Archive for March, 2022

The week of March 13-19 is National Sleep Awareness Week and usually coincides with the beginning of Daylight Savings Time which starts this year on Sunday, March 13. With the changing time and throughout the year, it is important to get at least eight hours of good, quality sleep each night if you don’t already.

Not getting enough sleep can greatly impact your overall quality of life and can place yourself and others in dangerous from motor vehicle accidents and critical mistakes at work.

On top of that, poor sleep quality can lead to:

• depression
• unintentional weight gain
• difficulty remembering/thinking
• type 2 diabetes
• high blood pressure
• heart disease
• a suppressed immune system leading to a higher risk of infections

Some common causes of difficulty falling/staying asleep are:

• stress
• anxiety
• poor sleep hygiene
• caffeine or nicotine use
• exercising or eating large meals before bedtime
• medical conditions such as restless legs syndrome and prolonged pain

There are also certain medications that can cause trouble sleeping such as stimulants (i.e., Adderall, Ritalin), so it is important to meet with your local pharmacist to investigate which medications may be causing you to stay awake at bedtime.

Some good sleep hygiene practices include:

• using your bed for sleeping or intimacy only
• establishing a regular sleep pattern (i.e., go to bed and arise at about the same time daily, even on the weekends)
• making the bedroom comfortable for sleeping by limiting noise or light
• engaging in relaxing activities such as meditation/stretching before bedtime
• avoiding the use of electronic devices (i.e., videos, television, and phones) around bedtime
• exercising regularly, but not within two to four hours of bedtime
• avoiding daytime napping
• avoiding the use of caffeine, alcohol, or nicotine for at least four to six hours before bedtime
• eating a light snack if hungry, but avoiding meals within two hours before bedtime

There are over-the-counter medication options available at your local pharmacy to help with sleeping issues, but be aware they may cause “sleep hangover” or daytime drowsiness.

These include:

Diphenhydramine and Doxylamine

• How to use: Take 25-50 mg nightly at bedtime
• Adverse effects: Dry mouth, constipation, blurred vision, difficulty urinating, ear ringing
• Works well for short-term sleep difficulty, especially to help with falling asleep
• Maximum sedation occurs between three to six hours of dose
• Do not use for more than 7 to 10 consecutive nights and schedule an ‘off’ night every 3 days to avoid tolerance
• Do not drink alcohol while using
• Under many different names
  • Unisom SleepGels Capsules, liquid filled  Diphenhydramine HCl 50 mg
  • Sominex Nighttime Sleep-Aid Tablets  Diphenhydramine HCl 25 mg
  • ZzzQuil Nighttime Sleep-Aid Liquid  Diphenhydramine HCL 50mg/300 ml
• Watch out for combination medications
  • Advil PM Caplets  Diphenhydramine citrate 38mg + ibuprofen 200 mg
  • Excedrin PM Headache Caplets  Diphenhydramine citrate 38mg + acetaminophen 250mg + aspirin 250 mg
  • Tylenol PM Extra Strength Caplets  Diphenhydramine HCl 25 mg + acetaminophen 500 mg

Melatonin

• How to use: Take 2 to 5 mg roughly 30 to 60 minutes prior to bedtime
• Adverse Effects: Well-tolerated
• Helps stimulate sleep regulation mechanisms to regulate sleep and circadian rhythms

Valerian Root

• Herbal supplement which can help with sleep
• Overall effectiveness on sleep is unproven, but daily use increases likely effectiveness
• Available in tea products in combination with honey or lemon

Keep in mind that these over-the-counter sleep medications should not be used for more than 10 days without consulting your doctor. You should also see your doctor if you have been experiencing insomnia continuously for more than three weeks.

Insomnia symptoms involve not feeling refreshed after sleeping, waking up too early, and having difficulty going back to sleep.

Continuous insomnia lasting over three weeks could be a possible case of chronic insomnia. Over-the-counter options won’t work well for this sleep problem and chronic insomnia requires professional medical interventions such as prescription medications.

References:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC – Sleep Home Page – sleep and sleep disorders. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/index.html. Published April 15, 2020. Accessed March 5, 2022.

Krinsky DL. Handbook of Nonprescription Drugs: An Interactive Approach to Self-Care, 20th Edition. The American Pharmacists Association; 2020.

This month, we are joined in Plain City by Justin Yu, a fourth-year pharmacy student from The Ohio State University’s College of Pharmacy.

Justin will graduate in May 2022 with his PharmD degree and will then take the test to become a registered pharmacist. Justin will be with Joe throughout March working on management issues behind the scenes of the pharmacy.

Here is what Justin tells us about himself:

Hello, my name is Justin Yu, and I am a student at The Ohio State University’s College of Pharmacy. I am currently close to finishing my fourth year and graduating in May 2022.

I have lived in Ohio my entire life. I was originally born in the suburbs of Cleveland and moved to Columbus a little over twenty years ago.

I enjoy the outdoors a lot and when I have free time, I like to go on long hiking trips through nature trails close to my area. One of my favorite trails to jog is in the Hocking Hills in Logan, Ohio, due to the wide variety of outdoor scenery the area provides.

I also attended The Ohio State University during my undergraduate years majoring in health and rehabilitation sciences. Before discovering the field of pharmacy, I was planning to become a physical therapist, because I believed in the concept of “exercise is medicine” due to my hobbies involving mostly physical activities.

During my undergraduate program, I had the opportunity to take a couple of pharmacology courses which got me interested in the pharmaceutical side of healthcare. It amazed me the vast types of drugs available and the many ways they affected the human body.

Medications play a key role in the healthcare field, and I feel that becoming a pharmacist will allow me to make more positive impacts on a patient’s health.

My pharmacy career started at Meijer pharmacy working as a technician for two years. This background has provided me with a wide insight into how a community pharmacy works. I worked as an intern for Meijer pharmacy right after starting pharmacy school and still currently work there today.

After graduation, I plan to move to Mentor, Ohio, where I recently accepted a staff pharmacist position at a Meijer Pharmacy.

I have developed a strong interest in community pharmacy serving patients in the outpatient setting. I realize the significant role I play in protecting the population through immunizations and helping patients achieve healthier outcomes through counseling. The fast-paced, busy work environment of a community pharmacy has helped me acquire a vast range of skills such as time management, customer service, interpersonal communication between team members, and organization.

I believe that my rotation at Plain City Druggist will help me prepare as I transition to a pharmacist in a retail setting by helping me understand the financial aspects of running a pharmacy. Being a pharmacist in the community setting not only requires a good amount of clinical knowledge, but also a good grasp on the concepts of business. Independent pharmacies often operate day-to-day very differently compared to large chain pharmacies. For example, an independent pharmacy, Crosby’s Drugs, that I rotated with in May 2021 offered unique services that made them standout such as providing diabetic shoes, billing medical supplies, and compounding sterile products in a non-hospital setting.

I look forward to what I can learn from Plain City Druggist and further understand the business management side of an independent pharmacy.

It is that time of year again. Time to enjoy a fish meal each Friday during Lent. Once again Saint Joseph’s Catholic Church and the local Knights of Columbus will be holding their Friday Fish Fries every Friday through April 8. The Fish Fries will be held at the Parish Activity Center (the PAC), 670 West Main Street (behind the firehouse) from 5:30-8 pm.

Meals are $10 for adults, $9 for seniors, $8 for children 12 and under. Besides either two pieces of fried or baked fish (please request the baked fish if you would like it), the adult meal also includes soda or coffee, and two sides–cole slaw, fries, or macaroni and cheese. The child meal includes one piece of fish, two sides, and a beverage. Additionally, you can purchase homemade desserts for a donation that benefits the St. Martin de Porres Society.

Carry out service of the meals is also available. You can mark on the order form if you will be carrying out or eating at the PAC.

So please come out this Friday, March 4, and support the Knights of Columbus. Join them each Friday (March 11, 18, 25, April 1 and 8) throughout Lent (excluding Good Friday on April 15) for a delicious meal and lots of enjoyable socializing with neighbors, friends, and family.

For more info, visit Saint Joe’s web site HERE where you can download an order form for the fish fries. See the order form below.

For a complete Lenten Fish Fry Guide that lists churches throughout Ohio hosting fish fries, go HERE.

This month, we are joined at Plain City Druggist by Kendra Terry, a fourth-year pharmacy student from The Ohio State University’s College of Pharmacy.

Kendra will graduate in May 2022 with her PharmD degree and will then take the test to become a registered pharmacist. Kendra will be with Tayler and the staff here in Plain City throughout March, so please stop by and meet her while she is here.

Here is what Kendra tells us about herself:

Hi everyone! My name is Kendra Terry and I am a fourth year pharmacy student at The Ohio State University’s College of Pharmacy. I am completing my second to last APPE rotation at Plain City Druggist this month, and am excited to graduate with my PharmD in May!

I am originally from Columbus, and graduated from Westerville Central High School. All of my family lives in Columbus, and all of us are Buckeyes! I love having a large support system here, so I hope to stay in Columbus after I graduate.

I have always known I wanted to work in healthcare, largely due to my mom’s inspiring career as a nurse practitioner in pediatric neurology. Upon graduating from high school, I fully intended to follow in her footsteps, and enrolled in the pre-nursing program at the University of Cincinnati. Unfortunately, I quickly realized that germaphobes typically do not make great nurses, and ultimately changed majors and transferred back home after my freshman year. I ended up graduating from Ohio State with a bachelor’s degree in human nutrition, specializing in nutrition sciences.

Through my undergraduate studies in nutrition, I became very interested in the mechanisms by which nutrients affect different processes in the body. I wanted to learn more about how medications can also do this, and decided that pharmacy school would be an excellent way to expand my knowledge. I felt that as a community pharmacist, I could help patients optimize their health by providing guidance and education in both nutrition and medications.

I started working at Walgreens during undergrad as a pharmacy technician, and have continued working there through pharmacy school as an intern. In the 5 years I’ve worked there, I have learned so much about patient care from the many wonderful pharmacists and technicians with whom I have crossed paths. Forming relationships with patients in the community and building their trust has been a very rewarding part of my internship, and is something I hope to continue doing as a pharmacist.

After starting pharmacy school, I took an additional job at Nationwide Children’s Hospital (NCH) as an intern in the outpatient pharmacy. My mom worked at NCH for 40 years, so I am very proud to work for an organization that allowed her, and now myself, to provide exceptional care for children in our community (and throughout the country). Taking the additional time to talk with parents about their child’s medications is very important to me, and I try to make a point to do this in all pharmacy settings. 

I am very excited to learn about the operations of an independent pharmacy this month at Plain City Druggist. I look forward to working with the pharmacy employees and serving this community. If you see me this month, please don’t hesitate to say hi!