In one of the chilly months of 2009, one of very close friend rang me up to share something personal. He was very tense and exhausted.
He briefed me that his wife (middle aged around 37 yrs) is having galactorrohea (milky discharge from both the breasts) for the last 5 months. They had consulted a long list of doctors - Gynaecologists, Endocrinologists, Neurologists ....... but to no avail. Needless to say, all the tests possible under the sun were done with reports being in normal range. The medications like bromocriptine had also been tried.
The impact on the psychology and the moral of the patient was understandable. My friend wanted me to find a solution to this peculiar problem 'which he even cannot discuss with anybody'. I was feeling helpless and sad as I couldn't think of a way by which I could provide relief, even temporarily, to my friend'e wife. And suddenly, I thought that something was being missed and I enquired about the drugs the patient is taking. And yes, she was taking Sumatriptan, which was prescribed for Migraine 6 months back. I could see the rays of hope emanating from the horizon. I requested her to stop the medicine (Sumatriptan) immediately and planned for reassessment after 2 weeks. For Migraine, I put her on Tab Flunarazine.
After 1 month, she was ecstatic when she told me that she had got rid of the embarrasing discharge (Galactorrohea) and the migraine !
It was an important lesson I learnt that day : Taking medication history (the medicines patient is taking) is as, if not less, important as the medication (treatment) you are going to start.
He briefed me that his wife (middle aged around 37 yrs) is having galactorrohea (milky discharge from both the breasts) for the last 5 months. They had consulted a long list of doctors - Gynaecologists, Endocrinologists, Neurologists ....... but to no avail. Needless to say, all the tests possible under the sun were done with reports being in normal range. The medications like bromocriptine had also been tried.
The impact on the psychology and the moral of the patient was understandable. My friend wanted me to find a solution to this peculiar problem 'which he even cannot discuss with anybody'. I was feeling helpless and sad as I couldn't think of a way by which I could provide relief, even temporarily, to my friend'e wife. And suddenly, I thought that something was being missed and I enquired about the drugs the patient is taking. And yes, she was taking Sumatriptan, which was prescribed for Migraine 6 months back. I could see the rays of hope emanating from the horizon. I requested her to stop the medicine (Sumatriptan) immediately and planned for reassessment after 2 weeks. For Migraine, I put her on Tab Flunarazine.
After 1 month, she was ecstatic when she told me that she had got rid of the embarrasing discharge (Galactorrohea) and the migraine !
It was an important lesson I learnt that day : Taking medication history (the medicines patient is taking) is as, if not less, important as the medication (treatment) you are going to start.
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