Hi all,  if you look at our nifty tabs at the top of the page, you will see one marked Question of the Day.  The page is full of random questions that we have received through email, the site, family, friends and patients.  Here are a few of the questions you will find on the page.

“Can I make my own boric acid capsules at home?” 

Yes, technically you can make vaginal boric acid capsules at home.  However, it is often difficult to find boric acid and 00 capsules.  More importantly, measuring and packing capsules at home can be very inaccurate (even with the proper scale).

It would be really helpful to talk with your physician first because boric acid is typically used only for persistent infections that have already been treated with antifungal and antibacterial medications.

If you would like to learn some background info about this question, please see Boric Acid for Yeast Infection.

We received this question on the site, “I have a red rash. I used Benadryl for 2 weeks, temporarily relieves the itch.  But the rash does not go away.  I tried loratadine but it did not help.  Any suggestions?”

It is hard to answer this question without knowing more about the rash -however, assuming that it is contact dermatitis (fancy way of saying your skin came into contact with something it didn’t “like”).  I am further assuming that the rash is not wide spread, on the face or the groin.

Benadryl (diphenhydramine) is often the first step to treating a rash.  I also recommending using Benadryl + Zantac (ranitidine) -it blocks all the histamine that could be causing the itchy, red rash.

If that doesn’t work -he will most likely need to see his physician for a prescription for prednisone.  A few days of an oral steroid should clear the rash.

A woman recently emailed us and asked about taking expired medication.  She said she had taken expired erythromycin about 3 months ago and is now having back pain.  She had read about the risk of taking expired tetracycline and was wondering if her back pain could be due to the expired erythromycin.

Most medications will just not work as well when they are expired.  However, there are some expired medications that can cause real problems.  Expired tetracycline can cause Fanconi Syndrome that can lead to kidney damage.

As for expired erythromycin -although it will probably not work very well, it is extremely unlikely that it is causing her back pain.

If you would like to learn more, Catie wrote an interesting article about taking expired meds.

“What the *bleep* is a prior authorization?” A woman asked me over the past weekend.  This is actually the most polite thing she said during our discussion

Simply put -pharmacies interact with insurance electronically, when we send the prescription through the insurance the insurance says, “Not covered -needs prior auth.”  Which means that your doctor needs to contact your insurance company and answer some questions and/or fill out a form before you insurance company will pay for your prescription.  Of course, there is a bunch more steps then that and so I wrote a 3 part report on prior auths -I promise it will teach you mucho!

“Is this a cold sore, fever blister or a pimple?” A woman asked me on Monday about a sore near her lip.

Cold sores and fever blisters are actually the same thing.  Quite often the cold sore can look like a pimple when it first starts.  Usually a tell-tale sign that it is not a pimple is when it is right on the lip line (almost on the lip) because how often do you get pimples on your lip?  So, if it is on your lip or lip line it is usually a cold sore.  Either way, it does not hurt to apply some ice to it right away.  I am going to post some pictures so you can see what cold sores look like.

“My son was prescribed Vigamox eye drops for pink eye.  It is crazy expensive -is there something less expensive?”

Yes!  Vigamox is overkill 99.9% of the time when prescribed for pink eye in kids.  Most of the time erythromycin ointment or Polytrim drops will do the job and at a fraction of the price!  Just a side note -quite often the pink eye is actually viral and doesn’t need any treatment at all.

“I am using Mirena and my doctor said I need to check to make sure it is there.  How often should I do that?”

Mirena is an intra-uterine device used to prevent pregnancy.  You should check every month after your period.  Catie just posted about the placement of Mirena if you want more info on it!

“Why does eating eating food in the morning after a night of drinking make me feel better?”

A couple of main reasons are…
1. Once people start drinking, their appetite is suppressed -so it could be that you are just wicked hungry from not eating last night.
2. Alcohol causes dehydration and your blood sugar to drop…so in the morning quite a bit of the “hangover” is due to dehydration and very low blood sugar -eating and drinking (non-alcohol) helps!

Last question….Where can I find a FREE Pharmacy Discount Card?  RIGHT HERE!