Medications That Cause Memory Loss

According to Harvard University, prescription drugs cause over 128,000 deaths per year in the United States

Shockingly, this does not count deaths in nursing homes — an estimated additional 350,000 deaths annually.

Adverse drug reactions are now the fourth leading cause of death in the US and the fifth leading cause of death in Europe.

Common side effects of anticholinergic drugs include:

• confusion
• blurred vision
• constipation
• dry mouth
• lightheadedness
• difficulty starting and continuing to urinate
• loss of bladder control

leeping Pills

Prescription sleeping pills like Ambien, Sonata, and Lunesta are notorious for causing memory problems.

Ever since these drugs hit the market, people have been reporting “Ambien amnesia” or “Ambien blackouts” during which they have walked, eaten, and even driven their car in their sleep with no recollection of it the following day.

Dr. Kirk Parsley is a physician, former Navy SEAL, and a sleep expert for the US Navy.

He found a large number of Navy SEALS were using sleeping pills and made a startling discovery while studying EEGs of their brains.

Brainwave patterns showed that, under the effect of sleeping pills, these men were as unconscious as if they were drunk or in a coma, but were not actually asleep.

According to Dr. Parsley, this means that these men were not experiencing the restorative sleep their brains needed to consolidate new memories and to maintain and repair itself. 

In an interview on the investigative news program 20/20, Charlie Sheen openly called Ambien “the devil’s aspirin.”

Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs

Cholesterol-lowering medications might just be the single worst group of drugs for your brain.

Memory loss is now required to be listed as a side effect on the label of statin cholesterol-lowering drugs like Lipitor and Crestor.

When researchers examined the medical records of nearly a million people, they found that statin use increased the risk of memory loss four-fold.

And it’s not just statins, other kinds of cholesterol-lowering drugs were also strongly linked to increased forgetfulness.

Here’s why lowering cholesterol is a problem for your brain.

One-quarter of your brain is composed of cholesterol.

Cholesterol is necessary for memory, learning, and fast thinking.

Cholesterol is needed to make neurotransmitters, chemicals that brain cells use to communicate with each other.

So it is not such a surprise that cholesterol-lowering drugs negatively affect the brain.

20 Prescription Drugs That Cause Memory Loss]

• Parkinson’s — scopolamine, atropine, glycopyrrolate
• epilepsy — phenytoin or Dilantin
• painkillers — heroin, morphine, codeine
• sleeping pills — Ambien, Lunesta, Sonata
• benzodiazepines — Valium, Xanax, Ativan, Dalmane
• quinidine
• naproxen
• steroids
• antibiotics (quinolones)
• antihistamines
• interferons
• high blood pressure drugs
• insulin
• beta blockers (especially those used for glaucoma)
• methyldopa
• antipsychotics — Haldol, Mellaril
• tricyclic antidepressants
• lithium
• barbiturates — Amytal, Nembutal, Seconal, phenobarbital
• chemotherapy drugs