Author Question: A patient who has been taking levothyroxine (Synthroid) for 2 months has all of the following ... (Read 56 times)

WWatsford · **on:** Jul 23, 2018

A patient who has been taking levothyroxine (Synthroid) for 2 months has all of the following conditions. Which condition indicates to the nurse that the drug therapy is effective?

a. Increased thirst
b. Daily bowel movement for 1 week
c. White blood cell count of 6000/mm3
d. Weight unchanged for the last 3 weeks

Question 2

A patient who is prescribed liothyronine (Cytomel) also takes warfarin (Coumadin). Which laboratory blood test result indicates to the nurse a possible drug interaction?

a. Hematocrit 42
b. Hemoglobin 14.2 g/dL
c. Blood urea nitrogen (BUN) 12 mg/dL
d. International normalized ratio (INR) 4.5

jonathanballen97 · **Reply #1 on:** Jul 23, 2018

Answer to Question 1

B
Hypothyroidism decreases GI motility significantly. One of the parameters that can be used to determine if changes in the dose of a thyroid replacement drug should be adjusted is the fre-quency of bowel movements. A bowel movement every day is a strong indication that the dose of thyroid replacement hormone is adequate.

Answer to Question 2

D
Liothyronine increases the effectiveness of warfarin. Warfarin's effectiveness is measured by the INR. This value should be between 1.5 and 3.0 in a patient taking warfarin. With an INR level of 4.5 the patient is at extreme risk for excessive bleeding.