• Announcements

    • Robin

      Welcome!   03/05/2016

      Welcome, everyone, to the new 910CMX Community Forums. I'm still working on getting them running, so things may change.  If you're a 910 Comic creator and need your forum recreated, let me know and I'll get on it right away.  I'll do my best to make this new place as fun as the last one!
ProfessorTomoe

Changing Medications (Level of Trust Required)

Recommended Posts

Because of the Oak pollen, I've been taking pseudoephedrine and benadryl, which does fix the allergy issue.  Normally the speedy effect of the pseudoephedrine counters the sleepy effect of the benadryl, which I notice as being "wired, yet drowsy", which is weird, but I've felt odder at times.

Not so much today.  I've slept a freaking lot and will be going back to sleep fairly soon, based on how I feel right now.  On the plus side, my nose isn't running and I can breath.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
3 hours ago, CritterKeeper said:

Make sure to double-check whether any of them are supposed to be taken in an empty stomach or with a meal.  That can affect what side effects happen.  When you have a spare week you could put them all into one of those online interaction-detecting sites, too, make sure it isn't due to two of 'em duking it out in your stomach, or something not having its full effect due to another one blocking its enzyme or receptor.  I know, you've probably done this in the past; it's kinda like making sure the modem is plugged in before calling tech support.

I'm rather keen on staying on top of interactions. Unfortunately, I'm dancing on the head of a pin with several possibilities. Serotonin syndrome, low salt levels, drowsiness, and something I still haven't figured out between the Topamax and my tiny dose of Metformin. Since I have no real choice, I have to just dive in head first on most of them and hope I'm not diving into the shallow end of the pool.

I'm going to try taking things in a different order tonight, and taking them over a longer period of time. We'll see if that makes a difference.

Thanks for the guidance on this, though. I will most definitely keep it in mind!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Build a COMPLETE list, with when you take them. Include any vitamins, herbs, and other supplements. Take this list to a pharmacist for discussion.

There are also some foods that are prone to interaction with drugs. Grapefruit juice is quite possibly the worst for this. Pomegranate isn't that great either. Depending on what medicine you're talking about, a food-drug interaction can enhance or inhibit the effect, or speed up or slow down the metabolic processing. All of which can be bad if not accounted for in your dosage and frequency.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
19 minutes ago, Don Edwards said:

Build a COMPLETE list, with when you take them. Include any vitamins, herbs, and other supplements. Take this list to a pharmacist for discussion.

Got one, on a spreadsheet. I take it to my doctor at every appointment. I'd hope he'd have the same knowledge.

20 minutes ago, Don Edwards said:

There are also some foods that are prone to interaction with drugs. Grapefruit juice is quite possibly the worst for this. Pomegranate isn't that great either.

I watch for these as well. Grapefruit ist verboten here. Didn't know about the pomegranate, though. I've got a pomegranate tree in the backyard. That'll make me think twice before harvesting. Thanks.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Okay. I took my medications before eating tonight. I led off things with a maximum-strength simethicone gelcap, though, and took things in smaller groups.

Sure enough, I had a lot of gas afterward. Been burping since I finished off my pills. It's been a good 20 minutes, and I haven't had a sensation of nausea yet. Still having a lot of gas.

I may have lucked out tonight.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
43 minutes ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

I watch for these as well. Grapefruit ist verboten here. Didn't know about the pomegranate, though. I've got a pomegranate tree in the backyard. That'll make me think twice before harvesting. Thanks.

Harvest them and send them to me.  Seriously, I'll pay for shipping. (The kind that includes boxes and trucks).   I'll give you my address in a PM come harvest time.  Love me some pomegranates.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 hour ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

Got one, on a spreadsheet. I take it to my doctor at every appointment. I'd hope he'd have the same knowledge.

Doctors know more than pharmacists about most aspects of medicine, but pharmacists are specialists in drugs and often know more about them - particularly about interactions - than doctors do.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 hour ago, Don Edwards said:

Doctors know more than pharmacists about most aspects of medicine, but pharmacists are specialists in drugs and often know more about them - particularly about interactions - than doctors do.

My only worry about going to a pharmacist is that it's (gasp) CVS. I barely trust them to fill a single prescription correctly. Unfortunately, they're the least expensive option around here.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
10 hours ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

Didn't know about the pomegranate, though. I've got a pomegranate tree in the backyard. That'll make me think twice before harvesting. Thanks.

 

9 hours ago, mlooney said:

Harvest them and send them to me.  Seriously, I'll pay for shipping. (The kind that includes boxes and trucks).   I'll give you my address in a PM come harvest time.  Love me some pomegranates.

Darn, beat me to it.  Eh, it's a whole tree, you can send some to each of us.  :-)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
37 minutes ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

I'll see if I can talk my wife into it. She's the one who'll have to handle the harvesting, thanks to my disabilities.

So, what is her bribery rate?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
2 minutes ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

I have never figured that out, not once in our nearly 34 years of marriage.

Have you, like you know, asked?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Just now, ProfessorTomoe said:

My wife advises me that the crop produces only every other year. We had a bumper crop in 2016. I think she means we wouldn't have another crop until 2018. :(

I can wait.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
2 minutes ago, mlooney said:

I can wait.

Remind me when it's time to pick them. The tree is out in the open, so we might have a problem with blistering on the skin, but we'll keep an eye on them if you're serious.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Just now, ProfessorTomoe said:

Remind me when it's time to pick them. The tree is out in the open, so we might have a problem with blistering on the skin, but we'll keep an eye on them if you're serious.

Will do, and yes I'm serious.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
38 minutes ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

I thought you were talking about pomegranates?  What does harvesting bumpers have to do with anything?

/me informs me that isn't even worth picking up the list for.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Interesting side effect of ingesting the pill mountain tonight: brief heartburn. I've got a bit of deep gas, but that might be due to some Tex-Mex food my wife brought back from a meeting tonight that had raw jalapeños on top of it. No sign of nausea.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
2 hours ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

Interesting side effect of ingesting the pill mountain tonight: brief heartburn. I've got a bit of deep gas, but that might be due to some Tex-Mex food my wife brought back from a meeting tonight that had raw jalapeños on top of it. No sign of nausea.

Brief heartburn is way much better than nausea.  I get gas 2 out of 3 days, but it normally doesn't give me gas pains.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

One thing I've wondered: why don't I get nausea from my morning pills? I mean, I take around 25 pills in the morning (to be around 26 on Thursday when my Topamax count goes up to four), so I should have just as many problems as I do at night. 'Tis a puzzlement.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
14 hours ago, ProfessorTomoe said:
19 hours ago, mlooney said:

Have you, like you know, asked?

She has been quite mute on the subject, if not downright indignant when asked. I gather that's because she wants to reserve the right to set the price on her terms at any time.

Mrs. Prof wants me to remind all that she is a contract negotiator. She even negotiated how I described her job.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
21 minutes ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

One thing I've wondered: why don't I get nausea from my morning pills? I mean, I take around 25 pills in the morning (to be around 26 on Thursday when my Topamax count goes up to four), so I should have just as many problems as I do at night. 'Tis a puzzlement.

<speculation>Do you take all the same pills AM and PM?  Do you spend enough time upright after taking the PM pills, washing them down adequately first?  If you've got a laxity in the lower esophageal sphincter, acid and pill-stew could end up leaking out of the stomach into the esophagus, which isn't designed nearly as tough and well-protected as the stomach.  That might fit the heartburn sensation.</speculation>

Official notice that this is layman's speculation, not medical advice, as I am not trained in your species.  I've done surgery on a tarantula, though!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now