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“Why would you ever need to by more than one package of these in your lifetime?” —- My Husband

In high praise of Zicam and Pseduoephedrine Hydrochloride

I live with 2 little germ magnets. If it is going around, one of them will pick it up and then share it with the other who in turn will share it with my husband and I. Zicam reditabs have become my friend.

The last 2 weeks we have been visited by the dreaded winter cold, runny nose, weepy eyes, and a cough. Little Brother passed it to Big Sister who shared it with Daddy & I.

Despite my best efforts to keep him doped upon decongestants, it got into the little guy’s ears. He has a rather unique way of letting me know he has an ear infection. Most kids get a fever, or start tugging at their red ears. Him, he wakes up crying in the middle of the night. Both my kids are GREAT sleepers (Praise the Lord and anyone else involved), so for him to wake up, something has to be wrong. The problem, is he won’t tell me his ears hurt. He cries for a lost toy or an adult who is not currently present (pick one Grammy, Grandpa, Uncle David, his preschool teacher) doesn’t matter who it is, they aren’t in his room at that moment and ain’t no way I’m gonna wake ‘em. Hell I’m NOT EVEN AWAKE.

In my stupor, it doesn’t occur to me to ask him what hurts until the 3rd trip in. “My EARS” he wails. A dose of children’s ibuprofin and we all can complete our night’s slumber in peace. The next day, a trip to the doctor confirms ANOTHER double ear infection. We kind of caught this one early, so we *might* squeak by with just one round of anti-biotics.

So much for effective decongestants. Yeah, I know the size of his ear canal plays a part in it, but ever since the meth heads forced psudophedrine into hiding behind the pharmacy counter and parents who can’t read labels ended production of cold meds for the under 6 crowd, you can’t find a children’s decongestant that is worth a box of tissues.

Since I was going to the pharmacy for an The Pink Stuff anyway, I asked about getting real live honest to goodness psudophedrine in a form my kids can take. Turns out I am out of luck for the little one, but the big one is old enough to take psudophedrine (the little red pill). Yahoooo!!!! I whipped out my license and plunked my money down for a 48 pack. Before you meth heads start jonesin’ for my supply, it is under lock and key.

When I got home, I gave one pill to Big Sister along with a does of plain old Robitussen. Ah, the miracles of modern medicine! We may just dodge an ear infection with her. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Despite my Zicam regimen and an effort to get some extra sleep, the sniffles crept up on me. I added that little red beauty to my list of daily meds and you know what? It really does work better than whatever is currently impersonating as the little red pill on the shelves in the drug store aisle.

Sadly my husband can’t take it, gives him the willies and makes him want to crawl out of his skin. Me? I’m am congestion free!

So dear reader, if you have a cold. Check with your doctor. Check with your pharmacist then get yourself some Zicam and some of the REAL little red pills. You’ll be glad you did.

An Experiment Failed

My periods were never particularly regular. When I was a teen, I had a steady boyfriend and a desire to go to college, so I got on the birth control pill.

The relationship ended when I went to college, so I got off the pill. Big mistake. My periods were all over the map. Eventually despite being at a Jesuit institution, I went back on the pill to try and regulate things.

It wasn’t until I was actually TRYING to conceive that I discovered I have Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome or PCOS for short.

I’m not as severely affected as some women, but getting pregnant was no picnic. I was fortunate to live in a state that mandated health insurers pay for fertility drugs.

Now that we’ve had as many kids as we can mange (and some days I’m not sure we can manage the 2 we have), I’m dealing with the other issues. The weight gain, the facial hair and the mild case of depression.

I’ve consulted my regular physician and an endocrinologist, but all the so-called “cures” seem to be worse than the symptoms. It has long been suggested that I go back on the pill. I’ve staunchly refused. I don’t need any more weight gain and frankly the pill kills my sex drive. We’re finally getting back into a good groove in that department and I don’t want to ruin it.

Then one night on TV, I don’t get to the TIVO remote fast enough and a commercial comes on for YAZ, a new birth control that is supposed to help with menstrual mood swings. Hmmmmm, they caught my attention. At my next physical, I discuss it with my doctor and she agrees it is worth a shot. She says this iteration of the pill has a diuretic, so the weight gain isn’t an issue and, that there have been no reports of the libido crushing of other pills.

Ok, let’s give this a shot. Maybe I could wean off the low does of anti-depressant and kill a whole bunch of birds with one pill.

Maybe, but then again, maybe not. I filled the prescription (OUCH! a tier 3 drug, can you say $25 co-pay?). First thing I noticed was my normally short fuse had suddenly gotten even shorter. Next, the headache starts. It isn’t a show stopper, but a dull throb right behind my eye. I have enough vision problems, I don’t need any more help thanks. Then the sore throat returns. Now, I know a sore throat is not a standard side effect for most women on the birth control pill, but it is for me, always has been. It isn’t a sore throat like on the surface of my throat. It is more like something in my neck is pushing on my throat and making it harder to swallow.

The kicker was the morning I woke up without the headache and much LESS of a sore throat. I realized that I’d forgotten to take my pill the night before. WIthin an hour of taking the pill, the headache and the sore throat were back. Hmmmmmmmmm.

I read the miniprint that came with the pills. Ok, I skimmed it. But I just wasn’t feeling right and was pretty sure that Yaz was the reason why. So, I consulted my good friend Google.

Now, I approached this knowing I was going to find all kinds of horror stories about using Yaz. No one ever gets onto the Internet to say “oooooo, this new medicine is wonderful” (although I should about Zoloft). I found exactly what I expected. A discussion forum where Yaz was summarily lambasted and blamed for EVERY possible symptom known to woman. I did find one post that reminded people that everyone reacts differently to synthetic hormones. More importantly to me, I found the mini print on drugs.com and I could blow it up to a size that I could actually read. As with all medications, there was a side effects list broken down into two groups. One was if you experience any of these stop taking Yaz and call your doctor. The other was if you experience any of these, keep taking YAZ and call your doctor. Guess which group the dull headache behind the eyes falls into? Yep, STOP taking Yaz and call your doctor. I did both.

Within 24 hours I felt more like myself than I had in 20 days. Ok, experiment over. Label this one a failure.

Don’t misunderstand me. Yaz may be the magic pill you are looking for, but it wasn’t a match for this body.