Helpful Pharmacist

Over the past several months a few generic manufacturers have issued recalls on various blood pressure medications. Valsartan has been affected the most by these recalls but other medications in the same category have been affected as well. Do you take valsartan? If so, is your medication affected by the valsartan recall? We take a look at what caused the recall, who is affected, and what to do if your medication was on the valsartan recall or one of the subsequent recalls that followed.

Continue reading What Does the Valsartan Recall Mean to Me? Is My Blood Pressure Medication Safe?

Waiting rooms are excellent areas for “people watching”. When you spend any amount of time in waiting rooms, no matter where you are, you will start to notice stereotypes of human behavior. This can happen at the barbershop, the oil change place, the car wash, at a restaurant, or at a pharmacy where I work. The similarities are really quite funny once you start to take note. The following examples are from the pharmacy setting but you can find these people everywhere. Here are some people to watch for the next time you find yourself in a waiting room. I hope you get a laugh when you spot one.

Continue reading 7 People You Will See in Every Waiting Room

If you are like me and have younger children at home, you probably have run into questions about vaccination schedules. My oldest son is about to turn 11, and at that age there are 3 recommended vaccines for all children, which are TDap, Meningitis, and HPV. The first two are routinely accepted vaccines but I have had many parents question the HPV vaccine. They seem to be suspicious, or uneasy about their child receiving the HPV vaccine. Maybe that is because this vaccine is relatively new, or because it deals with a sexually transmitted virus. Let’s look at some of the questions I hear, and what the answers are.

Continue reading What Parents Need to Know About the HPV Vaccine

As you may recall, my last article centered around what your blood pressure means, why you should monitor it, and how to do that. If you missed that article you should read it first and then come back to this one. One thing I definitely recommended is that you buy a home blood pressure monitor so you may check your own blood pressure at home. What I didn’t cover is which is the best blood pressure monitor you can buy. There are dozens of models available from several different manufacturers and at lots of different price points. I have chosen four home blood pressure monitors to recommend to you. I have tried to include one monitor each at four different price points. I will discuss the features of each monitor and why I recommend each one. This should make your buying decision an easy one.

Continue reading What Is The Best Blood Pressure Monitor for My Budget? – Updated for 2018

A frequent topic of discussion at the pharmacy is blood pressure. What do the numbers mean? How often should I check my blood pressure? What is the best way to check it? How do medications affect it? There are a lot of misconceptions. Let’s break down all of these questions and get you started on a healthy blood pressure monitoring plan.

Continue reading How Often Should I Check My Blood Pressure?

Today I am taking a bit of a different approach here at Helpful Pharmacist. I don’t always talk about my personal goings on but today I would like to do just that. I have some things going on at work now that are going to really change my job. This has been on my mind a lot so I decided to share it with you guys. I hope you can relate, or find this interesting. If not, know that writing about it is at least therapeutic for me.

So, what is the big deal, you ask? In just about two weeks from now, we are going to install a new computer software system in my store. Learning new software may just be the most challenging and difficult thing you can ever ask a pharmacy staff to do. We spend a huge percentage of our time pecking away at our computers. My techs can barely ever step away from their terminals during the day. Now we will be changing everything about those computers. Scary, right? Continue reading Big Changes Coming to the Pharmacy

Vaccination, especially in children, has become a huge topic of debate and controversy over the last 20 or so years. Are vaccines safe? Do they cause other health problems? Should we require vaccines for our children? Should this be a choice each parent makes? These questions are a lot more prevalent now than they used to be. Let’s take a closer look.  Continue reading Helpful Pharmacist’s View on Vaccination – Vaccines Work

Medicare Part D enrollment sounds like a scary task. There are hundreds of plans to choose from and a lot of data to sort through. How do I choose one? When can I enroll? I will address all of the basics for you. This may not sound very interesting to a lot of my readers but remember this: if Medicare Part D enrollment doesn’t affect you, it definitely affects someone you care about. So, please read this for your parents, grandparents, or other family members who may need some help with this down the road. And I’ll promise to keep it light and as non-technical as possible.

Continue reading What Do I Need to Know About Medicare Part D Enrollment?