Wednesday, January 17, 2007

The Regimen

Wow, it adds up. Today I'm taking:

Lotemax (tm) prescription steroid eye drops (last day)
Valtrex (prescription antiviral) 1 gram (last day)
Elavil (prescription tricyclic antidepressant) 10 mg. at bedtime
Vicodin (prescription painkiller) as needed for pain (probably 2 at bedtime)

And the following non-prescription items:

Bion Tears (tm) over-the-counter lubricating eye drops as needed.
1200 mg St. John's Wort
1500 mg niacin (no-flush)
2 g fish oil
800 IU vitamin D
500 mg vitamin C ("Emergen-C" drink with B vitamins)
400 mg vitamin C (esterified)
olive leaf extract
antiviral enzymes (2 caps)
1 g calcium (Tums)
1 glass red wine with dinner

The ester-C, antivirals, and OLE are to take together between meals as part of a regimen recommended by the accupuncturist. Most of the rest (the wine, the fish oil, the vitamin D and niacin) are recommended by my doctor in an effort to improve my cholesterol numbers. The St. John's Wort is in lieu of a prescription antidepressant, and seems to work fairly well, especially during the dark winter months.

Wow! That's a lot of pills! With luck all the prescription meds, at least, will be off the menu soon!

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