Memantine — uses, dosing, side effects & the brands that sell it · pharmaranks
Memantine: uses, dosing, side effects & brands
Memantine is a n-methyl-d-aspartate receptor antagonist sold in the U.S. under 3 brand and generic names, for alzheimer disease. Below: what the FDA label says, every product that contains it, what the pills look like, and its recall record.
By the pharmaranks editorial team·Reviewed against the FDA (openFDA label, NDC Directory & Enforcement) sources·How we research
3 products — Namenda, Namenda XR and Memantine Hydrochloride
Prescription?
Prescription only
Generic available?
Yes
Typical price
about $2 for a 30-count supply
How memantine is dosed
From the FDA label for Namenda (application NDA021487). Other memantine products — different forms, different strengths — are dosed differently. Follow the label for the one you were prescribed.
The recommended starting dose of memantine hydrochloride tablets is 5 mg once daily. The dose should be increased in 5 mg increments to 10 mg/day (5 mg twice daily), 15 mg/day (5 mg and 10 mg as separate doses), and 20 mg/day (10 mg twice daily). The minimum recommended interval between dose increases is one week. The dosage shown to be effective in controlled clinical trials is 20 mg/day. Memantine hydrochloride tablets can be taken with or without food. If a patient misses a single dose of memantine hydrochloride, that patient should not double up on the next dose. The next dose should be taken as scheduled. If a patient fails to take memantine hydrochloride tablets for several days, dosing may need to be resumed at lower doses and retitrated as described above. Specific Populations Renal Impairment A target dose of 5 mg twice daily is recommended in patients with severe renal impairment (creatinine clearance of 5 – 29 mL/min based on the Cockcroft-Gault equation). Hepatic Impairment Memantine hydrochloride tablets should be administered with caution to patients with severe hepatic impairment [see Clinical Pharmacology ( 12.3 )] . May be taken with or without food. ( 2 ) Initial dose is 5 mg once daily. Increase dose in 5 mg increments to a maintenance dose of 10 mg twice daily. A minimum of 1 week of treatment with the previous dose should be observed before increasing the…
Memantine side effects
Most common adverse reactions (≥ 5 % and greater than placebo) are dizziness, headache, confusion and constipation. ( 6.1 ) To report SUSPECTED ADVERSE REACTIONS, contact Actavis at 1-800-272-5525 or FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or www.fda.gov/medwatch. 6.1 Clinical Trials Experience Memantine hydrochloride was evaluated in eight double-blind placebo-controlled trials involving a total of 1862 dementia (Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia) patients (940 patients treated with memantine hydrochloride and 922 patients treated with placebo) for a treatment period up to 28 weeks. Because clinical trials are conducted under widely varying conditions, adverse reaction rates observed in the clinical trials of a drug cannot be directly compared to rates in the clinical trials of another drug and may not reflect the rates observed in clinical practice. Adverse Events Leading to Discontinuation In placebo-controlled trials in which dementia patients received doses of memantine hydrochloride up to 20 mg/day, the likelihood of discontinuation because of an adverse reaction was the same in the memantine hydrochloride group (10.1%) as in the placebo group (11.5%). No individual adverse reaction was associated with the discontinuation of treatment in 1% or more of memantine hydrochloride-treated patients and at a rate greater than placebo. Most Common Adverse Reactions In double-blind…
Every memantine product we track (3)
Same active ingredient — different manufacturer, form, price and FDA recall record. That last one is what our independent score measures.
Memantine hydrochloride tablets are an orally active NMDA receptor antagonist. The chemical name for memantine hydrochloride is 1-amino-3,5-dimethyladamantane hydrochloride with the following structural formula: The molecular formula is C 12 H 21 N•HCl and the molecular weight is 215.76. Memantine hydrochloride occurs as a fine white to off-white powder and is soluble in water. Memantine hydrochloride is available as tablets. Memantine hydrochloride tablets are available for oral administration as capsule-shaped, film-coated tablets containing 5 mg and 10 mg of memantine hydrochloride. The tablets also contain the following inactive ingredients: microcrystalline cellulose/colloidal silicon dioxide, talc, croscarmellose sodium, and magnesium stearate. In addition, the following inactive ingredients are also present as components of the film coat: hypromellose, titanium dioxide, polyethylene glycol 400, FD&C yellow #6 and FD&C blue #2 (5 mg tablets), and hypromellose, titanium dioxide, macrogol/polyethylene glycol 400 and iron oxide black (10 mg tablets). The following structural formula for Memantine hydrochloride tablets are an orally active NMDA receptor antagonist. The chemical name for memantine hydrochloride is 1-amino-3,5-dimethyladamantane hydrochloride.
What kind of drug is memantine?
The FDA classifies memantine as a n-methyl-d-aspartate receptor antagonist. If you are checking whether it is safe to combine with something else, the class is what matters — two drugs from the same class usually should not be stacked.
Can you take memantine with other medicines?
It depends on the medicine. We check it against the FDA labels rather than guessing: our interaction checker searches each drug's own label for the other and quotes what it says, naming the section it came from. Run memantine against whatever else you take — and remember that a label not naming a drug is not the same as that combination being safe.
What brand names is memantine sold under?
We track 3 memantine-containing products in the U.S.: Namenda, Namenda XR and Memantine Hydrochloride. They are the same active ingredient; they differ in form, manufacturer, price and FDA recall record.
Sources: FDA openFDA drug label, National Drug Code Directory, and Enforcement (recall) database. This page reproduces public FDA data and is not medical advice. Dosing is set by your prescriber.
Who shouldn’t take memantine
Memantine hydrochloride tablets are contraindicated in patients with known hypersensitivity to memantine hydrochloride or to any excipients used in the formulation. Memantine hydrochloride tablets are contraindicated in patients with known hypersensitivity to memantine hydrochloride or to any excipients used in the formulation. ( 4 )
Memantine drug interactions
Drugs that Make t he Urine Alkaline The clearance of memantine was reduced by about 80% under alkaline urine conditions at pH 8. Therefore, alterations of urine pH towards the alkaline condition may lead to an accumulation of the drug with a possible increase in adverse effects. Urine pH is altered by diet, drugs (e.g. carbonic anhydrase inhibitors, sodium bicarbonate) and clinical state of the patient (e.g. renal tubular acidosis or severe infections of the urinary tract). Hence, memantine should be used with caution under these conditions. 7.2 Use with Other N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) Antagonists The combined use of memantine hydrochloride with other NMDA antagonists (amantadine, ketamine, and dextromethorphan) has not been systematically evaluated and such use should be approached with caution.
Across the brands we track, memantine is currently marketed as kit, tablet, capsule, extended release and solution, per the FDA's National Drug Code Directory. Each form is dosed differently — follow the label for the exact product you were prescribed.
Is there a generic memantine?
Yes. Our catalog lists 1 generic memantine product alongside the brand versions. A generic has the same active ingredient and must meet the FDA's bioequivalence standard; it usually costs less. Ask your pharmacist which one your plan covers.
Has memantine been recalled?
The FDA's Enforcement database lists 1 recall record whose product description mentions memantine. The most recent: Memantine Hydrochloride Extended-Release (Mar 24, 2026). A recall applies to specific lots, not to the drug as a whole — check the record for the affected lot numbers.