Q:Dear Dr. Si. I have parents that are 81 and 82, my mom is on 16 different medicines for all kinds of stuff we have no family history of. I read an article in the readers digest that a geriatric pharmacist can look over a medication list and see if some of the medicines might be unnecessary and causing side effects. We feel that the many different pills they are taking are making them tired and physically unable to perform every day tasks. Could this be true? We are thinking about taking them off most of their medicines and seeing how they feel. – DMD
I’m concerned about Grammy’s medicines
Q:Dear Dr. Si, My Grammy is 88 and for the last three years she has been experiencing occasional leg pain that comes & goes. It shows up when she’s on her feet a lot but the pain goes away if she rests for a while. Other than that she has been in great shape and very sharp mentally until recently. A neurologist prescribed high dose ibuprofen for the leg pain but her family doctor told her not to take it but I don’t know why. She has lived with the pain convinced that ibuprofen was “bad for her.” She visited her family doc again a month ago with the concern that she might have Alzheimer’s disease but he didn’t think she has it. He gave her three prescriptions which she has been taking for the past month. They are: Tramadol with Tylenol, Cymbalta, and Aricept. The whole family thinks Grammy has taken a huge slide down hill in the last month. She is more frail and tired and not as sharp mentally and she has had a couple of falls. We don’t think that she has been eating well but are also concerned that her medicines are doing more harm than good. Are there questions that I should be asking her doctor? – MJ, Kingston, RI
My husband is taking 30 different medicines. How can I correct that?
Q:Dr. Si–My 48-year-old husband is on 30 medications. His four doctors know about all his meds, but they never suggest taking him off anything–even when I’ve suggested they do it. How can I find a doctor who knows enough about interactions and will look at his meds and start weaning him off of some? – KFL