Why i took a break from Blogger

The stars were lining right and i finally realize i have been disconnected from myself for so long . It's been a long long break *feeling sorry * to those of you who read my post , pardoning my bad english and nonsensical grammar errors , i finally got back on my feet after a long hiatus .

I never thought i would come back writing , blogging , sharing what i know on the internet the moment i went away. Back then  i simply didn't think what i did was appreciated , but i was wrong . It wasn't that i was not appreciated , it was simply me being angry and frustrated , so i gradually thought no one would listen to my voice . I could not see the light , could not hear the cheerful laughter , could not feel the support from my surroundings not that i was not getting any or maybe i didn't get any that i like LOL , that sounds so unappreciative and wrong . 

The truth is ..i was shutting out everyone , my family and friends , my followers and supporters. I felt people didn't want my company, some of you would want to kill me when you read this , you can leave the page if you want , i know some of you don't like negativity but trust me i don't like it either . But sometimes you need to destr u c..t  something , i don't know why i did the tearing apart writing for the word 'destruct' , i just thought it look a lot more destructive , and finally rebuild something again. 

I build and rebuild myself .   At times it feels like i am back to square one, but my head tells me otherwise , my head knows better than  my heart in everything i do , i am glad . My head tells me if i was back to sqaure one , why am i seeing laughters these days that i never did and why am loving lemonade when don't even like lemon , something must have changed so it's something but square one. 

Reading my older post , tears running down my cheeks , i saw everyone of you who has been to this page, who has leave comments and emailed me , i miss you all , how have you been ? Let's reconnect once again , shall we ?

Peptic ulcer liquid lipstick

I have an obsession for liquid lipstick , and my imagination ran wild today thinking would there be a set of lipsticks name after diseases ?  Like the lipstick is called 'acne' - a bright red color for instance and 'diabetes' - for a frosty pink color ? You know what I mean ..? Ok ,no. I am weird , my ideas are strange . 

Let's not get carried away in makeups , if you do have the same problem as I do , then you might want to read on , I could have a few tips that would help you with your situation. 

Well first of all , the word peptic ulcer is not commonly use in this part of the world , as in my place . When I came back to practice as a pharmacist , everyone uses a term 'gastric' for peptic ulcer or dyspepsia condition . And I would remember thinking what gastric ?? Gastric as in my gastric , you mean intestine ?? Then I realize that the English proficiency is so low here that they could not say gastroenteritis , in short is gastric *roll eyes * , why didn't they say gastric (pain) ?? I didn't think it was funny but I think coming back to work in this country was silly . But anyway ... Things doesn't look too bad now , at least I got some experience that some of my peers in uni could never imagine and some hilarious stories to tell them when I see them in Perth. 

Peptic ulcer is a pain but it is easily managed as long as you don't ignore it . Most people ignore the signs and symptoms , and when things gets really bad , it is too late . First of all your stomach has two parts , the stomach and the duodenum, and these organs are responsible for digesting your food. If they get unwell or falling sick, that means it has something to do with the food you consume. Of course there are exceptions whereby some people literally produces too much stomach acids by nature , but it is really uncommon. Generally most ladies' minor dyspepsia is due to common weight loss diet they've self created and most of the time self destructive . Crash diet or a change in diet drastically could affect your stomach . I have been on my blood type diet for some time , and it does really change my dyspepsia . Blood type O like me generally have strong stomach acidity which helps in digesting meat, but caffeine can kill my stomach in just a shot .i'll have gastric pain for two days if I have just a single cup of espresso. 

Caffeinated drinks or caffeine is highly effective in loosen the gastric sphincter and that could be a problem for me as I generally have strong stomach acid. Try blood type diet first , and if it does not get better in 4 weeks then opt for medication . 

Some of you might be screaming now, saying mama have no time for your blood type diet , I need quick relief ! Ok... I hear you .. I will get to that *doing that stay calm hand motion*

There are antacids in the pharmacy such as Gavsicon , Ranitidine and Esomeprazole ( let's just call this nexium ) , the drug names are harder to pronounce than Thai language. They were listed respectively , according to their potency . You might be thinking the strongest the better , well no exactly . Medications comes with side effects , if you have done an endoscopy , and been through seeing your gastrologist all the time , then yes . Take nexium . Maximum dose. But if not , I think Gaviscon is not such a bad medication . Not because someone pay me to say this , I blog for my interest and I do buy all my medications with my hard earn money . Reason being the medication just neutralize the excess acids that is giving you trouble without altering the body's system . 

Ranitidine is pretty much the same as nexium except in a milder form . What they do is getting into your system , bonds to some of your receptor in your stomach and switched the acid button off . That way the overall production of acid would reduce , giving you less reflux . Now acid reflux is a term using to describe acid regurgitation up the food pipe , which gives you the feeling of a dull pain on your upper stomach , sometimes the pain is so intense it will give you a feeling of 'difficulty of breathing' . 

Switching off the acid production can be a bad thing especially if it lasted for 8hours ( because you generally feel hungry every 4 hours ) and when your acid is not really sufficient to digest the food you eat . The higher the dose or potency of medicine means the stronger the switch / block of acid production .

Start low dose and go up slowly and accordingly , and when your friend gives you a tablet of nexium 40mg does not necessarily is right for you . Check with your regular chemist or simply email me ! 

Bye pretties ! 

Ps: Oh before I forget , anemia could be the name of a light beige liquid lipstick , no ?? 

Is alcohol giving you red face ?

Me too *put out right hand for a hand shake* . I think most of us do have that unless you are Indian , whom among our races who is known as born to drink and the terms 'Indian liver' is use to describe their liver that is able to take tremendous amount of alcohol without having a problem LOL 

But my good Indian friend who is always light hearted says : we get Asian flush syndrome too , but my skin is too dark for you to notice it .... 

Well , maybe . LOL 

Asian flush syndrome first got my attention when I was working in Australia as a pharmacist , and fellow friends love a sundowner on Fridays . Oh how I miss the grill lamb rack , lightly grill , done medium rare , drizzle with some olive oil macerated with some mint leave before hand , absolutely worth worshipping *lift both hands up and look up the sky* .... Ok let's not get carried away . Back to the topic about lacking the enzyme of breaking down acetylaldehyde , does not quite often happens among my Aussie friends , which lmakes me look like a stand out red face in all my sundowners party photos. It's quite embarrassing when you look all red as if you had a severe sun burn. I wish I could burn all the photos tagged on my FB but it does not work that way ... 

And the best part was my friends would try and keep away the alcohol from me as they're worried about me being intoxicated like overloaded with acetylaldehyde . So in order find a solution to people stopping me from having my booze I had to find a way to make my face don't go red. Back then there were no BB cream and foundation won't cover the flush I have *insert frown emoji*

So let me share with you what found . Something called ranitidine . They come in 150mg pack (over the counter, no prescription needed) and they are mainly use to treat acid reflux ( Asian call it :gastric ) . To block the overproduction of digestion acids . Well you will be thinking how does blocking acid do that ? It actually works by slowing the absorption of alcohol into your body. Digestion acids are liable for getting all the food breaking down into smaller molecules to aid absorption. Just like the old saying of swallowing a spoonful of butter will stop you from getting drunk , what it actually means is that coat your stomach lining with some oil, block out the acids, keep your stomach confuse better if you are eating some snacks , the alcohol absorption slows down. But common, which lady wants to swallow butter because it's so fattening , even if you know it works you won't do it , would you ? Ranitidine does the same thing accept with a fraction of the calories . 

And let me tell you more , it could save you from saying no to your drinking buddies that could really drink and kept asking you to bottoms up ! The slow release of alcohol into your body stops you from getting hang over the next day too ( just in case in the crazy drinking party they don't serve good ) . Asian culture could really kill lousy drinker like me , my friendly host from China got me some 50years good old hard liquor and made me do bottoms up almost every other minute , and because she is a much older lady , from the sayings of Confucius , I must not reject her offer . But on the bright side they don't mind me looking bright red like a tomato, they are not into selfies anyway , so no tagging on FB or anything but I am totally wasted the next few days *plays hang over song* 

Till I found the magical drug that fights it . So now I don't have to worry about people stopping me from drinking , with some help of ranitidine , BB cream and jokingly say : I have really good blood circulation , when people do question how come I turn so red when I have alcohol . 

Ps : don't drink and drive 

Pps : don't drink excessively 

Ppps : don't go drinkin alone if you are a woman in kl 

Ultra sensitive skin

Is not allergy prone skin . And vice versa . People often mistaken the two , so it is really a pain in the butt for the beauty advisors and beauty therapist . Why ? Because here in Asia or maybe all places in the world thinks "customer's always right " . It is very true , but at least in the states , people have the right and freedom of speech , so you may "correct" the customers if you think they are wrong , but not in our country . If you try to tell them they are wrong , they would walk away and buy it from someone who thinks they are right , they would not thank you for your professional advice and of course bad mouth about you . Hey we Asians love yum cha session when they gossips and b**** about who and who , so the lady probably go telling her friends , you know I met a stupid girl that day who thinks I have no sensitive skin , how cannnnnnnn ??!!!! I have rashes so often , everywhere you know !!!!! She is not professional lah !

So if you know what I mean , after sometime in the workforce , you are trained to be "less opiniated" in order for everyone to give you a "professional" title . This is how things are here, at least for the next 20 years to come . 

Let's just put it that way I blog not because I am vocal ,but because I think there are people out there in the globe we live on wants to know nothing but the truth. Read on and scroll along if you are one of those. 

Ultra sensitive skin is usually a unusual skin type , the type of skin maybe perhaps only 1 out of 100 has it . Where allergy prone skin is probably 1 out of 10. It's a huge difference. Sensitive skin are not in born. Sensitive skin is due to environmental factor but allergy prone skin is usually genetically related ( in born) or disease related . It's not all kinds of disease but mainly eczema , asthma or psoriasis. Also if you have immunity disorder or metabolic disorder , you can get allergy prone skin easily too. Sensitive skin comes with a few characteristic firstly very visible red blood vessels under the skin , skin is tight and abnormally thin . The environmental factor cause is commonly due to the usage of incompatible skincare or continual exposure to laser therapy. The sufferer mostly has very good skin to begin with , but with the ultimate greed to change their skin type , for instance wanting to use anti-aging products at the age or 21 , as their excuse would be "to prevent" . If you don't believe it , anti-aging products are usually higher in price simply because they are meant to target the older generations whom can afford more expensive products and also much "potent" in active ingredients. The sales promoter would not mind you buying it as higher price makes her hit her sales target faster , closer to getting her Gucci handbag and pay rise anyway ( if you insist ) because she would be called stupid if she tries to stop you ( according to the scenario mentioned above ) . The result from using such product would be having a sensitive skin thereafter because  let me put it in a simpler way , when you don't have high blood pressures, you started yourself on blood pressure lowering pills , what happen to your body ?? 

Explain further , older skin has a lot more issue , such as lower turnover cell renewal rate , they are tolerant to most active ingredients as they are previously exposed to when they are younger .so these anti aging products are design to solve all these problems so the consumer would like it . The younger skin needs ultimate moisture and uv defense to stop the signs of aging , but if you use the anti aging cream, the cell turnover is changed and replace with oil/water cream for moisture , your skin will stop working, doing the turnover naturally and just start coming up with oil seeds . When your skin gets "lazy" relying on the cream to renew the cells  , that's when your skin starts to go all crazy , because the system is upsetted . And if you try anything on your skin thereafter , you'll think nothing works and you go saying : I have sensitive skin !! Because nothing works and nothing suits my skin type !! And if you are into Korean fad all about BB/CC cream, which is all in all silicone base product which stops letting your skin breathe , your skin will be worse than ever after using them for a year or two. 

It's such a shame, initially you have pretty good skin ? But of course it was never easy to understand such complex science especially most beauty advisors in our country are not fully well trained and they themselves use the wrong skincare too . Beauty editors are probably better with the knowledge and know how but they are paid only to talk about good things about ALL beauty products ,so .... I think I don't have to explain further.  

Well if you ask me , if someone walk up to me and say I have sensitive skin , all I know is that you are probably not very knowledgable , stubborn and spent rift . And that no matter what I say , she thinks she knows better . 

I would advice as a pharmacist , stop using anything ( just use water ) not even any make ups and let your skin start all over . I know she'll probably roll her eyes ,finding me rude and walk off . The one that has allergy prone ( thinking she is sensitive ) should just fix her rash by getting some antihistamine and stop using the wrong term. Well, I don't need a professional title , I have it written on my certificate and license renewal form , and I am not a politician ,so I can say what I want . 

Organic Zeron

*scratch* 

ok so about 2 years ago I wrote about organic skincare and how I don't think they work but just a marketing gimmick , but here..

*scratch again* oops it's my scalp , I don't have hookworm ok ? *insert cheeky emoji* 

But here I am going to blog about the organic hair product I found lately . Well I must say organic skincare is not too good as you need to suffer down time while your skin try to get use to it , you can't really hide your face for 2 months can you ? But for organic hair products you could always wear a hat and hide from bad hair days , or bad scalp days . 

I have recently been diagnosed with sensitive scalp *show microscopic scanner* so which is why I am scratchy scratchy .Badically you could see that my skin is all inflamed and red blood vessels are highly visible on my scalp *point scanner picture* . This could be a few reason , sun exposure , the use of harsh chemical hair products, the use of regro solution on my scalp for a long time and of course  extensive bleaching . The symptoms are prominent , as I tend to have break out on my scalp and also itchiness when I don't wash it properly after I swim. The search for the right shampoo and conditioner is really a pain as the ones in Malaysia are either sky high price like Aveda or just does not have the right size , such as A'kin unscented very gentle shampoo . Seriously that 225ml bottle for my long locks don't go a long way at all !! 

Untill a fine supernatural day I went and get my roots done by a hair technician , she hooked me up with Zeron , and from then on I am in love *lovestrucked emoji* The use of organic products can be frustrating as usually they don't foam up as they don't use any sodium lauryl sulphate , but Zeron foams up nicely but of course they are zero percent sulphate free too . And because it is so mild , give it a double shampoo if you have very oily or if you sweat a whole lot. The pack size is big for such a price tag so you don't feel the pinch for double cleansing. The weather is too hot in Malaysia , even for normal individual that stays indoor all the time, double cleansing is usually needed. And if I have to pay ~RM500 per pair for 1L pack ( no pump / dispenser ) *roll eyes* I am going to eat only  Gardenia bread from 99mart every night for dinner. 

Now everyone seems to love the marshmallow or watermelon conditioner these days , but for sensitive scalp it is best to stay away from artificial fragrance , although I do wish to smell like a walking strawberry shortcakes. The scent is from plant base essential oils so it's like walking into a Thai massage spa or Jurlique beauty store each time I am in shower, I am all relaxed from the hair follicles to the splitted ends of my hair LOL 

Sensitive scalps includes all with eczema , dry flaky scalp and serious dandruff problems. Paraben , silicone and sodium chloride are all irritant and would worsen the cases. And due to the hot weather in our country , constant UV exposure at the top of our head makes the area worse , for my Malay friends who wear head scarfs will not suffer from sun damage on scalp but they have they their problems too , for example sweats get trapped on their scalp and the area would be more prone to fungal infection . Or the more should avoid using products with irritant ! 

Essential oils can be an irritant , but in Zeron , they use lavender oil to soothe it and Argan oil for nourishment , 99% pure to minimize irritation , only if it happens . The brand has a thinning range which I am yet to try , since I still have a full bottle of regro solution , would be a good alternative if next time I want to keep my scalp medicine free  .. Hehe .. 

The pump is efficient with a wide head top to fit nicely on your palm . Hate it when the pump is small and slim , they tend to break so easily after wear and tear , bare in mind you use your shampoo daily , and I hate pump straw that are narrow , getting stuck easily when the solution is thick , this one does not have that problem at all *big clap emoji* ! 

Go get some and try , even better if you have read my blog , simply use my name druggqueen or use promo code <druggqueen2015> when you buy online to get 15% discount on total bill . For product enquiries email  vivaclassic1437@gmail.com 

Hydroquinone 4% cream

The best thing for stubborn stubborn stains , oops I meant pigment on your face , though to me it really looks like a stain on anybody's face. Well the sight of pigmentation on your cheekbones can be annoying I know , I totally feel you because when I see someone with freckled face I wouldn't try to be nice and say it makes you look cute , because really let's face it 30 years old is wayyyy too old to look cute , it can be really insulting if you are a deep thinker . I believe in the saying 'if you have nothing better to say , it's best to say nothing at all ' .

Pigmentation also known as melasma , it's the appearance of dark spots at areas with high sun exposure , such as your Nose bridge , cheek bones and forehead . The over production of melanin in your body is usually not known why , some say hereditary but not a hundred percent . I would say unlucky if you are fair skinned Asian , and lucky if you are dark-skinned Blacks . The melanin gives us color and the under production of it makes you look pale , for example an albino and you get sun burn much more easily . So the key here is a balance , everything now is about balance I hear it all the time , work life balance , balance diet , balance in relationships escetera escetera ...

It's great if you have it on a single or few areas of your notable skins , because all you need is just a cream ! But if your freckles are all distributed in your body , they would need systemic ( overall ) reduction of melanin , which can be difficult . 

Now there are some really famous formulation in the market for instance Obagi , from the USA but they are hell expensive especially if you get them in the dermatologist clinic in Malaysia , they have some exclusive partnership going on so you don't get it else where and for those ladies who does not do online purchase often , this is their only place to get it , hence resulting the sky high price but still monopolizing the market . The formulation is good but it is way to much to pay for for such a cheap active ingredient . 

Hydroquinone is only less than Rm 10 when you get them in bulk powder if you compound it , well I am not asking you to make your own cream at home but you get the idea.. Why pay so much ?? 

The tube of 4% hydroquinone cream  is only about Rm30 in pharmacy , so there you go with Obagi price , you can buy like 10 tubes of cream for one Obagi cream. Hydroquinone is a bleaching cream so bare in mind you can get very bad reaction is your skin is very very thin and sensitive . If so make sure when you use the cream with some aloe Vera gel (as pure as possible like 92-99%) to help with the burn like feeling and apply sunblock every 2 hours when you are using it on high exposure area (like face, cheekbones area) . The redness and tenderness on the area of use can really put you off using the cream in the long term , if so try using it every other day , trust me your skin will build a tolerance in a month and soon you will be asking me is there a higher strength ?? 4% not enuffffff !!! ??!!! LOL 

You will have to make your own cream in your house junk yard if you really want a higher strength , well you will have to know people like me personally to be able to help source your raw materials *insert wink emoji* . Till then enjoy this amazing cream to lighten your freckles and enjoy flawless Korean like skin , except without the BB cream girls !! 

Ps : You should never never skip sunblock when on hydroquinone cream . 

Pps : you will get fried up if you don't ! 

Ppps : I didn't mean to scare you , love you all much . 

Double action or acid block pills ?

Acid reflux is really common among our nation because we Malaysian just love to E A T . It sounds really stupid ( maybe ) , but what else can we choose as a hobby ? The blistering hot sun forbids us to love the outdoor , unless you really don't mind suffering hyper pigmentation on your skin (which in general Asian mentality being dark skinned is ugly) and if you really want to get your lungs clogged up with pollution ( if you are living in central KL ) . Movies !!!! The Star Wars hype was all over my family , it's so crazy that I saw a Darth Vader Santa , that thing is weird . But I honestly thought the show was so so , Luke sky walker and Han Solo seems rather attractive 10 years ago but not now, I could not associate any hotness with them in the 6th episode all though I grew up watching Star Wars . To me, the popcorn was seriously more interesting ( there you go food again ) , and I am sure when I mentioned popcorn , I was not the only one feeling excited , come on the love for food is the most sincere kind . Okayyy I am getting carried away . Let's talk about indigestion when you had too much food or when you have a bad acid reflux . Not all acid reflux are from eating too much , not everyone is like me being a Xmas dinner chunky , some individual do have overactive acid production in the stomach so they basically have acid reflux even if they don't eat (or even eat proper size meal) . 

There are many types of antacids in the pharmacy store and even some over the counter if you ask the expert behind the counter . 

Eno and Gavsicon 

They come in salts form or even better being dissolve in water , packed in liquid sachet forms . These are excellent acid neutralizers and treats most basic acid reflux . Why they are good ? Because they are harmless and can be taken by pregnant and nursing mum . But the problem with them they contain a heavy load of salt (sod chloride ) which will cause the blood pressure to raise if take everyday , for long term . If you have no heart disease and your doctor never complain about your blood pressure or you never checked but you don't need it more than 3 days , this is best for you . Double action Gavsicon is rather good as you need a smaller amount of liquid and it helps with gas in the stomach. Eno comes in best for ppl with a really tight budget . 

Acid block pills 

They come in many brands and many types , in different price range and different action for different severity . Don't always think the strongest is always the best ( Asian mentality in general ) , even the most expensive restaurant does not mean it is the best or of your best liking . These pills do have a wider range of side effects compared to the liquid antacids and some are not suitable for pregnant mothers and elderly . Some so strong that they block the acid too much for an ordinary person , and they cause indigestion for the next 24 hours simply because there is not enough acid to digest the food when you eat . You will feel very nauseated and girls would be thinking if they are having morning sickness . If you dislike the liquid salts , a level up would be Ranitidine . Anything above that you would have to get a prescription from a doctor or be ultra 'friendly' to the pharmacist ( this should make sense if you have live in this country long enough ) . 

But I certainly hope you would watch the food your eat , acid reflux maybe temporary and that now you have a cure so it does not matter anymore , but putting on weight may be forever and the cure is painful , imagine no pain no gain written on your gym room locker ! 

Happy holidays and enjoy the family gatherings ! May the force be with you and see you next year peeps ! 

Cracked heels go away

See you , cracked heels , on others LOL 

Been really procrastinating on blogging as the new job that I started got me much occupied , from one day in North of the country to the next in the far end of the island . The kind of walking involve in this job , puts my attention on keeping my foot healthy and strong so I can walk more !! 

Pedicure can be done easily anywhere in the mall, or simply while you are on holiday in Vietnam . But you can also do it at home yourself if your work schedule is really packed . Two amazing product to get from the pharmacy I would say is the urea heel balm and Epsom salt . 

You can get a foot cream from body shop which is packed with lovely peppermint scent and get a foot scrub but of course you pay premium price for it . The two products I mentioned will cost you a fraction of the price but will do the job better ( ahemmm I think we should be watching our expenditure in this economy crisis time of life ) 

Urea 5% heel balm is a much more efficient moisturizing cream because 1 unit of urea hold 100x more water molecule than Ha ( hyaluronic acid ) . So you would ask why don't we use it on our face ? You can , but the scent of urea is simply unbearable (imagine stinking toilet ) and to rub it on to your face where your nose is , will certainly drive you away from the idea. On top of that , the natural property of that ingredient can cause a nasty 'stinging' feeling on our skin , so when applied to our face where our stratum corneum ( skin layer ) is a lot thinner than our foot would also not make it ideal for a face cream . Perfect for your foot ! Foot creams from body shop may give a oily after feel as they normally use botanical extract that has an oily properties to locks in the moisture , I am not a fan of it especially on your foot , you may fall in your bedroom due to the slippery feet ! Urea cream on the other hand is normally water base , because it is the urea that is working to locks the moisture and not the Shea butter . 

All time favorite is Ellgyplus ( Aussie made) not that I am bias because I graduated from there , it's just that the weather was really harsh and 10 out of 10 Aussies has a cracked heel problem, so they have really good formulation that works , and I've tried it myself . Some of the packaging comes with a sole mate ( the socks that covers only the heel ) so you can look out for it and compare prices . 

Never heard of Epsom salts ? It's usually somewhere near the pharmacy counter . A box navy blue in colour with white bold alphabets written "Epsom Salt" . They are basically magnesium salts . Granules are easily soluble in water . Before you do that , use the granules to scrub your heels to get rid of the dead skin cells , then soak your feet into a tub of warm water and feel the magic ! Add more Epsom salts to the tub if you like . Magnesium is a good muscle relaxant , and soothes your tired feet . After your foot bath (~20minutes ) , dry your feet and slap on your urea cream . Wear a sock overnight (wear a light/ thin material if you are in Malaysia ) and tmw you'll have heels with baby skin at work , flaunt it with a pair of heels with a back strap , show it off when you have it girl ! 

Makeup remover are money soaked in facial cotton

Now let's talk about the kinds of makeup remover in the store . Be it from the pharmacy or cosmetic stores . The need to know what ingredient removes your makeup is important , and understand the use of each ingredient , and what is the paraben free fad about.  Why ? So you don't pay extra for branded names and don't pay for things you can't use ( such as those allergic to mineral oil etc ) . 

You would be ultimately surprise when I tell you a prescription focus pharmacy in Australia basically don't stock makeup remover . My girlfriends from university comes to KL and wonder why my  pharmacy ( the one I worked for ) has everything a cosmetic store has ? So she asked me : What's the difference between the two stores ? And I went : me LAH , cosmetic stores has no pharmacist . She then went on : Then , if you are answering customer 's request on cosmetics , do they pay you extra ? I said : hell no ! It's Malaysia not Australia !  She laughed . 

The most important part of skincare is cleansing. First thing in the morning and before bedtime regimen . As for make up artist , they'll say use proper makeup removers. Especially to get rid of stubborn , ultra waterproof eye and lip makeups. But there are cheaper alternatives .. Read on . 

Oil free make up removers 

Silicone-base make up removers , that most high end makeup store would sell, they are not oil , but removes the most stubborn waterproof make up without giving your skin the risk to form oil seeds . This is particularly important around the eye area. Silicone is synthetic chemical with a organic part attach to it , that's why it will 'stick on' to the face . Chemically alike , we say organic like organic , synthetic like synthetic , opposite repels , geez my blog sounds like a chemistry class . So the organic part will be left on the skin , because they have affinity , if not properly cleanse. Problem with silicone is that it's so smooth , it feels like a second skin, making your skin feels smooth , that's the dangerous part !!!! When build up , your skin will not be able to breathe normally , gradually the skin 'die' , it turns dry and color turns dull. Worst than having oil seeds .

Oil make up remover 

I wonder why all of them are blue , why not purple or pink ? Blue looks so toxic to me , I guess they did not want child to drink it ( child resistant ) , I think like a child lol lol I like it in the pastel purple ! I am sure no kids would drink it unless he is color blind , but then if he is , he would drink the blue ones too . So oil removes waterproof make up just like the same principle as the silicone base ones, effectively remove and stays on of course, if it does , you may develop oil seeds . Wash thoroughly to avoid it . 

Makeup remover wipes 

So easy to use !! And loving the convenience when you travel , not needing to worry wether to check it in or spillage in your luggage. Quick and easy but anything so easy is always expensive, they don't go a long way , they run out pretty fast escpcially if you wear durable makeup daily and they don't come cheap . Cheapest one ? From the 5ringgit 30 cents shop ( boo GST ! ) Still needs cleaning after wiping . 

The good news are coming up after this ! 

Anything mention here after does not require cleansing after using . Both available at the pharmacy store .

Cleansing water / lotion 

Removed makeup and impurities on skin,  leaving skin fresh and not oily . Yes of course it's marvelous but unfortunately not for ultra waterproof makeups. I guess it's like having a broken neck after an accident and you try to go into a pharmacy for bandaid wouldn't help . You get the idea ?? 

Cleansing water can be leaves in as it will just dry out and gently removes smudge proof makeup . Using less makeup or light weight makeup is all good for your skin in every point of view , so if you can afford to keep it simple , do so .

Lastly , the magical wonderful sorbolene  cream . Cetamacrogol is the main ingredient we use as an emulsifier in making creams, simply removes makeup effectively . Cetyl alcohol and mineral oil would also removes impurities . There are a number of simple face cream that contains these ingredients , and they are absolutely fine to leave on without washing off . 

Happy DIY makeup removers . 

Amway

This brand existed since my parents' time , or maybe longer but I did not know and still counting . Recently met up with an high school old friend that I lost contact ever since I went abroad for studies , coincidently we went to the same wedding , October is really a very very huge wedding season !! 

So I have notice a huge difference on my friend , he looks much better than the FB profile pic he has on , upon chatting and asking , I found out he is an agent for Amway but in the back of my head I remembered he had a degree in the medical field . So looks like he has decided to ditch his professional degree and pursue an entire different work life . I am envious of people like this , not because I don't like what I am doing , but because they are able to be at ease and comfortable in any situation , that they could take up any challenges that came upon them even though they were not equip with such knowledge and foundation from university . I can't see myself doing that or say I just don't feel courageous enough. 

This friend of mine then start telling me about products from Amway that had t r a n s f o r m e d   him into the good looking man I have in front of me . And the flow of words comes naturally about so many things that all I could remember was him talking non-stop for 20minutes . And ofcos before he left , an hour before the end of the wedding reception , he asked for my contact number and before I could realize he is not a friend from high school but a sales man , the next thing was I receive a message saying when would be a good time to meet for further sharing *dumbfolded me* 

Well it is indeed s m o o t h  moves and the problem with people like me we hang on to old memories like a leech which most of the time gets us into 'trouble' like this . I find it really hard to say no when someone is persistent , and I know he would not stop till I make an appearance , that's what all salesman do !! So I said yes to dating Amway for half a day . 

I pick the place obviously , I am on a date right ?? *duhhh*  pick one that is expensive my advice , because this lowers the chance of him asking again , I am such a horrible person *sigh*  I know.  Common girl, be sensible !! I told myself when we sat down at a cafe . 

So he ordered a tea and obviously raising his hands to notify the waiter and revealing his watch which does not look like a watch , and before I could go : eh what is that ? He went on saying this is a watch look alike health monitoring devices .. Monitoring your body fat , count your daily steps etc etc ... So I nodded while he explains , but my mind starts wondering around thinking about him taking a pen out to sign the bill and goes on telling you that pen can monitor your heart pulse rate , I wanted to laugh but ofcos I tried to hold it as hard as I could . The interesting part is I started asking a lot more about the product than I expected , maybe he got onto the right topic I guess. ibody with the bodykey apps together monitors everything you need to achieve your target weight. The package comes with shakes and meal replacement , which ofcos would fascinate me because I work in the same environment / industry which means this allows free access to 'competitor ' formulation , pricing and also market popularity ! It's a double win situation so I went on and ask even more . He could sense the interest and was smug about the sales so slows down the explaination and double check my contact details so he could follow up on the sales. The 'date' ended quicker than I expected , I probably asked too much LOL .

Amway does have a wide range of product to serve their customer base. They even have stem cells extract skincare , air purifier and kitchen wash liquid . It's  a direct and indirect serious competitor of pharmacy and sundry shop ! The have an online website whereby you could participate as a member and start buying their products or if you don't like doing online purchase that's where my friend here comes into the picture to do everything for you as an 'agent' . But I do believe there is no free lunch or high tea , sales agents are persistent and they would try and try till you buy something from them. I take it as a chance to know more but I think for the vast majority who also can't say no would end up buying a whole Amway home . Be practical with the products selection and buy only what you need . Some consumable supplements I believe the best way is to cross check with your doctor or regular pharmacist , but problem is in Malaysia the agent could be a pharmacist and Doctor and you wouldn't know LOL just like my friend's case . 

If you have no way to find out the best professional advice , I suggest to keep it to non - consumable products or get to know your agent well , as in really well that you even hang out with them *shows evil smile* because with Amway there is no way you could pin down the agent if things are not right , there is no retail outlet like a pharmacy store where the time table and work schedule is clearly written on the pharmacy counter for legal purposes , you could pester and bug the pharmacy everyday during the work schedule , as for Amway agents , they could simply silent their phone or change their contact number when they quit their job , I am talking about worst case scenario . Always be prepared for the worst , if you ask for the rain , be prepared to deal with the mud .

Seriously have I got breast cancer ???

A couple years back I woke up overnight noticing the unusual change to my left nipple . So I went into the shower and do a self breast examination , some of you might be thinking what is a self breast examination , well if you are above 24 I highly recommend that you google it up and at least make a vow to practice it every now and then in your shower . The breast examination is about 15 to 20minutes and obviously depends on your cup size , for people like me , I often think that 10minutes was more than enough as there is not much mass to check or fiddle with LoL . But to my surprise I did not find any lumps or solid hard object in my two bulbs on top of my chest . But the change in that nipple color was too prominent to ignore . 

So I ring up the hospital and tried making an appointment for a mammogram . And i was lucky enough to be able to get one the next day . I brought my mum along as I was afraid , afraid that they might crush my boobs , as the ladies often scare us by saying how terrible uncomfortable a mammogram is . Few years back I lost a first cousin to breast cancer so that definitely prompt me to getting a thorough check up as breast cancer runs in a family other than that it is plain bad luck . 

When I was call upon for my mammogram , all I did was prayed that the radiologist was not a handsome young man , and it wasn't , and that sense of relieve made me smile all the way through the process as if i was getting my passport photo done ! And of course it did help with the slight discomfort of the mammogram but honestly it was not terrible pain like what those ladies said . Everything was over in half an hour and the results were - CLEAR no lumps . Which means I still have to check further - because the color has change to yellowish on one side to the other . 

As usual being a Malaysian , I have somehow adopted the idea , don't know since when ,not to consult the radiologist about it , but what I did was consulted the infamous oncologist Dr in town . Still paranoid as hell over the yellowish color discharge from my nipple !! And of course the wait was long , since she is the most famous one, I waited 2 days before I got my appointment and it was noon slot. The clinic was flooded with women and I was clearly the youngest of my mom was not with me . See mom always comes in handy, as people would thought it was her breast instead of mine needed check up, just in case I do bump into my friends . Seriously I was too paranoid and panicky to think about the result , what is it was a yes ? How long more do I have to live ? Breast cancer can be absolutely devastating and mastectomy can be destructing for someone so young like me . Though Angelina Jolie was a survivor and got a breast implant , but she had live her life , got many kids , married a gorgeous good looking man ! But I have barely even plan to do all those yet !!! 

My name was called .. And so I stopped day dreaming and walk into the consultation room with my mom . 

The doctor was professional and did a few minutes to do some history taking and she could see that I was nervous I bet as she quickly usher the nurse to get ready the examination bed so she could check out my boobs LMAO .. Sounds so wrong , well you get what I mean. 

After looking closely at my nipple , she touches it tenderly with her fingers then laughed. She went on and said: it's only a pimple , clogged pores. I went bizerk as I have not heard about a nipple pimple ever , and said : what???? You can have pimple on your nipple ? And it's nothing serious? 

Nothing serious she said affirmatively . Just wear breathable textile bra if you sweat heavily . And the nurse assisting me and my mom out of the room while calling upon the next patient's name. 

I was reluctant to pay for consultation fee but on the other hand it was not the doctors fault ,in fact it was kind of silly of me to have wasted her time with other oncology patient . 

Bugger . Bugger . Buggeraghhh ! 

Horrible pimple that had made me sleepless for 2 nights and kept me awake thinking what I needed to do if it was really cancer and I have no more than 2months to live . But I am glad that it did reminded me that I should waste no more time in pursuing what I always wanted to do , which is to write a blog and live the life that you love  . 

Cleaning the Air during the hazy days

Medklinn' slogan - Cleaning more than just the  A I R. So my friends been asking me about getting one of those air sterilizer since the haze is so bad these days . Should you ? Or should you not bother ? 

Medklinn 

They are available in the pharmacy and offers excellent after sales services . The company provide pick and and delivery service right to your door step after they service the sterilizer . The one most talk about sterilizer would under this brand would be the versa and autoplus . These two product is portable , the prior would be good for traveller and the latter best for the car. Most of all , the product has a lever to adjust the power or 'level' of sterilization to be taken place . These little sterilizers emits ions to the air , which binds to the allergens in the air which carries opposite charges and then the bounded particles settles down onto the surface , allowing you to clean the particles away . Think about it when the dust mites and dust in the air , how is it possible to clean them with a vacuum cleaner pointing up the air?? So there you go , this is what medklinn does. But what is the cons of the product? Space. It needs to be in a confine space and it is only efficient in a measurable confine environment , therefore the versa is best , as it is cleaning just your room in the hotel while you travel and autoplus is just cleaning the air contained in you car. Initially when the dust and particulars settles you would see the bonded particles everywhere thinking it is more dusty than before , but the dust particles would reduce as you slowly clean them away regularly , giving you fresh and clean air in a confine place.

What about something bigger ? Like the living hall of my chateau  ( mansion in French) ? Well medklinn won't do the job so well . 

Blueair sense 

HEPA filtration system for a bigger space. The filter is about a size of an microwave , with a bigger filtration cartridge . Power usage is reasonable not more than a fan turn on for 24hours . Just like the former it does not emit a single hiss or sound when you have it on in your kitchen or living hall. But the after sales service is not so well established. 

The difference between the medklinn and blueair is relatively big, the former one you do the cleaning yourself ( cleaning intensely in the first 2 months ) they do the ion charge emitting . On the other hand ,blue sense does the cleaning and sucking in the air , but the cleaning and maintenance of the filter is more tedious for the owner,but then again you only need to do it twice yearly . 

Rainbow vacuum 

The well known household cleaner , can be use as an air cleaner too !! I am sure when some of the sales demo was done at your house , you must be awed to the maximum , the vacuum cleaner does amazing job in sucking up all the dust mites out of your bedsheets and pillows and you could leave the air filtration function on overnight in the living hall to clean some of the air . The pros , you have a vacuum cleaner for the household , the cons would be the air sterilization function is minimal and the sound is prominent when you turn it on so you can't leave it in the bedroom overnight to do the job unless you don't intend to have a good night sleep. 

There are a few more in the market such as Honeywell , Big Sucker air cleaner and  BHAF . Those fall under a different  categories as industrial for huge shopping malls and convention centers . 

These products are not so much in sterilizing the air but merely to make management of eczema or allergy easier. Eczema and sinusitis is common among the society and about 1in 4 of us has some form of allergy ailment , if you want to reduce the use of steroid and antihistamines and I would highly recommend to get one of these products .

Right attitude

The other day I have a customer requested for Diamox . Just in case you didn't know the tablets are prescription items in Malaysia , usually prescribe for an eye condition . But as a pharmacist it is my duty to find out more , and not to make presumption in any case because the tablets are use for many other conditions too . So I asked politely : is it from the doctors? And what are you using it for ? 

She then gave me a hiss sounded like 'TSK' (in capital letters as she made quite an obvious one) , then rolled her eyes as if I was stupid and said : I thought you should know ?!! It's for altitude sickness lah, I am climbing the Kinabalu mountain next month .

So I gave that bravo exclamation look on my face and go : wow !! 

Because I think people like her would like that kind of recognition and compliment . Geez now I am being horrible judging people , terrible me *slap myself* 

I then went on and said : Do you have a prescription ? Because I can't sell it if you don't have one ...( declining the sale in a nice way as I know very well she does not ) . She got a little ticked off and said : What kind of pharmacy is this ? So what do you have ? 

I went on and said : We don't have anything of a 'supplement' kind , but there is a tip , do the climbing slowly helps * big smile * . In my head I was thinking , what kind of a lady speaks like this ?! 

She was already on the way to looking at other things in the cosmetic section before I could say more such as drink plenty of water and stay away from alcohol. 

Diamox does help with mountain sickness , but it is a tablet that may also cause bad side effects when not prescribed properly , so I highly don't agree with dispensing it over the counter with no proper check ups , it is not suitable for EVERYONE . If it was really that essential in climbing activities then how come we don't see climbers of Mt Fuji or Mt Everest stocking up hundreds of those pills at their base camp sites ? Besides , the tablets (normal not extended release ) are to be taken 4 times a day . When you are doing a  Everest climb , which can be up to weeks , do you think you can stock up so much Diamox or you may ask yourself climbing mt Everest is more like a life /death problem rather than taking or not taking your Diamox problem? We have not even talk about the side effects yet LOL 

Here you go , there was a saying , it's not about the altitude , but the  a t t i t u d e . 

H a i r Bleaching

Hydrogen peroxide 6% is what everyone uses to bleach their hair in Australia , and all the platinum blondes would come into the pharmacy to clear my shelve and I need to remember to restock them everytime after they do that . In Australia and Europe , hydrogen peroxide is the least popular for wound cleaning prior to dressing , there are so many other better and newer antiseptic creams in the pharmacy . But over here in Malaysia, the simply old school never continue professional learning kind of pharmacy chain store do still keep them on the shelves under wound care. Well I don't really mind it because I was previously working in Bukit bintang ( before I got fed up with the HQ staff) the shop was the most frequently visited by tourist from the Middle East . The ladies under their cool hijab wear all pretty much love blonde hair and most of all they want their eyebrows and facial hair bleached . So I was lucky to have them as my customers , if it wasn't for them , I am pretty sure the hydrogen peroxide would be sitting on the shelves for years cleaning 'itself' or you could be unethical and try selling for wound cleaning . But let me tell you , that is not my style , I only sell what is best for my customers , and my patients health and wellbeing will always comes first . 

The bleaching agent if used on the face , 6% is a little too strong and you could come up with a red burn rash . What I tell them to do is mix it 1 part 1 of hydrogen peroxide with their night moisturizer , and add 1 full drop of vinegar . Vinegar here is not for the skin, but for the hair , to stop weak and brittle ones to break after the bleach . Say for instance , for facial hair and eyebrow, 2ml hydrogen peroxide 6% with 2g face cream , volume depends on how much hair you've got and how thick and black your hair is . Leave it on for 10 minutes, check your hair by scraping off some cream from the eyebrow and remove completely after it has lighten to the shades you want ! As for your hair do the same with hair treatment mask for the dilution , and ofcos more vinegar . Tadahhhh DIY bleaching session complete ! 

If you like the platinum blonde kinda look , keep your hair healthy by having high protein diet . The hair after bleached is 'dead' with the least strength and keratin composition . Do regular keratin replenishment hair treatment and blow dry them with cool air gently after you wash them , so they won't break so easily . Unless you want to have really short hair like Miley Cyrus then you don't have to bother about what I just mentioned above . 

Always to a patch test on your skin before you do the major thing , DIY is fun and cheap , but skin reaction is not ! 

Are your nails growing green ? !

Sounds really scary , how in the crazy world that mushrooms grow on us ?? People use to joke about growing mushrooms on their head when they are bored , but it is not funny when your nails are growing fungi . Fungal infection on our nails are very common and it is not something pleasant to look at . The nails get brittle , dry and discoloured (sometimes blue /green ---> it can really look like moulds ) , the surface may turn uneven depending on individual . Treatment are readily available from the pharmacy . 

I'll talk about it one by one : 

Loceryl 

The nail lacquer like treatment that only needs to be applied 1-2 times a week . Drug name is amorolfine and it has a very good half life ( means it stays in the body for longer time ) that is why you only need to put on 2 times a week (at most) . But you need to pay for the convenience sake so of all treatment , this is the dearest , with a box costing RM99 . And for toe nail fungal infection you will need more than a box , as toe nail takes 6 months to grow out . 

Emtrix and Nailner 

Newer treatment in the market . Seen in the pharmacy of our country in the recent 2 years . There is no specific drug name for them as they are combination of few ingredients such as lactic acid and propylene glycol ( different brand with different ratio / composition ) . Very attractive packaging in pen form !! Easy to carry around and portable *double-love eyes* so you can slip in your pocket and handbag *thumbs up*. That way you will be able to apply 2-3 times a day . This formulation is slightly cheaper (~ about RM65 -70) because it has no drug ingredient in it . So the next question would be is it effective ? The answer is yes and no , if you compare to loceryl ( -  no ! ) but if you compare to not doing or applying anything (- yes !) . The idea is to slowly deactivate the fungal cells 'weakly' and slowly . 'Weakly' so you CAN use it even when you are pregnant or breast feeding , on the other side Loceryl is not recommended . If I were to say it crudely this is the same as wrapping your nail in hydrogen peroxide every night before bed , if you skin around the nail can take it . 

Not really a treatment but Break the glass when all does not work .  

Manicure / pedicure 

It's in trend to color your nails in dark colors ( navy , eggplant , wine  , toxic - I can go on and on with the nail colour names ) these days, so they practically cover all the uneven surface or green discoloration LOL  and your hands and legs feels wonderful and light after all the scrubbing and trimming right ?? *pick up phone and ring for appointment * 

Before you do that let me remind you that not all nail parlor disinfect their tools daily , I have been to one that I literally saw a cockroach J walking in the store . The problem is that most business owners are not usually around in their shop here in KL they hire staff from Philippines and Cambodia to work for them and I doubt that they would make sure you do not get fungal infection from their tools and most of them do use liquid and remover from cheaper source to cut cost , which in the long run causing thickening of the nail bed , thickening of the skin below of your nails and each session , you are paying RM150 or more *grab-iPhone-touch-calculator -app* . 

Pros and cons . 

Decision is yours .

Garcinia cambogia drink

The overly popular e x t r a c t that helps in weight loss .  Pharmacies are all stocking up on these , in drinks ( in water )  forms, in tablet forms and some in liquid syrup forms. Supplement stores like GNC also have them in abundance , so now which should you be buying and how well does it work ? 

They are suppose to shrink you by inhibiting the fat cells formation , the ideation is to stop fat cells that you already have to grow and to stop formation of newer ones . The good thing  about it , it is not invasive , unlike liposuction surgery . Very good for people that are thinking of maintain their slim figure ( then why do you need them unless you are not quite normal up the head ) but certainly not for people who is trying to loose weight . The reason being when you try to loose weight , you starve yourself , and with this tablet , you would eat obliviously as subconsciously you think the tablets are 'giving' you a shield . The equation in the end balance out . 

The tablets would be right for people with very strong self discipline on loosing weight and refrain herself from eating a lot ( in fact eating less than before ) then the tablets would work over time . 

The better ones I have seen in the market is a combination of garcinia with something that causes statiety, something like duromine ( which is ban in some country ) but slightly weaker so it does not promote anorexia and giving cardiac arrest . This formulation was seen  in Japan but I am not too sure about taking it due to radioactive leakage and radiation happening currently as I might need to have a baby in the future .

But really loosing weight isn't all about the kg , sometimes you need to work on the circumference and firming of cellulites which simply taking garcinia is just not going to do the job . The toning and firming can only be achieve by regular exercising and stretching , not forgetting applying the stretch mark creams too . Mind you to look good in clothes your bones are not the most important thing , your muscles and fat percentages are. 

Seriously the whole weight loss thing would take up a whole lot of time (from taking tablets to applying your stretch mark cream ) if you need to work to earn a living I think it's best to skip the whole garcinia pills as they do don't come cheap. Burn your fat by running , not burning your pocket is certainly a better and healthier choice . 

T u r u l i n e

I have an  o b s e s s I o n  on Japanese drug store and don kihote !! I can't seems to stop myself from going into one whenever I spot one of these store in Japan . My travel mate can't understand why I can be fascinated with them since they stock all the same things , just drugs and cosmetics . That's why I said it's an obsession LOL 

I am not going to talk about everything in don kihote . Just one of my favorite things in there would be the turuline hair removal wonder I think all girls should know about . It's just like wax strips except the wax is not pre- stuck on the wax strips sold in the pharmacy in Europe and Malaysia . It's a gel formulation kept in a tube , and the wax strip is provided separately . Why are they better than the wax strip , clearly because you don't have to warm those wax in between your palm before 'open' them up and stuck it on your arms and legs , it's stupid especially in winter months, how long do I have to keep rubbing between my frozen hands to warm the strip up ?!!!! Then another point is those wax kept in the strips on the shelves and warehouses for so long are simply not 'sticky' enough to remove stubborn hair on the legs !! *roll eyes* 

Turuline gel grips on to the hair by forming a bond created by 'similarity' in structure , they remove the stubborn hairs better . And the leave on residue is not pink or green in color that if you are not careful enough the whole world would know which waxing brand you were using ( because there is only 2 types sold in Malaysia ) LOL  

Turuline on the other hand is transparent and absolutely washable with warrrrrtahhhhh , yes I repeat , plain tap water ( you don't even need body cream or wash ) . 

Go to this link if you can't read Japanese and don't know how to use the gel >>>>

http://youtu.be/Y19mxQSqNY8

Don kihote basically sells everything at the cheapest price so you really need not go around and compare prices for this product . Just grab one of these when you first hit the store , chuck it in your shopping basket and off you go crazy with the other stuff in that store , you will not regret it , I promise you ladies ! 

Great listener

I have a childhood friend recently had an incident that made her have a crying meltdown . It was extremely new to me as she has always seems so calm and cool towards anything . I guess everyone has a breaking point , and somehow the bullying doctor hit that point of hers. 

She went to a doctor lately for some advice on her mother's condition , and the end result was told can be resolved with surgery. So they agreed to go for the surgery without much hesitation . But what they did not expect was right after the surgery , the condition may look worse than before , in fact it will look unusual until it settles down after a month or few months . Right after the surgery they went straight back to the doctor in the evening on the day of discharge as it is a day surgery , the doctor was a little ticked off and started screaming at them saying it is NORMAL ( exclamation marks to the maximum ) . My friend said he gave both her and her mother a LECTURE about them not understanding the word NORMAL . Well I thought , from her side of story , he is definitely ABNORMAL  *lol* 

So poor friend of mine rang me up late night started sobbing and complaining her bad experience to me over the phone . After listening to her half sobs and half story , I figure that it's probably the summation of bad communication skills and heavy workload of the doctor in the clinic . That aside , but I think patients deserve the reassurance they need . I comforted her by saying he was a good doctor but just lacking communication skills and patience , but then again I don't know if I would do the same as the doctor if I was a doctor working in that kind of clinic and in This country of mine , Malaysia. Friend of mine then said she would boycott that doctor and I offered to go look for a new doctor with her . 

So this is what I do as a pharmacist , even before I was working in private sector . We cover doctors asses in the government hospital , we help each other and that way we could save lives together . I don't agree with pointing fingers , some doctors bad mouth that retail pharmacist starting customers on high blood pressure drug unethically , and some pharmacist says doctor just get paid to give out MC so patients get to be excused from work . Hey , I think our country has enough racial and political issue , we don't need another professional 'beefing' issue . 

To me that's plain stupidity . 

Don't you agree ? 

P I G skin lining

I find this skin lining absolutely amazing , because apart from this animal's lining no other animal lining needs an obvious signage to be place clearly next to the product . Being closely related to this animal , as in my Chinese zodiac sign is THE boar , I am proud of it .

Well that's an excellent way to warn or tell everyone , to think before you 'touch me' . How I wish I could have that signage on me because that's the exact message I like to send to everyone else . I don't like to be touched except when I am having a spa or hair cut ( both I dislike but am force to once in awhile ) . Roomie says I am not an affectionate person . Well said I figure . 

Speaking of pig skin lining , I have some pharmacist story to tell . 

We have gelatin capsules that are porcine origin , so we have to put up a signage notifying our customers about it , just like that pig skin lining leather for shoes . I remembered typing those signage , designing them getting it approve by the management . It wasn't something I could not do in minutes , but I was really really really really  ( Carly Rae Jepsen song singing in my head ) tempted to put up a signage that says : 

      DON'T EAT ME OR TOUCH ME ! 

( even if you will die without me , because you won't go to heaven if you did )       

And that little devil was ringing and talking in my ears going : do it do it ! The angel on the other side said : don't be a racist and mean pharmacist . The logical mini drug queen immediately pops up and say : You would loose your job if you did that , so in the end my brain speaks louder than my heart , and I went on and type : 

        NOT suitable for Muslim

             and Jewish of faith  

(Contains ingredients of porcine origin ) 

The management approved the sign and pheww ! So I was that close to getting into trouble . 

When I was fulfilling my compulsory service and working in a government hospital , we had to remember which injections and implants products were porcine or bovine origins by heart . Some might say aren't they written in the pack ? Obviously not !! Because most of these medications are imported and places of manufacture are European origin or The USA , so the pharmacist would have to sit down and read all the information leaflet in the package , go onto the website and do your research , and some times send email or online chat to the manufacturing company to find out ( if you highly suspect it is porcine origin ) , and make a report if it is and get signature and approval from management to send out an email to ALL staff working in the hospital . In the end , update the table /record in the file in the shared folder to be viewed by all the paramedics working in the hospital . This is what a DIS ( drug info system) pharmacist does .

We keep an eye and remind the fellow clinical doctors in prescription selection just in case they might have overlooked that bit of information. 

So yessshhh , for those who didn't know , we don't sit there and just warm chairs . 

Morning sickness

My FB account has turn into a baby album in 2 short years . My friends are either expecting or having their first child , at sooooooo young . Well I figure apart from me , the rest of the world prefer to have their babies at a younger age because it is so much easier to avoid bad shapes post pregnancy as recovery is better. It's all about collagen and skin elasticity to deal with stretch marks and skin folds after all . 

I figure as a pharmacist and also good friends to them , I owe them a blog about morning sickness . I get morning sickness too , especially Monday morning when I see the to do list is longer than my toilet paper rolls flatten out .

Not every preggy gets morning sickness . And it certainly does not mean that the lady is unhealthy to have morning sickness. If you are not worried , because you had your first child and you did not have morning sickness then you are wrong . Each pregancy is different and you may not be morning sickness free for the second pregnancy , unless you have decided to implement the one child policy in your familyland . 

Many ladies believe taking drugs during the first trimester is harmful , I must clarify this mistake as it is not the case . The reproduction , limbs , and all parts important development is actually during the second trimester . The antiemetic drugs available to help with morning sickness has quite a few different one , some are stronger and dearer , usually for complicated cases when normal maxolon ( trade name ) also can be called metoclopramide (drug name ) . Medications are divided into many categories , pregancy category for instant . Just like restaurant cleanliness grade , category A is completely safe . 

My hot mama friend who had morning sickness throughout the first 6 months category ended up suffering for low birth weight and the child was certainly weak upon birth and all because she believes that no medication is the best remedy . Which sometimes isn't the case if you think further . 

Maxolon does not work for all preggy , so ......

Ondansetron ( drug name ) or Zofran is a anti-emetic for very complicated morning sickness . It 's funded in the government of Australia and Europe under the PBS but not in our country . And the tablets are really expensive , I am talking about few hundreds per box , and the box has only 8 tablets LOL ,but if you need it you 'll need it . Generic is available but no one would want second best for their child anyway , right ? 

Ok , you may want to ask what causes it ? Well , i am just going to say luck ?? Some say it is heriditary , if you mom has it you will ? Or some say if your child have lots of hair at birth , you would suffer morning sickness badly ? Too many stories I have heard but strong link to one single factor . So , I'll say best of luck and enjoy your pregnancy as much as you can . 

After all not all ladies have the chance to be pregnant and a mother .