• Jarlsburg@lemmy.world
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    10 days ago

    Many years ago was working in a pharmacy and a patient came in for a prescription for an steroid inhaler. Steroid inhalers can cause a fungal infection in your mouth if you don’t rinse and spit after using them. I told this to the patient’s mother but she said that the doctor told them to not inhale the spray and instead hold it in the mouth and then rinse and swallow. I told them that didn’t sound right and could be harmful but she insisted.

    I called the doctor who told me the patient had a relatively rare condition called eosinophilic esophagitis that required they swallow instead of inhale to reduce the swelling in their esophagus and the chance of a fungal infection was manageable. Turns out that physician was performing a clinical trial which is now a recognized (off label) therapy for the disease.

    I use that experience when I am training others on why it is important to listen to everything the patient/client/customer is saying, and not to immediately discount it because it sounds wrong.