74 years old & falling apart: Medications for multiple conditions

Congratulations on your decades long recovery! I’m hoping that you’ve currently got support to help you through these other challenges. Physical therapy may be helpful for your back pain and overall health. Getting meds evaluated occasionally is a good idea when you find yourself wondering if they can cause harm (like dementia). I’m not sure anyone will definitively say that. Having health concerns has caused me anxiety, I saw a therapist for a few months just to unscramble my own worried mind. 40 years sober here. It’s still better than being numb, but I don’t think anything can truly prepare us for the effects of aging when illness or pain are part of it. Best wishes to you.

Thank you for the support it is always nice to hear that I am having support. It is nice for me to hear thatI have support from you. I also would like to congratulate you on your 40 years maybe I will get to have 40 years someday one day at a time

I understand where you are coming from. I have 37 years of sobriety and keep a strong support system with me. I have found that continuing to work on my spiritual connection has helped me the most. AA is a spiritual program which has helped me remain clean and sober these years. The daily overall pain is very tiring for me. I go to a pain management office and am currently receiving home PT and OT services. I have essential tremors along with all this extreme daily pain. Lean on the tools that got you sober and us here as a support. I’m here if you need to talk. Hang in here. (I am 74 also).

I'm so sorry you have so many issues to cope with! That must be awful! However, you seem to be doing things right since you have made it to 74 and are no longer using drugs or drinking alcohol! I admire you for that and for coping with everything that you have! I'm 80 and am fairly healthy but I don't think I could have gotten through everything that you have and still made it to 80!
You stated that you take a lot of medications. Have you looked up the side effects of them? It's a good idea to do that. That way you will know if they are possibly causing any problems or could cause dementia like you mentioned. You can do this research easily on the Mayo Clinic website. Also look up the side effects of any supplements or vitamins you are taking. If you find anything that is bothering you in your medications or vitamins or supplements don't stop taking them until you see your doctor about it. Sometimes stopping something; especially a medication if it's not done in the right way can cause problems.

I have back problems also. I've found that a good strong back support really helps me. Have you tried anything like that?

Prayer can also help. God made you and he can fix you! My husband and I were married for 30 years. He had stage 4 lung cancer. We prayed everyday. God was there for us. My husband lived 14 years with stage 4 lung cancer. I'm so glad we had those last 14 years together! I'll say a prayer for you also.
I wish you the best.
PML

Rusty it would appear that your old ways have caught up to you and your body is paying you back and I’m sorry for your situation. You may not have to concern yourself with dementia having stage 3 kidney disease. Have you reached the point of needing dialysis yet? I just had SI joint injections last Friday and I feel wonderful. Prednisone is some good stuff. I too am 74 with mainly a bad back from a fall in an earthquake in 1988. This getting older stuff isn’t all that it’s hyped up to be for some people. I wish you luck with your back injections and hope they do the trick. I might suggest you consider more options for back pain relief but I don’t know if your health status would permit these to be done.
As far as medications causing dementia is a tuff question to answer. Some meds can screw with your mind and they may mimic dementia symptoms and the fact that you’re taking multiple medications (poly pharmacy) possibly some combinations may also cause these symptoms. Hopefully your providers are on top of your situation but having one provider, usually a PCP, can play the roll of gatekeeper for your multiple meds?

@ezjersey719 everything g is a day at a time. Your pharmacist may be able to answer basic questions about meds and the possible interactions. Stay mentally active and try to focus on things that you enjoy! Get good rest, eat well, use whatever real support you may have.

@rustyjones I can empathize to an extent. I never know how I will feel when I wake up. I have had long COVID for 4 years. I have been sober since 12/16/17. I am 56 years old and starting a new career that I am not sure I am physically capable of doing. I have had to take meds for the symptoms of this virus as they don't know what to do about it for millions of us. Remember, all you have to do is today. I have to tell myself that multiple times every day as my thoughts and worries will spin out of control in the hamster wheel of my brain. Today is Monday. All I have to do is today. Hang in there. I am glad you posted.

@jenatsky I have had to become my own advocate regarding doctors. There is supposed to be "coordination of care" between doctors. I am finding that it is up to me to let each doctor know what I am taking, etc. I had a doctor put me on a medication that was extremely contraindicated with my other medications.

I’m not certain where you got your idea of “coordination of care” (CoC) from but from a clinical prospective some feel they have achieved this fleeting goal. An example of CoC in SE Pennsylvania and many other parts of Pennsylvania is the EPIC eMedical Record, which is widely used across multiple health systems and multiple healthcare providers. This makes my health record available to just about anyone in medicine needing it. There are many other examples of this throughout the country as well. Additionally, when Obama Care aka Accountable Care Associations (ACA) was started many physician groups joined together into an ACA. This enables them to consolidate the care they provided as well as the financial benefit offered to them by Medicare for forming a successful ACA.
The coordination of care you are referring to unfortunately went by the wayside when doctors became too busy. Although ACA was a boon to the uninsured no one gave any thought as to how the medical profession would or could care for this sudden increase in covered lives. If we went to socialized medicine the numbers of insured again would out pace the number of providers to provide them care. Physicians now are mostly working for someone either profit or nonprofit and the amount of time (typically 15’) they are allotted to see patients makes for a very long day for them. So yes we need to advocate for ourselves and it’s even more important for us boomers. We all grew up at a time when we could sit and talk with our doctor as needed. We received great care from caring providers. Slowly this has changed for the worse. I was a hands on nurse from 1980-1988 and a consultant and medical coder until 2016. It’s been a ride and I’m glad I’m on the easier side of life now.

I too go to a pain clinic and have had numerous injections in my back. Some helped some didn’t. I ended up with two neurostimulators. One for my back and one for my neck. I still get the injections and they usually help now. Don’t give up on the injections and continue to discuss your pain with the specialist. Hang in there