There is also growing worry about another more-serious risk associated with these OTC drugs. In this way, the medications a patient is taking-and their many side effects-can add up quickly. “That new drug may have side effects too, so then something else is added to manage those,” she says. A man experiencing this issue may not attribute it to the sleep medicine he’s taking at night to sleep, and if he fails to mention it to his doctor, he may be prescribed a new medication to treat his bladder problems. If you don't get the confirmation within 10 minutes, please check your spam folder.įor example, in men with prostate conditions, anticholinergic drugs can lead to urinary retention, or problems fully emptying the bladder, Schroeck says. Click the link to confirm your subscription and begin receiving our newsletters. Department of Veterans Affairs Western New York Healthcare System and co-author of a 2016 review published in the journal Clinical Therapeutics on the safety of sleep aids among older adults.įor your security, we've sent a confirmation email to the address you entered. The side effects of these OTC pills can also set off a “prescribing cascade,” says Jennifer Schroeck, a clinical pharmacist with the U.S.
For these reasons, the American Geriatric Society has deemed these drugs “generally inappropriate” for seniors.
Diphenhydramine is an anticholinergic drug, which means it blocks activity of a brain chemical called acetylcholine, which plays a role in muscle activation and also in brain functions like alertness, learning and memory, Maust says.Īs a result of this blocking effect, these OTC drugs can cause constipation, confusion and other side effects, which Maust says may be more likely to affect older adults. Donovan Maust, co-author of the recent study and an assistant professor of psychiatry at Michigan Medicine. “Many OTC sleep aids-such as Benadryl and Tylenol PM-contain diphenhydramine,” says Dr. Studies have linked the regular, long-term use of OTC sleep medicines to some potentially serious side effects. Experts say this is concerning for a number of reasons.
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