Druggist For The People

Send us Fan Mail Summary:  There are more ways to change your chemistry than taking drugs.  Kindness.  Being helpful, generous, and considerate – without expecting anything in return – has positive effects upon both the body and mind.  But here’s the rub:  you must be kind without expecting anything in return.  So don’t be kind to be healthy…simply be kind.  It’s all easier said than done.  This e...

Send us Fan Mail Summary : Chemical and Physical Restraints are frightening terms, and yet the use of one or the other is sometimes necessary.  This episode discusses the appropriate use of chemical restraints to treat agitation, as well as what may be the inappropriate use of medications to chemically restrain a person.    Topics : ·       Agitation 02:00 ·       Danger to Self/Others 02:30 ·   ...

Send us Fan Mail Summary:   To get the maximum benefit and minimize the risks of your meds, stay involved.  Monitor, journal and communicate with your healthcare team to make sure your meds include only those that you actually need.  Avoid the Prescription Cascade. Topics: * Polypharmacy 01:15 * Prescription Cascade 0410 *Therapeutic Duplication 06:00 * Monitor, Journal & Communicate 07:15 * C...

Send us Fan Mail Summary:   If it’s a hard pill to swallow, you’re not alone.  In this episode we discuss why not to crush or break certain medications and possible techniques to help in overcoming pill dysphagia.  As usual, consult your pharmacist.   Topics : ·       Pill Dysphagia Definition 02:30 ·       Prevalence 04:30 ·       What Not to Crush and Why 05:40 ·       Drug Formulation Abbreviat...

Send us Fan Mail Summary : Just a little reminder about the negative (and positive) effects of Ultraviolet Radiation (both A & B), the options for managing those negative effects, and the drugs that may cause photosensitivity.   Topics : ·       Out of Sight, Out of Mind 01:00 ·       UV Protection 01:30 ·       UBV & UVA Radiation 02:00 ·       Chemical Sunscreens 02:40 ·       Physical S...

Send us Fan Mail Summary :  SPF and Broad Spectrum Protection From UV Rays – A more detailed discussion of protecting your skin from the damaging effects of UVA and UVB radiation. Topics ·       Chemical &Physical Sunscreens 02:00 ·       UVB & UBA 03:00 ·       Skin Types 04:00 ·       Ozone 05:00 ·       EPA – Atmosphere Warnings 05:20 ·       Broad Spectrum Protection 07:45 ·       Phys...

Send us Fan Mail Summary :  This episode discusses what makes a generic drug equivalent to a brand name drug, according to the FDA, and why some variability is okay - and unavoidable.     Also discussed is the importance of monitoring your response to the generic medication, use of Pill Identifiers, participating in the FDA Medwatch program, and utilizing your pharmacist for questions about generi...

Send us Fan Mail Summary:   If you’re watching your TV, we’re seeing what you see:  Drug Ads.  In this episode, we take a look at Vraylar as an add-on to your current antidepressant.  So bottom line, what is it, this Vraylar?   Topics : ·       To Begin With:  00:45 988 is the Suicide and Crisis Hotline, offering 24/7 call, text and chat access to trained crisis counselors who can help people expe...

Send us Fan Mail Summary:  The Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPI’s), which include Prilosec, Prevacid, Protonix, Aciphex, and Nexium, are a very effective group of drugs to treat heartburn and reflux, but as with every other drug, there might be side effects and adverse effects, both short and long-term.  In this episode, we discuss the possible link between the long-term use of PPI’s and dementia, as r...

Send us Fan Mail Summary :  If you have poison ivy, can you spread it to someone else?  If the poison ivy is dead, can you still have a reaction if you touch it?  Where else can you get poison ivy, besides touching the plant?  This episode addresses these questions, and in so doing, touches on the prevention and treatment of the contact dermatitis caused by poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac...

Send us Fan Mail  Summary:  When the panic attack comes from what’s inside, where do you hide?  It’s thought that a panic attack is physiologically very much like a flight or fright response, comparable to encountering a Grizzly bear on a trail.  In this episode we discuss the current medications available for treating panic attacks and panic disorder and how these medications work.  We also discu...

Send us Fan Mail Summary:  Blood clot formation and breakdown happens all the time.  It’s when the body potentially forms clots where they aren’t needed (AFib) that we run into problems:  strokes and heart attacks.  In this episode we make the distinction between antiplatelet drugs and anticoagulants and their roles in preventing unwanted clots.  How they work?  Once again, we’re just tinkering wi...

Send us Fan Mail  Summary:  The drug ads float images of happy people across the room, with a voiceover discussing the mechanism of actions of the drug (JAK inhibitor) along with an undercurrent of warnings and side effects of the drug.  One of the newer drug groups are these JAK inhibitors, an oral form of targeted immunotherapy.  This episode attempts to explain this drug group, and also discuss...

Send us Fan Mail Summary:  This episode introduces a phrase uttered thousands of times every day regarding medications:  anticholinergic side effects.  A brief discussion follows about how and why these side effects may occur, what these side effects are, the drugs that may cause them, and the importance of discussing these possible side effects with your pharmacist and physician.  Having a side e...

Send us Fan Mail Summary:  Marijuana is currently considered by the government to have the same abuse and dependency potential as heroin (Schedule 1), and yet 27 states have legalized marijuana either for medicinal and/or recreational use.  This makes no sense.  This episode addresses this disconnect and delves into the issues created by a few U.S. Senators who want to deschedule and legalize mari...

Send us Fan Mail Summary:  The complex dynamics of sexual dysfunction is beyond the scope of this episode, but what we can discuss is the effect that drugs, both prescription and OTC, can have on causing sexual dysfunction (in this podcast, primarily ED in men).  The importance of education and clear communication between a patient and their healthcare team is essential, to determine if the sexual...

Send us Fan Mail Summary:  Knowing when a “symptom” is actually a side effect can save you a lot of trouble.  By participating, by providing your physician and pharmacist an accurate accounting of when medications were started - and when possible side effects occurred – any changes to your medications will be based on a more accurate picture. It’s a process.  And it can be complicated, but the acc...

Send us Fan Mail Summary:  I think people trust that if a product is displayed in nice bright packaging beneath the bright white lights of the gas station, that it must be okay, it must be meeting some king of standard.  Not necessarily.  This episode addresses two types of “gas station drugs”:  gas station heroin and ED pills.  Those pills may well have gotten to those shelves and the FDA had no...

Send us Fan Mail Summary:  The big pharmaceutical companies have always had a choice:  whether to place their focus on the patient or on profits.  Every pharmaceutical company (Eli Lilly has determined that they are a “medicine company’) will attempt to present as being there for the people, and they will have a business plan that is about profits and the “health” of the company.  But Big Pharma i...

Send us Fan Mail  Summary:  The goal is always to have zero medication errors, and yet they occur.  This episode takes a look at what is considered a medication error (missed doses count), how often medication errors occur, how often they cause harm to the patient (who is actually a person), and the importance of a team-approach (pharmacists, physicians, nurses, patients, and anyone who is part of...

Send us Fan Mail Summary:  The discussion of medication errors continues here, with a focus on the opportunities to prevent medication errors.  Not all prescription medications are created equal.  Regarding medication errors, this means that the potential adverse events that might occur, with an error, are more severe with high-risk medications.  Are you on a high-risk med?  Once again, a person w...

Send us Fan Mail Summary: To be more involved in your healthcare - your medications in particular - and to be able to participate in a conversation with your pharmacist or doctor, you might need to become your own detective.  And to that end, this episode briefly reviews the different drug classes in order to help you to realize the “whys” of your drug regimen, and in turn to more actively partici...

Send us Fan Mail Summary:  The relatively recent release of Ingrezza and Austedo (2017) offer an option for the treatment of the abnormal involuntary movements associated with Huntington’s Disease and Tardive Dyskinesia (TD), a condition associated with the use of neuroleptics.  This episode addresses the multiple activities of dopamine, how neuroleptics work by blocking dopamine receptors, and ho...

Send us Fan Mail Summary: Any job is made easier – or possible – by having the right tool for the job.  The same goes for getting the most benefit out of your drug(s) and minimizing the risks of your medication.  The right tool for this is at your fingertips…actually, it includes your fingertips:  it’s you, being a drug detective.  Topics: ·      The Right Tool 01:00 ·      Get in the Game 01:55 ·...

Send us Fan Mail Summary: This episode looks at the relatively widespread use of Trazodone for insomnia, an off-label drug use of this antidepressant.  Currently, there is some disagreement in the medical community on Trazodone’s place in the treatment of insomnia, but that does not necessarily make its use wrong or inappropriate.  While that discussion goes on, what can you do about it’s off-labe...