10 Drugs That May Cause Memory Loss

5. Narcotic painkillers

Why they are prescribed:
Also called opioid analgesics, these medications are used to relieve moderate to severe acute or chronic pain, such as the pain caused by arthritis.

Examples:
Fentanyl (Duragesic), hydrocodone (Norco, Vicodin), hydromorphone (Dilaudid, Exalgo), morphine (Astramorph, Avinza) and oxycodone (OxyContin, Percocet). These drugs come in many different forms, including tablets, solutions for injection, transdermal patches and suppositories.

How they can cause memory loss:
These drugs work by stemming the flow of pain signals within the central nervous system and by blunting one's emotional reaction to pain. Both these actions are mediated by chemical messengers that are also involved in many aspects of cognition. So use of these drugs can interfere with long- and short-term memory, especially when used for extended periods of time.

Alternatives:
In patients under the age of 50 years, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are the frontline therapy for pain. Unfortunately, NSAID therapy is less appropriate for older patients, who have a much higher risk of dangerous gastrointestinal bleeding. Research shows the risk goes up with the dosage and duration of treatment.

Talk with your doctor or other health care provider about whether tramadol (Ultram), a nonnarcotic painkiller, might be a good choice for you. In my practice, I often recommend supplementing each 50 mg dose with a 325 mg tablet of acetaminophen (Tylenol). While there are prescription drugs that combine tramadol and acetaminophen, these products have only 37.5 mg of tramadol, and in my practice I've found that patients generally need the larger dose.

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