The way to remember the effects of anticholinergic medications is using the mnemonic Hot as a hare, blind as a bat, dry as a bone, red as a beet, mad as a hatter.
- Hot as a hare: increased body temperature
- Blind as a bat: mydriasis (dilated pupils)
- Dry as a bone: dry mouth, dry eyes, decreased sweat
- Red as a beet: flushed face
- Mad as a hatter: delirium
Common anticholinergic medications are dimenhydrinate (Gravol) and low-potency antipsychotics, benztropine, atropine and antihistamines.
Don’t forget about the other toxidromes!
Google helped me find your image, and I feel very lucky about it. I have to hold a class about cholinomimetics and cholinolitic drugs. Though in my country we don’t use this mnemonic to describe the various symptoms of acute atropine toxicity, I hope I found the best way to explain them to the audience, in a kind of funny way. Thank you for sharing!
I loved the pics ^_^. Nice work :)
For me, I prefer using ABCDs for mnemonics.
Anorexia
Blurred vision
Constipation/Confusion
Dry Mouth
Sedation/Stasis of urine
Good one.
This is better
this is the best!!!!!!…..so easy to remember ;):)
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Don’t forget ileus, urinary retention and tachycardia. Might consider adding the other colloquialisms “the bowel and bladder lose their tone, and the heart runs alone”.
Does anyone know where this mnemonic originated?