Sausage

Not edible ones , but you can kiss it if you like . It's will be a WOW experience .

LMAO 

It's my sausage-like lips whenever I travel overseas , to somewhere with a different climate , different composition of allergens in the air . Never heard of it ?? Yea betcha never . Kissing a full thick lips it's everyone's dream *show smooching lips* 

Just kidding LAH

It's a rare condition but I've come across people suffering from it just like me . I might make fun of it just like how every family members of mine make fun of me about it since very young age but it is not a pleasant condition to be dawned on when you are not able to eat properly when you have all the opportunity to taste the best fish and chips (when you are in Britain ) or the best coney dog (when you are in Germany ) , it's absolutely the greatest mind and spiritual torture of the world , well at least to me , for someone who loves to eat . 

When I was young my mom would just slap my lips with Vaseline , so much so that it will look closer to the actual sausage , greasy and yummy LOL and I will look awful and stupid among my parents' friends' kids . Which explains why I was never a popular kid . Again , double whammy on my self esteem especially when I hit puberty age when vanity is all you care about . So I grow up being grumpy and unpleasant to be with when I travel . Yeap I did say only when I travel , I am actually l o v a b l e during other times okayyyyy ?? *evil laugh*

But then again if it wasn't for this I would not be a pharmacist today . It was the drive to search for the remedy that made me understand so much on medications . There have to be a cure for this curse !!! . So I tried and looked hard into the formularies and found 'miracle' . 

Mouth ulcers treatment . 

People would think mouth ulcers paste to be use around the affected area , which is the lips and skin around the lips ,not the ulcers inside the lips is crazy , yes most people give me that look when I introduce it over the counter , but let me explain . The reason being the area is inflamed and causing the swell and pain which is why you can't eat . Most mouth ulcers formulation contains a numbing agent and steroid component to help with the inflammation , but because they are for mouth ulcers , they are edible and suitable for the thin skin around the lips . Betnovate and other eczema cream can also be use but definitely not safe to be ingested . Kenalog and dexaltin is ointment base , dab it on to the area , mix it with a good lipbalm ( prefer oil base ) after food and tadahhhhhh ! You can finally eat and enjoy your trip ! 

The problem is these days kenalog is slowly phasing out , as people usually uses numbing spray on ulcers these days  , but I wish people affected could read this blog one day and keep that one good drug on the shelve , for people like us . 

What do I call this condition ? How about chocolove(shaman king )dermatitis ? 

R a c i s m

I was just saying how famous jibby was among my UK friends last night and this morning there is another continuation of disgrace on how bad our country is in the midst of economic doldrums . 

My girl friends who is currently at work then whatsapp me on how glad she is that I am currently in the UK for 2 weeks at least she knows I am safe , but in the mean time I am worried for my family and friends working back home. The riot incident is just steps away from my workplace to be exact . 

So I started thinking about things and let my imagination run wild which is what I call day d r e a m i n g . . .  I have an idea , hopefully some big pharmaceutical or laboratories research inc would read this and make it a reality . If only we could change our skin color in a tablet . Like any other high blood pressure tablets , to be taken once daily for the management of skin colors ( hyper pigmentation or the other )  . Michael Jackson went through surgeries and later on follow up by topical bleaching to change his skin color , he was a hero , in every aspect in life , to fight for what he wants despite how hard it was to change his skin colour back then . 

Racism did not happen only now in my home country , it existed even before my great grand parents were born with a long history and revolutions and other parts of the world . And if only such tablets were invented , perhaps my co workers or friend in Kuala Lumpur would be working with a peace of mind , not to worry about injury nor cowering in terror among riots in town . 

B o o t s

In London for few days to catch up with mahhhh friends from uni . Working in the pharmacy too and she's always telling me how the immigrants treat her like sh*** t  and she misses how it was like to work in Perth with me . But then again boots is like a 'supermarket ' drug store , there would be hardly any prescription filling and regular customer relationships to be built . Yes boots pharmacy not the one you wear on your feet and walk around . 

Every 50m there is a boots pharmacy on Oxford street but why aren't they in Malaysia at all ? 

Why ? 

They are afraid that we get confuse with them selling shoes instead of drugs ? 

Why ? 

Sorry I was joking earlier on , I get emotional about this because it is my favorite drug store . Each time I need to get my blister plasters I need to survive a 14 hour flights , I . Can't . Keep . Calm .

!! 

Sometimes when I am a little drunk , I strongly feel like writing a letter to the queen of Britain and  tell her to make boots available in Malaysia and if she does not mind come back to rule our country again just like in the mid 19 centuries LOL  

I can't help thinking that way especially when I meet my girlfriends ( Malaysian as well ) working here will never fail to greet me with the headline news jibby is making 2.6billions ringgit from 1MDB these days . 

Stiff n e c k

The o t h e r time when my parents are over , i have been nomading to sleep in the living hall . So I woke up with a stiff neck , can't turn my head to the right . And good old roomie been making fun of me by standing in my right while asking me things and hold /point everything to my right to make me suffer so she could have a good laugh . Geez . 

So the salonpas patches was the first to go , sticky and holds on to the skin even after I shower . The thing I don't like about it was the residue of glue left on me . Lucas paw paw ointment is such a daing for anything and everything , I rub some on the glue residue and it comes off nicely without pulling my tiny baby skin hair *big grin* . The salonpas did not help much with the stiff neck though , all because I think the muscle knot causing it was much more deep into the trapezius muscle than just superficial strain or pull . 

The pain was really bothering and I figure out my parents will still be around for a week so my stiff neck really needs some remedy that works . So I went to this place which specialize in dry needling . 

Dry needling is some kind of acupuncture technique but not quite the same as acupuncture . The former involve western anatomical understanding of muscle anatomy and the latter is base on the redirection of flow or energy (chi) to relieve muscle pain . The needle use is the same in both method so many get confuse with their differences . Dry needling is also known as intramuscular stimulation (IMS) , stimulating the muscle to twitch and regaining the right position of the muscle , giving muscle relaxation relieving the pain involve . 

The dry needling specialist will insert the needle (single use ) to the affected muscle after you tell him/her your complains and then she would observe the muscle twitch on the affected area . I was really worried about the needle but apparently it's much less painful than pricking your finger for sugar test *phew* you will feel a little pain but then after that you would feel relieve and muscles are relaxed ! 

Session usually needs follow up , but I was too lazy to adhere so after that I just follow up with some tennis ball massage and some tiger balm rub at home . 

Can't wait for my old folks to give me back my bed . 

L a c t a s e

On the hunt ! Yes . So my roomie ask me to get her lactase as she wants to stop farting and enjoy her cheesecake freely . The place I live in is not a jungle and I don't live on the trees ( my friends from Aus and China seriously thought I do ) , but I must say the education level on supplements and dietary aid is pretty much close to times when we use to live on trees LOL LOL 

I am telling you don't try to find lactase in Malaysia , if you are on the medication constantly bring along when you travel here , save you looking like a nothin trying to explain what the tablets are for and using sign language speaking to those who don't speak English , and in the end all would give you a blur looking , they don't even know where to refer you to get them . No kidding , they really don't know what are you talking about . At least we are honest LOL 

The closest port to get it is at Changi international Airport , can grab some of you are heading to Singapore or transiting . The brand they carry is low in lactase , it's only 30mg (100fcc/mg) each capsule so each time you will need 2 capsules per dairy intake . A bottle cost  about RM 55 ( depending on the exchange rate , which is so bad for ringgit now :c ) , only 30's capsules , technically only last you 2 weeks if you take dairy daily . Costly . 

For cheaper resolution , try the website Iherb.com which I find reliable . Sometimes they offer promotional pack with RM250 you get 8 months supply , each capsule is 9000fcc of lactase , need not to swallow 2 capsules at a go . Perfect . But you don't get GST / tax refund this way and can't really assure the handling ( exposure to breakage / heat ) of the medication along the  delivery . Cost effective but half half uncertainty . 

Get it when you go to Japan / Korea , Canada / USA . The first you might have to bring along samples and a translator but the Korean pharmacies in myeongdong have their own translator in the shop , in Japan there would be Chinese speaking staff these days . Easy. Ok some say not to take Japanese and Korean medication because of radioactivity , then go for USA / Canada . No language barrier , cheapest price with most value , comes with nutritionist customer service , but happy flying for 20 hours and jet lagging ! 

I quit

On a   c o m m e r c i a l job . You must be thinking I will be quitting my job or quit smoking as I just talked about it on my last post . Well it is kind of related in a way . It is about e- cigarette . I got invited to do a commercial shoot for the newly set up company in e- cigarette in KL . The company took sometimes to explain the business model and really would love to have me as their spokes person for their brand of vapor cigarettes. These has been so very popular lately , that everyone seems to be switching from tobacco cigarette to e-cigarette without any down time or experiencing bad withdrawal symptoms . 

So let's talk about e-ciggie , before I tell you about my shoot . What actually is e-ciggie and is it good or bad for your health ? The main ingredients are volatile oil , propylene glycol , nitrosamines, antifreeze , chemical flavorings and nicotine.  The device usually uses battery (some rechargeable ) , heating coil / component , space ( to put oil or liquid ) and lastly the mouth piece . 

Volatile oil 

Mainly essential oil just like eucalyptus oil , been around for ages for aromatherapy and household use . But generally they are use topically or inhale ( air borne ) as a air refreshener but not known how it reacts in our mucosal lining / membrane when come in contact long term .  

Propylene glycol 

Well known as 'rubbing alcohol' , was widely use as disinfectant for medical devices or as a surface disinfectant . Generally not poisonous but not known if it is harmful when inhale long term

Nitrosamines and antifreeze 

They were told to be carcinogenic ( meaning they can cause cancer ) but many thing cause cancer in our daily lives. Artificial coloring in our food and cakes contains nitrosamines and antifreeze . Hair dye with ammonia causes cancer too  . BBQ grill meat causes cancer too , but did people stop having Korean bulgogi or American steak ? So go figure . 

Nicotine 

Same as tobacco ciggie and all nicotine replacement therapy in the pharmacy . Highly addictive which is the main problem and why people can't seems to quit . But the long term exposure of nicotine whitout tar and chemical additives is not known to cause cancer except for raising heart beat and constricted arteries . 

So after all the breakdown of the ingredient you should be able to figure out whether it is a good device to help to quit . The question here is are you going to quit ? Or just looking for something healthier than tar filled tobacco cigarette ? Because there is a huge difference in the two . 

Give you an example , I have a really close doctor friend and he had been on nicotine gums since we first met in university , and he is still chewing nicotine gums till today , about 10 years we've known each other . The point here is he wasn't chewing nicotine gums for quitting . You get the idea now ? 

So if you are thinking to quit of course e-ciggie is great . And if you ask why is it not marketed officially as a quit smoking device ? Well because pharmaceutical companies does not want them to eat out a big chunk of their revenue ( big OHHH ) . But if you are looking for healthier alternative but still wants the nicotine for life then e-ciggie is controversial , the long term exposure of the lung and mucous membranes of the above chemicals are not proven to be 100 % safe . On top of that the manufacture of the liquid refills may vary drastically from brand to brand . I am sure you have heard of melamine milk powder manufactured from China but those from New Zealand are absolutely fine . Same goes for e-ciggie . 

So back to the commercial shoot . I ask them during several meetings on the breakdown ingredient of the liquid refill of their brands but they kept brushing me off by saying it is confidential and not allowed to be disclosed. But I did make a little market research myself and found out the manufacturing plant could be in China. That's how it is a money making industry and with high profit margin , the liquid probably cost RMB 1c . That's not the point , I figure out this is not ethical to my line of work , so despite them paying me well and I may be the next face on the magazine cover ( show smug face and day dreaming ) for the job , I QUIT . 

Quit smoking

A pretty girlfriend of mine , maybe pretty ain't good enough , I should say smoking hot girlfriend of mine got into some relationship problem which she can't resolve has recently started smoking heavily . And all I could see was her silky smooth skin has slowly encounter some changes , with small breakouts and her paper white skin color had gotten a lot duller . I did not try to talk her out of it as I don't really know the resolution to her problem and I did not want her to think I am naggy. So I tried a little trick by saying did she got a tan lately ? Her skin looks darker , she freaked out and ask if I have any medicine from the pharmacy that helps her quit smoking . Nicotine patches was not working as her skin breaks into eczema /allergy on the area the patch is stuck on , just like most people I have heard of . The glue is the main issue for patches . 

Nicotine gums and inhaler are even worst . Started her on it and she then tell me everywhere is out of stock after her first pack and she went back to smoking with even more ciggies a day . I must say the supply of gums in the Malaysian market is relatively unstable . they claim it is raw material issue . But I feel bad for the people on it trying to quit . 

So really there isn't much choice left except the Zyan tablets . The tablets were marketed quite a while in Australia before it got to Malaysia , I first dispense it when I was working in Australia as a pharmacist . They were covered by the PBS if you are a concession card holder .In here , selling at Rm 300 retail pharmacy . The regimen usually take 60 days , depending on individual and determination , continuation to 90-120 days is still acceptable . Simple regimen like twice daily then continue to once day for continuation . Some people complain saying now it does not burn your lungs but burn your pocket ! I can't say it is not true but having really good complexion and less breathing problems is priceless . 

Health is wealth .