December 31, 2015 | Intellexi Med

Measuring [Show Notes]

December 31, 2015 in Podcasts tagged errors / liquid medications / measuring / milliliters / tablespoon / teaspoon by Cynthia H.

Measuring Liquids

Medication for kids are usually in liquid form and require some kind of device to accurately measure the dose.

1 teaspoon = 5 ml

1 tablespoon = 3 teaspoons = 15 ml

1 fl oz = 30 ml

Milliliters = ml = cc = cubic centimeters –> all the same

Kitchen spoons and cooking teaspoons are not accurately calibrated to measure medication.

My Home Experiment

100 mg/5 ml = 20 mg/ml

Incorrect spoon #1: 4 ml < 5 ml (80 mg < 100 mg)

Incorrect spoon #2: 3.5 ml < 5 ml (75 mg < 100 mg)

Incorrect spoon #3: 6 ml > 5 ml (120 mg > 100 mg)

The cups that come with liquid OTC medications are calibrated accurately to measure medication.

Restaurant spoons are HUGE sometimes.

The Results

Maximum error when testing kitchen spoons is a 40% error (meaning it could be 40% below or 40% above the standard of 5 ml in a teaspoon). For a 500 mg/5 ml medication – a 40% error is equal to 200 mg too much or 200 mg too few. That could mean the difference in not being treated adequately and leading to complications (i.e. infection resistance) or being over-treated and experiencing side effects.

It’s a different story if you’re taking an adult dose (i.e tablet, capsule – which is already pre-measured) and putting it into something more palatable.

History of pharmacy: the only way pharmacists got medicine to people was by mixing it up and making the pills themselves. The process of taking bulk ingredients and making specialized forms of medications is called compounding.

Brand to generic conversion: generics are only allowed to have a 5% variation from the brand name, and some companies are even more strict on themselves and follow a 3% error standard.

3% << 40%!!

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Music Credits: “Radio Martini” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Medication Intolerances 3 [Show Notes]

December 31, 2015 in Podcasts tagged ADD / ADHD / allergies / blood pressure / headache / intolerance / medication by Cynthia H.

Tidbits about Headaches

A headache is an ambiguous side effect because there are so many different things that can cause headaches. Hormones are a big culprit of this. Blood pressure medications can too.

For someone with chronic high blood pressure, the higher pressure becomes the body’s new “normal”. Once medication starts to bring it down, even though the pressures are within a normal range, the body will experience symptoms of low blood pressure.

2 lies people tell about allergies

No allergies – so then they take something they are allergic to and have an emergency
Allergic to “everything” – because they experienced mild or moderate side effects. Or in the case of pain pill seekers, they’re “allergic” to the weak pain meds to get the doctor to prescribe stronger ones.

Stimulants

Irritability, nervousness, jitteriness, or moodiness can be a side effect of amphetamines (used for ADD) or cold medicines (i.e. pseudoephedrine).

A factoid about ADD/ADHD: the focus and attention area of the brain are underactive, so a stimulant helps it be more active so improve focus.

The biggest complaint people have from any stimulant is the inability to sleep at night. Just need to make sure it’s taken early enough in the day so it wears off in time for bed.

Bones and Joints

In this case, we rarely want you to keep taking the medication if these side effects happen. For example, cholesterol medications (i.e. statins, and fibrates) and quinolone antibiotics (Levaquin, Cipro, Avelox). The quinolones have a rare but serious side effect of tendon rupture; it is painful and permanent.

Tendons: the connective tissue that anchors muscles to the bones.

Osteoporosis medications can lead to bone pain – since their job is to cause changes in the way the bones are built and rebuilt, it’s not uncommon to feel something. But usually temporary.