Hopefully with this scenario, I’m going to teach you how half-life may affect antidepressant selection. Adherence to antidepressant therapy is a huge issue for our patients. It is often very challenging in the early stages of treatment to convince patients to...
I always had this weird feeling in pharmacy school about loperamide (Imodium). I remember learning about it when we were taught about opioids. At the time, I couldn’t help but think why isn’t this a controlled substance if it has opioid activity? I’m sure I learned...
I’ve been seeing stories all over the place about the heroin epidemic. It is terribly sad. I watched an episode of 60 minutes recently where they were talking about the epidemic and whether heroin addicts should be treated as criminals or medical patients. That is a...
When using antidepressants, one of the major reasons why we select a medication is the side effects that medication has. In geriatrics where weight loss can be problematic, you may see Remeron (mirtazapine) used to help stimulate appetite and help a patient’s...
TCA’s in the elderly are generally discouraged especially for symptoms of sleep and depression. There are a lot of other options to consider for treatment of both of these issues before TCA’s. While I’m not going to tell you what is ALWAYS right or...
81 year old female at a long term care facility with a history of dementia related behaviors. Whenever you hear dementia related behaviors, do not jump to conclusions. Define the behaviors first. This particular patient refused medications at times, refused...
