19 Sept 2023 • "Please help me, Doctor! I have been having a dry cough for months now and nothing seems to help"😷

No, its not a post - nasal drip, acid reflux and definitely does not seem to be a post - infectious cough and before you ask, the patient tells you that he is not taking ACE inhibitors. You know patients are internet savvy these days.😎

• The patient's PFTs and CXR turn out to be normal. You decide to prescribe him a trial of an oral glucocorticoid, and after 5 days the patient comes back to you feeling much better. 🤗

That's right, the diagnosis is Cough - variant asthma. 🫁

Let's consider another case of a 70 year old female who is a known case of CHF, and you have diagnosed her with polymyalgia rheumatica.

For patients with fluid overload, if you need to give steroids, you may want to give one with minimal mineralocorticoid activity.🚨

In the session on 'Outpatient Steroid Use in 10 Questions', Dr. Tushar Shah has discussed the use of glucocorticoids right from their pharmacokinetics like potency, duration of action and mineralocorticoid activity to their application in various conditions like cranial nerve disorders, obstructive lung diseases and other painful conditions like acute herpes zoster and acute gout.

However, the side - effects related to steroid use have always stumped clinicians and to mitigate these issues, Dr. Shah has addressed the common mistakes made in prescribing glucocorticoids such as inappropriate indication for prescription, rapid tapering of long - term steroids and so on.🙅‍♀️

Nonetheless, certain conditions inevitably require the long terms use of glucocorticoids and Dr. Tushar encourages us to monitor patients on long - term steroid therapy.🧑‍⚕️

Wondering what are the best ways to keep your patients free from the adverse effects of long - term steroid use?

Don't worry...we have got you covered! ✅

Get your questions answered right here on Medflix 💛

Click here for the replay on Outpatient Steroid Use in 10 Questions by Dr. Tushar Shah.