Over-medicated mother needs a switch

July 9, 2011 By

DEAR DR. GOTT: I am a 31-year-old single mother who suffers from severe back pain and depression/anxiety. My doctor currently has me taking more than 13 prescription drugs daily. I feel overmedicated, but when I talk to him, all he does it prescribe more pills. What can I do?

DEAR READER: Based on your brief note, it appears that your doctor isn’t listening to you at all. I recommend you switch to another physician who will sit down with you to review your medications and determine which ones can be eliminated. You should also have a physical examination and imaging studies to determine the cause of your back pain. I also recommend blood work to check your liver and kidney functions and, more important, to ensure that the medications aren’t causing more harm than good.

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Ten drugs are simply too many

June 22, 2011 By

DEAR DR. GOTT: My 79-year-old mother is taking gabapentin, Lortab, a muscle relaxer, Paxil, Klonopin, metformin, Synthroid, Lasix, Singulair and Celebrex. She has bone-on-bone in her knees, diabetes and COPD. She weighs 220 pounds and is 5 feet 2 inches tall. Her general health is poor.

I’m afraid she is going to fall with all this medication because she is groggy all the time now. Do you think some of these medications are duplicates?

DEAR READER: Initially, I would like to know if one physician ordered all 10 medications or if she is seeing one or more specialists in addition to her primary care physician. If she has only one provider, he or she is obviously aware of the list of drugs, but if several doctors are involved, they may not all be up to speed.
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