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Suggest Treatment For Arthritis In Neck, Headaches And Constipation
Question: My 86 year old grandmother has arthritis in her neck which is also causing headaches. She currently takes paracetamol for the pain, she can't take ibuprofen because it caused internal bleeding in the past. She also takes Warfarin for irregular heartbeats, which after a difficult start has been the same dosage for a year now and also blood pressure tablets. After visiting the doctor today she has been prescribed Amitriptyline. After reading the side effects and knowing she already has dizzy spells and suffers from constipation, we are worried this will exacerbate her problems rather than help.
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Brief Answer:
give it a try for two weeks
Detailed Answer:
Hello XXXX,
Thank you for posting your question to HCM.
I understand your concern very well. Every medicine has side effects, but when used in appropriate doses it may be well tolerated. When doctors prescribe medicines they weight the benefits from the side effects that it causes, and if the benefits are higher then its ok to use it.
About your grandmother, considering her age (some drugs are given with caution in her age), and on the other side considering that she is taking other medicines so it still limits the choices, because drugs should not interact with each other...I think Amitriptyline is a good choice to use. If it will be well tolerated from her, will have to see while she is using it. Sometimes the side effects it causes to one person, it may not cause the the others.
So, my recommendation would be to try it for 2 weeks or so, be careful in taking a diet with more water/fluids and if she can't tolerate it, then discuss it with your doctor so you find together the next best option to treat her high blood pressure.
Hope this is helpful.
Let me know if you have other questions, I would be happy to answer.
Take care,
Dr. Papaqako
give it a try for two weeks
Detailed Answer:
Hello XXXX,
Thank you for posting your question to HCM.
I understand your concern very well. Every medicine has side effects, but when used in appropriate doses it may be well tolerated. When doctors prescribe medicines they weight the benefits from the side effects that it causes, and if the benefits are higher then its ok to use it.
About your grandmother, considering her age (some drugs are given with caution in her age), and on the other side considering that she is taking other medicines so it still limits the choices, because drugs should not interact with each other...I think Amitriptyline is a good choice to use. If it will be well tolerated from her, will have to see while she is using it. Sometimes the side effects it causes to one person, it may not cause the the others.
So, my recommendation would be to try it for 2 weeks or so, be careful in taking a diet with more water/fluids and if she can't tolerate it, then discuss it with your doctor so you find together the next best option to treat her high blood pressure.
Hope this is helpful.
Let me know if you have other questions, I would be happy to answer.
Take care,
Dr. Papaqako
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