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[Rowan]

I think that rosebud57 has made a very good point and Taz's link explains things very well.

I know that the antihistamines effected my memory and when OH was on them I really was worried about the effect they had on him. 

Amitriptyline made him into a zombie and he swore he would never take them again.

Zopiclone was even worse though I denied it to myself as they made me sleep, I won't touch them again.

In over the counter drugs such as Nytol and Benadryl they will probably be required to state in the leaflet these dangers and not to take them for more then two weeks, and see your doctor if symptoms persist. They probably say that to some effect now.

I think that taking these drugs especially over 65 will not cause Dementia but make it worse if you are going to develop it regardless.. There are many types of Dementia and causes.

My OH has a review every so often about the long term drugs he is taking,  I think it was suggested on the News that people saw their Doctors to see if there was an alternative that did contain not the drugs with anticholinergic activity.

[Dancinggirl]

Good post silverlady. Now I'm back on HRT I'm not having to rely on Nytol or other antihistermines to give me a decent nights sleep.  In fact I'm getting fewer headaches, aches and pains that require me to take pain killers so I'm generally popping far fewer drugs. For me HRT is the lesser of the evils.
Life is minefield of dos and don'ts - we have to live in the moment and for many ADs and SSRIs are really needed and can give a good quality of life. I just wish they weren't the front line approach to meno symptoms for many GPs.
DG x

[Hurdity]

Some interesting points have been made as well as the links.

The main thing is to distinguish between the science that is carried out and the reporting of it - and only to trust reputable media rather than for example, the likes of the Daily Mail which tends to be sensationalist.

What is reported in the reputable media is usually the best information that we have at present - or the latest trusted research. The scare stories do represent research that has been carried out - but this may be subsequently refuted by later work. This is how science works.

The fact that this one was a longitudinal study (following the same invidiuals over time) does give it more credence than a cross-sectional one ( looking at lots of individuals at a particular point in time).

As the Alzheimer's Society says, the study doesn't prove conclusively that these drugs cause dementia (neither does it prove that they don't) but says that more work needs to be done to understand the risks of taking them later in life.

Notwithstanding the need to prescribe some of these drugs for depression, if it prevents doctors prescribing ADs willy nilly for mild anxiety especially if it is hormonally induced/menopausal, then that can only be a good thing as Dancinggirl says.

I'm with rosebud on this one - only use drugs when necessary and for the shortest possible time.  Bio-identical HRT of course, is not a drug.

Hurdity x

[CLKD]

I would rather have quality of Life for as long as possible.  Having suffered depression to the point of not being able to get out of bed.  This particular drug was prescribed for trigenimal [sp] neuralgia in the 1980s but it made no difference at all.  The spasm over came any medication that I tried.  Eventually, once I knew the cause and therefore that treatment was available albeit drastic, I had a Plan of Campaign - but fortunately the spasms settled after several months.

The body can get used to medication, i.e. headache remedies so that the pain returns due to a kind of withdrawal.  But fear encourages people to continue taking what ever has worked.  We need more information as we go along, i.e. I asked about eating grapefruit with the regime I take and was told to eat the fruit at a different time to when I take the meds..  Sorry, a bit of a meander 

[Rowan]

Stellajane the new non drowsy ones such as ones containing Cetrizine Hydrochloride are not on the list.

http://www.fpnotebook.com/ent/pharm/NnSdtngAnthstmn.htm


When I saw the Allergy Specialist he recommended them and especially not  Piriton.

Anything containing  diphenhydramine is to be avoided.

[Hurdity]

The research was done in over 65s who were followed for 7 years so you're alright for a while yet Stellajane. However I am sure it would also be worth doing research on this in younger people too - since there is also early-onset dementia  which is classified as dementia starting in under 65s.

Hurdity x

[Rowan]

I really sympathise with you having chronic uticaria Stellajane, I had it for six weeks and I can honestly say it was one of the worst six weeks of my life.

I was so lucky that it only lasted that long, I don't know what caused it and I  don't know what made it go away, I saw a Dermatologist (after a trip to A&E for allergic reaction where I had an adrenaline injection) privately and he did all the tests including ANA, it turns out that my IGe and histamine levels were high.

Since then I have seen an Allergy Specialist on the NHS and had skin patch tests and it turned out I had nine different very marked sensitivities so much so that he put me on his Immunotherapy program.

Sorry to say I did not proceed with it as it was an intensive three year commitment.

I had an awful lot of info from his clinic so know what to avoid and I have bought a homeopathy remedy Mixed Pollen 30C that I start in February.