Lithium Carbonate

Drug name
Lithium Carbonate

Drug Uses
Lithium Carbonate is used to treat the manic episodes of manic-depressive illness, a condition in which a person’s mood swings from depression to excessive excitement. A manic episode may involve some or all of the following symptoms:

• Aggressiveness;
• Elation;
• Fast, urgent talking;
• Frenetic physical activity;
• Grandiose, unrealistic ideas;
• Hostility;
• Little need for sleep;
• Poor judgment.

Some doctors also prescribe lithium for premenstrual tension, eating disorders such as bulimia, certain movement disorders, and sexual addictions.

How Taken
Use Lithium Carbonate as directed by your doctor.

• To avoid stomach upset, take Lithium Carbonate immediately after meals or with food or milk.
• While taking Lithium Carbonate, you should drink 10 to 12 glasses of water or fluid a day. To minimize the risk of harmful side effects, eat a balanced diet that includes some salt and lots of liquids. If you have been sweating a great deal or have had diarrhea, make sure you get extra liquids and salt.

Ask your health care provider any questions you may have about how to use Lithium Carbonate.

Drug Class and Mechanism
Lithium Carbonate is an antimanic agent. Exactly how Lithium Carbonate works is unknown, but it may work by altering the balance of certain chemicals in the brain.

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Pravachol

Pravachol is used for reducing high lipid levels and high cholesterol, with diet and exercise. It may also be used to treat other conditions.

Drug Uses

Pravachol is used for reducing high lipid levels and high cholesterol, with diet and exercise. It is also used to prevent certain heart problems, including slowing down the progression of hardening of the arteries in patients with heart disease. It may also be used to treat other conditions as determined by your doctor.

How Taken

Use Pravachol as directed by your doctor. Take Pravachol with or without a meal. It is recommended to take Pravachol at the same time each day. Take Pravachol 1 hour before or 4 hours after taking bile–acid reducing resins (e.g., cholestyramine, colestipol).

Warnings/Precautions

Before taking Pravachol, tell your doctor or pharmacist if you have any medical conditions, especially if you have allergies to medicines, if you are allergic to any ingredient in Pravachol, if you have low blood pressure, a muscle disease, a blood infection, a metabolic, endocrine, or electrolyte problem, uncontrolled seizures, a severe infection, had a recent surgery, trauma, or organ transplant, or a high level of a creatine phosphokinase in your blood, if you regularly consume large amounts of alcohol, if you are pregnant, planning to become pregnant or are breast–feeding. Do not use Pravachol if you are pregnant. If you suspect that you could be pregnant, contact your doctor immediately. Pravachol is excreted in breast milk. Do not breast–feed while taking Pravachol. Some medicines may interact with Pravachol . Therefore tell your doctor of all prescription or nonprescription medicine, herbal preparation, or dietary supplement that you are taking. Do not tale Pravachol you have liver disease, abnormal liver tests or you are taking fibric acids (e.g., gemfibrozil, fenofibrate). For best results, Pravachol should be used along with exercise, a low–cholesterol/low–fat diet, and a weight loss program if you are overweight. Before having any kind of surgery, tell your doctor that you are taking Pravachol . Lab tests, including liver function, kidney function, blood pressure, and blood cholesterol, may be performed to monitor your progress or to check for side effects. Be sure to keep all doctor and lab appointments.

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DIABETES TESTING AND CONTROL

Taking Care of Your Diabetes Every Day

Follow Your Meal Plan
Be Physically Active
Take Your Diabetes Medicine Every Day
Check Your Blood Glucose as Recommended
Take Other Tests for Your Diabetes

Do four things every day to lower high blood glucose:

Follow your meal plan.
Be physically active.
Take your diabetes medicine.
Check your blood glucose.

Experts say most people with diabetes should try to keep their blood glucose level as close as possible to the level of someone who doesn’t have diabetes. The closer to normal your blood glucose is, the lower your chances are of developing damage to your eyes, kidneys, and nerves.

Check with your doctor about the right range for you.

Your health care team will help you learn how to reach your target blood glucose range. Your main health care providers are your doctor, nurse, diabetes educator, and dietitian.

A diabetes educator is a health care worker who teaches people how to manage their diabetes. Your educator may be a nurse, a dietitian, or another kind of health care worker.

A dietitian is someone who’s specially trained to help people plan their meals.

The next sections of this guide will tell you more about the four main ways you take care of your diabetes: Follow your meal plan, by physically active, take your diabetes medicine, and check your blood glucose.

1. Follow Your Meal Plan
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Indinavir

Drug Class and Mechanism
Indinavir is an antiviral medication in a group of HIV medicines called protease (PRO-tee-ayz) inhibitors. Indinavir prevents human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) cells from multiplying in your body.

Missed Dose
If you miss a dose of Indinavir by more than 2 hours, do not take that dose. Take your next dose as scheduled. If you miss the dose by less than 2 hours, take that dose immediately and then return to your regular dosing schedule. It is important not to miss doses of Indinavir. Do not take 2 doses at once.

Storage
Store Indinavir at room temperature, between 68 and 77 degrees F (20 and 25 degrees C). Store away from heat, moisture, and light. Do not store in the bathroom. Keep in a tight, light-resistant container. Keep Indinavir out of the reach of children and away from pets.

Warnings/Precautions
Do not use Indinavir if:

• you are allergic to any ingredient in Artane;
• you are taking alfuzosin, amiodarone, astemizole, atazanavir, certain benzodiazepines (e.g., alprazolam, midazolam, triazolam), certain HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (e.g., lovastatin, simvastatin), cisapride, an ergot derivative (e.g., ergonovine, ergotamine), erythromycin, pimozide, a proton pump inhibitor (e.g., omeprazole), rifampin, a serotonin 5-HT1 receptor antagonist (e.g., eletriptan, sumatriptan), St. John’s wort, or terfenadine.

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Obesity results when too much fat accumulates in the body. A person is normally considered obese when his or her weight is 20% over the normal body-weight for height and age and the Body Mass Index (BMI) measures 30 or more. Now recognized as a serious medical problem, obesity affects about 30% of adults, and about 14% of children and adolescents in the United States.

Obesity may be caused by a number of social, cultural, behavioral, physiological, metabolic, and genetic factors that are beyond the persons control. Symptoms of obesity usually show up in the form of breathing trouble, excess accumulation of fat, insulin resistance, increase in size or number of fat cells, rise in blood pressure, high cholesterol levels and back pain.

A variety of treatments exist for obesity that includes diet and behavior therapy to medicine and surgery. The treatments usually depend on the levels of BMI, while others may be an individual choice. While diet therapy involves a prescribed diet and exercise plan, behavior therapy teaches new behaviors that promote weight loss. If a persons condition demands so, a doctor may recommend a combination of both. For a person having a BMI of 40 or a BMI of 35 to 39.9 accompanied by serious medical problems, doctors usually recommend gastrointestinal surgery.

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