Me: "Is the Motrin you're taking helping your back pain at all?"
Pt: "I guess so. But I don't like it because lately it makes me too sleepy at night."
Me: "I've never heard of Motrin doing that. That might be from the Elavil you recently started."
Pt: "The Motrin also makes my mouth really dry and cottony."
Me: "That's probably from the Elavil too."
Several minutes later, attending comes into room:
Attending: "So is the Motrin helping you?"
Pt: "It helps, but it makes me tired and it dries out my mouth."
They hear, but don't listen.
ReplyDeleteThat's funny, I've had the same problem with doctors.
ReplyDeleteDr: How is the depakote working?
Me: I'm exhausted all the time, I'm nauseated all the time, I have no appetite, and yet I'm gaining weight.
Dr: Yeah, I've heard depakote can make you more hungry. Maybe we should switch to something that won't make you want to eat so much.
Me: I know my blood sugars aren't the greatest, but I'm struggling to keep hydrated with the nausea.
Dr: Maybe we should switch to Topamax, that's known to cause weight loss instead of making patients hungry all the time.
I had to do my own research (in the early days of the Interwebs) to find out that you don't give diabetics depakote, it can aggravate insulin resistance and, as a result, trigger weight gain no matter caloric intake.
I actually felt really bad because the other day a patient was trying to tell me something and I knew I wasn't getting it. She was kind of manic/tangential. I finally tracked her nurse down and pieced it together, but I could tell when I left her room, she was totally frustrated with me.
DeleteYeah, sorry. I meant to say that my point is, we can all do this sometimes -- just not listen. Our thoughts are on something else, and the words just don't get through.
DeleteI have no small amount of people who feel that motrin makes them sleepy. I actually am beginning to wonder if there is a phenomenon in a subset of the population. (like how we found out coedine Really doesn't work for some people!)
ReplyDeleteActually, a doctor recommended I take an advil on nights when I'm having problems falling asleep. It helps soothe those little aches that you really don't notice until you're trying to get comfortable. I find it works far better than any other sleep aid I've tried.
Delete(and codeine doesn't work for me, either :-P)
Presumably, that's the wisdom behind Tylenol PM :)
DeleteI LOVE MY JOB! haha :P
ReplyDelete:P
DeleteMy baby slept through the night at 2 weeks old! I eat whatever I want and am still skinny! Also, I just got a huge raise!!
:)
AHAHAHAH!!!
Delete