Saturday, November 19, 2011
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Decoding the Cold & Flu aisle
Disclaimer: I'm only trying to help you be better informed about cold & flu medication. You should always talk to your pharmacist or doctor about any concerns. Do not take medication you may be allergic to. Any choices you make when choosing medication are your own.
You wake up feeling like crap- you know the feeling- achey all over, exhausted, stuffed up, snotty, and slightly disoriented- so you roll out of bed and trek down to the pharmacy. You get to the Cold & Flu aisle, take a look at all of your options, and decide to just grab the nearest box because that will get you back to bed the quickest. Any idea what you just grabbed?
While you may be a little more informed than that, the Cold & Flu aisle can be tricky for anyone- even me, and it's my duty to know what's in that multitude of boxes. Drug companies come out with new products all the time, but they also remarket their current drugs to make things more confus-er to increase their sales. Hopefully, this post will be a good guide for you as we enter cold & flu season.
Malaise
As far as I know, there isn't a medication you can take to decrease that tired-all-over achey feeling. When I'm feeling like this I make sure to get as much sleep as possible, and I drink a ton of water. I usually feel refreshed for a few hours after I wake up, then it gradually gets worse as the day goes on.
Allergy-type symptoms
This includes a runny nose, sneezing, itchy, watery eyes, burning eyes and/or nose. It can also include a sore throat which isn't something you'd think is due to allergy-type symptoms, but when your nose runs, it doesn't just run out of your nose through the front, it also runs out the back and down your throat. That can cause irritation and land you with a sore throat. It's called post-nasal drip.
For these symptoms you need what we call an antihistamine or anti-allergy medicine. Yes, they're marketed toward allergies because those last year-round for a lot of people. Drug companies make more money marketing them this way. An antihistamine is used to dry up your secretions (mucus). For a cold it should make you less runny and gross. It's usually not potent enough to dry you up completely; THIS DOES NOT MEAN YOU SHOULD TAKE MORE.
*Some of these meds are:
Congestion: nasal/head
This feels like pressure in your face and head. You can't breath well through your nose, and usually when you blow your nose, it's not very productive. For this symptom, you'll need a nasal decongestant to help open up those nasal passages.
You can go two routes with this- topical (sprays) or oral (tablets). The oral medication you have to choose from includes Sudafed (psuedoephedrine) and Sudafed PE (phenylephrine). These two are similar, but there is a difference you should know about. People make meth with Sudafed, so you'll need to purchase it from behind the pharmacy counter, be over 18 years old, and show them your valid and current drivers license. Sudafed PE is out on the shelves and should work just as well as Sudafed.
This medication comes separate (Sudafed, Sudafed PE and generics) as well as in combo products (Zyrtec-D, Claritin-D, Allegra-D). It's included in other combinations, but that can get a little complicated. Just ask your pharmacist.
If you don't want to take a tablet, or if the tablet just isn't quite doing it for you, there are topical nasal sprays that help with congestion. These are sprays like Afrin and Vicks Sinex (oxymetazoline HCl) and Neo Synephrine and Dristan (phenylephrine HCl). One important note: do NOT use these for more than 5 to 7 days as they can cause rebound congestion and make your congestion worse.
So, your choices are:
Congestion: chest (or productive cough)
When your congestion is in your chest, you'll feel fluid in your lungs when you breath in and out, and when you cough you'll often cough up mucus. When this happens, you need what's called an expectorant, or something to help you cough all of that goo out of your lungs. It works to thin all of that mucus so it's easier to cough out. Some products that help with this are: Mucinex and Robitussin. These contain guaifenesin, the expectorant.
Make sure to check the label on these two because there are many combination products made by the makers of these drugs. For plain old chest congestion, get the blue box.
Choices here are:
Cough: dry
When you're coughing but not coughing much of anything up, you need a cough suppressant- something to stop that cough. You can go two routes with this one. Like I mentioned above, you may need that antihistamine to dry up your secretions and stop post nasal drip which can not only cause that sore throat, it can also cause you to cough as well.
If you've tried the antihistamine and it's not working, there is a cough suppressant you can use. It's called dextromethorphan.
Meds that contain this:
Sore Throat:
This is the symptom that makes me laugh the most when talking to patients. They'll always come in and say, "My throat hurts." When I ask them what they've tried they'll say cough drops and nothing else. My response is always, "What do you take when your head hurts? Or when your back hurts?" Pain is pain, and those meds that take care of your other pain will help with a sore throat. You can take Tylenol (acetaminophen), Advil (ibuprofen), or Aleve (naproxen). I personally recommend tylenol because people with sore throats often have fevers and tylenol is better when it comes to reducing fevers, but you can take any of them and get some relief. Note: don't forget to take Advil and Aleve after food!
Meds:
Fever:
I'm not sure what other people think about this, so this is my personal opinion. It's nothing anyone has told me specifically in class before, but I've come to this conclusion based on what I've learned about our immune system. You get a fever when your body is actively fighting off something that doesn't belong inside of it- usually bacteria or a virus. Your immune system is doing what it what made to do; it's actively searching out the invader and killing it or getting it out of your system.
With that said, there are two types of fevers in my eyes- a low-grade fever and a high fever. If you have a high fever, you should be doing everything you can to bring it down. Fevers can cause long-lasting damage when they get too high. The fever I'm talking about is a low-grade fever...like 1 degree higher than normal. Personally, I think that suppressing that low of a fever is only setting back your body's natural defense and may allow you to either get sick or become more sick. I don't take medicine until it gets to be in the upper 99s or higher. You may think differently.
Anyway, like I said before, tylenol is usually the best medicine for this. You can also use ice packs on your head or a cold bath to lower your temperature if the tylenol isn't taking care of it. Ibuprofen is also a possible treatment for fever if the tylenol isn't working. Make sure to take (or give) it with food.
Meds:
There are limits to how much you can take of all of these medications. Pay attention to the labeling on the package- READ it all- and remember that the pharmacist and pharmacy interns are always right behind the counter to help you out.
You wake up feeling like crap- you know the feeling- achey all over, exhausted, stuffed up, snotty, and slightly disoriented- so you roll out of bed and trek down to the pharmacy. You get to the Cold & Flu aisle, take a look at all of your options, and decide to just grab the nearest box because that will get you back to bed the quickest. Any idea what you just grabbed?
While you may be a little more informed than that, the Cold & Flu aisle can be tricky for anyone- even me, and it's my duty to know what's in that multitude of boxes. Drug companies come out with new products all the time, but they also remarket their current drugs to make things more confus-er to increase their sales. Hopefully, this post will be a good guide for you as we enter cold & flu season.
Malaise
As far as I know, there isn't a medication you can take to decrease that tired-all-over achey feeling. When I'm feeling like this I make sure to get as much sleep as possible, and I drink a ton of water. I usually feel refreshed for a few hours after I wake up, then it gradually gets worse as the day goes on.
Allergy-type symptoms
This includes a runny nose, sneezing, itchy, watery eyes, burning eyes and/or nose. It can also include a sore throat which isn't something you'd think is due to allergy-type symptoms, but when your nose runs, it doesn't just run out of your nose through the front, it also runs out the back and down your throat. That can cause irritation and land you with a sore throat. It's called post-nasal drip.
For these symptoms you need what we call an antihistamine or anti-allergy medicine. Yes, they're marketed toward allergies because those last year-round for a lot of people. Drug companies make more money marketing them this way. An antihistamine is used to dry up your secretions (mucus). For a cold it should make you less runny and gross. It's usually not potent enough to dry you up completely; THIS DOES NOT MEAN YOU SHOULD TAKE MORE.
*Some of these meds are:
- Zyrtec (cetirizine)
- Claritin (loratadine)
- Allegra (fexofenadine)
- You can also use Benadryl (diphenhydramine), but as it can make you very drowsy, I would only use it at bedtime or if you're at home for the day.
Congestion: nasal/head
This feels like pressure in your face and head. You can't breath well through your nose, and usually when you blow your nose, it's not very productive. For this symptom, you'll need a nasal decongestant to help open up those nasal passages.
You can go two routes with this- topical (sprays) or oral (tablets). The oral medication you have to choose from includes Sudafed (psuedoephedrine) and Sudafed PE (phenylephrine). These two are similar, but there is a difference you should know about. People make meth with Sudafed, so you'll need to purchase it from behind the pharmacy counter, be over 18 years old, and show them your valid and current drivers license. Sudafed PE is out on the shelves and should work just as well as Sudafed.
This medication comes separate (Sudafed, Sudafed PE and generics) as well as in combo products (Zyrtec-D, Claritin-D, Allegra-D). It's included in other combinations, but that can get a little complicated. Just ask your pharmacist.
If you don't want to take a tablet, or if the tablet just isn't quite doing it for you, there are topical nasal sprays that help with congestion. These are sprays like Afrin and Vicks Sinex (oxymetazoline HCl) and Neo Synephrine and Dristan (phenylephrine HCl). One important note: do NOT use these for more than 5 to 7 days as they can cause rebound congestion and make your congestion worse.
So, your choices are:
- Sudafed
- Sudafed PE
- Zyrtec-D, Claritin-D, Allegra-D
- Afrin or Vicks Sinex nasal spray (for only 5-7 days)
- Neo Synephrine or Dristan nasal spray (for only 5-7 days)
- Other combo products
Congestion: chest (or productive cough)
When your congestion is in your chest, you'll feel fluid in your lungs when you breath in and out, and when you cough you'll often cough up mucus. When this happens, you need what's called an expectorant, or something to help you cough all of that goo out of your lungs. It works to thin all of that mucus so it's easier to cough out. Some products that help with this are: Mucinex and Robitussin. These contain guaifenesin, the expectorant.
Make sure to check the label on these two because there are many combination products made by the makers of these drugs. For plain old chest congestion, get the blue box.
Choices here are:
- Mucinex
- Robitussin
- Combo products with guaifenesin
Cough: dry
When you're coughing but not coughing much of anything up, you need a cough suppressant- something to stop that cough. You can go two routes with this one. Like I mentioned above, you may need that antihistamine to dry up your secretions and stop post nasal drip which can not only cause that sore throat, it can also cause you to cough as well.
If you've tried the antihistamine and it's not working, there is a cough suppressant you can use. It's called dextromethorphan.
Meds that contain this:
- Delsym
- Robitussin Cough and Cough Gels
- DayQuil Cough
- Tylenol Simply Cough
- There are a LOT of combo products that contain this in it with other cold medications, so just look closely at the back of the box.
Sore Throat:
This is the symptom that makes me laugh the most when talking to patients. They'll always come in and say, "My throat hurts." When I ask them what they've tried they'll say cough drops and nothing else. My response is always, "What do you take when your head hurts? Or when your back hurts?" Pain is pain, and those meds that take care of your other pain will help with a sore throat. You can take Tylenol (acetaminophen), Advil (ibuprofen), or Aleve (naproxen). I personally recommend tylenol because people with sore throats often have fevers and tylenol is better when it comes to reducing fevers, but you can take any of them and get some relief. Note: don't forget to take Advil and Aleve after food!
Meds:
- Tylenol
- Advil (with food)
- Aleve (with food)
Fever:
I'm not sure what other people think about this, so this is my personal opinion. It's nothing anyone has told me specifically in class before, but I've come to this conclusion based on what I've learned about our immune system. You get a fever when your body is actively fighting off something that doesn't belong inside of it- usually bacteria or a virus. Your immune system is doing what it what made to do; it's actively searching out the invader and killing it or getting it out of your system.
With that said, there are two types of fevers in my eyes- a low-grade fever and a high fever. If you have a high fever, you should be doing everything you can to bring it down. Fevers can cause long-lasting damage when they get too high. The fever I'm talking about is a low-grade fever...like 1 degree higher than normal. Personally, I think that suppressing that low of a fever is only setting back your body's natural defense and may allow you to either get sick or become more sick. I don't take medicine until it gets to be in the upper 99s or higher. You may think differently.
Anyway, like I said before, tylenol is usually the best medicine for this. You can also use ice packs on your head or a cold bath to lower your temperature if the tylenol isn't taking care of it. Ibuprofen is also a possible treatment for fever if the tylenol isn't working. Make sure to take (or give) it with food.
Meds:
- Tylenol
- Ibuprofen
- Cold packs/cold bath
There are limits to how much you can take of all of these medications. Pay attention to the labeling on the package- READ it all- and remember that the pharmacist and pharmacy interns are always right behind the counter to help you out.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Crazy what can happen when you're procrastinating
So tonight I was avoiding studying for finals, and I decided to look up "Kinamrok" and see what I could find. It's my last name spelled backwards.
When I was little, my dad played records for us that his uncle produced through his label: Kinamrok Records. I didn't know if anyone was still running that label, so I wanted to find out. Unfortunately, the website is currently blocked by Google, so I couldn't go directly to it, but I did find a blog with a couple of the songs on it.
The person, it seemed, was buying a new record every week (or so) and posting up information about it on their blog, with a recording of the songs on it included in the post. It was pretty cool to listen to songs that I could faintly remember and know that one of my ancestors had produced it. He also got a letter from the President('s aide) when he sent him a copy of one of his records.
After finding that, I decided to do a little more digging. Kinamrok Records used to be located at 400 Luray Ave in Johnstown, VA back in the day, so I searched that on Google. Turns out someone else (with my last name) now owns Kinamrok Inc, which runs an apartment building at that same address.
After typing the address into Google Maps, I found this:
Do you see what I see? I see the street that Kinamrok Inc is on- Luray Ave- perpendicular to Rachel Street which is perpendicular to Kinamrok Street.
Now maybe just about anything will amuse me at this point in studying for finals, but I find that to be quite an amazing coincidence. History is so cool.
When I was little, my dad played records for us that his uncle produced through his label: Kinamrok Records. I didn't know if anyone was still running that label, so I wanted to find out. Unfortunately, the website is currently blocked by Google, so I couldn't go directly to it, but I did find a blog with a couple of the songs on it.
The person, it seemed, was buying a new record every week (or so) and posting up information about it on their blog, with a recording of the songs on it included in the post. It was pretty cool to listen to songs that I could faintly remember and know that one of my ancestors had produced it. He also got a letter from the President('s aide) when he sent him a copy of one of his records.
After finding that, I decided to do a little more digging. Kinamrok Records used to be located at 400 Luray Ave in Johnstown, VA back in the day, so I searched that on Google. Turns out someone else (with my last name) now owns Kinamrok Inc, which runs an apartment building at that same address.
After typing the address into Google Maps, I found this:
Now maybe just about anything will amuse me at this point in studying for finals, but I find that to be quite an amazing coincidence. History is so cool.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
This V day, don't forget about your man
So with Valentine's Day just a week away, I thought I'd post something about it.
I've never been one to celebrate Valentine's Day, mostly because a) I believe in celebrating the love you share with your partner every single day and b) commercializing love pisses me off.
Anyway, one thing that bothers me every single year is how most girls seem to think V day is exists solely for them, so their guy can get them presents and prove how much he loves (or likes) her. Valentine's Day should be about two people celebrating the love they SHARE. So girls, don't forget to plan something special for your guy this week. He needs to know how much you care and see you display your love for him just as much as you need the same.
Hope the day lives up to all of your expectations! <3
I've never been one to celebrate Valentine's Day, mostly because a) I believe in celebrating the love you share with your partner every single day and b) commercializing love pisses me off.
Anyway, one thing that bothers me every single year is how most girls seem to think V day is exists solely for them, so their guy can get them presents and prove how much he loves (or likes) her. Valentine's Day should be about two people celebrating the love they SHARE. So girls, don't forget to plan something special for your guy this week. He needs to know how much you care and see you display your love for him just as much as you need the same.
Hope the day lives up to all of your expectations! <3
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Time to move on
I have a history of holding onto things too long. Not in the "hoarder" sense; I have a hard time letting people from my past go. I love thinking back about my past, and I spend a lot of time wishing my present could be more like it and that the friendships I had then could be transported- as they were- to the present time.
But in the past couple of weeks, I've realized that not only is that never going to happen (I'd actually realized this long ago, I just wouldn't accept it) but I don't really want it to anymore.
Don't get me wrong- there are PLENTY of old friends that I will never let go of, but a few of them just aren't the same people. They aren't the person I knew 5-6 years ago and never will be again. Although we used to get along well and have a lot of fun together, that just wouldn't happen now or in the future because we've grown into completely different types of people. A month or so ago this would have upset me greatly, but now I'm just coming to terms with it. I've decided that I'll always have the good memories, and that trying to move forward and bring my old friendships into my future would probably just tarnish the good memories.
One thing I need to learn to do is not sabotage my memories. When I have free time to sit around and do nothing, I start to get upset about how few friends I'm still close to. I don't really have a best friend (other than Alexey) that I can text all day about nothing, no one to gossip with, no one to go to when I just feel like crying, no one to hang out with or call just to talk. Then I start thinking that maybe I just built my favorite friendships up to be more than they actually were and that the people I considered close friends had other friends they were much closer to and that I was just that tag along friend that people just put up with.
I also do the "what if" game, and wonder about what could have happened had I not joined the sorority, had I driven back to OP for more parties, had I drank more or gone out more...would I still be friends with them? Would they have cared enough more to keep in touch with me even when we moved/grew apart? But I know that's a really bad game to play.
The important part should be that I valued those friendships, and that I have a lot of great memories with those friends. I just have to hope/believe that I will build many more close friendships as soon as school ends and I feel like I can have a life again. And if not, well, I'll just have to move on with my life.
But in the past couple of weeks, I've realized that not only is that never going to happen (I'd actually realized this long ago, I just wouldn't accept it) but I don't really want it to anymore.
Don't get me wrong- there are PLENTY of old friends that I will never let go of, but a few of them just aren't the same people. They aren't the person I knew 5-6 years ago and never will be again. Although we used to get along well and have a lot of fun together, that just wouldn't happen now or in the future because we've grown into completely different types of people. A month or so ago this would have upset me greatly, but now I'm just coming to terms with it. I've decided that I'll always have the good memories, and that trying to move forward and bring my old friendships into my future would probably just tarnish the good memories.
One thing I need to learn to do is not sabotage my memories. When I have free time to sit around and do nothing, I start to get upset about how few friends I'm still close to. I don't really have a best friend (other than Alexey) that I can text all day about nothing, no one to gossip with, no one to go to when I just feel like crying, no one to hang out with or call just to talk. Then I start thinking that maybe I just built my favorite friendships up to be more than they actually were and that the people I considered close friends had other friends they were much closer to and that I was just that tag along friend that people just put up with.
I also do the "what if" game, and wonder about what could have happened had I not joined the sorority, had I driven back to OP for more parties, had I drank more or gone out more...would I still be friends with them? Would they have cared enough more to keep in touch with me even when we moved/grew apart? But I know that's a really bad game to play.
The important part should be that I valued those friendships, and that I have a lot of great memories with those friends. I just have to hope/believe that I will build many more close friendships as soon as school ends and I feel like I can have a life again. And if not, well, I'll just have to move on with my life.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
A cute asthma
Yesterday, my baby girl was diagnosed with a cute asthma...good thing it wasn't ugly asthma ;) All giggles aside, I have been pretty worried about her lately. Every few months she'll get wheezing fits, but it's usually after we've opened the windows. After a quick trip to the vet for a shot of methylprednisolone, she's good as new for quite a while. Those shots usually last her about 5-6 months. This last one only lasted 2.
A couple of nights ago she wouldn't stop wheezing. She'd do it for about a minute straight, stop for a minute or two and start all over again. I didn't know what to do, so I tried massaging her lungs for some reason and she ended up being able to fall asleep for the rest of the night with no more wheezing. Before we had always just assumed that she had allergies to something outside and it would cause her lungs to act up, but this time we hadn't had the windows open at all.
The vet said that she has an acute case of asthma and gave her steroids that she'll be on for the next few weeks. I'm really hoping that she just has cases of it here and there and that it doesn't turn into a chronic problem for her. She gets really jumpy when this happens and it really seems to scare her. I of course am a wreck because I think she can't breathe! She's been on the prednisone for a whole day now & since she started it she's been wheeze-free! I'm so thankful it seems to be working. I kind of wonder if she's ever even breathed this well in her life.
Anyway, I wanted to blog about this for anyone who might have cats. Apparently cat asthma is more common than I thought, and a lot of times it's mistaken as furballs. It does look like when a cat tries to cough up furballs, but they never actually produce anything and they do this neck-stretching-out thing as they heave. If you see your cat doing this, try a furball remedy first to make sure it's not something that's easy to fix, but if it continues get them into the vet!
Here's what she looks like when she wheezes. Usually it's more wheezing & fewer coughs, but you get the idea...
A couple of nights ago she wouldn't stop wheezing. She'd do it for about a minute straight, stop for a minute or two and start all over again. I didn't know what to do, so I tried massaging her lungs for some reason and she ended up being able to fall asleep for the rest of the night with no more wheezing. Before we had always just assumed that she had allergies to something outside and it would cause her lungs to act up, but this time we hadn't had the windows open at all.
The vet said that she has an acute case of asthma and gave her steroids that she'll be on for the next few weeks. I'm really hoping that she just has cases of it here and there and that it doesn't turn into a chronic problem for her. She gets really jumpy when this happens and it really seems to scare her. I of course am a wreck because I think she can't breathe! She's been on the prednisone for a whole day now & since she started it she's been wheeze-free! I'm so thankful it seems to be working. I kind of wonder if she's ever even breathed this well in her life.
Anyway, I wanted to blog about this for anyone who might have cats. Apparently cat asthma is more common than I thought, and a lot of times it's mistaken as furballs. It does look like when a cat tries to cough up furballs, but they never actually produce anything and they do this neck-stretching-out thing as they heave. If you see your cat doing this, try a furball remedy first to make sure it's not something that's easy to fix, but if it continues get them into the vet!
Here's what she looks like when she wheezes. Usually it's more wheezing & fewer coughs, but you get the idea...
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