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My 88 Yr Old Female Friend Came Home From Nursing
Question: My 88 yr old female friend came home from nursing home one week ago after short term rehab for back pain related to thoracic compression fracture. When she arrived home she was walking with her walker and only standby assist. She did not have pain on her regimen of oxycodone 10 mg three times a day and cyclobenziprine also three times a day. For the past 24 hrs she has been having auditory and visual hallucinations and she has more difficulty walking due to general weakness and fatigue.
Should she stop these medications completely or gradually decrease them until she is able to be seen by her regular MD on Monday afternoon?
Should she stop these medications completely or gradually decrease them until she is able to be seen by her regular MD on Monday afternoon?
Brief Answer:
take less mg of oxycodone
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
both drugs may cause hallucinations although I would expect oxycodone to be more prone to this side effect than cyclobenzaprine. Both drugs have been prescribed to reduce pain. Since she's not having pain anymore she can try to reduce the dosage of oxycodone. She's taking 30mg per day now. Perhaps she can try 25mg per day divided into three doses (10mg-5mg-10mg). Oxycodone dosage should ideally be reduced every few days provided that the patient is comfortable with it. If she's been taking opioids for a long time then a 10% per week reduction of oxycodone would sound reasonable. Otherwise, a faster reduction can be tried.
I would not recommend stopping oxycodone cold turkey...
I hope I've answered your question. Please let me know if you need further assistance.
Kind Regards,
Dr Panagiotis Zografakis,
Internal Medicine Specialist
take less mg of oxycodone
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
both drugs may cause hallucinations although I would expect oxycodone to be more prone to this side effect than cyclobenzaprine. Both drugs have been prescribed to reduce pain. Since she's not having pain anymore she can try to reduce the dosage of oxycodone. She's taking 30mg per day now. Perhaps she can try 25mg per day divided into three doses (10mg-5mg-10mg). Oxycodone dosage should ideally be reduced every few days provided that the patient is comfortable with it. If she's been taking opioids for a long time then a 10% per week reduction of oxycodone would sound reasonable. Otherwise, a faster reduction can be tried.
I would not recommend stopping oxycodone cold turkey...
I hope I've answered your question. Please let me know if you need further assistance.
Kind Regards,
Dr Panagiotis Zografakis,
Internal Medicine Specialist
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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