Comorbid Addiction (ETOH and Gambling) 53-year-old Puerto Rican Female

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Female

Introduction to the case (1 page)

· Briefly explain and summarize the case for this Assignment. Be sure to include the specific patient factors that may impact your decision making when prescribing medication for this patient.

BACKGROUND

Mrs. Maria Perez is a 53 year old Puerto Rican female who presents today due to a rather “embarrassing problem.”

SUBJECTIVE

Mrs. Perez admits that she has had “problems” with alcohol since her father died in her late teens. She reports that she has struggled with alcohol since her 20’s and has been involved with Alcoholics Anonymous “on and off” for the past 25 years. She states that for the past 2 years, she has been having more and more difficulty maintaining her sobriety since the opening of the new “Rising Sun” casino near her home. Mrs. Perez states that she and a friend went to visit the new casino during its grand opening at which point she was “hooked.” She states that she gets “such a high” when she is gambling. While gambling, she “enjoys a drink or two” to help calm her during high-stakes games. She states that this often gives way to more drinking and more reckless gambling. She also reports that her cigarette smoking has increased over the past 2 years and she is concerned about the negative effects of the cigarette smoking on her health.

She states that she attempts to abstain from drinking but she gets such a “high” from the act of gambling that she needs a few drinks to “even out.” She also notices that when she drinks, she doesn’t smoke “as much,” but she enjoys smoking when she is playing at the slot machines. She also reports that she has gained weight from drinking so much. She currently weights 122 lbs., which represents a 7 lb. weight gain from her usual 115 lb. weight.

Mrs. Perez is quite concerned today because she borrowed over $50,000 from her retirement account to pay off her gambling debts, and her husband does not know.

MENTAL STATUS EXAM

The client is a 53 year old Puerto Rican female who is alert and oriented to person, place, time, and event. She is dressed appropriately for the weather and time of year. Her speech is clear, coherent, and goal directed. Her eye contact is somewhat avoidant during the clinical interview. When you make eye contact with her, she looks away or looks down. She demonstrates no noteworthy mannerisms, gestures, or tics. Her self-reported mood is “sad.” Affect is appropriate to content of conversation and self-reported mood. She denies visual or auditory hallucinations, and no delusional or paranoid thought processes are readily appreciated. Insight and judgment are grossly intact; however, impulse control is impaired. She is currently denying suicidal or homicidal ideation.

Diagnosis: Gambling disorder, alcohol use disorder

Select what you should do:

Vivitrol (naltrexone) injection, 380 mg intramuscularly in the gluteal region every 4 weeks

Antabuse (disulfiram) 250 mg orally daily

Campral (acamprosate) 666 mg orally three times/day

Female

Decision Point One

AAntabuse (disulfiram) 250 mg orally every morningntabuse (disulfiram) 250 mg orally every morning

Decision #1 (1 page)

· Which decision did you select?

· Why did you select this decision? Be specific and support your response with clinically relevant and patient-specific resources, including the primary literature.

· Why did you not select the other two options provided in the exercise? Be specific and support your response with clinically relevant and patient-specific resources, including the primary literature.

· What were you hoping to achieve by making this decision? Support your response with evidence and references to the Learning Resources (including the primary literature).

· Explain how ethical considerations may impact your treatment plan and communication with patients. Be specific and provide examples.

RESULTS OF DECISION POINT ONE

· Client returns to clinic in four weeks

· Mrs. Perez reports to the office complaining of sedation, fatigue, and a “metallic taste” in her mouth, which “seems to be going away.” She also reports that she had just one drink about 5 days after starting the drug and thought that she would “die.” She reports that her face was red, and she felt that her heart would “pound right out of my chest.”

· Mrs. Perez also reports that she continues to visit the casino but has not been spending as much money there. She has noticed that her cigarette smoking is increasing

Decision Point Two

o Continue current dose of Antabuse and refer to counseling for ongoing gambling issuesntinue current dose of Antabuse and refer to counseling for ongoing gambling issues

Decision #2 (1 page)

· Why did you select this decision? Be specific and support your response with clinically relevant and patient-specific resources, including the primary literature.

· What were you hoping to achieve by making this decision? Support your response with evidence and references to the Learning Resources (including the primary literature).

· Explain how ethical considerations may impact your treatment plan and communication with patients. Be specific and provide examples.

RESULTS OF DECISION POINT TWO

· Client returns to clinic in four weeks

· Mrs. Perez in 4 weeks and reports that she has met with the counselor, but she did not really like her. She also started going to a local meeting of Gamblers Anonymous

· She states that last week, for the first time, she spoke during the meeting. She reports feeling supported in this group. She also reports that she is still smoking quite a bit

Decision Point Three

Explore the issue that Mrs. Perez is having with her counselor, encourage her to continue attending the Gamblers Anonymous meetings, and discuss smoking cessation options

Decision #3 (1 page)

· Why did you select this decision? Be specific and support your response with clinically relevant and patient-specific resources, including the primary literature.

· What were you hoping to achieve by making this decision? Support your response with evidence and references to the Learning Resources (including the primary literature).

· Explain how ethical considerations may impact your treatment plan and communication with patients. Be specific and provide examples.

Explore the issue that Mrs. Perez is having with her counselor, encourage her to continue attending the Gamblers Anonymous meetings, and discuss smoking cessation options

DECISION POINT THREE

Sedation/fatigue is a common complaint of people who take Antabuse; the best approach would be to change the administration time to the evening. The “metallic” taste in Mrs. Perez’s mouth is also another side effect that lessens and may fully go away with the passage of time. When a person taking disulfiram ingests alcohol, they will most likely experience “flushing,” tachycardia, nausea, and vomiting.

Although controversy exists in the literature regarding how long to maintain a client on disulfiram, 8 weeks is probably too soon to consider discontinuation. The psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner should explore the issues that Mrs. Perez is having with her counselor. As will be covered in more depth in future courses, ruptures in the therapeutic alliance can result in the client stopping therapy. Clearly, if the client does not continue with therapy, the likelihood of the gambling problem spontaneously remitting is lower (as opposed to the client who receives therapy). Recall that there are no FDA-approved treatments for gambling addiction, and the mainstay of treatment for this disorder is counseling. Since Mrs. Perez reports good perceived support from the Gamblers Anonymous meetings, she should be encouraged to continue her participation with this group.

Conclusion (1 page)

· Summarize your recommendations on the treatment options you selected for this patient. Be sure to justify your recommendations and support your response with clinically relevant and patient-specific resources, including the primary literature.

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