Q. My mother has type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. Each drug she takes seems to cause side effects that lead to the prescription of more pills to cure the side effects of each new drug. She is on doxazosin, furosemide, carvedilol, repaglinide, digoxin, warfarin, metformin, a beta blocker, a statin and allopurinol.
I am wondering if drug companies have a vested interest in overmedicating the old, since all this started the moment she became eligible for Medicare. She is never taken off a pill, just given a new one. This is very worrisome since she used to be in good health and now seems continually bothered by multiple blood tests and new side effects.
A. We share your concern about this long list of drugs, since there are a number of potential interactions. The combination of the diuretic furosemide with the heart medicine digoxin calls for extremely close monitoring of potassium and magnesium levels.
Furosemide may also increase the blood levels of the diabetes drug metformin, leading to more side effects, while the heart drug carvedilol can increase furosemide levels.
There are far too many tricky issues here to discuss all of them. Your mother’s doctor should review this list and see if any could be discontinued safely.
To help you with that conversation, we are sending you our Guide to Drugs and Older People and our Drug Safety Questionnaire.
