Staying cool in the summer can be challenging for anyone. However, many seniors are taking medications that can make it even more difficult by interfering with various ways in which your body naturally regulates its own temperature. Many of these medications can lead to different conditions. These can include dizziness, weakness, headaches, nausea, cramps, and other symptoms associated with dehydration, heat exhaustion, or heat stroke.
Here are some of the most common ways medications can affect temperature regulation during the warmer months. Find out how Senior Helpers of Charlotte can help you take to manage these effects!
How Do Medications Affect Temperature Regulation?
Various types of medications that you may be taking to treat conditions that are common among seniors can make it more difficult for your body to regulate its temperature in several ways, especially in the summer.
Many medications impact your brain's ability to tell your body to cool itself down. They can decrease the size of the blood vessels that typically cool your body by bringing blood to your skin. Some medications, especially over-the-counter options, can significantly reduce sweating. This may seem like a good thing if you tend to sweat frequently. However, this change takes away one of your body's most effective methods of naturally cooling itself.
Certain other medications can also simply raise your body temperature. This increase is not necessarily accompanied by additional factors that directly impact your body's ability to regulate it. However, it means that your body has to work harder to keep your temperature at a safe and comfortable level.
Medications That Frequently Cause Heat-Related Problems
Many types of prescription and over-the-counter medications can affect your body's ability to regulate temperature. This can include those that treat several of the most common physical and mental health conditions seniors may experience. Medications that are frequently used to treat asthma, high or low blood pressure, allergies, overactive bladder, depression, and several other common conditions can be linked to problems keeping your body at a safe temperature, especially during the summer months.
Managing Medication-Related Temperature Regulation Problems
People react to these medications differently and many people who take them will not experience heat-related side effects. However, it is a good idea to talk to your doctor if you have noticed that you are feeling more bothered by the heat than you used to be.
Seniors may naturally experience more heat sensitivity as they age. Your doctor can help you determine whether changing your medication or making other adjustments to your lifestyle, such as drinking more water or purchasing an air conditioner, may be sufficient to manage this issue.
Heat regulation problems and other side effects of many types of medications can be challenging. However, they can often be successfully managed by sharing your concerns with your doctor as soon as you notice them. If you simply need to make changes to your lifestyle to assist your body with keeping its temperature under control, our in-home care team can also help you stay on top of drinking plenty of water and remembering to adjust the temperature of your home.
At Senior Helpers of Charlotte, we help seniors in the Charlotte, Pineville, and Concord areas and their families. We help them understand the many ways that aging may affect their lifestyle. Contact us today to learn more about the many other ways we can help you comfortably and safely live in your own home for as long as possible!