Anticholinergic

That's something we're taught in medical school, dry mucus membranes.

And there may be other things as well, contributing like certain medications, a class of medications known as Anticholinergics can also cause a dry mouth, but frequently in the hospital, the clinical picture will point to dehydration.

And number one, your urine changes.

This is probably the most important and common everyday sign to watch out for.

And then we have anticholinergics that are often used for urinary incontinence problems.

We have antihistamines that have both anticholinergic and antihistamine effects, Benadryl being a classic diphenhydramine.

It's found at almost every PM pain medicine on the market.

Yes.

Sedating antihistamines, especially the first-generation drugs like Benadryl or diphenhydramine, these cause drowsiness, slowed thinking, impaired attention.

Often people who might take this for whatever reason might feel very foggy following this, even sometimes the next morning.

Anticholinergic medications can affect attention and memory, uh, but cumulative anticholinergic burden actually is very important and something we should watch, especially in older adults.

Then, like you mentioned, there are benzodiazepines.