I’ve always known Dr.Vincent as a nice person, recalling back the time he came to take some medicines from me at the pharmacy on a sunny weekend afternoon. From the way he talked to me I could tell he was a friendly, humble person who even asked me what to write in his prescription for a flu drug. We had a light chat and we got to know a little more about each other, which gave me a very good impression of him.

The first slide of his presentation was simple, yet portrayed how he respected the pharmacy profession. “Pharmacists – Our partners in mental health care”. He recognizes that we are facing a tight budget, which makes it difficult for us to buy many expensive drugs for the patients.

You and I might think – “Why do we even bother wasting our money on these psychos?!” But for Dr.Vincent, treating patients with mental illnesses is not an easy job for him. The fact is this – when their illnesses are not well controlled, lives are endangered. Many patients attempt suicide or harm their loved ones because they aren’t thinking like normal people do. And its not their fault at all. Why? Because they can’t think properly due to a chemical imbalance in their brains. Mental illnesses are essentially brain diseases. It’s not because they had a painful breakup or they are “bad guys”, they are born like that. Sometimes stress induced by the physical environment triggers this chemical imbalance which they are born with which causes them to be like this.

I feel ashamed of myself as a pharmacist. We say we want to save lives. Yes, admittedly, we are having trouble with our finances. But we complain whenever the doctor decides to start a patient on an expensive drug, or insists that we give branded drugs over generic, despite both drugs having the same efficacy. But one thing I learnt from this session – is that the most effective drug to treat a mentally ill patient is not the most expensive drug, it is the drug which the patient is most willing to take consistently throughout his life. Patients normally don’t take their drugs because the drug might not be causing any effect, or has excessive side effects. Also, because they don’t think that well, it is more difficult for them to understand that there is not much difference between a branded and generic drug. I feel ashamed of myself because I only see what’s on the surface, that they’re crazy. I get very annoyed whenever they stand in front of the counter demanding that they get their drugs served immediately, with branded labels and also the right colour and right amount of tablets. (Yes, some even count the number of tablets supplied in front of me). But I’ve come to realized, it’s not their fault. I should show empathy towards these patients because they’ve been socially neglected, their families have stopped caring and they cannot function in life.

My call to all pharmacists out there is this: Even if we can’t buy more drugs for the patients, let us treat them with more love and care. Be patient with them and do everything in our power to make their lives better. Find ways to provide them with the medications they need to help them take back control over their lives. Give them a chance at life.

Special thanks to Dr.Vincent for sharing his insights on mental healthcare with us.

Hope by Massimo Valiani

The minute I heard those words, I knew it was not going to go well. Despite the unforeseen circumstances, I will not be deterred nor discouraged.

You see, the panel wants to ensure that they are giving the money to profitable businesses. They don’t want to give me 150K just so I can fail within the 1st 2 years of going out to market. From this session, I have gained valuable input which would help me really craft the perfect business model that will revolutionize the healthcare industry. I know what I have to do and I am going to take action. Not tomorrow, not next week, but now.

I see not a glimmer of hope, but a land full of exciting oppurtunities that lie beyond the mountains of uncertainty.

Next round, I will come back stronger and harder

We all know its a hassle to visit the doctor (long waiting times, expensive consultation fees). Or in the case of the government clinic or hospital – super duper long waiting times just to see the doctor and then at the pharmacy.

Lucky for most of us, the internet is a great place to read about your illnesses and what steps to take to treat them. But as a pharmacist, I want to stress something really important. THE INTERNET IS NOT YOUR GP.

I’m totally cool with self medicating. In fact, I do it all the time haha. But because I know when I should see a doctor and when I can treat myself.

So how do if its safe to self medicate?

First thing you must look at the severity of the symptoms you are experiencing. For example, if your dick starts bleeding – SEE A DOCTOR. Jk…but yeah I mean it.

As a general rule of thumb, if you fever has lasted at least 3 days (moderate to high grade) you should see a doctor asap. Drink lots of water when you have a fever. Lots of it till your urine gets colourless.

Colds (or flu, as laymen call it) are fine to self medicate but if you are coughing yellowish or greenish sputum you should see a doctor. Most likely your throat or respiratory tract is infected and your doctor will determine the cause.

If you have a runny nose, decongestants are out of the picture. So no point spending 10 bucks on a pack of clarinase. Btw, to clarify something about clarinase to ensure clarity, clarinase is a LESS drowsy, antihistamine + decongestant. If your nose isn’t blocked a simple antihistamine (e.g polaramine, clarityn) will do the trick. Save money. People think that they eat clarinase then won’t feel drowsy. Not true. It depends on person to person. They claim to be non-drowsy, but it does have abit of drowsy effect. In fact, a bit of drowsy effect at night would help you to sleep better and get well faster coz you get more rest.

Stomach ache- Suffering from diarrhoea? Try and shitting out everything first. Sometimes its better to shit out all the bacteria than to keep them in your stomach

Take oral rehydration salts each time u purge badly. If the diarrhoea persists after 2 days please go to the doctor to get anti-diarhoeal medicine.

Stomach feels gassy and bloated? Try charcoal pills. Eno works too. Persists? Gets more and more painful? Starting to look pregnant? SEE A DOCTOR.

To health freaks out there who can’t stand a day without exercise – don’t exercise when you’re sick. Rest and recover fully before resuming your exercise. No point worsening your sickness, that would slow your progress even more and you will feel even worse.

To sum things up, as a general rule of thumb – If your attempts at self medicating fail after 1-2 tries its always safer to see a healthcare professional. You never know if it might be something more serious.

Happy Self-Medicating!