4 ms·

Drugs triggered dementia. That's interesting. Is that something that has been thoroughly researched or is it still a hypothesis?

btilly 4y ago
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10459729/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10459729/ Actually in her case it WAS more delirium. At first she had a sense of humor about it - the floating cake she was seeing looked quite delicious and she regretted that she couldn't eat it. But later, well, she honestly believed she was sleeping outside under the stars even though she emphatically wasn't.
causi 4y ago
It happens. My grandfather fell off his roof onto concrete and suffered a bad broken arm. His subsequent prescription and continued use of opiate painkillers exactly coincide with the onset of his dementia, one he didn't recover from even after getting off the drugs. My grandmother was prescribed Wellbutrin for a few months after my grandfather died. A decade later she suffered a fall and was hospitalized. In the hospital the doctors for whatever reason started giving her Wellbutrin again. She spent the next month subject to intense psychosis, not knowing where she was or who was in the room with her, thinking she was being attacked, thinking there was a party going on in the hallway. We were probably less than a week from institutionalizing her when my aunt noticed the unneeded medicine she was being given. After they stopped giving it to her she was back to normal in less than 48 hours.
- sva_ 4y ago
  Pyochosis is not dementia. Very different things. But I hear what you're saying.
  - mywittyname 4y ago
    They can be conflated, even by professionals. Something similar happened with my grandma, she had to sell her house and move into a nursing home because what was diagnosed as dementia. Afterwards, a specialist realized that it was her medications causing dementia-like symptoms, and after adjusting them, she became a completely normal again.
    - feet 4y ago
      Medication causing dementia symptoms is also not psychosis. Psychosis is a very specific state of mind, not something to just describe general mental illness
      - DiggyJohnson 4y ago
        This is nonsensical reply that misses the key point of this thread. Nobody here is claiming that psychosis = dementia. Almost the exact opposite. The only way your comment could be relevant is if you’re trying to claim that nobody has ever been misdiagnosed with dementia due to psychosis-like side-effects from prescription medications.
danenania 4y ago
I don't know much similarity there is between dementia and schizophrenia in terms of brain chemistry, but there's a lot of overlap of symptoms, and drugs can definitely trigger schizophrenia.
treeman79 4y ago
Go on any migraine forum and look at the first treatment doctors give. Topomax. Some people do well on it. A huge number of people become very stupid on it. (I managed to run myself over with my own car) Tons of drugs cause cognitive issues. I actually started taking a simple test daily to map my cognitive ability on various treatments.
- fragmede 4y ago
  Can you share your simple daily test? I've been pondering such a thing for a while now.
tharkun__ 4y ago
As per other siblings, not necessarily actual dementia but symptoms of dementia and the people that are supposed to be able to distinguish these can't/won't/don't. Another not too uncommon one can occur in older people even when they aren't on drugs: dehydration. The tests they do in hospital to see if you have dementia can easily misdiagnose as dementia when you're simply being dehydrated. Now imagine giving this test to a 30 year old vs. a 75 year old. I've personally seen it attributed to "this person is old, must be dementia". Made sure to hydrate regularly while in hospital (which nurses couldn't/wouldn't/didn't) w/ perfect recovery from their "dementia".

btilly 4y ago

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10459729/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10459729/ Actually in her case it WAS more delirium. At first she had a sense of humor about it - the floating cake she was seeing looked quite delicious and she regretted that she couldn't eat it. But later, well, she honestly believed she was sleeping outside under the stars even though she emphatically wasn't.

causi 4y ago

It happens. My grandfather fell off his roof onto concrete and suffered a bad broken arm. His subsequent prescription and continued use of opiate painkillers exactly coincide with the onset of his dementia, one he didn't recover from even after getting off the drugs. My grandmother was prescribed Wellbutrin for a few months after my grandfather died. A decade later she suffered a fall and was hospitalized. In the hospital the doctors for whatever reason started giving her Wellbutrin again. She spent the next month subject to intense psychosis, not knowing where she was or who was in the room with her, thinking she was being attacked, thinking there was a party going on in the hallway. We were probably less than a week from institutionalizing her when my aunt noticed the unneeded medicine she was being given. After they stopped giving it to her she was back to normal in less than 48 hours.

sva_ 4y ago
Pyochosis is not dementia. Very different things. But I hear what you're saying.
- mywittyname 4y ago
  They can be conflated, even by professionals. Something similar happened with my grandma, she had to sell her house and move into a nursing home because what was diagnosed as dementia. Afterwards, a specialist realized that it was her medications causing dementia-like symptoms, and after adjusting them, she became a completely normal again.
  - feet 4y ago
    Medication causing dementia symptoms is also not psychosis. Psychosis is a very specific state of mind, not something to just describe general mental illness
    - DiggyJohnson 4y ago
      This is nonsensical reply that misses the key point of this thread. Nobody here is claiming that psychosis = dementia. Almost the exact opposite. The only way your comment could be relevant is if you’re trying to claim that nobody has ever been misdiagnosed with dementia due to psychosis-like side-effects from prescription medications.

danenania 4y ago

I don't know much similarity there is between dementia and schizophrenia in terms of brain chemistry, but there's a lot of overlap of symptoms, and drugs can definitely trigger schizophrenia.

treeman79 4y ago

Go on any migraine forum and look at the first treatment doctors give. Topomax. Some people do well on it. A huge number of people become very stupid on it. (I managed to run myself over with my own car) Tons of drugs cause cognitive issues. I actually started taking a simple test daily to map my cognitive ability on various treatments.

fragmede 4y ago
Can you share your simple daily test? I've been pondering such a thing for a while now.

tharkun__ 4y ago

As per other siblings, not necessarily actual dementia but symptoms of dementia and the people that are supposed to be able to distinguish these can't/won't/don't. Another not too uncommon one can occur in older people even when they aren't on drugs: dehydration. The tests they do in hospital to see if you have dementia can easily misdiagnose as dementia when you're simply being dehydrated. Now imagine giving this test to a 30 year old vs. a 75 year old. I've personally seen it attributed to "this person is old, must be dementia". Made sure to hydrate regularly while in hospital (which nurses couldn't/wouldn't/didn't) w/ perfect recovery from their "dementia".