Your Home. Your Safety. Your Choices.
If you feel groggy on a nighttime bathroom trip or lightheaded when you stand, tell your pharmacist or prescriber. Some medicines can affect alertness, balance, vision, or blood pressure. The timing of your symptoms can help your care team decide what to check. [1]
Check with your prescriber before changing a dose, changing when you take it, skipping a dose, or stopping a medicine. [1,2]
1. Bring a complete list
Include prescriptions, over-the-counter products, vitamins, and supplements. Write down the dose and when you actually take each one, including occasional sleep or allergy products. [1]
2. Describe what happened
“I felt lightheaded when I stood up to go to the bathroom” gives your care team a place to start. Mention falls, near-falls, and any recent change in medicine or dose. [1,3]
3. Ask which medicines deserve a closer look
Some sleep aids, anxiety medicines, opioid pain medicines, antidepressants, antihistamines, and medicines that affect blood pressure can contribute to fall risk. Ask what each medicine does for you and whether it could be contributing to your symptoms. [1]
4. Make medication changes with your prescriber
Check with your prescriber before stopping a medicine, skipping a dose, taking less, or changing when you take it. Some medicines need to be tapered gradually, and your care team may need to monitor your symptoms or the condition the medicine treats. A pharmacist can review everything you take and coordinate with your prescriber. If you feel sleepy, lightheaded, or unsteady after a medication change, contact your care team promptly for guidance. [1,2]
5. Look at the whole situation
A nighttime fall may warrant a review of your medicines, how your blood pressure responds when you stand, your balance, and the route to the bathroom. Tell your care team what you remember so they can decide what to assess first. [2,3]
Three actions for today
Make a list. Include everything you take.
Write down one example. Note a fall, near-fall, or episode of unsteadiness and what you were doing at the time.
Ask for a medication review. “Could anything I take be affecting my balance? If a change would help, how should we make it safely, and when should we follow up?”
What the evidence shows
Clinical guidelines recommend a structured medication review as part of a broader fall prevention plan. A systematic review found the effect of medication review alone on falls remains uncertain. [2–4]
A small 1999 randomized trial found fewer falls after supervised withdrawal of selected psychotropic medicines. A larger 2024 randomized trial evaluated patient education and clinician decision support and found no reduction in falls requiring medical treatment. The studies tested different interventions and measured different fall outcomes. [5,6]
References
- CDC STEADI. Pharmacy Care (STEADI-Rx).
- NICE. Falls assessment and prevention (NG249, 2025).
- Montero-Odasso et al. World guidelines for falls prevention (2022).
- Seppala et al. Medication review and deprescribing as a single intervention (2022).
- Campbell et al. Psychotropic medication withdrawal and home exercise trial (1999).
- Phelan et al. Reducing CNS-active medications to prevent falls and injuries (2024).