Sunday 23 October 2016

Staying Healthy - Medication



Medication


In general, the fewer drugs someone with dementia has to take, the better - both for their dementia and their general health. This includes prescription and over-the-counter drugs. If you are supporting someone with dementia, you may find the following tips useful.

As soon as possible after diagnosis, check with the GP to make sure that the person is not taking any drugs that they don't need any more, and that they are taking the lowest possible effective dose of those they do.

If any drugs are used to relieve behavioural symptoms, make sure these are reviewed very regularly.

If you suspect that the person's medication may be increasing their confusion or causing other unwanted side-effects, tell the GP.

Help the person take their medication at the right time by using box compartments or individual tablets marked with days or times. For more severe memory problems, you may need to make sure that the person doesn't overlook a dose or take an extra dose by mistake.

You might even need to place medicines out of reach and out of sight as an extra precaution.

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