Little Man is a little under the weather today. Nothing significant, but he has some coughing going on and tons of congestion. It is lovely to be around. So much sniffling and snorting and coughing...ugh. The good thing is that he has taken to staying in the sound dampened basement shangri-la. He hates taking medicines, mainly because of the tastes associated with them. It was delightful when he became old enough and capable enough to swallow non-flavored pills. Anyway… this leads to this week’s topic, Medication, Vitamins, and Placebos.

This week, Dr B Dawg, pfmDesigner, Steev, Arp, some other guy, and the Wife have sent in questions to answer. Onto the questions:

1. Do you take vitamins?
I have, but I never really saw much difference in quality of life. I am not against it. Maybe I should add them in again.

2. Rank the Flinstones in order of tastiness and funniest
They all tastse like slightly sour chalk, so that is really not a differentiator, so from least funniest to funniest.
Bamm-Bamm
Pebbles
Betty
Wilma
Fred
Barney
Dino
The Great Gazoo

3. Should drug companies really be allowed to advertise prescriptions?
It does not make sense, does it? As the uninformed populace I should not be recommending medication to my doctor to recommend to me.

4. How pissed is the placebo group in drug trials?
They do not find out until much later. Usually after they are dead… because they were in the control group and did not receive any actual treatment.

5. Jagged little pill - overrated, underrated or just right
As an album, it is fine. Of the time, I think it was rated about just right. I don’t think it would have survived the musical landscape today though with the fragmentation of the music industry and not having a gigantic marketing push behind it.

6. Does wifey hide your pill in a piece of cheese, or just clamp your mouth shut and rub your throat?
I hate cheese and she has to catch me first.

7. What is the largest animal you’ve ever had to give medicine?
St Bernard on Rabies watch… it was awesome… frighteningly awesome.

8. Favorite form of medicine: pill, liquid or poultice?
Pill.

9. Bring back the medical tapeworm! Your thoughts?
I need to lose some lbs.

10. Did Huey Lewis ever find his new drug?
Not that I know of. The only one he really found made him feel thick thick thick.

11. In the multitude of common side effects you are always hearing about, which one scares you the most?
Well… not so much for me, but on commercials when I hear the rapid speech say “may cause suicidal tendencies in teens” is alarming with a boy who is turning 13 next year.

12. The opposite of a placebo is a nocebo. That is when a person believes that an inert substance or procedure actually harms them or makes them sick. This is the basis for the phenomenon known as voodoo death, where death is brought on by a strong emotional shock such as fear. Franklin Roosevelt once said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” but really it is caused by any number of perceived threats which lead to the “fight or flight” response. Some fears can be traced back to survival behavior but others may be irrational in nature. An example of the latter would be the fear of clowns or coulrophobia. A song called “Pierrot the Clown” was released in 2006 by the band Placebo. Have you ever heard their song “Meds”?
Nope. Never heard it. hang on…. Yep. I have heard the song and now watched the video. Meh.

13. Pharmaceuticals, homeopathics, or home remedies (vitamin C & sleep)
Yes, please. All of these things have a place in health program.

14. Worst reaction to a med?
Red rash on chest

15. How much pain before your take something for it (vs. using ice/heat and stretching etc.)?
I take meds like candy if I am sore.

16. Kids' vitamins - good idea or make sure they get it in their food?
Good idea because the kids do not eat a balanced meal.

17. Grandma's home remedies: does a shot of bourbon/whiskey work?
Whiskey can help most kids’ ailments.

18. Spoonfull of sugar and all that mary poppins stuff - truth / fairy tail?
Complete fairy tale. A spoonfull of sugar just makes things sweet.

19. Has anyone ever looked into the medicinal properties of sugar pills? What if there is no such thing as a placebo effect and instead it is the fact that sugar is a un-investigated miracle medicine?
Mind= Blown.

20. What was your favorite vitamin as a kid? For example, my favorite was the pink Flintstone’s vitamins.
I loved and still love Vitamin C when it has a hint of a chemically orange flavor, or vitamin D... gimme the sun, baby!

To Recap:
Little Man is probably going to be fine by lunch time tomorrow
I am still looking for a job
Anyone need a UXD-er out there?
I like ZiCam to head off the effects of a cold
I think it may be completely a placebo effect
I am 400 words behind on NaNoWriMo
Hopefully tonight I will only be down by 100
That means I need to write 1867 words
Ugh
Last night the good guys had to battle a Salsa Golem
It is going to be a terrible book
Terrible
Tonight is “Chapter 10: The Falcon’s Lair”
Have a great week everyone