6/26 - Psychosomatic Presentations of GI illness

Question 1

SSRIs for IBD patients?

Answer 1

• IBD patients may be more sensitive to the tendency of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) to cause diarrhea, and tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) should not be given to patients at risk for toxic megacolon.

Question 2

What causes liver encephalopathy and how does it present

Answer 2

When most of the liver is destroyed, blood coming through the intestines no longer flows through the liver at all. This allows toxic accumulation of ammonia going straight from the intestines to the brain

Slow onset drowsiness, irritability leading to stupor and coma

Question 3

How does Hepatitis C cause depression?

Answer 3

It doesn’t

Interferon Alpha used to treat it DOES cause depression

Question 4

Psychiatric symptoms + abdominal pain could be…

Answer 4

Porphyria

Question 5

Somatoform disorder

Answer 5

Disorder characterized by a pathological focus on physical symptoms