by Eric Christianson | Dec 19, 2013 | Educational Case Studies For Pharmacists, Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine Case Studies
I had a patient who was rehabbing a knee replacement, and having some difficulty sleeping. Pain was a contributing factor, but appeared to be pretty well managed and eventually determined to not be a factor in this case. I had discussed the case with nursing, and they...
by Eric Christianson | Dec 10, 2013 | Cardiovascular Case Studies, Educational Case Studies For Pharmacists
I’ve had a request to cover some Digoxin – Digoxin can be a challenging drug at times. If a patient is elderly, this can really complicate things. Another thing that can complicate Digoxin dosing is renal function – which obviously usually declines with age, leading...
by Eric Christianson | Dec 7, 2013 | Dermatology, ENT, Ophthalmology Case Studies, Educational Case Studies For Pharmacists, Neurology, Pain, and Musculoskeletal Case Studies
Patient had a recent seizure thought to be due to not taking their Xanax over a period of a few days. The individual apparently had a seizure history in the past, but this was not clear in the medical records. This patient ended up getting hospitalized due to the...
by Eric Christianson | Dec 5, 2013 | Educational Case Studies For Pharmacists, Endocrine Case Studies
In making some of these decisions about medication changes, there isn’t always a perfect answer, and people disagree, but I didn’t write this post to tell you that people disagree – hopefully most of you have figured that out by now! Anyway, here’s a brief overview of...
by Eric Christianson | Nov 10, 2013 | Educational Case Studies For Pharmacists, Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine Case Studies
In just one more example of the prescribing cascade, I had a resident at a nursing home that was prescribed Lexapro for depressive and anxiety type symptoms. A few weeks after starting this medication, the resident had worsening confusion, change in cognition, and was...
by Eric Christianson | Nov 9, 2013 | Educational Case Studies For Pharmacists, Neurology, Pain, and Musculoskeletal Case Studies
In geriatrics, I see frequent use of acteylcholinesterace inhibitors for dementia. Some examples include: Aricept (donepezil), Exelon (rivastigmine). One of the hallmark side effects of this class of dementia drugs is GI symptoms and weight loss. Nausea, loose stools,...
