Mom had her semi-annual (or is it quarterly, now?) check-up at the PACE center last week. The doctor discontinued two of her meds, lisinopril and atorvostatin, both of which were prescribed immediately after her heart attack a couple of years ago. He also changed her cetirizine from daily to PRN. It seems that the thing all three of these meds have in common is the possibility of causing drowsiness, fatigue and confusion.
For the past two years, I thought her heart attack had been the cause of her significant step-down in cognitive capacity. Given how very much she has perked up in the last 10 days, though, I realize that a lot of it was the post-heart-attack cocktail of meds that were prescribed in knee-jerk fashion, and that I was too distressed to objectively research and question.
She’s more alert, more energetic, and is walking better, with a bit better balance. And she’s got the whole household hopping! Welcome back, Mom!
Not The Roommate I Expected 
Thanks for the update. I am so glad she is feeling better. I use to be on Lisinopril but dropped it in January. Hope you keep hopping and keep us posted!
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She is doing so much better. It’s really amazing.
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Wow, that’s great news…and also worrying because it can so easily happen to anyone. Side effects and the magnification thereof due to multiple meds are obviously no joke. I’m curious to see how your mom’s cognitive performance will change as the meds work their way out of her system.
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She’s still operating cognitively at around 3-5 years, but she’s so much more alert and with it. And cracking more jokes and making up silly rhymes. We laugh a lot here.
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