National Prescription Take Back Day-April 30th

Do you have medications that you do not want or expired and need to get rid of them? You do not have to pay for their disposal. April 30th is Prescription Take Back Day. You can drop off your unwanted medications at over 5,300 sites nationwide.

Some of the DC sites:
Drop Off between 10 am to 2 pm

US Capitol Police Headquarters-119 D Street NE
Walter Reed General Hospital -6900 Georgia Ave NW
First Police District- 101 M Street SW
Third Police District- 1620 V Street NW
UDC-come to driveway off of Van Ness St under the breezeway

For a site near you go to dea.gov

Getting rid of unused medications is one of the best ways to prevent unintentional misuse. According to the 2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health-more Americans abuse prescription drug than illegal substances combined. Parents and grandparents: teens can go through your medicine cabinet and obtain medications you are not using. Medications that are no longer needed especially those narcotic painkillers are a must to take to Take Back Day. Simply throwing drugs away and flushing them down the toilet is not the right thing to do.

You've heard "Don't Drink and Drive" but have you heard about . . .

Okay for years now, we have heard about "Don't Drink and Drive". This is a very important lesson in preventing accidents while intoxicated by alcohol. But did you know that almost 1/5 of fatally injured drivers tested in 2009 were under the influence  of a drug whether legal or illegal. Now consider that almost half of Americans are taking at least one prescription drug according to Health 2004, driving while drugged is an important issue. This is not to encourage you not to take your medications but to alert you that some prescriptions and over-the-counter medications can impair your judgment, perception, and motor skills. Medications that have the possibility of making you sleepy are top of the list to watch out for. Different prescriptions that you should NOT drive while under the influence are pain medications such as Percocet and Vicodin, anti-anxiety medications like Xanax and Valium, and the anti-histamine Benadryl. Pay attention to the warnings on over-the-counter boxes and your prescription labels-anything that states do not operate heavy machinery can impair your driving. More attention needs to be brought Drugged Driving. Law enforcement officers in most states are trained in recognizing drug intoxication. Protect yourself and other drivers by NOT Driving after Drinking and while Texting and Drugged.

Read the directions before USE

Reading the directions before use seems like the most practical step before you attempt to assemble something or operate machinery. But its the thing most of us do not pay attention when taking over-the-counter medication. Yes, I understand you've been taking Ibuprofen or cough syrup as long as you can remember. But do you really remember the exact directions of a drug that you may take once or twice a year.

Last week, my pharmacy tech had a dry cough so she took some cough syrup. For this particular medicine, the dosing is 2 teaspoons every 12 hours. There is a dosing cup that clearly shows the 2 teaspoonfuls. My tech thinking that she knew the directions did not look at the box and just took the medicine. She actually ended up taking 4 teaspoonfuls-double the recommended dose. She because extremely dizzy and drowsy. This was actual unintentional overdose. All because she did not look at the directions before taking the medicine.

Even if you have taken a medication for years, its always important to read and re-read the directions for proper dosing.

For you who are parents or work with teenagers: dextromethorphan in most over-the-counter cough medicines can be abused by teenagers. Signs of abuse could reveal itself by finding many empty bottles of cough syrup in one's possesion. Abuse of dextromethorphan can produce euphoria, visions, and distortions of body preception.

You know what you eat, but do you know your prescriptions?

I was talking to a patient the other day. I was trying to figure out what prescriptions he needed refill. First I must say this gentleman was not the typical health illiterate patient. He was very well spoken and educated. He simply told me to refill 2 of his 5 current medications. I asked him what does he take the meds for. He had no idea. This is not something new; it happens daily in the pharmacy. My question to you is do you eat food that you do not know what it is? Why do we take meds? Is the reason for taking them simply because the doctor said so. You cannot begin to take your medications prescription or over-the-counter correctly unless you know why you're taking it. You are probably wondering what does learning about your prescriptions have to do with abuse. You must know how to take your prescriptions correctly in order not to abuse them. Ask your doctor or pharmacist about your medication. Learn about your medications, do not simple take them because someone told you too. You should know what medications you're putting in your mouth.

Bath Salts

Ivory Dove, red wave, and vanilla sky sound harmless; but these are names of substances marketed as bath salts. When I think of bath salts, I think of nice bubble baths, relaxation, and the scent of lavender. But these bath salts are not for relaxation. They are used for smoking or snorting by mostly teenagers and young adults. Bath salts are easy to obtain in convenience stores, online, etc.  And very legal in most states. Florida and Louisiana have banned bath salts that contain methylenedioxypyrovalerone or MDPV. This substance creates a high similar to cocaine and is highly addictive. A person high from MDPV can experience increased heart rate, nose bleeds, severe hallucinations, paranoia, seizures, psychosis, feelings of superhuman strength, extreme violence and kidney failure. Death is likely and there are stories of suicide and homicide from people under the influence of MDPV. In the future, I'm sure more states will ban this substance. Parents this is something to take notice of.

Welcome

Welcome to my new blog. I hope you enjoy the latest news about me and what I'm doing around DC. Enjoy!

The FDA is making changes. Last week the FDA, announced recommending drug manufactuers to limit the amount of Tylenol in prescription drugs to 325 mg. This does not affect your extra strength Tylenol of 500 mg that you buy over the counter. But you will not be able to find more than 325 mg in prescription products. So your Vicodin which has 500 mg of Tylenol will be reformulated to have a lower amount of Tylenol. This is a good change for the American public. Overuse of Tylenol can lead to liver damage. Your risk increases if you partake in alcohol frequently and also take Tylenol. Also of note during the cold and flu season, many products have multiple drugs in them. You may be taking more than the recommeded dosage of Tylenol without realizing it. This is the reason Tylenol causes so many accidental overdoses. Make sure to read those labels and always follow the recomended amount of drugs.