Many years ago now, I was called in on a case of a 90+ year old woman who was about to be kicked out of her assisted-living apartment as she was exceeding the level of care they would/could provide. She had been having falls and had sustained multiple injuries – from bruises and skin tears to a few injuries that were more serious, including a broken pelvis.
The primary care doctor believed she was having issues with postural blood pressure changes causing dizziness and loss of balance. A physical therapist and I evaluated her. Upon eval, she displayed movements similar to what many medical people would call Tardive Dyskinesia.
Considering the overwhelming lists of medications these elderly people are often on, she was taking only about 5, one of which was what is considered a ‘low’ dose of gabapentin – 100mg twice daily - which her previous MD had started months prior for some mild postherpetic neuralgia. Knowing there was likely a root cause to the falls, we sought to take her off any meds that might not be deemed critically necessary. So it was decided we would wean her off the gabapentin.
And when we did? She stopped falling. Like…STOPPED. Immediately. She lived there several more years and though she physically weakened as she advanced in age, she never again had the chronic falls that initially brought us in to see her.
It goes to demonstrate that often these dangerous medications can set something else off in your body. And too often the connection is not made and more meds are often added in a weak attempt to control the symptoms.
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“It's the ‘let's just throw something at the wall and hope that it magically sticks’ drug," said Jordan Covvey, an assistant professor of pharmacy administration at Duquesne University School of Pharmacy. "There’s a lot of damage that could be happening with that sort of strategy."
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