At one time in the hospital, a patient was sedated using benzodiazepines because of his high-anxiety levels. However, the patient did not respond rapidly as expected and ended up being administered with more of the drug to realize its results. Later, there was a follow-up to determine whether the drugs had any side effects on the patients due to the high dosage than had been administered to him. However, there were no notable side effects due to the interaction of the high dosage of such drugs.
People differ in drug pharmacokinetics, meaning that individuals experience different effects depending on various factors that influence the ability of the drug to reach receptor sites. One factor that has significantly influenced the amount of drugs to administer to patients is body size. In some situations, large people require high doses of drugs, unlike those with a smaller body because of the differences in dilution in the blood stream (Weerink et.al., 2017). Age is also another factor influencing a patient’s pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamics processes. Older people need lower doses, unlike younger people because of the prolonged effect of drugs in older people (Sera & Uritsky, 2016). Besides, drug metabolism and excretion is affected by the reduction of the effectiveness of the liver and kidney in excretion through urine.
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Also, whether an individual is a first or second-generation user will determine the effectiveness of a drug. For first time users, a drug will take effect faster and its effects last longer because the time of excretion is reduced (Wijesinghe, 2016). For the patient administered with benzodiazepines, the body size was large, he was in his early twenties, and had used the drug occasionally to treat his anxiety. Perhaps, these were the reasons that impacted the ability of the drugs to take effect rapidly and the lack of side effects due to his occasional use.
In this case, the patient showed less resistance to high doses of benzodiazepines. Given that the patient’s history shows recurring anxiety, there is a need for behavioral therapy, rather than seeking medication. Seeking psychological counseling could assist the patient in learning how to control his emotions and deal with situations that might affect his anxiety levels. Besides, a physician should recommend other drug regimens to be used with the benzodiazepines medications which should be administered in high doses. Generally, the patient in this case requires psychological therapy to help him deal with stressors that trigger his anxiety.
References
Sera, L., & Uritsky, T. (2016). Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic changes in older adults
and implications for palliative care. Progress in Palliative Care , 24 (5), 255-261.
Weerink, M. A., Struys, M. M., Hannivoort, L. N., Barends, C. R., Absalom, A. R., & Colin, P.
(2017). Clinical pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of dexmedetomidine. Clinical pharmacokinetics , 56 (8), 893-913.
Wijesinghe, R. (2016). A review of pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic interactions with
antipsychotics. Mental Health Clinician , 6 (1), 21-27.
