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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Alzheimer's / January 2004Odd effect from cold medication?
I am posting this for my 75+ year old friend whose husband has Alzheimers. She told me that she gave him some OTC cold medication one day because he had a bad cold. After taking it, he became normal again with memory and conversation ability just like before the illness hit him. Her doctors told her not to give him anymore.He is only on Aricept for alzheimers and he takes two mild heart pills to keep his pressure down. The cold pills were red and white out of date capsules from CVS. She is listening to the advice of her doctor but now we are both curious about what happened. Has anyone ever heard of anything like this? Thanks! >I am posting this for my 75+ year old friend whose husband has Alzheimers. >She told me that she gave him some OTC cold medication one day because he [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >red and white out of date capsules from CVS. She is listening to the advice >of her doctor but now we are both curious about what happened. >Has anyone ever heard of anything like this? Nope! But there's always a first. The danger of taking heart medication with a decongestant is that their effects counteract one another and could cause a dangerous jump in blood pressure. This is probably why your doctor advised against future use. Cold medications act as stimulants depending on the type...perhaps Sudafed or something that contains ephedrine or phenylpropanolamine? If you or I take it, we can become jumpy, attentative and irritable; however, the fact that the difference seen in him was night and day deserves investigation. Try to get another opinion. Did his AD symptoms start with the heart medication? What are the medications? How did they diagnose AD? Darryl. I asked your questions and this is all she replied with. The heart medications are atenolol 25 mg one pill in AM. The other is Lisinopril [Prinivil] "Darryl" <umpolung@REMOVEhotmail.com> wrote in message > Nope! > But there's always a first. The danger of taking heart medication > with a decongestant is that their effects counteract one another and [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > Darryl. >I asked your questions and this is all she replied with. > >The heart medications are atenolol 25 mg one pill in AM. The other >is Lisinopril [Prinivil] Atenolol is a beta blocker that works on the cardic muscle (beta-1 as opposed to beta-2 which is in the lungs) to decrease the strength of the conraction, ultimately lowering blood pressure. Lisinopril is an ACE inhibitor that is also responsible for lower blood pressure by dilating blood vessels. Cold medication usually contains a beta-1 and 2 agonist (as opposed to the beta-1 blocking effect of atenolol). That's why the drugs shouldn't be taken together. The important question is whether the AD symptoms started with the heart medication. If so, the fact that the symptoms were partially reversed because of the cold medicine is significant. Or, as Evelyn has indicated, it could have been a coincidental moment of lucidity. Darryl. > >I am posting this for my 75+ year old friend whose husband has Alzheimers. > >She told me that she gave him some OTC cold medication one day because he [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > >red and white out of date capsules from CVS. She is listening to the advice > >of her doctor but now we are both curious about what happened. <snip> > But there's always a first. The danger of taking heart medication > with a decongestant is that their effects counteract one another and > could cause a dangerous jump in blood pressure. This is probably why > your doctor advised against future use. The jump in blood pressure could also explain the rise in cognition, I think. More blood passing through the brain might well carry more oxygen, thus improving functionality. Blessed be, Baird > > >I am posting this for my 75+ year old friend whose husband has Alzheimers. > > >She told me that she gave him some OTC cold medication one day because he [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > Blessed be, > Baird Though, that could possibly be a two edged sword, raising the chance of stroke etc.  SignatureEvelyn (To reply to me personally, remove sox) <snip> > > > But there's always a first. The danger of taking heart medication > > > with a decongestant is that their effects counteract one another and > > > could cause a dangerous jump in blood pressure. This is probably why > > > your doctor advised against future use. > > The jump in blood pressure could also explain the rise in cognition, I > > think. More blood passing through the brain might well carry more > > oxygen, thus improving functionality. > Though, that could possibly be a two edged sword, raising the chance of > stroke etc. Absolutely, and I do not mean to belittle the sharpness of either blade. As with so much surrounding this confounded disease, something that helps in one area may well hurt in another. Blessed be, Baird ><snip> > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >think. More blood passing through the brain might well carry more >oxygen, thus improving functionality. Yes, and chronic low blood pressure seems to be associated with an increased risk of AD in people older than 75; however, I'm assuming the doctors are medicating the husband for high blood pressure and not creating another problem. I think someone here has a LO that suffers from vascular dementia which results from insufficient blood flow to the brain. Yet another case where I'd like to speak to the neurologists involved to see how they concluded AD. So the quetions remain: was it coincidental and is it worth investigating? Darryl. > I am posting this for my 75+ year old friend whose husband has Alzheimers. > She told me that she gave him some OTC cold medication one day because he [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > ever heard of anything like this? > Thanks! I have no experience here, only an oppinion, which will probably not be one that many others will agree with. With AD I would tend to do anything that I thought worked. If it had positive results in some way, I would try it. Kay > > I am posting this for my 75+ year old friend whose husband has Alzheimers. > > She told me that she gave him some OTC cold medication one day because he [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > ever heard of anything like this? > > Thanks! > I have no experience here, only an oppinion, which will probably not > be one that many others will agree with. With AD I would tend to do > anything that I thought worked. If it had positive results in some > way, I would try it. > Kay I have noticed from time to time Ida has sort of "connected the wires" for a day or a moment or a few hours. Alas, these moments have not stayed around. I think it is very possible that it was a coincidence that the lady's husband experienced one of those rare moments at the same time he had the cold. SignatureEvelyn (To reply to me personally, remove sox) My father took dyazide for years. Last year he switched to a different BP med and it caused a severe cognition problem. He switched back to the dyazide and improved only minimally. We strongly think that his BP meds contributed to his memory loss. He's off them now and his vitals are perfect. Funny thing, he would take cold medicines for his cough and occasional cold. I think he may have even depended on them a bit. He might have trying to self medicate his own condition. Hmmmm. > I am posting this for my 75+ year old friend whose husband has Alzheimers. > She told me that she gave him some OTC cold medication one day because he [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > ever heard of anything like this? > Thanks! Below is my friend's last email to me. I want to thank you all for your replies. Perhaps she will actually be able to help her husband improve with this information: Funnny you should mention stopping BP meds to improve cognitive thinking. Nurse (my friend's daughter) Lyn read the replies you sent yesterday. She suggested I talk to Dr. Watts about this. Tom has not been on Lisinopril more than a year , however he has been taking atenolol for 6 or more years. Our doctor from our old town prescribed it. Lyn was impressed with the replies. > My father took dyazide for years. Last year he switched to a different BP > med and it caused a severe cognition problem. He switched back to the [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > > ever heard of anything like this? > > Thanks! Hi again. My friend just sent me this extra piece of information so this is on top of the previous meds I listed that he is taking: "He has taken tenenol sp. for a very long . Dr. Stolz was our Dr. and he prescribed it. I have not called .Dr. about stopping . I just may stop on my own. I willneed to purchase a BP kit so I can monitor his BP, mine too. That would be a safe guard." > I am posting this for my 75+ year old friend whose husband has Alzheimers. > She told me that she gave him some OTC cold medication one day because he [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > ever heard of anything like this? > Thanks! >Hi again. My friend just sent me this extra piece of information so this is >on top of the previous meds I listed that he is taking: [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >may stop on my own. I willneed to purchase a BP kit so I can monitor >his BP, mine too. That would be a safe guard." Your friend should only stop the medication with the approval of the good doctor. What's the tylenol for? If the indication is arthritis, NSAIDS (e.g., aspirin) can block the effect of metoprolol and so acetaminophen would be the preferred treatment of pain. If not, I'll take this time to say that I am not a doctor nor do I play one on television ;) As for the BP monitors, not all are created equal. I'll talk to my SO and find out which she recommends. Darryl. I asked her to clarify this and this is what she said: Tom does not take tynenol, I just lost the spelling on atenolol. This he has been taking each AM for 8-10 years. Sorry I confused you. I will not do anything until I speak to our doctor. Many have said stop the BP med and many have said to give him the cold capsules. > >Hi again. My friend just sent me this extra piece of information so this is > >on top of the previous meds I listed that he is taking: [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > Darryl. Heh, I originally commented on Atenolol being a beta-blocker. Sorry, my mistake! Since he's taking both a beta-blocker and ACE inhibitor, I'm guessing he's had a heart attack in the past or suffers from angina, high bp or some other heart complication (sorry if you've mentioned it and I've missed the reference). Stopping the atenolol and using cold capsules instead could have disasterous results. If either of the medications were tapered off (atenolol I'd guess), it would have to be followed by the doctor in case a complication arises. Perhaps ask for a referral to a neurologist who might be interested in the lucid moment associated with the cold medication. Keep us updated! Darryl. >I asked her to clarify this and this is what she said: > [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] >> >> Darryl. > I asked her to clarify this and this is what she said: > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > I will not do anything until I speak to our doctor. Many have > said stop the BP med and many have said to give him the cold capsules. I wouldn't listen to anyone who said that. Cold capsules CAN raise blood pressure, and if you stopped the BP medicine too at the same time, you could cause him to have a stroke or a heart attack. SignatureEvelyn (To reply to me personally, remove sox) |
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