7317. alistairconnor - 5/5/2008 9:45:49 AM Yup. Dental care, which is poorly covered in France, is a motivator for package tours to Hungary and other interesting destinations in central Europe.
At the same time, there's lots of English people coming to France for operations, not for cost reasons but to get around waiting lists. 7318. anomie - 5/6/2008 1:32:22 AM I just tried my first ever Ambien pill. I slept for about 6 hours and woke up feeling surprisingly normal...maybe better. Unless I'm typing this and having a great couple of cups of coffee in a hypnotic sleepwalking state, all is well. I'm trying to get a step ahead on jet lag before a trip this week. I'm hoping this works. 7319. arkymalarky - 5/6/2008 2:45:58 AM For an occasional need like that, Benadryl works well and it's cheap. 7320. anomie - 5/6/2008 2:54:49 AM A couple people have told me that. But I think I'm a victim of viral marketing. Years ago, I heard at least two people on different flights talking - singing praises - about Ambien, mentioning the brand name several times. I hadn't even heard of viral marketing then, but it seems clear now that's what it was.
But what may be more unusual is the prescription I got. I told my doc I wanted to try it, so I assumed she'd write up maybe 10 to 15 pills. I got 30 pills with 5 refills! That's some jet lag! 7321. arkymalarky - 5/6/2008 3:06:34 AM Damn.
But really, you can get a bottle of off-brand Benadryl for a couple of bucks if the Ambien is expensive. It doesn't work for me, though, because I'm used to antihistimines. 7322. alistairconnor - 5/6/2008 9:01:49 AM My girlfriend quite often takes sleeping pills or tranquilizers, either because of shift work or travelling or from other issues which prevent her sleeping. I confess it freaks me out completely because I've never done any of that stuff, and I have a violent aversion to it. I suppose I need to educate myself about them, and either learn to live with them or wean her off the (non-recreational) drugs. 7323. thoughtful - 5/6/2008 2:25:03 PM Many people have had success treating jet lag using melatonin which is a naturally occurring hormone in the body that regulates the circadian rhythym. 7324. arkymalarky - 5/6/2008 7:18:12 PM Bob swears by melatonin. 7325. judithathome - 5/6/2008 11:33:13 PM I tried it and it gave me violent nightmares.
But my sister, like Bob, swears by it. 7326. anomie - 5/7/2008 10:26:17 AM I've heard conflicting reports on melatonin, but I see a newer study says that samll amounts can be helpful.
I'm convinced that staying up all night is NOT a good way to do it. I have been miserable for two days. I'll stick with gradually getting up earlier and earlier (for going East). That way at least I won't leave feeling exhausted.
But now that I've tried the Ambien and I know it doesn't leave me feeling groggy for hours, I think I'll try it on the plane. 7327. robertjayb - 5/9/2008 2:28:25 PM Bill Moyers' Journal
Friday, May 9,
The California Nurses Association's fight for universal health care; journalist Melody Petersen ("Our Daily Meds") on the pharmaceutical industry; British law professor Philippe Sands ("Torture Team").
7328. thoughtful - 5/14/2008 2:16:10 PM For other research I'm doing, I came across a couple of interesting charts from the CDC and the Health US document. I don't know how to post them here as they are power point slides.
Anyway, one showed the absolute dearth of ob-gyns in many regions of the country, especially in the midwest area. Just shocking.
The other showed rates of adult obesity and overweight. What I found interesting is over the past decades, the rate of overweight adults has been largely the same...its the rate of obesity that has shot up. 7329. judithathome - 5/14/2008 2:26:21 PM Is it possible to get pneumonia from stress? Ha! I started getting a tingly throat last Thursday on my way to the dentist and over the next few days, developed a deep cough. I chalked it up to allergies...lotsa pollen still around....and sinus drainage.
The cough has become so bad I have slept in the den the past two nights to avoid waking Keoni. This morning, when I woke up, I thought my lungs were going to explode from coughing so hard...productive cough but so violent, I got dry heaves.
I saw the doctor's assistant Monday about another matter and asked her about it...she agreed with my diagnosis and told me to take Zyrtec and Mucinex. I'm taking the latter but using a generic allergy concoction. But man, I felt wretched when I woke up.
I was also at the hospital a few days before the tingly throat...at the ER all day with my son. Maybe I picked up an exotic bug there... 7330. thoughtful - 5/14/2008 3:02:23 PM That doesn't sound good J@H. I'd get yourself checked out. While you can't catch pneumonia from stress, you can weaken your immune system which will make you and your lungs and sinuses more susceptible to pneumonia. And you can pick up all kinds of things in a hospital.
I always remember my SIL who went to PAs who told her to take all kinds of over the counter stuff for her "allergies". It wasn't until she went to a real doc that he ordered xrays right away and found her pleural effusion due to her lung cancer.
So naturally I'm more aware and sensitive to such things, so from my POV, no point screwing around. 7331. arkymalarky - 5/14/2008 3:25:35 PM Thoughtful is right about the stress/pneumonia thing, and you can get pneumonia from allergies that turn into infections that drain into your lungs, which happened to Bro. Zyrtec and Mucinex are my regular meds, plus Nasonex. The first two are otc now. 7332. judithathome - 5/14/2008 4:11:49 PM Well, if I feel like this tomorrow, I will go see the regular doc tomorrow afternoon or Friday. Since MediCare is paying for everything....ha! 7333. magoseph - 6/3/2008 2:29:19 AM 7334. wonkers2 - 6/3/2008 4:05:09 AM Touching. Thanks. How did the story end? 7335. magoseph - 6/3/2008 3:22:13 PM Here's Randy Pausch's Update page, Wonks 7336. David Ehrenstein - 6/9/2008 3:29:29 PM AIDS
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