Warning: Bladder control medications may have adverse effect on elderly

By Hklbrries

Q. I want to sound an alarm about Gelnique in elderly patients. My 86-year-old father applied this gel for bladder control.

-

After three weeks of daily use, he started acting odd. A month in, he had symptoms of dementia. The insert that came with the drug never mentioned this as a side effect.

-

I made him quit taking it because he developed a rash. Not only did the rash go away, but so did most of the cognitive symptoms. Hopefully he will get back to where he was once the drug is out of his system.

-

I don’t want others to lose their minds needlessly. Thank goodness I did not chalk this reaction up to his age, as his physician did.

-

A. Your father was fortunate that you were so vigilant. Drugs for overactive bladder such as oxybutynin (Ditropan, Gelnique, Oxytrol) can affect memory and cognition, especially in older people (Current Urology Reports, October 2011). Whether the drug is taken orally or as a patch or gel, it gets into the circulation and can affect the brain.

-

Many other medications also may interfere with optimal brain function in the elderly (Der Internist, October 2012). They include anti-anxiety drugs such as alprazolam (Xanax) or lorazepam (Ativan), certain antibiotics (e.g., ciprofloxacin), some antidepressants (amitriptyline, doxepin) and narcotic pain relievers (oxycodone).

-

See our Guide to Drugs and Older People for more detailed information about many other medications that should not be taken by seniors. Anyone who would like a copy, please send $3 in check or money order with a long (No. 10), stamped (65 cents), self-addressed envelope to: Graedons’ People’s Pharmacy, No. O-85, P.O. Box 52027, Durham, NC 27717-2027. It also can be downloaded for $2 from our website: www.peoplespharmacy.com.

Ingredients

• _ _ _

Preparation

Step 1

_ _ _