Bonus Episode: Centanafadine: The New Triple Reuptake Inhibitor for ADHD

Does your ADHD medication seem to work brilliantly for most of the month and then suddenly feel less effective before your period? In this bonus episode of Prescribe or Pass: The PoP Pod, pharmacist Kate Thomas explores the fascinating and still under-researched relationship between ADHD, stimulant medication and female hormones. We look at how oestrogen and progesterone may interact with dopamine, why ADHD symptoms can worsen during the luteal phase, what happens during perimenopause, and th...

Nausea and vomiting are common in palliative care but they are not diagnoses in themselves. In this episode, we look at how to work backwards from the symptom and ask what is actually causing it. Gastric stasis, opioids, constipation, metabolic disturbances, vestibular problems, raised intracranial pressure and bowel obstruction can all cause nausea and they do not all need the same treatment. We unpack where commonly used antiemetics such as metoclopramide, haloperidol, ondansetron, prochlor...

Why can someone feel profoundly breathless even when their oxygen levels are normal? And why might morphine help more than oxygen? In Episode 4 of our palliative care series, we unpack the difference between breathlessness and hypoxaemia, why oxygen is not always the answer, and how low-dose opioids can reduce the distress and sensation of struggling to breathe. We also cover reversible causes of breathlessness, the surprisingly useful role of a handheld fan, non-drug strategies, COPD and car...

Opioids are some of the most important medicines in palliative care and some of the most misunderstood. In this episode, we take a practical deep dive into morphine, oxycodone, hydromorphone, fentanyl, buprenorphine and methadone, including how their potency differs, what changes in renal impairment, and why opioid conversion is never just simple arithmetic. We also look at opioid rotation, breakthrough dosing, fentanyl and buprenorphine patches, rapid-onset fentanyl products such as Abstral ...

Pain in palliative care is rarely as simple as “give more morphine.” In this episode of Prescribe or Pass: The PoP Pod, we start with the most important step: working out what kind of pain the patient is actually experiencing. We explore nociceptive, neuropathic, visceral and bone pain, and how the likely mechanism should guide treatment. We also look at where paracetamol, NSAIDs, opioids and adjuvant medicines fit, and why radiotherapy, positioning, treating constipation or addressing other ...