Hi, My Mother Is On TB Medication For Last 3

Posted on Wed, 10 Jun 2020

Question: Hi, My mother is on TB medication for last 3 months. Ever since she started it her itching has become extreme to what was very mild before she started her medication. She is on Akt4 for initial 3 months. Please advise.

Answered by Dr. Vaishalee Punj (4 hours later)

Brief Answer:
We need to discontinue the medicine that is causing extreme itching

Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome to Ask A Doctor service.

I have reviewed your query and here is my advice.

AKT4 is a combination of 4 medicines that are usually continued for 2 months only. Then testing is again done after 2 months. If bacteria are not found, then patient is advised to take isoniazid and rifampin only for next 4 months.
Is she taking any other medicines? How is her sputum test currently? If the sputum test is negative we can discontinue some of her medicines.
So please get her sputum culture and ZN staining done. Also repeat complete blood count and liver function test.
Let me know if she has any of the following symptoms: fever, feeling unwell, jaundice (yellow colour in eyes or skin), any rash especially in mouth, eyes or genitalia. If any of these are present then we need to stop all TB treatments and continue her on a different antibiotic.

Kindly revert back with all the above details.
Dr Vaishalee

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar