NEW BLOG

I've moved to a new blog. One that will hopefully be more interesting and up-to-date. So here is the link: Enjoying the Journey (enjoyingthejourney2007.blogspot.com) and I hope to see you there!!

Heartburn

I'm a nerd and talk about nerdy things, but hey that's my life and I don't care! So if you're not into my nerdy posts than this one is definitely not for you.

I don't know how many of you suffer from heartburn or GERD, but I'm learning about the drugs used to treat these diseases, and they are fascinating. Fascinating and tricky. Tricky in that drug manufacturers are probably the most genius, conniving and lucrative suckers out there.

Take Nexium and Prilosec for example. These are both H2-antagonists used to prevent heartburn by turning off the acid pumps in your stomach. But they are the exact same drug! Exactly the same. Say you had a prescription from your doc for Prilosec (even though it's OTC) and it didn't work. If your doc then prescribed Nexium you'd be wasting your money. Here's why:

The chemistry behind this scheme is a resolution of the enantiomers. What this means is that all drugs have two forms. Form R and form S. But only one of those forms is active (this is the case for all drugs). So Prilosec (omeprazole) is a racemic mixture (has both forms R and S --> S being the active form and R being the inactive form). Nexium however, is resolved to only containing the active form S. What this means is that it takes less of the Nexium dose to achieve the same effect as the Prilosec dose. Same drug, less dose, same effect. Amazing huh?!

Wow- science is cool and I'm constantly being blown away by the intelligence of scientists who can figure this crap out. Wow.

Exam Review

To those who read my post on the PBE with the case of the girl who thought she had a yeast infection and was douching to hide the fishy odor from the maintenance man... it gets better!

Today in class the professors held a review of the exam. And one of the comments involved having the girl wear cotton panties. And that comment was followed up by one of my male classmates. And it came out wrong. Wrong as in he said "why should she wear cotton panties to soak up sweat?" I know you had to be there to appreciate how funny this was, but let me tell you it was hilarious hearing a male talk about cotton panties in a professional environment.

I was crying. From laughing so hard. As was the rest of my classmates and professors. We weren't laughing at him, but at the situation. That was definitely the highlight of my P1 YEAR. And to that I have to write that my P1 year is over next week. With 4 finals yet to go I'm stressed, exhausted, and sad that this school year is coming to a close. I could be in school forever if they made that a full time job that didn't cost $30k/year in tuition.

Performance Based Exam

I took a huge test today. It's called a PBE (performance based exam) and is the second one I've taken this semester for my Skills class. This is a class that teaches you how to be a pharmacist. Basically we learn how to counsel, find/research drug information, compound sterile products, etc etc. This test was an accumulation of everything we've learned for the last half of this semester (just in Skills class). It was 18 pages long, 200 points, and took 3 hours to complete. I'm pretty sure I killed a patient or two. Better on the test than in real life ey?

The funniest part of the exam was when I was watching an intern pharmacist counsel a lady who thought she had a yeast infection. The patient was saying that she had a fishy odor downstairs and that she was trying to treat it by douching because she didn't want her new boyfriend who is the maintenance man at her new apartment to not like her anymore. I know, I know. I'm in a professional program. I need to not laugh at these things, but during the exam I couldn't help it. Maybe it was due to lack of sleep or the fact that I'm completely burned out, but I found this encounter hilarious. *Hopefully* I won't break out into laughter when a real patient asks me what she can do to treat her "yeast infection" so she and the maintenance man can get it on.

*If you think you have a yeast infection but aren't sure, ask me, I'll tell you if it is or not and then hopefully not kill you when I tell you how to treat your predicament. :)

Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't jealous of Kate Middleton. I think she is absolutely gorgeous, classy and regal. She had a fairytale day. I am not jealous of what she is getting herself into, or her man (I'd never trade my man in for anyone and would marry him a million times over), but I am jealous of her fairytale wedding. Today at school I wore heals and a gold bracelet to celebrate her special day in my own way. It's fun. I've also had Eric call me "Her royal highness, duchess of Parker."
Eric is my Prince Eric and I am his Princess wife. It's fun to pretend.

Faith

I heard this quotation in church about a month ago and it has touched my heart immensely. I have to find it and keep it, but until I do here is what my memory serves me:

"For those who go through trials and have their prayers answered, their faith is increased. For those who go through life waiting for their prayers to be answered, their faith is being perfected."

If anyone knows the author or source of this quotation I would love to have it.

Organic Chemistry

Ever wonder why you have to show your driver's license at the pharmacy before you buy Sudafed?? Take a look at these two pictures below:

Pseudoephedrine is Sudafed (it's the active ingredient)

Methamphetamine is "meth"

Wow. Did this blow your mind as much as it did mine? Dr. Ruth, my Principles of Drug Action teacher, then went on to tell us how meth users strip off the -OH from pseudoephedrine to make meth. Crazy.