, vomiting, drowsiness, diarrhea, loss of appetite, weakness, insomnia, tremor, or muscle cramps. Now, the said side effects will usually last around 1-3 weeks and then eventually lessens. However, if the symptoms persist, then immediately consult your doctor.

If by chance, you are scared of the said side effects and wonder about if it does help with the disease, remember that your doctor has chosen this medicine for you after examining you. This means to say that the doctor has deemed it beneficial for you and that the benefit you get from it is greater than the mentioned side effects.

What to Remember

Like any other medicines, this medication is to be used regularly or as per your doctor’s instruction to get the most benefit from it. Now, if you have a hard time remembering when to take medicine, it would be helpful if you take it at the same time each day.

Lastly, do not stop taking the medication unless your doctor tells you to do so. Also, never adjust your dosages on your own, since it might affect the benefit that you will get from the drug or make it worse on its own.