Why You Should take Care With Prescription Drugs

There are numerous deaths every year from prescription drugs. People die from overdose, drugs interacting together in a negative way, taking the wrong medication and numerous other reasons.

Many of these deaths could have been prevented and it is up to you to take precautions. Here are just a few suggestions you should follow to keep from becoming a statistic.

1) Double check your prescription.

The Internet makes it easy to find out information about virtually any drug your doctor has prescribed. If you have any question as to why it was prescribed to you, ask.

Have you ever seen a doctor's handwriting? It is easily misinterpreted by a pharmacist. Before picking up your prescription, make certain you know what your doctor has prescribed and compare your notes with what you actually receive.

2) Make certain the drugs you now take interact with the new drug.

If you get all your prescriptions at one pharmacy, the new top-notch software they use will alert the pharmacist if there is a potential problem. Find out if your pharmacy has this in place and, if they do not, you should consider going to another pharmacy.

If you use different pharmacies for your prescriptions, make absolutely certain the pharmacist has a record in their computer showing what drugs you now take.

3) Make certain you know any side effects of your new medicine.

Do not be afraid to ask your doctor. They should make you aware of this but, if he or she does not then ask.

Check with your pharmacist as well.

3) If you take nonprescription drugs along with your regular prescription, talk to your pharmacist. Make certain these drugs do not interfere with your prescribed medications.

4) Store your prescriptions properly.

Heat and humidity can degrade drugs. If your medications require refrigeration, make certain you refrigerate them. If they do not, find a cool and dry area to store them.

5) Never use a prescription medication that has not been prescribed to you.

That sounds like common sense but, unfortunately, far too many times people take a drug their neighbor or friend or family gives them because they claim it works for them. That may be true. It may not work for you and may dangerously interfere with the medications you are currently taking.

Never ever break this rule!

6) Follow your doctor's orders to the letter.

Do not, under any circumstance, take additional doses on your own. Never stop taking these prescribed medications unless your doctor tells you to stop.

If you miss a dose, call your doctor. They will tell you the proper steps to follow. He or she may want you to double up on your medication or, they may tell you to simply take your next scheduled dosage. Let them make that decision.

Prescriptions can be life saving. Do not make them life threatening. Ultimately you are in control of your life so take this seriously. It may save your life.

How To Cope With Stress

Somebody once said,” Stress is what happens when your mind thinks one thing and your mouth thinks another”. It is so easy to get into stressful situations just by trying to please people and agreeing to do those things that we don't really want to do.

Too many of us spend our lives dealing with awkward situations and problems, both at home and at work. This leads to too much stress and can sometimes drive one literally over the edge. But before we deal with stress we have to realize that we need a certain amount of stress in our lives in order to function properly.

So the 'trick' is to find a balance between too much stress and too little. You have to realize that a certain amount of stress is good and that we use it to push ourselves and enhance our performance or productivity at exactly the right moment.

It is important to have the right frame of mind when dealing with stress and try and keep away from people who are 'over stressed' it can be infectious. When the world is going mad there are always those who keep their head. Mix with these people and find out how they are in control all the time.

Sometimes it is our own self-confidence, or lack of, that causes us anxiety and a good way to combat this is by practicing a few deep breathes. When first starting out on a sales career a good tip is just before you are due to meet a client, find a quiet corner and breathe in for a count of seven and then, slowly, breathe out for a count of eleven. Just doing this a few times will lower a racing heartbeat and put you in a more relaxed and confident state.

Another little trick you can use to lower your stress levels and be in control of your life is to control your thoughts. What does that mean? Well, most of us are stressed because we are thinking stressful thoughts all the time. So it's simple, change your thoughts and think something else. It really is that simple, it's not easy to do at first, but every time you think bad or stressful thoughts turn them around and think good positive thoughts. You will be amazed at how this simple technique can lower your anxiety levels and improve the quality of your life.

Hopefully, you found these tips for dealing with stress useful and don't forget if all else fails two or three weeks in the sunshine will work wonders.

Your Cigarette Addiction Explained

You initially become addicted to cigarettes because of the fast action of nicotine on the pleasure centers of your brain. When you puff on a cigarette, the nicotine in your lungs enters your blood stream and within 15 to 20 seconds begins to work on your brain.

Once in your brain, nicotine binds to receptors that are intended for the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. This binding causes a change in the cell walls that allow calcium or sodium ions to enter the cell. After that, a number of additional brain neurotransmitters are released.

These neurotransmitters affect your mood and behavior. The neurotransmitter dopamine affects the reward center that causes feelings of pleasure and enjoyment. Serotonin helps moderate your mood and controls your appetite. GABA produces a calming effect that reduces anxiety.

Smoking is a means of artificially spiking the acetylcholine system resulting in feelings of pleasure, calmness, and a moderation of your mood. Because of these positive effects and the speed with which they are associated with nicotine intake (taking a puff) smoking is highly addictive.

As an occasional or social smoker, you may begin to use cigarettes as a means of coping with life's daily stresses. You switch from social smoking to daily smoking. Once you begin smoking several cigarettes a day, nicotine is constantly stimulating your brain, 24 hours a day. You are psychologically addicted to the positive effects of nicotine.

Over a period of several years a transition begins to take place in the addiction mechanism.

Your brain adapts to the frequent presence of nicotine. Your brain physically changes by increasing the nicotine receptor concentration. This requires more nicotine for your brain to function properly. That is, your brain now becomes dependent on nicotine for normal functions. This adaptation produces tolerance for nicotine.

When your brain is unable to get the required amount of nicotine, you experience withdrawal symptoms. These withdrawal symptoms include irritability, restlessness, difficulty in getting along with family and friends, sleeplessness, anxiety, depression, hunger, difficulty concentrating, and lethargy.

Half the nicotine in your body is metabolized and broken down every 2 hours. As your nicotine level declines, the withdrawal symptoms set in. The only way to relieve the withdrawal symptoms is with another dose of nicotine. You now smoke, not for pleasure, but to eliminate withdrawal symptoms.

As an addicted cigarette smoker, you often need your first dose of nicotine as soon as possible in the morning. Many smokers take their first puffs within 5 minutes of awakening.

Throughout the day, you need additional doses of nicotine every couple of hours. You are often willing to leave the comfort of a smoke-free environment to stand in the freezing cold, rain, or sweltering heat to get your next dose of nicotine. You are definitely in the second stage of nicotine addiction.

Overall, your smoking addiction started out as a psychologically addiction to the positive effects of nicotine on your brain. But, because the brain adapts to nicotine, your smoking addiction winds up as a means of preventing the negative effects of withdrawal symptoms.

Eliminate Simple Stressors to Help Reduce Stress

A stressor is an object, activity, event or any other type of stimulus that can cause you psychological stress. Stressors can be very minor, and in many cases they may not appear to be adding to your overall stress levels. However, adding stressor upon stressor throughout the day on top of obvious stress-causing activities such as work, traffic and financial worries, will definitely contribute to your tension levels.

Let's take a look at how we can identify some of the smaller stressors that may occur on a daily basis and eliminate them, thus reducing over all stress levels.

We know that large stress inducers such as an approaching deadline at work can cause physical changes in your body that are not pleasant. These changes can take the form of increased heart rate, headache, irritability and even emotional reactions. These changes and reactions are both physical and psychological stress. Keep those in mind for a second.

Now think about a dripping faucet in your home. You hear a constant drip all night as you try to sleep. Every time you hear that dripping noise your body cringes and you run over to try to stop it. That dripping faucet is a stressor. It might not be as large of a stressor as your fast approaching deadline at work, but it is adding to your stress level.

Perhaps you have a closet door that keeps sliding off its track. Every morning when you get dressed for work, you have to fight with the door, shake it and force it back onto its tracks. This door is a stressor that adds to your daily levels of stress as well. Even something as simple as an over-flowing garbage can cause stress build-up. It is important to learn how to identify these small stressors that you might tend to ignore and work towards removing them. In doing so, you will alleviate much unneeded stress and be better prepared for dealing with your major stresses.

To identify small stressors begin to pay attention to yourself. Notice your reactions to the small things that you see and do during the day. If you have a sore-looking hole in your living room wall that makes you sigh deeply out of frustration, make it a point to go to the nearest furniture store and get a painting or wall hanging to cover it up! When you eliminate a small stressor such as a hole in your living room wall by covering it up, or getting the leaking faucet repaired, or even emptying the over-flowing garbage can, your are eliminating a moment in time where you would have become more tense.

So take time to learn about yourself and the little things that may upset you throughout the day. You might find that you can become more relaxed simply by paying more attention to these smaller things, removing them from your environment and thus reducing your overall stress levels.

Control Your Type 1 Diabetes

Diabetes is a killer disease. It can lead to kidney failure, heart disease, neuropathy, blindness, and much more. If you have diabetes, you must take control of it immediately.

Type 1 diabetes is the hardest type to control. It is also called juvenile diabetes, as it is common to get type 1 diabetes when you are a child.

In type 1 diabetes, the body does not produce insulin, which is needed to take sugar (glucose) from the blood to the cells. This results in very high blood sugar counts and this is the major cause of many of the serious complications that may develop.

A person with Type 1 diabetes needs to take insulin shots to lower the blood sugar. Diabetics need to have an insulin called a background insulin, which works throughout the day. Then they need to take extra insulin after eating a meal.

An insulin pump gives the constant background insulin. It also allows the diabetic to easily give themselves extra insulin when they eat and cuts down on the need for insulin shots from a needle.

However, diabetics must test their blood sugar levels four or five times a day and make whatever adjustments need to be made. The normal testing times are before breakfast, lunch, dinner and bed. The amount of insulin to take with each meal will be determined by a combination of these readings plus the food eaten.

Sugar highs and lows wear down the body. The key is to try to control these up and down readings the best you can. The insulin pump helps tremendously but diet is very important.

Follow the glycemic index when eating. This index rates foods according to the way these foods react to your blood sugar. If the carbohydrates the food contains break down quickly, they tend to make your blood sugar levels jump quickly. These foods have a high GI (glycemic index) ranking.

For example, a potato has a high GI ranking. The carbohydrates break down very quickly and cause your blood sugar to rise quickly.

Beans have a low GI index, so the blood sugar effects are spread out over a longer period of time. You do not get the rapid sugar rise.

Diabetics, in particular, need to learn to balance these foods to avoid those highs and lows. If you are having potatoes, for example, try eating a sweet potato instead or combine some low GI ranked foods with the potatoes to balance this sugar rise.

It's well worth it for diabetics to learn as much as they can about this glycemic index. The best diet for a diabetic to follow will be eating more of the foods with a low to medium glycemic index.

Other things the diabetic can do is snack on air popped popcorn rather than pretzels. Salt should be limited in the diet as the diabetic is at a greater risk for high blood pressure.

Eat broiled or grilled chicken rather than fried chicken. This also helps control blood pressure and cholesterol.

If you want to drink wine, drink it with a meal. There is less of an impact on blood sugar. However, do not over indulge. It can and will interfere with your medications.

Diabetes is a very dangerous disease and any diabetic definitely should be visiting a doctor on a regular basis. He or she will help manage your diabetes and will most likely advise a visit with a nutritionist.

Diabetes cannot be completely controlled but, with a change in diet and lifestyle, diabetics can help manage it and live a long life.

The Psychology of Quitting Smoking

Many experts believe smoking is only about 10% physical addiction and a whopping 90% psychological addiction. Your body will recover fairly quickly from nicotine withdrawals (the worst symptoms usually abate in three days or less), but your psychological dependency on cigarettes can be much more difficult to defeat.

One way to combat this is to do a bit of self-analysis before giving up cigarettes.

Make a list with two columns. Label column one "Why I Started Smoking" and label column two "Why I Want To Quit Smoking."

In column one, list all the reasons you can remember as to why you started smoking in the first place. Was it peer pressure? Rebellion? Did you think it made you look cool? Did it make you feel like a grown-up? Really try to remember the exact reasons why you started smoking and write them all down.

Now look over that list. Do any of those reasons still apply in your life today? Probably not.

If you're like most people, you will see that your reasons for becoming a smoker are no longer valid, are often just silly, and are easily outweighed by the risks to your health and your family's well-being.

So let's move on to column two... Why do you want to quit smoking?

This one may seem obvious, but it can be a bit tricky. You really need to take some time and think hard about this. Don't just list the obvious health reasons. You've been reading the Surgeon General's warnings for years with little effect, so you need to come up with reasons that truly have meaning for you.

The things most people write down will NOT help you quit smoking...

- I don't want to get lung cancer.
- I don't want to have a heart attack or a stroke.
- I'd like to live long enough to see my grandchildren grow up.

Those are all good reasons to quit smoking, certainly... but they deal in "possibilities" rather than in specifics.

Sure you MIGHT get lung cancer, you MIGHT have a heart attack or a stroke, you MIGHT die young and miss out on seeing your grandchildren grow up...

...or you MIGHT NOT! You're not likely to break a strong psychological addiction based on what MIGHT happen. Your mind will work hard to convince you that it won't happen to you! Instead, list health problems that you are already experiencing.

Your list should point out things in your life that you are actively unhappy about and are STRONGLY MOTIVATED to change. In order to break your psychological addiction, you need an arsenal of new thoughts and desires that are stronger than your desire to smoke!

Here are the types of things you want to put in column two...

Why Do I Want To Quit Smoking?

1. Health Reasons

- I get so out of breath when I exert myself even a little bit. Just vacuuming the house makes me pant and gasp.

- My feet are always cold. This could be due to high blood pressure and poor circulation associated with smoking.

- I have a nasty wet cough and I have to blow my nose way too often. Mucus build-up is the body's reaction to all the toxins and chemicals in cigarette smoke and could be a precursor to serious respiratory disease. Even if I don't get cancer, I don't want to be one of those people who has to tote oxygen bottles around everywhere.

- I'm always tired. Could it be that my body is using up all its energy trying to eliminate the toxins and chemicals from cigarettes?

2. Vanity Reasons

- Smoking causes premature aging and drying of the skin. I don't want to look like a wrinkled up old prune!

- My fingers, fingernails and teeth are all tobacco stained. Disgusting! How embarrassing.

- When I get on the elevator after a smoke break at work, everyone wrinkles their nose and tries to edge away from me because I reek of cigarette smoke. I feel like a pariah. It's embarrassing to always be the big "stinker" on the elevator. I feel like I have no self-control.

- My breath is awful. Kissing me must be like kissing an ashtray. I spend a fortune on breath mints.

3. Financial Reasons

- If I save all the money I used to spend on cigarettes, I'll have enough to take a vacation in Cancun (or some other warm tropical place) every winter!

- I could use the money to pay off my credit cards!

- I could donate money to my favorite charity or sponsor a child. My cigarette money could make the world a better place!

4. Family Reasons

- My family can stop worrying about me.

- My spouse will have to find something new to nag me about. Just kidding, honey!

- My children will be proud of me and (hopefully) they'll never start smoking themselves, having seen firsthand what a nasty destructive habit it is.

5. Cleanliness Reasons

- The walls used to be white. Now they're a nasty dirty-looking brown. I need to repaint... again!

- I stink, my car stinks, my house stinks, everything I own reeks of cigarette smoke. I can't even lend a book to a non-smoking friend because they can't stand the smell of smoke permeating the pages!

Do you see yourself in any of the items listed? You may have many more reasons of your own. Find as many compelling and emotion reasons to quit smoking as you can think of and write them all down.

If you can re-train your mind to think of smoking as a silly and self-destructive thing to do, then you're almost sure to succeed. And if you need something to do with your hands... try knitting!