[zargol]

When drug interactions cause side effects, are the side effects usually intermittent? Or would they typically be consistent?

My 83-year-old father is taking about 20 prescription medications, including meds for sleep apnea, myasthenia gravis, nasal congestion, diarrhea, trouble sleeping, trouble staying awake, high cholesterol, pain, etc. Some of these he takes every day on a schedule, others as needed. For the past few months he's been exhibiting occasional irrational spells, as well as sudden angry outbursts, a couple of times a week.

My siblings and I are trying to determine how much of the erratic behavior is due to deteriorating mental health and how much is caused by drug interactions. His doctors think there are no problems with the array of prescriptions he's taking, but some of the warnings indicate that alone or in combination they can potentially cause confusion, irritability, hallucinations, mood swings, "abnormal thinking," delirium, disorientation, nervousness, and many other conditions.

If he doesn't have these side effects every time he takes the medicines, does that mean the behaviors are *not* drug related?

[krissybaby]

This can be tricky. Because he is on 20 different med's. It all depends which med's hes on. I would research every single one of them. Also not ever thing that can happen is listed on those patient info sheets that the pharmacy gives you. This is especially true with new medicines. Take me for example I have epilepsy and one of the drugs prescribed to me was Keppra. This drug made me extremely paraniod and impulsive. I would have delusions and outbursts of anger. Now I have never had a problem with my mental stability before but that drug really screwed me up. If you want to I can help you with your researching. You can email me a list of the meds he is on and I will try to find out for you. krissybaby81@gmail.com Take care