Manage Your Medications to Help Prevent Memory and Thinking Skills Problems

Under the best of circumstances, managing your medication regimen can be a challenge. Keeping track of multiple pills each day, taking them at the right times, knowing what other medications, supplements, or foods to avoid to prevent dangerous interactions, and understanding the side effects that accompany each drug can seem overwhelming.

But for people dealing with a memory disorder, polypharmacy (the use of multiple medications to treat one or more conditions) can become a far greater strain. And even if your cognition is healthy, the side effects of some common prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) drugs can include altered thinking and confusion.

“You have to be very judicious about the effects of your medications, both alone and in combination, on thinking and memory,” says Massachusetts General Hospital psychiatrist Jennifer Gatchel, MD, PhD, also an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. That can require frequent and regular conversations with your doctors, but the effort may help you avoid cognitive complications and other consequences, such as uncomfortable physical symptoms, organ damage, and injuries from falls.

Consider these suggestions to better manage your medications to optimize memory and thinking performance:

Keep All Your Doctors Informed

Dr. Gatchel says that ideally all members of your health-care team would be in regular communication about changes in your health and the medications. Ongoing communication might reduce the number of pills prescribed and lead to better management of dosages to avoid dangerous interactions.

“In practicality, in a fast-paced health-care system, you may have to advocate for that communication across all your providers,” Dr. Gatchel says. For example, if your primary care physician prescribes an antihistamine for an allergy or sleep, but your psychiatrist has you on a tricyclic antidepressant, you could be at risk for serious anticholinergic side effects, such as a rapid heart rate, constipation, and confusion. Anticholinergic effects stem from inhibiting the physiological action of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter in the brain that affects involuntary muscle movement and other bodily functions, and can range in severity from mild to life-threatening.

Other common drugs that may affect memory and thinking include benzodiazepines, sleep aids, and opioids and other pain medications.

You should share a list of all the prescription medications, OTC drugs, and supplements you take with all of your health-care providers. Two questions to ask are: “Can I reduce the number of medications I take?” and “Should the dosage of any of the medications be changed or reduced based on my symptoms, or the potential interactions between drugs?”

Be Proactive

There are times, however, when you should reach out to a doctor’s office with questions or concerns even if your next appointment is weeks or months away. “There’s a common concern that people don’t want to bother their doctors,” Dr. Gatchel says. “Don’t hesitate to reach out in between appointments.”

She adds that a nurse or other health-team member may be able to answer a question or consult with the doctor and call you back. The question could be as simple as whether it’s okay to have an aspirin given your medical history and current medication regimen. No question is insignificant.

Know How Your Health Affects Your Medications

You may tend to focus on how a new medication will affect your health, but it’s critical to understand how your health might affect how a drug is absorbed in the body.

For example, the dementia drug memantine is excreted from the body through the kidneys. Dr. Gatchel explains that if you have compromised renal function, your kidneys may not effectively remove enough of the drug, allowing a greater concentration of the medication to remain in your body. This can lead to headaches, dizziness, confusion, and other side effects.

Likewise, any other changes in your health, such as a heart attack or stroke, should prompt a reevaluation of your medication use. And simply growing older is a reason to give each medication a new look. “A medication you may have been taking since middle age may present a greater risk for older adults, and dosing may have to be modified,” Dr. Gatchel explains. “Have a conversation about memory and thinking skills. There may be other treatments that are available—different forms of therapy, different treatments for insomnia, for example. Is there a safer approach? Is there a non-medication approach?”

Managing your medications doesn’t have to be a solo effort. Including a spouse, adult child, home health aide, and your health-care providers—as well as drug reminder systems—is a prescription for healthy outcomes.

The post Manage Your Medications to Help Prevent Memory and Thinking Skills Problems appeared first on University Health News.

Read Original Article: Manage Your Medications to Help Prevent Memory and Thinking Skills Problems »