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My Experience with Pharma Medications - and Why Going Natural is the Way for Me

I am very lucky that at nearly 50 years of age that I have not had any real health issues.   It could be a testament to my dedication to working out regularly, taking effective supplements and generally eating the right foods.   I am proud of the fact that for over 27 years consistently I have not missed a week or month from working out except one time when I had to have a gum graft and had to stay low key when it came to exercise.

As mentioned, I have worked out consistently for many years, and remained injury free despite how hard core I work out at the gym.  Finally this summer, I noticed some inflammation in my right wrist and it was a little painful and affected my workouts, especially my bench press and barbell curls exercises.  At first, I thought it was carpal tunnel syndrome, so I got myself a wrist wrap and wore it when using my computer.   The inflammation and pain never really went away after a few weeks so I decided to make an appointment with my PCP to have my wrist checked out.

My doctor is pretty laid back and when I have mentioned in the past how I like the natural way to take care of myself,  you can tell his mind was on other ideas to solve people's health issues.

So my doctor checked out my wrist and before he said "It is not Carpal Tunnel" he prescribed me some NaProxen to take care of the inflammation.   I asked if I should try out some Fish Oils and he said nah that stuff is not that effective.    So, I went with it for now.

The local pharmacy didn't even have any record of me since I have never really taken any medications.   The pharmacist went over the medication with me and how often to take it, and then proceed to mumble all of the side effects for the next three minutes.   She went so fast, I asked her to repeat mentioning the side effects a couple of times.   I was like, yikes....

So I started taking the Naproxen and it started to work after about three days.  My wrist was feeling a little better but it was still not 100%.   What I did notice was a bubbly itchy rash forming on all of my fingers on my left hand.   I thought to myself, I have not been near any poison ivy or anything in months, so what could it be?   A rash started to form on my arm too, so I thought, that's it, stop taking the Naproxen and then see how  this can be treated.  I bought some Cortizone cream, but that did not seem to work so guess what, time to see a doctor again. 

It was late on a Friday, so I decided to go to one of those CVS One-Minute Clinics.  They were fast and efficient.  The nurse practitioner took a look at my rash and said it was definitely eczema and that some Predisone would do the trick.    So I went back to the same pharmacy and now they recognized me and didn't even ask for my picture ID.   Again, they went over how to take the medication and mumbled all of the side effects including suppressing my immune system.  Gee, that is not good.

So I took the Predisone for a few days and the rash quickly went away until one night, I noticed that my throat was closing up.   I took some Benadryl and proceeded into a nice deep sleep.  That was the end of taking Predisone, for sure.   My wrist was feeling better, but I was starting to think that time healed the wound versus these meds.

This is not the end of the story though.
I started to notice my eyes swelling up and you got it, pink eye forming.  Great, I was going on a trip in a week, and I had blotches on my eyes.   I thought, I would have to be Bono on my trip and always wear my shades!   My eyes got worse,  and it was a Saturday, so I decided to go to an urgent care facility in my city.  The nurse practitioner was nice and did my vitals and said I had a bad eye infection in both of my eyes.  It was probably due to my weaken immune system that I was not able to fight off the bacteria that formed in my eyes.   She proceeded to give me some eye drops.

I took the eye drops for a few days and at least the pink in my eyes went away, but then these huge styes formed under my eyes and I noticed every time I used the drops, my eyes would sting like crazy.   I was like WTF, what do I do now.   The redness under my eyes was very noticeable to a point that I cancelled appointments and events for the week and we are days away from my trip to Iceland.

This time I made an appointment with my PCP.  This the third time in 4 months I have seen him.  Before 2017, I have not see a doctor for 6 years and never had a health issue.

I mentioned to him that I think I am allergic to just about every medication so how can I get rid of these styes in my eyes and quickly?   He chuckled and recommended a cream for eye styes and an antibiotic for me to take in case the cream doesn't work.

I started using the cream but still have the styes.  They are getting better and hopefully by the time I hit Reykjavik, I can take some pictures and be in them!

So I think for now, I am going to stick to Omega-3 Fish Oils and some great Isotonix vitamins to maintain my health since pharma medications just causes a ripple effect of spending and new issues.   What if I was taking Fish Oils all along?  Would I have had the wrist inflammation to begin with?  Probably not.  Case Closed, it is known the body is natural and the way you should heal your body should be natural too.   

Now to the local drug recycling center to get rid of these meds and all those damn side effects.

For IT Professionals - Five Things You Can Do To Be Less Of A Jackass

 

Attention Information Technology Professionals:

 

First things first, you’re probably acting like a jackass without even realizing it.

 

Don’t believe me?  IT is generally considered the least favorite department in an organization. You don’t wind up on that list because you’re NOT acting like a jackass.

So, now that we know you’re actions are, less than favorable…how can you be better? Here are 5 tips:

1. Technobabble.

 

Using a bunch of technobabble will land you on the jackass-list every time. No one cares how smart you are. You talking over someone’s head to prove how smart you are? Jackass! The last time you went to the doctor, did she launch a bunch of medical terminology at you or did she put it in easy-to-understand English? Chances are, she laid it out simply for you. 

 

 

 

 

If you can’t explain something simply? You don’t understand it well enough. So, if you are trying to talk over someone’s head it means you’re either not as smart as you think you are…or you’re a jackass.

2. Be Nice!

I don’t know why this one is so hard for the IT team. But be nice! I get it, users aren’t as smart as you. And they whine when stuff doesn’t work (and they probably broke it in the first place) and you were up way too late rolling out new patches…but does that give you permission to be a jackass? No! Be nice!

3. Put The Laptop Down.

Maybe this is just a pet peeve, but when I’m having a conversation with someone, the last thing I want them doing? Banging away on their laptop. I don’t care if you’re “taking notes” (PS-I call Bull$&!, you aren’t taking notes).

Bring a pen and notepad if you must, but if I’m talking to you? Have the courtesy to look me in the eye.

4. Mr. (or Ms.) Automatic.

Has there ever been a meeting involving something new where an IT person hasn’t automatically said “no?” Ever? IT is like the Department of NO!

User: “Can we do this?”
IT: “NO!”
User: …but you don’t even know what it is!
IT: “NO!”

Instead of the automatic “no,” find ways to say yes. Find ways to help users move their ideas to something that is both feasible (from a tech perspective) and still accomplishes their goals. Automatically saying no? Makes you a jackass.

5. Bloody Respond To Me!

Yes. You’re busy. But guess what? We’re all bloody busy! If I send you an email, I don’t expect an immediate response…but I do expect a response; and not a month later! If I leave a voicemail? Same rules apply! Ignoring a message doesn’t make something go away. I’ll either work around you or escalate to your boss. Does that make me a jackass? No. You left me no choice.

We’ve gotten a bad reputation in IT…and much of it is well-earned. We need to find ways to reduce our contribution time to tactical firefighting and focus more on strategy. We need to pull ourselves out of the weeds and spend more time with our customers (users!) and enabling them to succeed.