Too Much Medication?

I'm really worried about my mother. She is 83 years old. She is heavily medicated.

This morning she is all upset because she doesn't have the pills and keeps saying she has to have them. Is she addicted to all of this?

I told her she needed to get off of some of the pills because she is very unstable with her walking, very moody just not herself.

I feel the doctor is just a pill pusher. Am I wrong? I'm so worried about her.

Comments for Too Much Medication?

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Her meds needs to be checked NEW
by: Jeremy Jardinel

You're not wrong at all, and honestly your instincts here are spot on. What you're describing like the unsteady walking, mood changes, and not seeming like herself are classic signs of polypharmacy, which is basically when someone is on so many medications that they start working against each other. It's super common in elderly patients and a lot of primary doctors just keep adding prescriptions without stepping back to look at the full picture. The urgency she feels about her pills in the morning could be dependency, but it could also just be anxiety from routine and either way it's worth taking seriously. What I'd do is request a full medication review with a geriatric specialist or ask her doctor specifically which medications are absolutely necessary versus ones that were added over time and never revisited. I hope this helps.

I got most of my references here:
https://hopebridge.care/how-adult-children-monitor-parents-medication-use/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overmedication
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/polypharmacy-in-adults-60-and-older

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