My father has just commenced treatment for spinal TB , ATK 4 has been prescribed. He has been suffering from body pain for over a year and now after two MRIs that show degeneration of D7&8 vertibre, they are treating him for spinal TB. The treatment commenced 8 days ago but the body pain has increased significantly, so much so that he is finding it very difficult to move about. My questions :-1.  Is this a reaction to the ATK 4 ?2.  How long for the medication to take effect ?3.  Does he need a second opinion / tests for some other ailment ?He is 75 yrs old
Hi. Spinal tuberculosis is treated for at least 1.5-2 years with anti-tuberculous medications. It takes a long time to heal and for the pain to subside. Bed rest is recommended at least for the initial few months. AKT4 usually does not cause body pains unless there is some side effect like hepatitis and loss of appetite associated with this. By the way, I'm not really convinced based on the MRI report that he has tuberculosis of the spine, because degeneration is a very normal physiologic phenomenon at his age. I guess you need to take another opinion from a good doctor for the same. Thank you.