Side Effects May Include...

Last night, I finished my antibiotic (clarithromycin 500) and I'm so incredibly happy about that!

One of the things that baffles me about medication, particularly prescription medication, are all of the side effects. One of the points of a prescription is it's suppose to make you feel better. In point of fact, while it may eradicate whatever primary cause ails you, it creates residual effects that take away the blessedness and gratitude you might otherwise feel as a result of remedying the primary ailment.

I'm glad I'm no longer at risk for bronchitis or pneumonia or a pneumo-thorax from this latest battle with the crud, but some days I'd almost take the coughing, hacking, and congestion over the nausea, constipation, metallic taste in the back of my throat, and headache I had with my antibiotic regimen.

Still, I learned how to handle nausea quite effectively. If I ever have to have this antibiotic again, here's the trick: a small sandwich with some protein on it (turkey, ham, whatever), a banana, and 12 ounces of some kind of liquid (I chose really cold orange juice for the vitamin C boost.) Follow all of that with the pill you're suppose to take. To deal with the metallic taste, I followed up the pill shortly after with a stick of Trident Original flavor. As for the headache, which was actually a migraine, I couldn't do much for that. Seems the antibiotic and my migraine medication are no-nos together. (And thank goodness the pharmacist told me that, otherwise, I wouldn't have known. I love it when my doctor doesn't tell me these things, but the pharmacist does. Makes me want to call the doctor and ask for a refund on my co-pay!)

Anyway--point is, I'm done with my meds and hopefully on the road to wellness. Sunday was Daylight Saving Time (early this year in the States) and that, combined with numerous trees, shrubs, and flowers blossoming in anticipation of springtime, makes me feel hopeful and healthy and happy!

Buzzkill

I tried to take it easy yesterday so I'd have the energy to attend last night's Pink Martini with the National Symphony Orchestra Pops concert at the Kennedy Center. (More on that in a separate post.)

I did a little cleaning in the morning, but then forced myself to stop at noon so I wouldn't wear myself out. I'd also been coughing horribly, so I decided to do two things: take some of the cough syrup (prometh with codeine) the doctor prescribed the day before and take a short nap. (The aforementioned syrup looks like Jonestown Kool-aid. Still, it tastes better than a lot of that OTC stuff.)

The directions on the prescription say to only take a teaspoon and that's what I did. The stuff worked great on my cough, but the side effects? Oy, the side effects. I'm lying in bed trying to get some rest, but I can't because I'm feeling restless and out of sorts. I start paying closer attention to what parts of me feel jittery and loopy and at one point I realize, this must be what it's like to get buzzed.

Being a non-drinker, I have no point of reference for this phenomenon everyone swears by and claims is the great reason to drink. After today's experience, I am not at all convinced. On top of that, the stuff gave me a stomach ache. If this is what drinking gets you, I think I'll take a pass. I hate feeling all wack-a-doo and out of sync. (If I'm wrong, though, and this just sounds like a bad reaction to a med, say so. Otherwise, pass the ginger ale, please!)

Needless to say, I never really ended up rested and I was a wee bit of a cranky butt when I met up with my mom and sister last night. (Of course, it didn't help that Mom liked my current hairstyle, which is long, drab, limp, and in horrible need of a haircut. But then, she's always liked my hair longer and I've not liked it, mostly because I end up looking like her. Besides, at this length, it has the potential to be very bouffanty, which is never a good thing in my book!)

Screw the prescription! I'm going back to my trusty, ever-faithful Vicks Formula 44 E and I don't care if the doctor does scoff at my layperson remedy. That other stuff just isn't worth it!

Blotto

Being sick and feeling "miz-ruh-bull," as a friend of mine puts it, inspires a great deal of mindless and/or inert activity. Between the naps and the occasional showers in an effort to purge the aches, as well as the consumption of tea and chicken noodle soup, there's a lot of time for mindless... no, wait. That isn't right. There's a lot of time for low-energy drivel. Television plays a starring role in the drivel. All you need the strength to do is operate a remote control.

Thus, this week alone, I have watched more television in the last three days than I've watched in the last year. Of course, it helps that on Monday there was a marathon of Mike Rowe's Dirty Jobs. It was all going so well until he featured himself working in a tannery. That was enough to make me hurl what little I had in my stomach. Do you know this guy use to be an opera singer in Baltimore?! Yep, true story.

Then there were the episodes of Star Trek: Voyager with the lovely Kate Mulgrew as Captain Kathryn Janeway--a scrappy, Katharine Hepburn-like character who inspires my beliefs about the ability of women.

Late one night I watched, for the second time, a documentary about primordial dwarfs and a wee little angel named Kenadie Jourdin-Bromley. If you haven't seen her story, check it out. She, and her peers, are amazing!

I know I'm way, way, way behind the movie queue, but I finally watched Sideways and loved it! Brilliant film. Ranks right up there with American Beauty in terms of great American films.

And, thankfully, there's Netflix, which brought me a crime drama from Britain called Blue Murder. I can't really compare this one to Prime Suspect, except that it bears a couple of similarities. Like its marvelous predecessor, this one also features a female detective chief inspector--DCI Janine Lewis. It's set in one of England's largest cities--Manchester. People get murdered. That's about where the similarities end, though.

Where Prime Suspect is edgy, Blue Murder is a bit softer. It isn't as dark as the former and the characters aren't nearly as nuanced or flawed. The biggest difference from Prime Suspect is, it's got some humor and lightness that the former lacks. Put more succinctly, if Prime Suspect is Homicide: Life on the Streets, Blue Murder is Law & Order meets Barney Miller. Regardless of the lack of edginess, I am enjoying it. (Only bugger: no closed captioning, which means I have to watch these twice, because the Manchester drawl is a bit mealy-mouthed and I miss stuff.)

And, I'm almost done with Pat Conroy's The Prince of Tides. So far, I'm pleased. A decent story with picturesque writing. Having spent time in the Carolinas and Georgia, it isn't difficult to imagine the places and people Conroy is describing. All in all, a good read.

I'd been thinking I needed to see the movie, but now I'm not as inclined. I'm afraid Nick Nolte and Barbara Streisand will ruin it for me, especially since I've managed to get beyond picturing the two of them as the main characters.

There you have it.

Sidebar: As I type this, the Dirty Bastard Cat is lounging in the afternoon sun, snoring. Good Lord, but he's loud!