Pharmacy Archives - Page 9 of 38

Mental Health: From Fragility to Resilience

A cookie, a tall drink, an edible, a texting marathon with a stranger… unhealthy coping strategies provide instant gratification: they allow you to forget the stresses of life, if only for a few moments. But in the long run, such coping strategies just add to the stress you already have. That cookie, multiplied by 100, puts you at risk of unhealthy weight gain. Those hours spent on social media prevent you from meeting a deadline.

Healthy strategies have the opposite effect: they build resilience, which means the ability to recover quickly from challenges. If stress is a problem in your life, start with these healthy coping strategies: ¹⁹

Recognize and focus on what you can control.
Take breaks from the news and from screens.
Practice self-care: eat healthy foods (including when snacking), get moving, and get plenty of sleep.
Avoid excessive substance use.
Make time for relaxing, including activities you enjoy.
Practice slow and deep breathing (four counts in, four counts out).
Stay connected with other people and organizations.
Reach out for help by talking with others who can help you.

Take the time to assess your unhealthy coping strategies. Start a paper or electronic log book and record your pat terns: when, where, and why you turn to your “quick fix:’ If you feel a craving coming on, resist it and replace it with another activity (like the healthy strategies listed above). If you feel uncomfortable, sit with the feeling and record it in your log book.

If you are coping with stress by using harmful amounts of alcohol, cannabis, or other substances, you may need help to quit or cut back. Take that first step and schedule a visit with a doctor or counsellor. And don’t forget your pharmacist: many London Drugs pharmacists have training in smoking cessation, cannabis misuse, and opioid use disorder. Your local pharmacist can also point you toward other helpful resources.

Post-Pandemic Resilience

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted just about everyone’s routine and increased stress for most of us. To build resilience during the pandemic, the Mental Health Commission of Canada recommends crating a self-care and resilience plan. The idea is to make a list of behaviours and activities that can hep you manage stress, decide which ones you’re willing to try now, and then schedule times to try them. TIP: Focus on simple activities you can easily incorporate into your daily routine.

You can also reduce stress by taking every reasonable precaution to protect yourself from severe illness from the virus. The most important precaution, experts agree, is vaccination. If you have fallen behind on your COVID-19 shots, your London Drugs pharmacist can help you catch up. And while you’re at it, talk to your pharmacist about other vaccines that may protect you, like the influenza or pneumonia shots. The more protection you have, the less you need to worry about getting sick.

Resources: https://cdn.flipsnack.com/widget/v2/widget.html?hash=7cfr0qan30

Seasonal Allergies FAQ

With seasonal allergy season here, we have some common questions our pharmacists field daily. From symptoms to treatments, continue reading for answers. You can also speak to a pharmacist for advice on what products may be right for you.

What are some usual seasonal allergy symptoms?

Seasonal allergies commonly cause itchy, watery eyes, scratchy throat, sneezing, runny nose, or nasal congestion.

How can I tell if my symptoms are due to an allergy or COVID-19?

Many of the symptoms of seasonal allergies and COVID-19 are similar. You should use a COVID-19 rapid antigen test if you have one, especially if the symptoms are new to you. Then talk to a health care provider for further advice.

What treatments are available for seasonal allergies?

Your pharmacist can advise you about which treatment is best for you. There are many non-prescription and prescription options (oral tablets/liquid, nasal sprays, eye drops, injections) to help relieve your symptoms.

What if I try an allergy treatment and it isn’t working?

Talk to you pharmacist or doctor for further advice and options.

To learn more about seasonal allergies, watch this video. If you have questions about allergy treatments or if you need help selecting a product to relieve your symptoms, your London Drugs pharmacists are always happy to help you.

Medicine Cabinet Cleanup

Does your spring cleaning include cleaning out your medicine cabinet? If not, you could be putting yourself and your family at risk. Unused medicines left in a medicine cabinet can lead to misuse and abuse, yet more than half of all Canadian families do not regularly check the expiry dates of their medications. Medications that have passed their expiry dates can be ineffective or even toxic.

Getting Started

Cleaning out your medicine cabinet on a regular basis is important, but it is just as important to do it properly. According to Statistics Canada, 40% of Canadians do not dispose of their unused medications in a proper manner. This has led to traces of these products ending up in the water we drink and the soil our food is grown in and our children play in. You should not toss your unused medicines in the trash, pour them down the sink, or flush them down the toilet. So what should you do? Bring your unused medicines—prescription medications, over-the-counter drugs, supplements, and natural health products—to your pharmacy for proper disposal. At London Drugs we safely incinerate all returned medications to prevent them from contaminating the environment.

Here are some guidelines on how to return your medicines to us:

• If you can recycle the containers and lids for your solid dosage forms (tablets, capsules, lozenges, etc.), you can put all of the medicines in one sealed plastic bag and bring that to your London Drugs pharmacy. Remember to remove your personal information from the containers by removing the labels or blackening out the details before you recycle them.

• Keep liquid medications in their original bottles, but remove your personal information before bringing the medicine to the pharmacy for disposal.

• Tubes of creams and ointments, as well as inhaler cartridges, can be returned in their original containers with the personal information removed. You can also return needles, syringes, and lancets as long as they are in a sealed medically-approved sharps disposal container. These containers are available for purchase at the pharmacy, or are provided free with the purchase of 100 BD needles or syringes. More information on our returns policy is available here.

Medication Storage

Before returning your medicines to your medicine cabinet, review the storage instructions. A bathroom medicine cabinet is not appropriate for all products—some drugs need to be refrigerated, some are sensitive to moisture, and others should be kept in a cool, dark place. A kitchen or bedroom drawer may be more appropriate. Medicines that are not stored properly can become ineffective. Your pharmacist can advise you about special storage requirements for any medication, if it is not listed on the packaging.

Keep all of your medications in their original packaging. Don’t mix different medications together in a single container or store them in unlabeled containers. If you have children, make sure that all medicines are kept where they cannot access them. Ask your London Drugs pharmacist to dispense your prescriptions in childproof containers. If you are not physically able to open childproof containers, the pharmacy can provide easy open lids, but be extra careful to store these containers out of sight and reach of children.

If you have any questions about the proper storage or disposal of your medications, your London Drugs pharmacists will be happy to advise you.

Don’t Suffer From Your Seasonal Allergies

As the weather warms, Mother Nature unleashes a storm of airborne allergens that cause teary eyes and stuffy noses in people who suffer from seasonal allergies, and there are a lot of us who do. In fact, nearly one-quarter of Canadians experience seasonal allergies. Specific allergy inducers vary from region to region and season to season, but tree and weed pollens are among the major offenders. Although not all of them are connected to a particular season, the ten most common allergy triggers across Canada are:

• air pollution
• dust mites (which thrive in humid weather)
• grasses
• insect bites
• mildew
• mould
• pets
• ragweed
• trees
• weeds

When pollen or other triggers are released into the air, we can inhale them, and they can travel into our nasal passages. When we are allergic to a substance we’ve breathed in, our immune system identifies it as an invader and sends out a chemical called histamine to attack it. Our reaction to the histamine is one of the causes of allergy symptoms.

We can begin to develop allergy symptoms at any time of life – in childhood, during our teen years, or even in adulthood. These symptom may include:

• Eyes that are puffy, red or watery
• Itchy eyes, nose or ears
• Runny or stuffy nose
• Frequent sneezing
• Dark circles under the eyes

Some people describe seasonal allergies as feeling like you have a bad cold that never goes away.

Treating Seasonal Allergies

It can be very difficult to eliminate the symptoms of seasonal allergies, but there are steps you can take to manage them. There are both prescription and over-the-counter medicines that can ease the symptoms. Examples include:

• Antihistamines are available as oral medicines, nasal sprays, and eye drops that help relieve sneezing, itching, runny nose, and watery eyes.

• Decongestants can provide temporary relief from nasal stuffiness and are available in oral dosage forms, nasal sprays, and eye drops.

• Combination products contain both an antihistamine and a decongestant to provide broader relief of symptoms.

• Cromolyn sodium, which can also ease symptoms, comes in various dosage forms, including nasal spray and eye drops.

• Nasal corticosteroids, a type of nasal spray, reduce inflammation in the nose and block allergic reactions.

• Leukotriene receptor antagonists block the action of chemicals other than histamine that play a role in allergic reactions. These must be taken every day to prevent symptoms before they occur.

• Allergy shots are injections given over a period of time to reduce, or sometimes even eliminate, allergy attacks. Each injection contains a tiny amount of a particular allergen that triggers your allergic reaction. The shot contains just enough of the allergen to stimulate your immune system, but not enough to cause a full reaction. Over time, the amount of the allergen in the shot is increased, and this helps your body get used to the allergen, making you less sensitive to it and less likely to have a reaction to it.

• Allergen tablets are now available. You can take them to increase your tolerance to grass and ragweed pollens. They are taken for about 12 weeks before grass pollen season starts and continued throughout the season.

• Nasal irrigation: In addition to these medications, some people find relief from saline nasal irrigation, which can relive nasal congestion by flushing mucus and allergens from the nose.

Reducing your exposure to allergens can also make it easier to get through allergy season. Here are some helpful tips:

• Avoid outdoor activity early in the morning when pollen counts are at their highest.

• Close doors and windows at night and at any other time when the pollen count is high.

• Don’t hang laundry outside to dry; pollen can stick to sheets and towels.

• When you come in from being outdoors, remove your clothes and shower to rinse the pollen from your skin and hair.

• Use the air conditioner in your home and car rather than opening the windows.

• Try wearing a mask if you must do chores outside.

If you have questions about allergy treatments or if you need help selecting a product to relieve your symptoms, your London Drugs pharmacists are always happy to help you.

Planning to travel with diabetes? Keep these tips in mind

General Travel Tips:

• Keep your medication, meal, and snack times as regular as possible.
• If travelling by air or car, try to do some form of activity during your journey: do simple stretches in your seat, circle your ankles, raise your legs, or move around periodically in the aisles.
• If you will be extremely active while travelling, you may need to decrease your diabetes medication, so be sure to discuss this with your diabetes educator or physician.
• If you are crossing time zones, you should discuss your meal and insulin schedule with your doctor or diabetes educator.

Carrying & Storing Insulin Tips:

• Insulin keeps its strength at room temperature for 30 days. If travelling in hot temperatures, store your insulin in an insulated bag. If travelling in cold temperatures, keep your insulin close to your body to stop it from freezing.
• You can carry a small sharps container to store used needles and syringes while travelling.
• When travelling by air, you may carry liquids such as insulin, juice or gels to treat hypoglycemia, etc., even in amounts greater than 100 ml. Just make sure they’re accessible and declare them to security when being screened.

Use this travel checklist to get ready for your trip:

Have a list of your medications. Include the generic names and their dosages from your pharmacist. Bring a letter from your doctor stating:

• Your diabetes treatment plan so doctors in the places you travel can understand your needs.
• That you need to carry syringes or needles for insulin pens and lancets as part of your insulin treatment. Having this will be helpful if your luggage is examined at airport security checkpoints.
• The supplies you need for your diabetes care. Be sure to keep your syringes, needles, pens, and lancets in the same boxes that they came in with the original prescription label on them.

Ask your doctor, diabetes educator or healthcare team about:

• Illness management
• Low blood sugar management (and Glucagon for insulin users)
• Adjustments for meals, insulin and medications in different time zones
• Avoiding illness caused by contaminated food and water
• Tips for adjusting your medication if required

Other tips to remember:

Pack extra supplies
Keep them in your carry-on bag in case your luggage goes astray. This includes your meter, test strips, glucose tabs, alcohol swabs and insulin pens or syringes (and insulin vials).

Bring plenty of travel snacks
Some good ones include low-fat granola bars, whole-wheat crackers or nuts. Be on the safe side and bring enough in case you get delayed. As well, bring some fast-acting sugar to treat low blood sugar. If you’re going to the U.S., you may not be able to bring certain types of food, like fruit.

Consider getting travel insurance
Before you leave for your trip, consider getting travel insurance. And remember, some countries require proof of health insurance on arrival.

Some other things to have:

• Telephone numbers of your doctor and diabetes educator
• Meter, test strips, and logbook
• Urine ketone-testing strips
• A print-out of your medical history summary from your healthcare professional

London Drugs also has Diabetes Management Clinics and Certified Diabetes Educators (CDEs) who offer one-on-one consultations specific to your needs. Learn more about this service here.

Tips for heart-healthy living

Did you know that heart-healthy living could prevent up to 80% of the cases of premature heart disease and stroke? Sounds great, but just what does heart-healthy living mean? Heart-healthy living involves understanding your risk, making healthy choices, and taking steps to reduce your chances of developing heart disease.

Understanding your risks

Factors that raise your risk of heart disease include:

• high blood pressure

• high cholesterol

• having diabetes or prediabetes

• being overweight or obese

• smoking

• being physically inactive

• unhealthy eating habits

• being 45 or older for males or being 55 or older for females

• family history of early heart disease (a father or brother diagnosed before age 55 or a mother or sister diagnosed before age 65)

• history of preeclampsia (sudden rise in blood pressure along with too much protein in the urine during pregnancy) Each risk factor increases the chance of developing heart disease. The more risk factors a person has, the higher the risk. Some risk factors—such as our age and family medical history—are beyond our control, so it is particularly important to control the ones we can.

Heart-healthy eating

Here are some tips that will help you make healthier food choices:

• Limit the amount of processed foods you eat.

• Select brightly coloured fruits and vegetables, and include a variety of them in every meal.

• Eat protein-rich foods such as fish, lean meats, eggs, nuts, seeds, soy products, and legumes.

• Pick oils and foods that are high in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, such as vegetable oils (not coconut or palm), nuts (almonds, walnuts, pine nuts), avocados, tofu.

• Choose whole grains more often.

• Choose fat-free or low-fat dairy products.

• Pick healthy plant-based fats, such as olive oil or canola oil, instead of animal fats, such as butter.

• Fill half your plate with vegetables and/or fruits, one-quarter of your plate with whole grain foods, and one-quarter of your plate with protein foods.

Heart-healthy activity

There are four main types of physical activity: aerobic, stretching, muscle-strengthening, and bone-strengthening. Aerobic activity is the type that provides the greatest benefit to your heart and lungs. Any level of aerobic activity—light, moderate, or vigorous— can benefit your heart, but moderate and vigorous-intensity aerobic activity done on a regular basis strengthens your heart muscle and improves your heart’s ability to pump blood to your lungs and throughout your body. This delivers greater blood flow to your muscles and raises the oxygen level in your blood. Examples of aerobic activities include:

• aerobic dancing and ballroom dancing

• bicycling, skateboarding, rollerblading, and jumping rope

• gardening, such as digging and hoeing

• hiking, walking, jogging, and running

• hockey, basketball, soccer, and tennis

• pushing a grocery cart around a store

Maintaining a healthy weight

Eating a healthy diet and being physically active will help you achieve and maintain a healthy weight, but it may not be enough. Even at a healthy weight, excess fat around the waist can increase your risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes—health issues that contribute to your risk of developing heart disease.

Smoking and health

Smoking and exposure to second-hand smoke increases the risk of developing heart disease. You can find more information on how smoking affects health and the benefits of quitting in the article “Tobacco: What you need to know” on page 19. If you smoke and want to stop, your London Drugs pharmacists can advise you on products and strategies that can increase your chances of quitting successfully.

Managing stress

Stress can increase the risk of heart disease, as well as leading to anxiety and depression. But practicing relaxation techniques such as yoga and tai chi for just a few minutes each day can help you manage your stress in a healthy manner.

Heart disease is a very common problem, but you have the power to reduce your risk by making some heart-healthy choices. If you have any questions about heart health, your London Drugs pharmacists will be happy to answer them.

Read other health-related articles in our BetterCare Magazine here.

Lifestyle choices & blood glucose

The most important aspect of diabetes management is controlling blood glucose (blood sugar) levels, and making healthy lifestyle choices plays a major role in achieving that goal. These healthy lifestyle choices fall into six main categories:

Healthy eating

While there is no single diet that is right for everyone with diabetes, there are a number of different eating plans that can help you manage your blood glucose levels, your blood pressure, your cholesterol, and your weight—all of which will help reduce your risk of developing diabetes-related complications such as heart attack and stroke. A registered dietitian can help you develop a meal plan that is best suited to meeting your personal needs, but here are some general guidelines to get you started:

• Diabetes Canada recommends choosing foods lower in fat, sodium (salt), and sugar. Fat adds extra calories, and saturated fats and trans fats increase the risk of heart disease. Salt and salty foods can lead to high blood pressure. Sugar adds extra calories and can make it more difficult to control cholesterol and manage blood glucose.

• How much you eat is just as important as what you eat, and your diabetes care team can guide you regarding portion sizes that are right for you. Canada’s Food Guide recommends filling half of your plate with vegetables and fruits. (People with diabetes should choose more vegetables than fruits because vegetables generally contain less sugar than fruits.) Separate the remaining half of your plate into two equal parts and fill one with protein food and the other with whole grain food.

• Making water your primary beverage choice will also help, because it is a sugar-free and calorie-free way of quenching your thirst.

• If you use alcohol at all—and you should check with your doctor to make sure it is safe for you before consuming alcohol—do so in moderation.

Physical activity

Adding physical activity to your day is an important part of managing your diabetes as well as your overall health. You can start becoming more active by limiting the length of time you sit. Get up every 20 or 30 minutes and stand or move around. There are two types of exercise that are particularly important for people with diabetes:
aerobic exercise and resistance exercise.

• Aerobic exercise involves continuous movement that increases heart rate and breathing. Examples of aerobic exercise include walking, jogging, and riding a bicycle. In addition to helping you become more fit, the benefits of aerobic exercise include helping you achieve healthier levels of blood glucose, blood fat, and blood pressure.

• Resistance exercise involves brief, repetitive exercises with weights, weight machines, resistance bands, or your own body weight. The benefits of resistance exercise include maintaining or increasing lean muscle mass, burning calories even while at rest, and weight control.

Getting started on your physical activity program will require some preparation, especially if you have been inactive for a while. Speak with your doctor before beginning any new exercise program to make sure that the activities you are planning to engage in are appropriate for you. Wear comfortable clothing and proper-fitting shoes that are right for the activity. Monitor your blood glucose level before starting to exercise and carry a fast-acting carbohydrate with you in case your blood glucose drops too low.

A healthy weight

Maintaining a healthy weight should be part of your diabetes management plan. Eating healthy and being physically active will help you control your weight, but even if your weight is in a healthy range, excess fat carried around the waist can raise your risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and heart disease. The best way to determine if your waist is causing a problem for your health is to measure it. To get an accurate measurement, stand upright and place the measuring tape around your waist. Exhale normally and read the tape. Unless your healthcare provider advises differently, women should aim for a waist circumference of no more than 88 cm (36 inches), and men should aim for a measurement no greater than 102 cm (40 inches).

Your treatment plan

Along with following your meal and activity plans, if your doctor has prescribed medication or insulin for you, it is critical to take it exactly according to the directions—every dose, every time.

Don’t smoke

Smoking and exposure to second-hand smoke increase a person’s risk of developing heart disease and stroke. Because the risk of heart disease is already higher in people with diabetes, it is especially important for them
to avoid smoking. If you smoke and want to stop, your London Drugs pharmacists can advise you on products and strategies that can increase your chances of quitting successfully.

Blood glucose monitoring

Your diabetes care plan is focused on managing your blood glucose levels to keep you as healthy as possible and prevent complications. Monitoring your blood glucose will provide the information your healthcare team needs to guide you in making lifestyle and medication changes to improve your diabetes management. If you are newly diagnosed, it is important to receive training on how to use your meter properly. You will have to learn:

• how to get a blood sample

• where to take the sample from

• how to use and dispose of the lancets you use to pierce your skin to get the sample

• the size of the blood sample you will need

• the type of blood glucose strips to use

• how to check your meter to ensure that it is accurate

• how to clean and maintain your meter

There are newer types of glucose meters that don’t require you to draw a blood sample. A flash glucose meter uses a sensor that is inserted under the skin, usually in the upper arm, that measures blood glucose. A hand-held scanner swiped over the sensor enables the user to read the blood glucose level. A continuous glucose monitor (CGM) is a device that also uses a sensor inserted under the skin to check blood glucose. A CGM monitors blood glucose continuously throughout the day and displays the readings. These monitors also provide alarms that alert users to high and low blood glucose levels, and they can be integrated with insulin pumps. Your diabetes care team can help you find the glucose monitoring system that best matches your personal needs.

Target blood glucose levels vary depending on a number of factors including age, medical condition, and other risk factors a person has. For example, targets can be different for pregnant women, seniors, and children 12 years of age and younger. Your healthcare provider will be able to tell you what your personal target range should be.

Read other health-related articles in our Living With Diabetes Magazine here.

Mental Health: From Fragility to Resilience

Post-Pandemic Resilience

Seasonal Allergies FAQ

Medicine Cabinet Cleanup

Getting Started

Medication Storage

Don’t Suffer From Your Seasonal Allergies

Treating Seasonal Allergies

Planning to travel with diabetes? Keep these tips in mind

General Travel Tips:

Carrying & Storing Insulin Tips:

Use this travel checklist to get ready for your trip:

Ask your doctor, diabetes educator or healthcare team about:

Other tips to remember:

Some other things to have:

Tips for heart-healthy living

Understanding your risks

Heart-healthy eating

Heart-healthy activity

Maintaining a healthy weight

Smoking and health

Managing stress

Lifestyle choices & blood glucose

Healthy eating

Physical activity

A healthy weight

Your treatment plan

Don’t smoke

Blood glucose monitoring

Archive

Categories

Pages

Newsletter

Mental Health: From Fragility to Resilience

Post-Pandemic Resilience

Seasonal Allergies FAQ

Medicine Cabinet Cleanup

Getting Started

Medication Storage

Don’t Suffer From Your Seasonal Allergies

Treating Seasonal Allergies

Planning to travel with diabetes? Keep these tips in mind

General Travel Tips:

Carrying & Storing Insulin Tips:

Use this travel checklist to get ready for your trip:

Ask your doctor, diabetes educator or healthcare team about:

Other tips to remember:

Some other things to have:

Tips for heart-healthy living

Understanding your risks

Heart-healthy eating

Heart-healthy activity

Maintaining a healthy weight

Smoking and health

Managing stress

Lifestyle choices & blood glucose

Healthy eating

Physical activity

A healthy weight

Your treatment plan

Don’t smoke

Blood glucose monitoring

Archive

Categories

Pages

Newsletter

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