Medical Minute: “Brown Bagging” Your Meds
Loyal reader Beverly Garrett is a friend in my head — as Wendy Williams would say. Bev emailed me today to suggest a Medical Minute post about doctors over-prescribing medications especially to seniors.
This week I discussed this same subject with two of my close friends whose older relatives are feeling the ill effects of taking multiple medications.
I suggested they put all their meds in a bag and take the meds with them to their next doctor’s appointment. That way the doctor can see all the meds they’re taking and see if any combination of drugs are causing adverse interactions.
Forget about taking a list of meds because often times the doctors act like they’re too busy to look at the list.
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Sandra,
It’s not just celebrities being inundated with unnecessary prescriptions, it’s more the norm than the exception.
I’ve had several doctors who prescribed something for every single symptom. And, I know other people whose doctors have done the same thing. That’s a big problem for senior citizens as well. That’s why the hospital I work at has a monthly “brown bag” seminar for seniors. Once a month seniors can bring all their meds in a brown paper bag to a clinic and have someone look over all the prescriptions. Many medications counteract others or aggravate other symptoms.
I’ve gotten really sick from taking meds too close together and/or the side effects were symptomatic. Twice I could have sworn that I overdosed and was dying. On top of that I’ve got a draw full of unfilled prescriptions. After the last accidental overdose 2 years ago, I will not take more than two prescribed pills a day. If there’s still an underlining symptom that isn’t controlled, then I tell the doctor we need to find the cause not keep treating the symptoms.
Love your blog,
Beverly Garrett
Pittsburgh, PA
Video: Alexys K. Tylor “Black Men Were Taught To Be Promiscuous By Slave Masters”
Obviously, the words coming out Alexxys’ mouth is of a graphic sexual nature and may not be appropriate for the cubicle.
GUESS WHO?
From NY Daily News:
Which rapper threatened a pal after the buddy mistreated his girlfriend? The icon got in his face, then froze him out on the group’s private jet.
Photo: Wireimage/Getty
Dr. Roseanne Barr: “Rihanna is Violent Too!”
Comedienne Roseanne Barr isn’t joking in her latest blog about the Chrianna mess. In her opinion, both Rihanna and Chris Brown’s careers are over.
If Chrianna’s people have any sense at all they will pause for a minute and pay attention. Fans tend to live their lives vicariously through their idols, and nobody wants to live on the edge like these two.
At this point there’s nothing either of them can say to reverse the damage that’s already been done to their careers. Neither one of them can sing worth a damn anyway.
So let’s pour a li’l liquor out for both of them, and get on with our lives.
From Roseanne World blog:
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Rihanna is violent too and that is one of the reasons why she is back with chris brown. She thinks she has him right where she wants him now. His career is over, and he is working her to help him get it back. She thinks that since he needs her and has shown some contrition, that she can call the shots now. Violent people are control freaks, and she thinks she is in control right now. Violent couples also have passionate make up sex, and that keeps a lot of battered and beaten women hooked. Once she realizes that her fans and their parents are going to write her off completely and end her career as well as his if she stays with him, that might convince her not to do that. Her publicists and agents and lawyers and producers are all telling her not to risk she and brown’s tandem endorsements (they don’t care if she lives or dies, as long as they get their money). She is being played and used and isolated from her father. Her greed and her participation in violence, plus not wanting to cross Diddy, who wants her to put her life on the line, are powerful lures to stay in hell with a monster. I hope she lets go of her need to control other people. I hope she thinks about the horrifying message she is sending to young women and young men. She will never survive choosing brown over her dad.
PICS: Estelle & Solange Live At Center Stage
Grammy Award Winning artists Estelle And Pop Star/Fashion Icon Solange brought their National tour to Atlanta’s Center Stage last night. The house was packed with R&B connoisseurs who love Estelle and Solange’s unique blend of pop/R&B music and eclectic fashion sense.
Thanks to Tracy Nguyen of IPR for leaving the tickets at the call window for me, but my guest and I decided to buy our tickets — even though the ticket prices are ridiculous nowadays!
Props to celebrity photographer Prince Williams for these hawt shots of the concert and backstage! Shout out to Atlanta socialite Eboni Elektra who was holding it down backstage with the industry elite.
I feel obligated to tell you that HoneyMag.com is the exclusive media partner for their tour.
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With long standing brand awareness and a strong loyal following, HoneyMag.com is celebrating the site’s re-launch by joining International star and Grammy Award winning artist, Estelle on her headlining national tour with special guest, pop star and fashion icon Solange. Providing exclusive backstage access, via one-on-interviews, Twitter and blogging, HoneyMag.com is the exclusive media partner for the tour delivering content in a manner synonymous with their distinct and unique editorial style. For tour dates and exclusive coverage, visit www.HoneyMag.com.
Solange and Juelz conduct an interview backstage
Singer Janelle Monáe and Solange
Atlanta socialite Eboni Elektra and DJ Trauma
You thought Janelle Monáe was joking about all that equestrian gear in her closet?
All photos by ATLPics.net
Celebrity Seed: Solange
Last night Solange Knowles breezed through the ATL to perform with British chanteuse Estelle at Center Stage.
Celebrity photographer Prince Williams of ATLPics.net was able to persuade little Daniel, aka Juelz, to stop running around backstage long enough to take a pic for Sandrarose.com. Prince said lil Juelz told him, “anything for Sandra Rose!”
OK, I kid! More pics in a minute!
Sen. Gregg Calls Obama’s Budget Forecast a Lie
Now we know why Senator Judd Gregg withdrew his nomination as Barack Obama’s 2nd choice for Commerce Secretary last month: unlike Obama, Sen. Gregg actually has scruples.
Yesterday, Sen. Gregg gave Obama’s flailing Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner a good dressing down by calling his budget forecast a lie.
If you recall, Obama’s first choice for commerce secretary was forced to withdraw due to an impending investigation for taking kickbacks.
Unfortunately, good honest men like Sen. Gregg and CNN medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta would rather not be a part of Obama’s administration.
From MSNBC:
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It was obvious to most Capitol Hill insiders why President Obama wanted Republican Judd Gregg as a member of his cabinet: He’s one of the sharpest money-minds in Congress.
But instead of getting Gregg’s counsel within the administration, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner found himself today of the receiving end of Gregg’s fiscal conservative wrath.
In a hearing before the Senate Budget Committee Gregg dressed down Geithner with facts, figures, and charts. While always keeping his cool, the exchange was somewhere between a mother’s scolding, a drill sergeant’s questioning and an attorney’s cross examination.
In his opening statement, Gregg politely called the administration’s budget forecast a lie.
“The argument that it cuts the debt in half in four years is, ahh, is truly spurious,” he told Geithner.
President Obama himself gives Gregg’s comments a sense of stinging credibility. When the president introduced Gregg as his nominee for Commerce Secretary last month, he said Gregg is known for is fiscal discipline.
