I wonder how much of my late father’s agitation was down to his dementia drugs changing so much

THE son of an elderly patient recalls how his father’s changed medication – brought about by the shortage of drugs available – impacted on his quality of life during his final months.

WHEN we went to visit our 78year-old father, we never knew what we would find.

Some days he would be just zonked out; on others he would be hyper.

We thought it was part of the dementia, but when we asked for all the drugs he’d been on we saw his medication had been changed quite a bit.

I was aware that they had been tinkering with dad’s medication, but I thought they were trying to get the right balance. Actually it seems to have been more informed by what they could get their hands on.

I have a healthcare background myself, and we were never told that a lack of drugs was the reason his medications were never stable.

It was distressing for him but it was also distressing for our whole family.

My dad was diagnosed with dementia six years ago.

Our family don’t believe his changing medication had anything to do with his death from the disease in

July, but we do wonder about his quality of life in the preceding months.

You wonder how much of his agitation was due to the drugs changing.

I don’t think the Government and the HSE can just accept this situation.’