You would think: they have a degree and M.D. at the end of their name, they were educated for at least eight years about this stuff, we should just listen to the doctor. We should trust that the doctor or even the pharmacist has told us everything we need to know about the new bottle of colored pills we need to take. Think again. And keep thinking. Because sometimes they don’t tell you everything you need to know.
Maybe they didn’t think to tell you. Maybe they thought you already knew. Maybe the little conspiracy theorists inside all of us believe that they didn’t tell you so you could come back for more medication they could charge you for. Then the optimist in me really hopes that last bit isn’t true.
You might have to learn a lesson the hard way. Everyone has learned at least one lesson by making the mistake and suffering the consequences. Girls, if you have ever had a throat infection, gone to the doctor, been given antibiotics, taken the antibiotics on schedule, and then gotten a yeast infection because you didn’t realize that the antibiotics were killing all the good bacteria downthere that stopped yeast from making you maddeningly itchy, then you learned about antibiotics and probiotics the hard way.
Antibiotics
As my roommate, the Nursing major, explained to me there are narrow spectrum antibiotics and broad spectrum antibiotics. Narrow spectrum antibiotics are made to attack specific bacteria. Broad spectrum antibiotics attack a variety of bacteria, including the good bacteria we need down there.
Antibiotics should only be taken when there is no other alternative. Sometimes your body can learn to resist them. Since antibiotics kill bacteria without much discrimination, you need to give your body probiotics to help replace the good bacteria that is being killed with the bad. You can get these handy probiotics in a variety of fruit flavors in your local grocery stores yogurt section.
Yogurt is your friend. Make sure you look at the label and see that it says “probiotics” or that it contains live and active cultures. These delicious containers have the good bacteria your body can use. I know, I know, yogurt isn’t always the snack that’ll indulge your taste buds in rich glory like chocolate, but there are many different kinds with differing textures you might like. Besides regular yogurt, which can be more like pudding, there is Greek yogurt and whipped yogurt. Greek yogurt has a great creamy texture with real fruit in it and whipped yogurt has a texture more like mousse. Try pairing your yogurt with crunchy granola in a flavor that’ll complement your yogurt. My favorite combination is strawberry yogurt with chocolate granola.
Prescriptions and Doctors
All medication has side effects. Maybe you won’t experience them all or any of them, but there are warning labels for a reason. The papers the pharmacist gives you with your prescription in the neatly stapled paper bag were not typed and printed because they were bored on a slow day in the pharmacy. They’re easy to overlook. There are too many words on the pages written in a legal brief-sounding language that is just too dry for the Sahara desert. However, those papers will give you a more detailed and thorough list of side effects too. These papers should be regarded to possibly help you avoid or minimize a side effect.
Doctors are in constant motion. At least I hope they are. They’ll leave you waiting in the tiny exam room to stare at those certain devices whose purposes are definitely unknown to you, and the longer you stare, the scarier they get. So if they’re going to make you suffer with the anxiety and anticipation of knowing what on this surprising Earth is wrong with you, at least maybe they’ll move the torture along, right? Because it’s sometimes very hard to keep a doctor’s attention for long and they quickly dart to another patient or task, they might miss some things they should tell you even if they don’t think they need to tell you.
This is why, even though we ourselves are not doctors, we should try to ask the most specific questions we can. Make sure you ask what you can or cannot do while on the medication. Ask about what precautions you should take. Even continue your own research and hop on the cyber train. Google is your method of travel, or whichever search engine you prefer. Look up your medication and see if there’s anything you missed. Be careful about your sources though. Government sites are usually very thorough and straight forward. There are other trusted medical sites that can give valuable information as well. Use your own judgment.
Ultimately, you are in control of your body and you only have one. Take care of it.