Oh, wow.  It’s almost worth getting three painful shots in my legs to get a mouthful of Infant’s Tylenol Concentrated Drops.  Mom gave me a thingy of it when we got home from the doctor’s office, and it was great!  I’ve never had this sensation on my tongue before . . . what a rush!

I slept for a long time, and then I pretended to be crabby.  Mom fell for it and gave me another squirt.  Oh, yes.  I could eat this stuff.  Dad said this isn’t what cherries really taste like.  That’s too bad for cherries because this tastes awesome.

É por isso que eu confio cada vez mais nos curandeiros, benzedeiras…

Daniel Pinheiro

———————————————————————

Sistemas de saúde trocam atenção ao paciente por resultados estatísticos

DENA RIFKIN

do New York Times

Fonte: Portal UOL

A voz ao telefone era autoritária, até rude. Um pai ligava para nosso número de plantão para perguntar sobre sua filha adolescente.

“Ela está tendo dor de cabeça de novo”, lembro que ele disse. “Vou passar na farmácia, só queria seu conselho sobre que dose de Tylenol dar a ela.”

Essas frases não deixavam muito espaço para perguntas. Eu não o conhecia, nem a sua filha, mas parecia haver pouca margem de erro na minha resposta. Quase pude ouvi-lo batendo o pé, impaciente, esperando uma resposta.

Eu hesitei. Quem é essa jovem? Por que seu pai está telefonando por causa de uma simples dor de cabeça?

Comecei a fazer perguntas. Sim, a filha dele tinha dores de cabeça de vez em quando. Não, essa parecia ser um pouco mais forte, só isso. Ele nem teria telefonado, mas é que não tinha certeza se era seguro dar Tylenol, pois a filha estava amamentando.

Amamentando?

Sim, sim, ela teve bebê recentemente, há apenas alguns dias. Sim, houve problemas na gravidez e no parto –algo relativo a pressão alta–, mas ela chegou bem em casa. Será que eu podia simplesmente dizer a dose certa de analgésico?

Mandei a jovem e seu pai para a emergência. Ela deu entrada no hospital com pré-eclampsia grave, uma complicação pós-parto rara, porém perigosa.

Já se passaram dez anos desde o relatório do Instituto de Medicina nos Estados Unidos sobre mortes causadas por erros médicos (chegando a um número de 44 mil por ano). Desde então, tem havido um foco enorme em quantos erros são cometidos por médicos e hospitais, quanto eles custam e como preveni-los.

A resposta da maioria dos hospitais tem sido enérgica e multifacetada. Comitês de certificação de hospitais agora realizam auditorias em prontuários buscando abreviações obsoletas e notas adequadamente produzidas. Os sistemas de prescrição eletrônica estão rapidamente virando a norma. Seguradoras que pagam intervenções pelo desempenho prometem recompensar quem faz um bom trabalho e se recusam a pagar por aqueles tratamentos que causam complicações, como infecções hospitalares.

Não discuto a necessidade dessas intervenções. Não há dúvidas de que os hospitais são locais poderosos e perigosos, que as “melhores práticas” nem sempre são seguidas e que a chamada abordagem polifarmacêutica –uma droga para cada enfermidade apresentada pelo paciente– dá menos margem a reações adversas.

Registros médicos eletrônicos acessíveis e informativos podem evitar meu quase-erro com a mesma eficácia que minhas perguntas.

No sistema de saúde que já não existe mais, no qual os médicos ficavam disponíveis para seus pacientes 24 horas por dia, esse tipo de erro seria quase impossível.

No entanto, nenhuma dessas intervenções, por mais bem-intencionadas que sejam, resolvem um problema fundamental que está surgindo na medicina moderna: a mudança do foco, do tratamento do paciente para a satisfação do sistema. Os efeitos de focar a atenção do médico em metas e listas, penso eu, não são bons para o paciente.

Um parente próximo meu foi recentemente hospitalizado após quase perder a consciência em casa. Ele foi prontamente atendido, e um eletrocardiograma foi realizado em 15 minutos. Ele recebeu uma pulseirinha com código de barra, seu grau de dor foi avaliado, coletaram seu sangue e realizaram exames de raios-x e testes de estresse. Após 24 horas, ele foi liberado com uma lista revisada de medicamentos, após oferecerem a ele uma vacina contra pneumonia e a oportunidade de escrever um testamento de vida (que estipula até quando deve ser preservada a sobrevivência da pessoa).

O único problema foi a falta absoluta de atenção humana. Um médico do setor de emergência deu entrada do paciente em um serviço hospitalar que avalia com rapidez riscos de ataque cardíacos. Ninguém notou os exames de sangue que sugeriam grave desidratação, nem pediram seu histórico para descobrir o motivo de sua fadiga.

Um médico esteve presente por alguns minutos no início de sua estada no hospital, e mais uns minutinhos no dia seguinte. Nem minha presença ali, como membro da família e médica, mudou a atitude superficial dos profissionais que nos atenderam.

Entretanto, a hospitalização do meu parente esteve de acordo com todos os padrões atuais de qualidade na assistência médica.

Estamos prestando atenção aos detalhes dos erros médicos –abreviações ambíguas, práticas de vacinação e assepsia, além de muitas outras questões importantes, ou pelo menos quantificáveis.

Porém, enquanto passamos de um prontuário médico bem elaborado a outro, ninguém está levando em conta se ainda prestamos atenção aos seres humanos. Ninguém está levando em conta se admitimos que a melhor fonte de informação, a melhor proteção contra o erro médico, a melhor oportunidade de fazer a diferença –tudo isso já estava aqui antes.

As respostas estão com os pacientes. Devemos nos lembrar do valor incalculável de fazer as perguntas certas.

Note to reader: I am not a medical care provider. If you are pregnant and find yourself with a fever over 101 degrees or believe you are fighting something more than a seasonal cold, call your midwife or doctor, but also do your own research and take responsibility for your health.

It’s that time of year, when the changing of seasons bring more frequent challenges to our immune systems. This year, with the H1N1 flu a concern, people seem to be taking their kids to the doctors more quickly when they believe something is “not right”.

A common bacterial infection during the winter months is streptococci, an inflammatory infection of the throat. Common symptoms include: a sore throat that is red with white patches, a fever over 102 degrees, fatigue, headache, stomach ache and/or nausea. Antibiotics can be taken to treat the infection, but as Shonda Parker (author of The Naturally Healthy Pregnancy) reports, “Studies have shown that antibiotics taken within the first 48 hours of a strep infection actually increase the risk of a recurrent infection”. New studies also show that taking antibiotics while pregnant may increase the risk of birth defects, but leaving a fever over 101 untreated during pregnancy can also be damaging to the baby. So if you are pregnant and find yourself fighting a strep infection what should you do?

A couple weeks ago, my 14 month old daughter came down with a bordline high fever which she had, with no other symptoms, for three days. It did respond quickly to baby Tylenol, so I was not too concerned, but we never did figure out exactly what caused it. She was very tired, not too interested in eating, although she was otherwise in a cheerful mood. A couple days after the fever broke, she started exibiting signs of a common cold, but looking back in it I’m beginning to wonder if she had a mild strep infection. She had a sore throat, raspy cough, runny nose, didn’t sleep well, etc. and wanted me to hold her all the time. Around the same time I developed a mildly sore throat along with my son (who had a low fever for a day), and discovered that both he and I had the white patches in our throats. We healed quickly on our own though I never sought help from a doctor. I do have a lot of faith in our immune systems to take care of our bodies if we treat them well.

My husband cuddling with Daphney while she rested during her fever

Sometimes, however, our bodies have difficulty recovering from infection, and we should always do our part in supporting our immune systems so they can do their job effectively and quickly. For Daphney, I treated her by making sure she nursed and drank lots of water, ate citrus foods, and got plenty of rest. She recovered fully in a week or so. A pregnant women, however, requires a little more precaution as the developing baby is weaker and more susceptible to consequences of illness than an older child.

Allowing the immune system to conquer the bacterial infection on it’s own is good for your body, but it is important that you do not allow yourself to have a high fever while pregnant. Thus your best bet is, if you can, to avoid getting antibiotics at least until your body has had the opportunity of a couple days to fight the infection, and work on keeping the fever below 101.

Natural remedies and treatments for strep infection, fever, and strengthening your immune system include (but are not limited to):

1. Increase your water intake
2. Stay home and rest as long as you have a fever
3. Eat garlic and onions, or take garlic supplements
4. Eat lots of citris foods. Eating fruits and veggies instead of meat and grains will allow your body to focus its energy on fighting the infection instead of digesting food. Plus fruits and veggies are highest in vitamins and minerals that your body could use right now.
5. Licorice root, fenugreek, cinnamon & ginger, or sage tea
6. Hot liquids
7. Blackberries
8. Zinc, echinacea, astragalus, and vitamin c supplements
9. Lukewarm baths may lower a high temperature, along with cold wash cloths applied to the forehead

For excellent advise on treating common illnesses naturally, PLEASE invest in these two books: The Naturally Healthy Pregnancy, and Mommy Diagnostics, both by Shonda Parker.

The New York Times in July 6, 2009 published an interesting article regarding the potentially fatal risk of taking tylenol and ibuprofen. The story titled “Reasons Not to Panic Over a Painkiller” states that tylenol (due to liver damage) kills about 400 people and hospitalizes about 42,000 every year in the United States. Ibuprofen is even worse. More than 100,000 Americans are hospitalized each year with complications associated with ibuprofen and an additional 15,000 to 20,000 die from ulcers and internal bleeding linked to their use.

The reason I am mentioning these facts with such a ubiquitous medication like tylenol and ibuprofen is because many patients have a distorted sense of what is risky and what is not. I had one parent who refused to give her child zyrtec or benadryl for severe allergies as she did not want to “add poison to her child’s body.” Though such sentiment is usually laudable (and in some cases, even encouraged by me), in these particular cases, it’s odd to say the least, mainly because she was giving her child repeated doses of motrin and tylenol for symptom relief. As far as I know, zyrtec and benadryl has not killed anyone. Tylenol and motrin have… many times.

Or get this… the average woman puts on herself 515 chemicals on her body everyday through self-inflicted use of body and facial moisturizers, perfumes, deodorants and various other make-up products. Click here to read more on this.

There are many other such examples, but it is always nice to have in perspective that even supposedly “safe” medications really aren’t safe if taken improperly.

Read the NYT story here to read more about the risks of tylenol and ibuprofen.

So I did take the job, in my 3rd week now. I’ve visited a few customers and taken a few orders so all seems to be moving on now. I am going on the road this week to see customers as well. My oldest (step)son got his license today! Woo hoo!

Even though things ’seem’ to be ok now, they are not … completely. It seems ok because yes I am working and yes I am bringing home a salary. But we are several months behind on most bills, Christmas is just around the corner and now I have to increase my car insurance as well. And, my new salary is significantly less than what it was but to get a second job for me is very difficult since I am in sales and travel frequently and overnight and have short notice of my trips usually. I seem to be living on Tylenol lately and I’m sure that’s not good for me either. Constantly stressed and always having headaches and neck/shoulder/muscle aches is no way to go through life. But I will say this, amidst all this insanity I have been able to keep myself moving forward, and my wife has found a new strength and has been very positive in my new role.

The only things that really keeps me sane are spending time with the family (although the kids can drive you INSANE on occasion , and music.  I love to listen to music (mostly rock) and play a bit of guitar. It really helps me escape to a different place. The only problem is that it is just a distraction, but can be motivating and uplifting.

The Riskczar Philosophy on reputation risk is that it is a second order risk. This means the risk to your reputation or brand is not something that can be directly mitigated or insured against, it is harmed when some other “up stream” event occurs. You cannot actually prevent reputation risk, but you can prevent the events that cause it.

Let’s take a closer look at the Tylenol tampering crisis in 1982 when capsules were laced with potassium cyanide, killing seven people. The Tylenol brand was harmed and their market share dropped from 35% to 8% following the scare. Could this drop have been prevented?

Let’s imagine that in 1979, Johnson & Johnson, who manufactured the product, had conducted a risk assessment, identifying reputation risk as one of many risks. Let’s also assume that they had developed sophisticated models enabling them to quantify the financial loss of a catastrophic decline in market share like this. Having identified and assessed this risk, their next step would be to develop some action plans to mitigate, avoid, reduce, transfer or accept this risk of this drop in market share.

Well, how do you do it? Aside from buying millions of dollars of put options on your stock (which may not even be legal), I cannot think of any way of hedging the financial losses. When the brand is harmed, the public loses trust and they don’t buy your product any more.

Risks have causes and effects so imagine a chain of events that looks like this:

Downstream cause x –>   Downstream cause y –>   Reputation is harmed –>   Financial loses are suffered

Reputation damage has root causes as well as effects, so what you do is identify the root causes of the reputation risk and then develop action plans against those.

One technique comes from Six Sigma, called Five Whys, where we start with a question like: “What could cause financial losses?” then continue asking Why? (up to five times) to those responses until you determine the root causes. For example:

Tylenol loses market share and suffers financial loses (problem)
Why? Reputation is harmed (first why)
Why? Someone tampers with the bottle and with the pills (second why)
Why? There are no preventative or detective controls; and capsules can be pulled apart (third why)
Why? Design defects to box, bottle and pills (fourth why)

After completing this analysis, you can develop and implement action plans for the second, third and forth whys which ultimately harm reputation and cause financial losses.

After the event, Tylenol stopped making capsules and began making caplets (preventative control); and they began using tamper-resistant packaging (detective controls) which we see today. J&J also did a fabulous job of damage control. They went public, recalled all products and saved their reputation. One might suggest their communication plan was also an effective control.

So remember, while you may not be able to protect your reputation (second order risk) you can do your best to treat the root causes.

4 – that’s the number of pills I’ve taken so far today (and it’s only 11:30 am)!  My first pill this morning was the prenatal vitamin…I hate taking that one.  Not because it’s big…not because it tastes awful…not even because it’s pink.  What I hate about taking it is that I’ve been taking these damn pills for almost 3 years, and I think it’s just a big joke.  Prenatal – really?  I must have a VERY l0ng gestational period…like an elephant.  Yup, that’s me!  The human elephant.

Okay.  Pill #2 was Metformin.  Yup – today was the day I start week 2 of the Met and so I’ve jumped up to 2 a day.  I made sure to eat breakfast (which I normally don’t do) and took it with milk.  We’ll see if I have any side effects, which I’ve been avoiding the past week by taking it at night so I can sleep through it all.

Pills #3 and 4 were the same: Extra Strength Tylenol.  That’s right folks your friend and mine, Aunt Flo showed up for a visit today!  I’m not sure if it was the Met that made her come earlier than normal (CD-38 instead of say, CD-90), but I’m glad I didn’t have to go through 3 months wondering when I’d get to see if the Metformin would regulate my cycles!  So while I’m experiencing my vomit educing cramping, at least I can start tracking this cycle.  I’ve never really gotten into the BBT thing (as my cycles were so long and temps up and down everyday).  I’ve NEVER done an OPK…again, hard to know when to do the test in a 90 day cycle!  So, tomorrow I will officially start BBT-ing and see what happens!  You may see a new ticker, my CD ticker.  That’s mostly for MY benefit, as I’m not a number person.  It will help me remember where I’m at.

I’m nervous and excited.  I know this Metformin stuff can take a while to really regulate things for me, but as we all can be when it comes to infertility, we think it won’t apply to us!  The first time will be the charm!  I mean I *did* get pregnant on my very first ever IUI, very first ever treatment for infertility.  Of course after that it’s not been so “easy” for me.  But here I am, on a new course of treatment so of course I’m thinking it’s going to work for me easy!  I think I heard someone call this “infertility amnesia”.  I’ve got it bad!  I think that’s a good thing though.  It will help to keep me hopeful.  Until then, I’m going to try and keep my breakfast down.  Damn cramps.

An advisory committee for the Federal Drug Administration recommended a ban on Percocet and Vicodin because of their effects on the liver.
The drugs contain acetaminophen which is found in Tylenol and Excedrin.
Each year 400 people die and 42,000 are hospitalized due to overdoses.
People are using these drugs to limit or decrease the pain they are experiencing.
Low back pain, neck pain, headaches are common reasons for taking it.
These are also the aches and pains that chiropractors can effectively treat.

www.rodechiropractic

Now doesn’t it make sense to see a chiropractor to see if he can help rather than risk liver damage by taking acetaminophen?

Squidoo

RodeChiropractic website

Blogger

An advisory committee for the Federal Drug Administration recommended a ban on Percocet and Vicodin because of their effects on the liver.
The drugs contain acetaminophen which is found in Tylenol and Excedrin.
Each year 400 people die and 42,000 are hospitalized due to overdoses.
People are using these drugs to limit or decrease the pain they are experiencing.
Low back pain, neck pain, headaches are common reasons for taking it.
These are also the aches and pains that chiropractors can effectively treat.

www.rodechiropractic

Now doesn’t it make sense to see a chiropractor to see if he can help rather than risk liver damage by taking acetaminophen?

Squidoo

RodeChiropractic website

Blogger

Since Thursday morning, I’ve been sufferring from some viral ailment. Started off with the harbinger of doom: The Sore Throat. . . Here, in this global climate of flu pandemic paranoia, I give you the stages of the “Viral Ailment”!

Stage 1 – Denial!

Like any good American, at the onset of the grippy sore throat, I denied any trace of illness.

“What’s that? A sore throat you say?”

“Neigh! Neigh! ‘Tis a hairball!”

" 'Altering the Deal' for 1200, please?"

Stage 2 – Paranoia!

(Written in Second Person, but you fuckers know it’s me.)

You start to question if you got it from that kid who ran into class a couple of days ago to proclaim his forthcoming leave of absence in light of being successfully diagnosed with pneumonia.

You start avoiding the bird seed patch that you usually step on; in case there are any remnants of the Avian Influenza strain that started its process of infecting you a couple of weeks ago – Wait! It’s the fucking pork steak I had a couple of days ago!

I start Googling that shit. . . No, it’s not transferrable through cooked pork – but, ah! ‘Tis good to be on the watch for mutating viral ailments.

Maybe it’s that fucker who rubbed the remnants of his oatmeal breakfast on the bus “Stop” button that you had to press.

Gah! So many possibilites! So few diseases!

I actually start to narrow down the diseases via the Dr. House method. It’s either H1N1 from the pork (always chances!), the regular Influenza, the Avian Influenza, Pneumonia, or the Common Cold!

Google -> Wikipedia Treatment -> Viral Diseases

All the symptoms are fucking identical!

Stage 3: “Eye of the Tiger” Phase

Play on Survivah!!!

You start coughing, feel cold enough to think you’re having a fever, but nothing shows up on your thermometer. You’re tough as nails. You got a 90 in Ms. Mathias’s class. You’re going to pull this shit off!
The shortest of stages: I present to you the “Eye of the Tiger” Phase!
Clad with a 200mg big pack of Flu Tylenol, Advil, Shitty Cough Syrup and Vicodin for kicks -

Unrelated Painkiller Pile

You start going “YEAH! Imma Salt Water that shit!”

Imma let you finish! Imma let you finish! But the Spanish Flu was the best flu of all time mothafuckaz! *Pops ‘em painkillers good.*

Stage 4: Defeat.

You’re fucking defeated you miserable shit. Bus yourself to the doctor with a runny nose, and everyone giving you awkward looks. You pat your cell-phone holder threateningly – Scary old lady who sits opposite you on the Public Bus mistakes this for a sexual advance. On any other day, you’d tear her pussy up. But you want Tamiflu, and prescription painkillers strong enough to put an elephant to sleep. Your bones ache. You feel this impending doom at laying off your homework till the last minute – Ah! You get off the bus. Phat doctor gives you a face-mask that doesn’t fit you, you start drawing threatening looks from parents with vulnerable, sweet vulnerable little babies. It might be the flu, but there’s no fever. Wait till Monday, and then get Tamiflu – The Flu’s New wonder drug that unfortunately doesn’t do much than dent H1N1.

It’s Saturday night, you’re supposed to be out chilling at a friend’s place, he calls, you tell him that you’re at funeral. Then you cough the alveoli out your lungs. Nobody must know! I need my four hour shifts and I can’t afford to cut school!

Homework piles up, nothing tastes or feels good anymore – not even Johnny Cash. You sleep like a passed out drunkard, you wake up and you’re not the shit anymore. You iz a sad, undiagnosed kitty with no zeal for life.

You’re pretty sure atheism is the way to go by now, and you search for random funny videos all day long on youtube until you feel good enough to do homework.

Dear Mr. Toilet, I withdraw my post as “The Shit” until further notice.

- Regards,

Viral Victim

P. 86  11/5/09

Well it’s sick day #3ish and I am missing yet another day of work. Here are some things I have learned from staying home (and only leaving my room to go to the bathroom or the kitchen). Oh boy!

1. Daytime television is terrible. What is being offered from say, 9 AM – 3/4PM, you ask? Well, not much. A brief channel surfing at 12:30 PM today will bring you last night’s hockey game reruns, golf, home improvement shows, “Freaky Friday” with Lindsay Lohan, “Full House”, and various news shows.
2. When you are sick, you learn a lot about how the body works. According to my friend who’s a nurse, when you have the chills, your body is really actually hot. And when you have the chills, you should take a fever-reducing medicine like Tylenol. So I did. Although it just made me hot and sweaty. My friend explained to me that I am supposed to feel hot, because (and this is where it gets confusing) my fever is “breaking” and going down. So being cold equals being really hot. And being hot means you are still hot. And feeling just right is just right. Great. So now I’m hot and sweaty and I’m supposed to take some more Tylenol. But if that just makes me more hot, then that won’t be any help. Ugh.
3. Being locked in your room greatly limits things to do to keep entertained, yet you are not supposed to be entertained when you are sick. You are supposed to take it easy and get better. Being sick is sooo boring!
4. Facebook actually becomes dull when it is your main source of internet entertainment. It’s odd how entertaining Facebook can be when you should be doing more important things with your life. But when you have nothing to do, suddenly Facebook just isn’t as appealing.
5. Eating nothing but soup for days isn’t as bad as you might think, if you like soup. Soup is actually one of my favorite foods (I know that is a generic statement, but it’s true). Well, even with being able to have as much as my favorite food non-stop, like, #3 above, it can sure get monotonous. So while eating hot food is encouraged when you’re sick, and there are probably other things I could have other than canned soups, the other problem is that I really need to go grocery shopping. But leaving my apartment might not be the greatest choice for getting better. So I am left with soup and more soup.
   
6. Speaking of food, apparently I am also incapable of correctly popping a bag of popcorn. Be it regular size or a mini-bag, this is a life skill I have yet to accomplish in my new apartment.

So that’s about all I can think of right now. The things you learn when staying at home from work for multiple days in a row, while it may not be monumental and life-changing information, might still be helpful to know at some point. At least I’m going to keep telling myself that…

Let’s just say that with the extra sleep I got the night before last, I was all fired up to have fun last night.

All was well until… I laid down.

I figured I’d just lay down for a little bit after having far too many cocktails. You know, rest the ol’ noggin’ for a few minutes before continuing on with my night of exciting relaxation.

In case you have this moment of brain lapse as well, let me help you out: Don’t do it!

The room was in a never ending spiral when I sat back up and all that fun and high spirited nature that I was feeling? Gone. I just wanted someone to make the twirling stop.

My poor choices landed me in bed early. What a party pooper!

Not hung over or anything this morning, just really bummed out that I missed out on a lot of time to sit and enjoy the peaceful evening.

Got coffee brewing, kiddie shows on the television, Facebook up and running, and two Tylenol taken for good measure.

Big dummy me.

I think it’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve posted a diaper deal…in saying that…here we go…

(1) Huggies, $9.89
$3/1, $1.50, $2/1 Home Mailer
$2/1 (printable) zip 60160 OR (printable PDF) -I pray you all printed lot when the PDF was available
$1.50/1 (printable)
$1.50 (FLIP)

(2) Hunt’s Tomatoes, Assorted Varieties, 14.5-oz can, BOGO $1.39
-$.50/2 (printable)
-$1/4; $.45/3 from 10-04-09 SS
-B3G1 Publix Creative Comfort Food Booklet
-$.75/3 All You, October 2009
-$1/3 Hunts Products (printable) (must play the game to get coupon)
-$1.25 off Hunt’s & Pam Cooking Spray from 10-11-09 SS (Publix coupon)
-$1/4 (Smartsource Dispenser)

Scenario (Coupons Used):
(1) Rite Aid $5/$25 (exp. 12/19)
(1) Huggies MFQ
(1) Huggies (FLIP)
(2) $2/1 Tylenol
(2) $3/1 Tylenol (Publix)
(6) $0.40/1 Betty Crocker Potatoes
(3) $0.50/2 Betty Crocker Potatoes (Military)
(1) $1/2 Ragu
(2) $0.50/1 Ragu (Food Lion booklet)
(1) $0.50/2 Hunt’s Tomatoes

Subtotal: $26.22
Total (Pre-tax) OOP: -$0.08 to -$1.58 w/military Qs (-$3.08 if military Qs scans & doubles)

Reaping In Abundance,
Kay

Publix has select Tylenol pain products on sale this week for $3.99ea. There is a $3/1 Tylenol Publix store coupon within the Green Advantage. Stack that with either of these coupons for some FREE products.

$2/1 TYLENOL PM product (excludes trial sizes)
$1/1 TYLENOL Extra Strength OR TYLENOL Arthritis (excludes trial sizes)
$1/1 TYLENOL 8-hr. product (excludes trial sizes)

Reaping In Abundance,
Kay

Healthy Seasons has a bunch of great coupons available. Click here to access the following coupons and more!

• Save $2 on Zyrtec
• Save $1 on Mylanta
• Save $1 on Pepcid
• Save $1 on Splenda
• Save $1 on Tylenol
• Save $1 on Tylenol PM
• Save $2 on Visine
• and more!

Yesterday I had the worst headache. By about 4pm, my body started to shut down. My eyes could not open and when it did, it was sensitive to the light. I could not request for the lights to be turned off in the office so I had to endure the photo sensitivity and as a result of that – major headache.

I left work at 5.30pm sharp and got home at 5.45pm. I slept, hungry, and painfully. Due to my condition, I could not simply be taking any medication. And at best, should not take any medication at all. I slept, until El Rey woke me up at about 7++pm when he was home. I woke up with a worse headache then I had before. I was glad that El Rey was home, and I was feeling better as soon as I got up, when I started playing some soothing music and watching El Rey laugh at my sensitivity and emotional distress for a particular song.

Then we were hungry, and moved to Centerpoint to eat some Japanese. Halfway there, due to lights of the cars and the Kembara’s shaky condition, I wanted to puke really bad. So I had to get out of the car, while el Rey went on to find a parking and ran straight to the bathroom.

I had nothing in my belly, and so the puking session was extremely horrendous. Not to mention how bloody stinky the toilet was. It was extremely horrible and I could not breathe. Well, needless to say after that session, my headache turned for the worst. My head was pounding on the left and right hemisphere and my eyes felt like it was going to pop out from my head at any moment from the pressure building inside the glaucoma.

So as you know with things that bother me and ignites my annoyance, I have decided to research on what causes headaches, and the cure for headaches without pills.

SO WHAT CAUSES A HEADACHE?

Headaches are caused by a multitude of reasons including stress, cigarette smoke, depression, hunger, menstruation, eye strain (from staring at your computer/TV too long), allergies and much much more. It is important to know the “trigger” for your headaches so you can avoid them. Unfortunately, I cannot avoid my trigger cause the trigger is the job. You think after all these time of staring at a computer screen you’d get used to it already…

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS DURING A HEADACHE?

A headache is rarely (though it happens) due to the brain even if you feel like the pain comes from inside your thick skull. Funny enough, there is almost no nerve endings in the brain that triggers the feeling of pain. The pain you feel from your headaches actually comes from the muscles of your scalp. Or pain at any other muscle-related parts of your head (e.g. part behind jaw).  The tension built up causes the muscle to hurt as if you have been doing vigorous exercise for hours. That is why sometimes you can relief a headache temporarily by gently rubbing against that spot where it hurt.

WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU FIRST SPOT SIGNS OF AN UPCOMING HEADACHE?

Remove yourself from the trigger. For example, if it is stress, remove yourself from that stressful environment, or if it is your computer, shut it down and relax for a while. If the sun is too bright, wear sun glasses or go inside.

If removing yourself from the source of your headache doesn’t help, go to a quiet, dark room, and meditate, do yoga, breathe right and relax for a couple of minutes. If you can, take a power nap of 20 minutes. Usually a small headache would be gone by the time you wake up.  Sometimes your headache is caused by you grinding your teeth for long periods at a time. In this case, what you can do is try not to let your teeth touch or a few minutes while breathing normally.

Rotate your shoulders to relax them. Stop frowning and narrowing your eyebrows. Smile more. Smiling induces endorphins to be released from the brain and make you feel good. Also another great and fun way to release yourself from a headache is to have sex. *wink wink*

WHAT IF IT DOESN’T GO AWAY?

Drink some coffee/coke. Caffeine has been proven to cure headaches in low doses. High doses causes headaches. When taken with painkillers, caffeine can also help to speed up the process of the medication taking effect. Drink some water, not too much, a glass or two. Get someone to massage your neck, shoulders and the part of your head that hurts as sometimes blood circulation from muscle to muscle is not smooth.

Ice/Heat packs work wonders. It really depends on the individual but most migraine sufferers prefer ice packs on the affected area. You can also try placing an ice pack at the back of your neck or taking a nice hot shower.

Cut a lime in half and rub it on your forehead, the throbbing will cease and eventually go away.

WHAT IF IT STILL DOESN’T WANT TO GO AWAY?

Consult your doctor if your headache lasted more than a day or even weeks. It might be some underlying neurological issue or a chiropractor to rectify the subluxation of the upper cervical vertebrae in your neck.

______________

I hope I helped with these solutions to your headaches. But best thing is to avoid the light, be by yourself, in a quiet place, and breathe normally, and nap for 20 minutes. Oh and when you’re napping, do not lie on the part where your head hurts or else the limited blood flow might cause the headache to be there when you wake up.

Of course, getting a massage from your partner will help too!

Either way, my headache is gone. But my back hurts still. I think I sprained it while I was puking really badly yesterday. I hate this feeling. My back. OMG. How can people stand it? I don’t usually get pains there so I must have done something yesterday that made it worse.

]]> http://winstonmedia.wordpress.com/2009/11/04/field-producer-fda-hearing-on-acetaminophen/ Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:19:57 +0000 winstonwilde http://winstonmedia.wordpress.com/2009/11/04/field-producer-fda-hearing-on-acetaminophen/

I’ve been on several all-day field shoots while working for NBC News – this was my first, and to date, one of my most important.  The job was an FDA hearing about acetaminophen – the pharmaceutical terminology for what is known to consumers as the brand-name pain reliever Tylenol – and the story involved the FDA looking to address the problem of acetaminophen overdose leading to liver failure.  Washington correspondent Tom Costello would file the story for Nightly News that evening, as the lead story.

I was sent to the campus of University of Maryland University College, the FDA’s choice of venue, accompanied by a camera crew and a satellite truck operator.  My cameraman was cabled to lines, and broadcast via satellite back to the bureau.  He shot the all-day conference live while the bureau recorded the hours of footage to tape for Tom Costello and his producer to monitor and sift for good soundbites.  When the 9-hour hearing was over, an FDA press conference was called in another room, and I had to oversee the re-cabling and reconfiguration of camera and live lines to this alternate location.

There was also a Newschannel crew and correspondent there for a few hours.  Correspondent Tracie Potts was there to get some sound of the hearing, and get an interview subject for her own piece for Newschannel, which would be disseminated to the nation’s NBC affiliates.  While my cameraman was tethered to shooting the hearings, Tracie and I commissioned the services of her camera crew to interview and shoot set-up of a young woman who would become the central character in Tom’s piece.  The young woman, a pharmacist, lost her sister to liver failure due to an acetaminophen overdose, and her story was so compelling, both Tracie and Tom agreed to use selections from her interview.  I also oversaw several live shots that Tracie did with her cameraman for MSNBC, which required another live path from our sat truck, and while we had their cameraman plugged into lines, I was able to snag a couple more interview subjects for Tom’s spot, including a good opposite viewpoint from the Executive Director of an over-the-counter (OTC) drug trade group, which made it into Tom’s spot.

By day’s end, I had been responsible for nearly all of the elements in Tom Costello’s spot.  The only elements that I did not oversee were an interview with a drug expert, shot from the bureau’s studio, and a tape of drug b-roll, shot at a local pharmacy near the bureau.  It was a tremendous amount of work, but the result was incredibly rewarding – the lead spot in Nightly News, which wouldn’t have been possible without my contributions:

Go here to register for the digital 2010 Tylenol calendar, includes printable coupons, tips & info.

Thanks, Deal Seeking Mom. 

Percocet Addiction Facts.

“Don’t Become Addicted to Percocet”

Percocet is a narcotic (oxycodone) and acetaminophen (commonly known as Tylenol) combination. They are combined to get a synergistic effect on pain. Oxycodone is similar to other narcotics, such as heroin or opium, in terms of effect and addiction. Percocet addiction can affect the young, middle aged, or elderly. Individuals addicted to Percocet may come from any walk of life, hold entry level or high positions, be parents or grandparents, single or married.

Take this scenario: You are a woman, about 35 years old. You are not feeling well, and you go to the doctor. He prescribes a medication that will alleviate your pain. You take this medication, just as the doctor ordered, for a few weeks. You feel great. After three weeks, you stop, and start getting nausea, your legs start cramping, and you can’t sleep. What is the problem?

The problem is that on top of your original physical condition you are now addicted to a prescription drug: Percocet.

Sound familiar?

At this point you can do one of two things: You can go back to your doctor and get another prescription, which only makes it worse, since you have to keep taking Percocet to feel “normal”, or you can go to a drug rehab and get through your withdrawals.

The Atlanta Recovery Center Drug Rehab in Georgia warns that Percocet addiction is common and far more widespread than imagined.

The risk for Percocet addiction is greatest among women, seniors, and adolescents.

For the full story http://news.wooeb.com/NewsStory.aspx?id=132611&ret

pero que demonios pasa con el titulo de este post ??? . pues nadamas y nadamenos que me acabod e enterar de que el año pasado XD ( si algo viejo pero bueno …) la famosa medicacion mas popular para el dolor de cabeza de todo el mundo lanzoun comercial de TV , pero … que tiene que ver haruhi en este comercial ???, acaso fue hecho en japon ??? . pues NO !! fue hecho en EUA y con actoeres americanos y todo eso , pero hay un pequeño detalle que me llamo la atencion de ese comercial , y esque …. mejor veanlo ustedes mismos y diganme si lo notaron XD

aqui el comercial en cuestion.

LO VIERON ??? . no ?? . pues fijense bien , vean el comencial de nuevo y aproximadamente en el segundo 18 fijense muy bien que aparece al fondo de la niña que brinca como loca XD !!! es HARUHI !!! , elobvio que haruhi esta dominando el mundo poco a poco , aunque con el fallo masivo que fue la segunda temporada ( gracias a endless eight ¬¬) estara perdiendolo poco a poco , pero de algo estamos seguros, haruhi no morira y seguira a preciendo en cosas como esta y esperemos que en muchas mas cosas !!! .

HASTA OTRA !!!

Tylenol PM is a very common over the counter (OTC) medicine uses to treat minor pains and also as a sleep aid; it contains diphenhydramine HCL, the same active ingredient found in the OTC allergy medicine Benadryl, which is used to help with sleeplessness.

Tylenol PM by itself sounds innocent, however, it is one of the main ingredients of a very dangerous street drug called “cheese heroin”! The DEA considers “cheese” as a “starter form” of heroin, since it is known to be used by young students of the Dallas area; still, it is a very lethal drug which has already made many victims.

Why is “cheese” found in Dallas?

In the west coast, and the regions close from Mexico, most of the heroin found is under the form of “black tar heroin,” (a black, sticky, tarry heroin) compare to the east coast where it is in powder. Drug dealers in their thirst of money have found a way to make “black tar heroin” snortable, an easy route of administration in contrast of intravenous heroin, making it more attractive. The “tar heroin” is mixed with Tylenol PM crushed in powder, resulting in a cheap and effective drug; a small amount of heroin is needed to put the user in a “nod,” since the diphenhydramine contained in Tylenol pm should already make the user in sleep.

Heroin by itself is already dangerous, now, imagine it being combined with the lethal effects of acetaminophen (Tylenol) on the liver! And the fact, that a tablet of Tylenol PM contains actually a very small amount of active ingredient and a lot of fillers which are not made to be snorted safely.

“Cheese heroin” is not expensive to make and then can be sold cheap to young kids who put themselves in great danger, thinking that they are using the “real deal” and are actually being poisoned by the nasty cuts, and addicted by the little amount of heroin actually in the “cheese”.

Hieu

Sources

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/031509dnmetcheesedeath.3e0160d.html

http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/programs/forensicsci/microgram/mg0607/mg0607.html

http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/concern/heroin.html

As week’s roll on this Fall, we are continuing to see unprecedented amounts of flu-like illnesses.  The influx of swine flu has brought the number of flu cases to numbers not typically seen over this much of the country at once.  It is now considered “widespread” throughout almost the entire country.

The good news is that despite the unusual number of flu cases, most of them continue to be somewhat less severe than typical flu.  The CDC reports that still more than 99% of all flu cases that have been analyzed have been H1N1 influenza.  There have also been no reports of resistance to currently used antiviral medications, Tamiflu or Relenza.

We are starting to see trivial amounts of H1N1 vaccine become available here in Mansfield, and will continue to get more over the next 2-3 months.  The vaccine will initially be targeting those at the highest risk:  pregnant women and young children.  Healthcare workers with direct patient contact will also be advised to get immunized early.  Adults under 65 with underlying illnesses like asthma and diabetes will be in the second wave of immunization, and, if available, then healthy adults and patients over 65 will be able to get immunized if they choose.

Seasonal flu shots are currently available and are recommended for kids 6 months to 18, adults over 50 and anyone with chronic illnesses such as asthma or diabetes.  This is important because every year thousands of people die of influenza, but with much less fanfare.  I expect that the onset of flu season will combine with continued H1N1 activity to create a crazy winter. 

If you think that you may have the flu, and have classic symptoms like high fever and bodyaches, then you should contact your doctor.  If you’ve had contact with someone with the flu, then you likely don’t need to be tested for the flu, you may just receive treatment.  If you have a milder illness, then you may try to treat the symptoms with over-the-counter medicines like Tylenol or ibuprofen, stay hydrated and rest.  You should, of course, take precautions to not infect others by staying home if you’ve had fever, washing your hands frequently and covering your mouth when you cough.