It’s aggravating, frustrating, and sometimes worrisome when you’re having memory slips. They can trigger fears of looming dementia or Alzheimer’s disease when they happen more than they should.
Causes of Forgetfulness
Alternatives are usually available as shown in the table below.
Medications that may affect memory and possible substitutes | |
If you take these drugs… | … ask about switching to one of these drugs |
paroxetine (Paxil) | another antidepressant such as fluoxetine (Prozac) or sertraline (Zoloft), or a different type of antidepressant such as duloxetine (Cymbalta) or venlafaxine (Effexor) |
cimetidine (Tagamet) | a different type of heartburn drug, such as lansoprazole (Prevacid), omeprazole (Prilosec), or esomeprazole (Nexium) |
oxybutynin (Ditropan) or tolterodine (Detrol, Detrusitol) | other medications for an overactive bladder, such as trospium (Sanctura), solifenacin (Vesicare), or darifenacin (Enablex) |
amitriptyline (Elavil), desipramine (Norpramin), or nortriptyline (Aventyl, Pamelor) | another type of medication, depending on why your doctor has prescribed a tricyclic antidepressant (neuropathic pain, depression, etc.) |
captopril (Capoten) | a different type of ACE inhibitor, such as enalapril, lisinopril, or ramipril |
cold or allergy medication containing brompheniramine, chlorpheniramine, or diphenhydramine | loratadine (Claritin) or other non-sedating antihistamine |
Have a conversation with your doctor if memory lapses are bugging you. They may see any reversible causes that roots the problem.Something like getting more sleep, switching a medication, or a stress reduction program could get your memory back on track.
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