Can antibiotics effect mental status?

Philip Copitch, Ph.D. – Author of Change: How to bring real change to your life: The psychology and secrets of highly effective people

An interesting report crossed my desk today. It was published in MedScape Psychiatry.

Antibiotics and Mental Status Changes

All medication can potentially change your mental status, the way you think, feel, or react. In this article, pharmacists from Albany Medical Hospital, Albany NY review this question.

They point out:

Any change in mental status should always prompt a review of medications as a potential contributing factor. Antimicrobials, a drug class that is an often-overlooked etiology, have been associated with a wide range of neurologic symptoms, including sedation, sleep disturbance, confusion, delirium, seizures, mood changes, psychosis, and hallucinations.

A chart of drugs and risk factors is included.

Read the report