drug-induced behavior changes in senior

[nellpals]

My 85 yo mother-in-law has been in assisted living facility since Feb
'07. She has exhibited short term memory loss over the past 6 years, but in that time the changes have not been dramatic. However, she does not remember how she got to where she is living, can't remember how to find her room, repeats questions and comments, etc. In the past 6 mos, the facility has reported that her behavior periodically turns nasty and mean. Recently she got into an argument with her son and started banging her arm against the wall in tantrum fashion and cut her hand. Her personality has NOT historically been like this. Apparently, she now gets angry over little things, to the point where last week she tried to run away (didn't get past the front of the building). The staff says the behaviors mostly kick in during early evening. Anyway I did a search on the drugs she's taking to see if there might be a record of interaction issues, but nothing behavioral turned up. Does anyone know whether the drugs, either individually or interactively, could cause such dramatic behavior changes? The assisted living place says they've never seen this kind of behavior before, and they want to look into an Alzheimers program for her. I just want to make sure we're not missing anything in the chemical department.

Here's a list of what she's taking: Citalopram 10 mg
Simvastatin 40 mg
potassium CL 20 MEQ
atenolol 50mg
calcium 600 mg + vit D 400
Avapro 300 mg
Hydrocodone APA 5/500 TA
HCTZ 25MG
depakote (added a week ago because of behavior)

[Robert_325]

I really don't see any drug interactions that should cause the kind of behavior you're talking about. At least not that I can tell. Good luck with your M-I-L. God bless.

[Psyched]

Nellpals,
Unfortunately those are ALL classic signs of Alzheimer's, especially the part about the problems occuring worse in the evenings (that's known as "sun-downing"). It's a good thing that her facility wants to look into the Alzheimer's program as an option for her because these types of programs have people trained to deal with the problems that the syndrome brings on to its victims. The best thing to do is to keep in mind that all of her behavior is not directly aimed at your husband, you, or anyone else. For her, the world has changed and she can't do anything about it or control it. Remember, try not to take anything personally. God bless.