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Suggest Treatment For Severe Depression And Constipation In An Elderly Person
Question: My query is regarding my Father age 67years. Background Retired Doctor from govt service in 2011. He never did practice after retirement. He was a fond loving person and used to talk a lot till last December.
Problem started from the end of December when there was a sudden increment in the blood pressure to 190 and remained on same height for a week. He consulted specialist and later BP came back to normal range.
From the same time he went into depression. He used to had weight 85Kgs and now it is reduced to 73Kgs(In last 3 months).
He feels himself very much disconnected from everyone. Sound irritates him and he does not talk much. Very little hunger( 2 chapati in morning and 2 in evening). Constipation problem.
He consulted the same problem with general physician. He suggested Tablet fluanxol(0.5mg twice a day). It helped him but now a days it was showing some side effects So, he dropped the same b after taking 2 monthsy himself and started taking Alprazolam(This gives him a lot of relief).
I am very much worried for his health. Please suggest
Problem started from the end of December when there was a sudden increment in the blood pressure to 190 and remained on same height for a week. He consulted specialist and later BP came back to normal range.
From the same time he went into depression. He used to had weight 85Kgs and now it is reduced to 73Kgs(In last 3 months).
He feels himself very much disconnected from everyone. Sound irritates him and he does not talk much. Very little hunger( 2 chapati in morning and 2 in evening). Constipation problem.
He consulted the same problem with general physician. He suggested Tablet fluanxol(0.5mg twice a day). It helped him but now a days it was showing some side effects So, he dropped the same b after taking 2 monthsy himself and started taking Alprazolam(This gives him a lot of relief).
I am very much worried for his health. Please suggest
Brief Answer:
I do not think alprazolam is sufficient
Detailed Answer:
Dear XXXXXXX
Thanks for using Healthcaremagic.
From the available description there are two possibilities for his condition. The first is to have hypertensive encephalopathy sequelae as he suffered with extremely high blood pressure. In addition to above symptoms it is possible he suffered with ischaemic changes in certain areas of brain which can be revealed on the MRI brain.
The second possibility as you narrated is clinical depression. The chances are more as there is little communication, irritability, weight loss, loss of appetite and poor oral intake.
However as the treatment is symptomatic one your doctor should consider use of antidepressant. I often use desvenlafaxine 50-100 patients in individuals with similar history and find good results with it. Alprazolam is just a benzodiazepine and can help for some extent but in long run it is likely to cause more problems than benefits.
I hope this answers you.
If you have any further query, I would be glad to help you.
If not, you may close the discussion and if possible you may rate the answer for my future patients.
In future if you wish to contact me directly, you can use the below mentioned link:
http://doctor.healthcaremagic.com/doctors/dr-ashok-kumar/67386
Thanks and regards.
I do not think alprazolam is sufficient
Detailed Answer:
Dear XXXXXXX
Thanks for using Healthcaremagic.
From the available description there are two possibilities for his condition. The first is to have hypertensive encephalopathy sequelae as he suffered with extremely high blood pressure. In addition to above symptoms it is possible he suffered with ischaemic changes in certain areas of brain which can be revealed on the MRI brain.
The second possibility as you narrated is clinical depression. The chances are more as there is little communication, irritability, weight loss, loss of appetite and poor oral intake.
However as the treatment is symptomatic one your doctor should consider use of antidepressant. I often use desvenlafaxine 50-100 patients in individuals with similar history and find good results with it. Alprazolam is just a benzodiazepine and can help for some extent but in long run it is likely to cause more problems than benefits.
I hope this answers you.
If you have any further query, I would be glad to help you.
If not, you may close the discussion and if possible you may rate the answer for my future patients.
In future if you wish to contact me directly, you can use the below mentioned link:
http://doctor.healthcaremagic.com/doctors/dr-ashok-kumar/67386
Thanks and regards.
Note: For further guidance on mental health, Click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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