Losartan and Brain Fog

I have no experience, and am not being treated for hypertension. I'm just thinking laterally about what you have posted, and what your symptoms could also mean. Sometimes we have two or more comorbidities with one masking the others. For example, a person might have heart failure or an arrhythmia, and while that is being pondered and controlled by one means or another, the cardiologist asks the patient to submit to a polysomnography, an overnight sleep lab to detect sleep apnea. Bingo! In my case, it was severe sleep apnea, and that caused my cranky heart to finally rebel with atrial fibrillation. So, my point is, would it be at all possible that some or most of your various symptomology is due to undiagnosed, or ...poorly treated...sleep apnea? Might be worth a talking point with your PCP.

I am scheduled for my sleep study early in March. Hopefully I can tolerate the hardware. Wish me luck!

It is most beneficial if you can sleep, even if just for four hours. Inside of four hours, you will cycle through all the stages of sleep, including REM, at least twice...ideally.

The tech, who must monitor all the rooms all night, awakened me about an hour after I fell asleep to re-attach one of the chest leads. I fell asleep again minutes later, thank goodness, and managed about five hours. It was long enough that he was able to diagnose me over about three hours, and then run a CPAP mask I was already wearing and he 'titrated' me to find what level of air volume was best to be delivered over time. In some cases, some labs, you will have to do this over two nights, maybe a week or more apart, but the idea is to titrate you if possible...and that would ideally be on the second night if that is the protocol.

You'll get leads on your chest, your back, your scalp, your arms, and on your legs. They need a whole bunch of information. They'll scrub your scalp in about six/eight places to clean it of oils, and then affix pads there. You're literally covered in wires and pads. Still, I was able to fall asleep after finding a comfortable position. The leg and arm leads are to detect periodic limb movement. Some people have 'restless leg syndrome', which at times does disrupt their sleep.

Thank you! I appreciate the detail. That was not given me. Only, "we'll stick a few wires on you to see how restless you are sleeping." Small town P.A.

Oh, I forgot, you'll have a video camera on the wall on all night to play back so that they can watch your face and your limbs, how often you toss and turn, etc. Any physical movement is part of an arousal response, any restriction of flow into your lungs based on what you need, or your 'demand', at the time (called an RERA (respiration effort related arousal) will be detected and checked for timeline. Once that is all coordinated, the record will clearly show what you did, how you reacted, and also the brain activity at the time. If done properly, a polysomnography is a very comprehensive and accurate diagnostic for your disordered sleep or your disordered breathing.
Also, if it turns out you need treatment, even for mild apnea, please consider going over to apneaboard.com forums and taking a look. There are some very knowledgeable gurus there who can help you to get the most out of your CPAP machine...IF...you end up with one out of necessity. Some need a lot of hand-holding until they finally get their prescription dialed-in enough that it works for them. The goal is not the hand-holding, it's getting the PAP machine to do what you need it to do for a restful sleep with very few arousals.

Yes! I definitely have foggy brain, poor memory, CLUMSINESS, distractability. Hard to know if it’s exclusively due to Losartin since I’m on other meds that could contribute. But I recently learned that Losartin can be hard on the kidneys. It is also risky to use in pts with severe CHF. I’m going to request a different antihypertensive rx because I have HFpEF and I’m not taking any chances w my kidneys. I’m hoping if I change to a different med, it will ease my brain fog. I’ll update on that. Oh, I started doing (easy!) crossword puzzles and jigsaw puzzles to keep my brain active. Not sure yet on that one. 🤞

@louisy
I saw your post about taking Losartan and wondering if it might be causing some brain fog and confusion. My mother began taking it in early December and since then has become completely confused and almost unable to manage her daily life. I have asked her PCP and her cardiologist if they are aware of any side effects such as this but both dismissed me.

Did you notice a change when you switched medications? I certainly hope so! I'm searching for answers for my mother!

I have taken losartan ( 50 mg/day) for probably close to 20 years now and have never had any side effects from this drug. I also take a number of other prescription drugs as well, and have no side effects from any of them.

@kbm1967 hi and thanks for taking care of your mom. I see my post was last February and I’m trying to remember how long I’ve been on Losartin. Well it’s been at least a year right? And yes I am struggling with brain fog and total forgetfulness to where I’m concerned I’m getting dementia! Maybe this is normal mental stuff for a 72 year old woman but I think not. I’m also on other meds that could easily produce these symptoms so I’m afraid I’m not much help here. I do think the med can cause what your mom is experiencing. I’m definitely going to look into it for myself since your situation got me thinking about it again. One thing to consider: a lot of docs don’t really know all the pharmacologic details on the drugs they use. It’s annoying, but they tend to dismiss us because they simply don’t know. So why don’t they just say that?! Our best bet for finding accurate information might be to ask a pharmacist. I think even some pharmacists might also dismiss the question out of simply not working in a position where they need to know such detailed drug information. I’d suggest contacting a compounding pharmacist and talking to them in person. I think they have a stronger commitment to learning about drug side effects and they have a healthy curiosity that drives their motivation. If you don’t get a satisfactory response try 1 or 2 more. I’m going to do that too. Check back with your update. I’ll try to do the same.