I think I’ve seen this scenario play out more times than I would like. A patient is prescribed both a laxative, Senna, and Questran (cholestyramine), a medication used to manage diarrhea symptoms. This example of the prescribing cascade often presents slowly...
Counteracting drug effects are all too common in geriatric and polypharmacy patients. I wanted to share common examples that I’ve seen in my practice as a clinical pharmacist. NSAIDs vs. AntihypertensivesCase: A 68-year-old man with hypertension controlled on...
One of my biggest pet peeves is the use of sulfonylureas with insulin. Recall that sulfonylureas stimulate the release of insulin and in many patients with Type 2 diabetes we may not be getting much out of the sulfonylurea or in some cases, the extra boost in insulin...
When patients have anemia, supplements often get prescribed. To many of our polypharmacy patients, excessive prescribing can lead to an increase in pill burden that may not always be necessary. When looking at deprescribing supplements, anemia is an excellent disease...
Nitrofurantoin is often used in patients for UTI prophylaxis. One potential concern with nitrofurantoin use is pulmonary toxicity. This can often be overlooked in patients as a potential cause of respiratory problems. Here’s a case scenario where nitrofurantoin...
