This is a common question that is asked a lot. Often if you ask two different pharmacists, "Can you use diclofenac gel with diclofenac tablets?" you get two different answers! Put some pharmacology into your recommendation. Check out LinkedIn slide and find out the answer.…
Category: Counselling
Which Intranasal corticosteroids (INCS) to recommend? Who nose!
Which INCS do you recommend? And why? A pharmacy student recently asked if I could write about this. The short answer is, it probably doesn’t matter. After all the AMH writes, ‘All INCS have similar efficacy and onset of action, with optimum effect after several days…
Not ALL fibres are bulk-forming laxatives
There is confusion. A fibre confusion. Question, which fibre supplement is clinically indicated to treat constipation? A) Psyllium (Metamucil®) B) Wheat dextrin (Benefiber®) C) Wheat bran D) A,B,C Hint: the answer isn't D). Confused? Don't worry, I know why. In the AMH (Australian…
NSAIDs and Heavy Menstrual Bleeding
One of the first things we learn and remember about NSAIDs (e.g. ibuprofen, diclofenac, naproxen and mefenamic acid) is they can be used for pain (especially due to inflammation) and fever relief. NSAIDs’ mechanism of COX-1 inhibition produces antiplatelet effects. This explains the increase in…
What adverse effects (AEs) do you choose to counsel on?
From what I’ve seen, the most common “system” most health professionals’ use is, you warn on a few common AEs and 1 or 2 rare ones. Common AEs chosen are the ones patients will most likely experience. E.g. dizziness when starting a blood pressure medicine.…
Eye Drop – Counselling Tip
“Are you on any other medicines?” This is one of the most common question, health professionals, ask when patients start a new medicine.Similarly, when a patient is starting a new eye drop, we should also ask “Are you on any other eye drops?”The use of…
𝐀 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐚𝐬𝐲 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐀𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬.
Notes found on Memorise Medicine. “𝘈 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘩𝘰𝘦𝘢 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘭, 𝘪𝘧 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳.” Most examiners will only give you one mark if you write the adverse effects of a medicine are nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea. This is because you’re essentially…
Understanding the name: H2 antagonist.
Understanding the name: There are a plethora of abbreviations used in the medical world. Some are commonly accepted and others are not. What happens when the abbreviation becomes more common than the actual name? So common is the abbreviation of “H2” in H2 antagonist that…
What is a chesty cough?
Imagine this common scenario. A patient asks, “Do you have something to treat my chesty cough?”Can you straight away picture what type of cough they have? Or is it vague and you would want to ask more questions?When questioning patients about their cough, how many…
Ursodeoxycholic acid & Cholesterol-lowering medicines.
Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) (Ursofalk ®) is used to treat forms of cholestatic liver disease (CLD). Example: primary biliary cirrhosis, primary sclerosing cholangitis and cholestasis related to cystic fibrosis. Hypercholesterolemia is a common feature of CLD. So a patient that needs to take UDCA may already…