I guess it all boils down to three things: toenail fungus, a good night’s sleep, and having a heart attack. You would think that three such disparate things would have no possibility of being brought together, but I’m going to make a connection here if you bear with me.

I’ve never had a toenail fungus, although I’ve watched the commercials for Lamisil tablets. You’ve probably seen them yourself. They feature a disgusting off-yellow creature that introduces himself as “Digger the Dermatophyte”. Lamisil, a prescription-only drug, is supposed to be an effective treatment for the problem, and I suppose that it is. But, one of the things that they gloss over in the commercial is the potential side effects. These include: headache, which occurred in 12.9% of patients, gastrointestinal symptoms, including diarrhea (5.6%), upset stomach (4.3%), taste disturbances (2.8%), nausea (2.6%), abdominal pain (2.4%), flatulence (2.2%), rash (5.6%), itching (2.8%), hives (1.1%), and abnormalities in laboratory tests of liver enzymes (3.3%). The liver one is really troubling. You need to take this stuff for anywhere from six (fingernails) to twelve (toenails) weeks, and the possibility of liver problems, although small, makes me wonder if perhaps the infection would be better. We’ll get to more on that.

Ever have difficulty getting to sleep? I don’t. I learned in Viet Nam to fall asleep in seconds, wake up in ten minutes, and function on very little sleep for long time periods. If you do have a problem, modern science has developed an answer. It’s called Ambien. This one has a commercial featuring a woman sleeping, while a butterfly buzzes around her head. There’s three main side-effects of this prescription drug. First is drowsiness. I’m puzzled as to why that’s a side-effect, you’d think that was a primary goal of taking the drug. The other two they mention are dizziness and diarrhea. I suppose the dizziness wouldn’t matter, once you fell asleep, but I’d be nervous about diarrhea. Going into a drug-induced sleep and waking up in a pool of well, you can figure it out, seems to me to be a risk that I’d rather avoid, if possible.

Heart attack I can address personally. I had one last year, in February. I won’t go into all the details of what happened, I’m focusing on what happened afterwards. The Doctors prescribed several medications to prevent a re-occurrence. One of them in particular I’ll address. Clopidogrel. This particular drug helps prevent future heart attacks, by helping your arteries to remain clear. I was only supposed to be on it for six months, because I’m taking aspirin too, and once the aspirin builds up you can do without Clopidogrel. Somebody forgot to take me off the drug. I’ve had no side effects, but I was taking it a lot longer than I was supposed to be.

Go back to the toes. Did you know that a daily bath in Listerine can cure a toe fungus? No, not the whole body, although it would be interesting to have minty-fresh breath all over. Just the affected digit needs to be submersed, for about twenty minutes daily until the fungus is gone. By the way, there are cheap generic types of Listerine on the market at Wal-Mart and other places. One thing I’d suggest is that you don’t gargle after you finish the treatment. At least not with the same mouthwash.

About those sleep problems. Before you run to the doctor with a request for a prescription, try the following: Drink a glass of warm milk. It turns out there’s a scientific basis for your grandmother’s old-time remedy. Milk contains tryptophan, a chemical that may promote sleep in some people. Have a light snack, but only if you’re hungry. Going to bed hungry can affect your sleep. High-carbohydrate snacks, such as crackers, pretzels, or a plain bagel, are good bedtime snacks. But be careful not to overeat; indigestion can interrupt sleep. Stay out of bed until you feel tired enough to go to sleep. Whenever you’ve been lying in bed for 20 minutes and can’t fall asleep, go into another room and do something relaxing, such as reading a book. Return to bed only when you’re sleepy. In other words, lay off the drugs
unless nothing else works.

I have no problem with the drug companies making a buck, in fact I used to own stock in a couple of them. But the issue of the cost of medication is becoming a front page issue these days, especially with the changeover to a new system of paying for them. Maybe it’s time to take a look at what we’re taking. Do we still need to? Is there a cheaper alternative? Is there an over-the-counter treatment that will accomplish the same thing as the prescription drug? Maybe it’s time to take a look at why we’re taking a particular drug. Is the problem resolved? Does the drug react with any other medication we take? Is there an alternative that will serve the same purpose?

When you hear about the problems people are having, the first reaction is to demand that the government, or the insurance companies, or the drug companies, or the pharmacies FIX IT! Maybe our first reaction is the wrong one. America seems to be becoming a drug-dependent culture, believing that one visit to the Doc and a magic piece of paper can cure everything from foot fungus to problems in our sex life. Time for a little dose of the ole personal responsibility. It’s easy to lay everything in the hands of medical science, but maybe it’s becoming too easy. Maybe we need to step back, turn off the TV, take a deep breath, and then look at how we treat our medical problems and issues. If the answer to every problem you’re dealing with is another prescription, another pill, another visit to the clinic, another medical expense, then maybe you’re just a little brainwashed. If you are, I understand there’s a new drug on the market that can treat your problem, with few side effects, and it’s pretty cheap……..

NOTE: Copyright 01/23/06 by Dave Hoffman

Use granted to all who identify author.

Beneficium accipere libertatem est vendere.