“How to taper off medication” is a question that I have been asked on a frequent basis. Honestly, it is a really challenging question to address and the answer of “it depends” certainly applies. Here’s a few factors that you must think...
A 95 year old female has recently entered a hospice program. Whenever a patient is enrolled in hospice, it is very important to assess the medication regimen and identify medications that are no longer necessary. Quality of life is the top goal when a patient is on...
A 77 year old male has a history of severe COPD. He has been on numerous medications to help treat his COPD. His current regimen Advair 500/50 BID, Spiriva once daily, and Duoneb as needed. His regimen also includes roflumilast which was added about 3-6 months...
It is very important to assess disease states prior to adding new medications. A 73 year old male has terribly dry skin. The dry skin is leading to some itching. His past medication history includes A-Fib, hypothyroidism, BPH, constipation and osteoarthritis. His...
Why are anticholinergics on the naughty list of medications in the elderly (Beer’s criteria)? Side effects. Side effects of anticholinergics can be very troubling. Here’s a list of 6 big ones to remember including an example of the prescribing cascade...
Constipation is often a chronic problem in the elderly and there are many diseases and obviously many medications that can cause constipation. There are ways to try to minimize pill burden in this patient population when reducing the actual number may not be...
