My mother is having trouble swallowing aricept and aggrenox whole. She can't. The pharmacy says not to crush them, so rehab/nursing home didn't give it to her tonight. Any alternatives? Has anyone here crushed one or the other? Any problems?

Marie,

I thought your mother was having swallowing problems period. Can you get a hospice evaluation? Probably all of her medications need to be re-assessed in light of the fact that she can no longer swallow.

My personal layperson opinion is that an AChEI only needs to be continued until the point someone dies if they are experiencing hallucinations and the AChEI is keeping the hallucinations at bay.

The only alternative to Aricept by mouth is the Exelon patch. If she's near the end of life, why add a new medication?

Robin