Georges Marcoux was well on his way up the corporate ladder when he was struck by unbearable stress and anxiety.
When he couldn’t sleep, he went to the doctor and was prescribed oxazepam, a benzodiazepine used to treat anxiety.
It helped, and he ended up taking medication every day for 35 years.
“It was routine,” he said. “So I never asked myself why. I never asked myself if I should quit.”
Over the years, he said, neither doctors nor pharmacists have ever questioned why people take drugs that can become habit-forming and increase the risk of accidents.
Marcoux said it wasn’t until she started learning more about the side effects of the medication she was taking that she decided she needed to stop taking it.
“You could fall and you could have driving problems,” he said. “I also had five brothers and sisters who died of Alzheimer’s disease, but I wasn’t going to go down that path.”
Dr. Emily MacDonald, director of Canada’s Medication Appropriation and Deprescribing Network, said older adults are especially at risk of being prescribed drugs that may be inappropriate for them.
That’s because they often deal with multiple illnesses at once and have limited time with their doctors.
“When you’re in the doctor’s office, you’re under a lot of time pressure, so it’s faster to write a prescription than to explain why there isn’t necessarily a solution to the problem at hand. Sometimes “Sometimes there is no solution, so we choose the only option because there are no good drug options,” she said.
MacDonald and his team at the McGill University Health Center Research Institute (MUHC) looked at prescription data collected between 2013 and 2021 and found that 42 per cent of people over 65 were at risk of having a fall. found to be taking at least one inappropriate medication. and cognitive impairment. The three most overprescribed are:
- Gabapentinoids: anti-seizure drugs
- Proton pump inhibitors: treatment of gastric reflux disease
- Antipsychotics: Used to treat mood and sleep disorders.
She says that while many of these drugs are effective, they are not meant to be taken long-term, and as we age, the way we metabolize them also changes.
“I think patients really need the authority to ask, “What are the side effects of this drug? Would I be better off not taking it at all? Are there other treatments besides drugs?” she says. I did.
She added that decision-making needs to be more shared between prescribers and patients.
In January, the Quebec Association of Physicians announced further measures to monitor doctors who may be overprescribing drugs such as opioids and benzodiazepines.
Mr McDonald said there was growing awareness of the issue and more resources available to help people quit smoking. People who want to learn more about the medications they are taking and seek support can visit: Canadian Medication Appropriation and Deprescribing Network Website.
Participating in a sleep study helped Marcou come off oxazepam. The process took a year and was grueling, but he said he not only felt better, but also slept better.
