It's drain cleaner!!

[SongsOfDragons]

Was it that barium stuff?

[KatherineB]

Ah, that white liquid sounds like the lovely stuff I had to drink once which then sets like cement in your bowels so they can take pictures and make sure nothing is leaking from places it shouldn't be. It is foul, disgusting, and the only thing worse than drinking it is trying to pass it out the other end in a day or two...

[Zaiida]

When I went to get a dental xray recently, a few people were in the waiting room being told to drink some thickish, white liquid from a smallish bottle. Whatever it was the looks on their faces after the first gulp was I HAVE TO DRINK ALL OF IT?!?! and the look of horror as they swallowed it reluctantly then ran for the water cooler to wash out their mouths. Whatever it was they had to wait 40 minsish before being xrayed so it must have been for an upper intestinal contrast. Poor people, they looked utterly disgusted and horrified. One woman tried to bargain with the receptionist and was bribed with a lollipop to drink it.

On the bright side I now have dental records for the first time in my life so I can be identifed if I die horribly .

Question..if you don't have all your wisdom teeth you never grow up right?

[Shalom]

As for nasty stuff, I hate, hate hate mixing amoxicillin.

Shake it well before unsealing it, put in a tiny bit of water and shake again, then add the rest of the water. Works best this way.

I always curse to myself when I pull one of those off the will call bin because it's a pain in the arse and takes one of us away from the register or fill and the line piles up. Also, when you first open it, at least to me, the powder smells like boogers. I don't even know if that makes sense, but it's revolting. I wish someone would invent a kids med that we didn't have to mix.

There are a few. SMZ/TMP, for one. There were a few erythromycin derivatives that were also premixed, but they've been going away, one by one.

You think that one's a pain in the fundament, though, try mixing Ceftin. 19ml of water to reconstitute to 50ml suspension, which makes for an incredibly thick liquid. The instructions say to add the water, invert the bottle and "rock it vigorously from side to side" until you don't hear powder hitting the glass anymore, then turn it right side up and "shake vigorously in a diagonal direction". Every other ABX just says "Add 1/3 of the water, shake, then add the rest and shake again" or words to that effect. There's a reason they have to be so specific: if you don't follow the directions exactly, it doesn't work, and you wind up with lumpy goo.

(And I don't stock the 100ml ones. If a doctor prescribes 100ml, I'll make up two 50s. The reason for this is that two 50s together cost me $109.10, whereas one 100 costs me $123.61. How much sense does that make?)

Most things ending in 'cillin' stink to high heavens, and I gag when I have to take the stuff. Keflex never had a smell to me, but I've always gotten the capsules, so maybe they don't smell.

Yes. They do. Rotten eggs come to mind. The Teva capsules stink pretty badly, especially in the 500-count.

I think I've already mentioned the landfill-scented Cleocin suspension in this thread.

If you want something really nasty, crack open a bottle of Rx strength B-1 tablets. Some of the prenatal vitamins stink really bad, too. They smell up the entire pharmacy when they're being filled.

Pretty sure those are yeast derived. Any B-complex stinks. It was worse when they also included dessicated liver, though. Be thankful they don't make Theragran Hematinic tablets anymore.

Benicar, on the other hand, has an interesting smell, kind of like cottage cheese and/or buttered popcorn.

Butterscotch candy. Definitely butterscotch candy. (Which isn't my favorite candy, but it's better than some.) Not to mention the idiocy of packing them in unit-of-use 30-count bottles which are too small to fit a label bigger than a postage stamp on, so you have to dump them into vials anyway.

But if there's one thing everyone agrees that they hate handling, filling, or taking, it's Metformin. Some people even call them 'the fishy pills'.

The brand-name ones, definitely. Some of the generics are vanilla-scented.

Also, if you've got anyone whose doctor is still old-fashioned enough to prescribe natural thyroid extract instead of synthetic levothyroxine, hold your nose while counting them. Ugh.

[MoonCat]

My favorite cat had to take Lactulose. After a while, that wasn't enough so I paid big bucks to the veterinary formulary to mix up a drug banned for human use (remember Propulsid? What a pleasant name for a laxative!) The pharmacist said, "It's just like a cigarette and a cup of coffee in the morning."

But the best part was that they mixed it into a product they called "triple fish emulsion." I smiled every month ordering the meds as the pharm tech confirmed the triple fish emulsion. I thought of Dan Ackroyd and "Bass-o-matic" every time.

One of my cats had to use lactulose, too. He HATED that sticky crap. Then Mirolax came out, thank the gods! He actually enjoyed getting that.

[workerbee222]

My favorite cat had to take Lactulose. After a while, that wasn't enough so I paid big bucks to the veterinary formulary to mix up a drug banned for human use (remember Propulsid? What a pleasant name for a laxative!) The pharmacist said, "It's just like a cigarette and a cup of coffee in the morning."

But the best part was that they mixed it into a product they called "triple fish emulsion." I smiled every month ordering the meds as the pharm tech confirmed the triple fish emulsion. I thought of Dan Ackroyd and "Bass-o-matic" every time.

[Sparky]

Ew. Aspirin tastes fairly foul all by itself. I would hate to thing of trying to swallow anything with crushed aspirin in it. *shudder*

I even have trouble with coated aspirin. Most likely because there's at least one tablet that's broken inside the bottle, so there's just a little bit of aspirin powder on all of the other pills.

^-.-^

I love aspirin. Regular, uncoated, unflavored aspirin. Since I was a child, if I had to take an aspirin, I'd chew it, just to enjoy the flavor.

Yeah, I'm weird.

[MelodiousBubbles]

As a kid, bubble gum flavored amoxicillin. I had to take that stuff so much they actually used me as a test subject for new flavors.

I had so many ear infections when I was a kid (about every month or so from birth until I was 6 and my eardrum ruptured), and this was the stuff they gave me. I legitimately cannot smell or taste anything bubblegum flavoured without feeling ill now.

[ShinyGreenApple]

Ah, good ol' Wheel of Yuck. There are a few of us who, when we see the pharmacists consulting it, will chant together -

"Wheel.

Of.

YUUUUUCCCK! Yayyyy!"

As for nasty stuff, I hate, hate hate mixing amoxicillin. I always curse to myself when I pull one of those off the will call bin because it's a pain in the arse and takes one of us away from the register or fill and the line piles up. Also, when you first open it, at least to me, the powder smells like boogers. I don't even know if that makes sense, but it's revolting. I wish someone would invent a kids med that we didn't have to mix.

Most things ending in 'cillin' stink to high heavens, and I gag when I have to take the stuff. Keflex never had a smell to me, but I've always gotten the capsules, so maybe they don't smell.

If you want something really nasty, crack open a bottle of Rx strength B-1 tablets. Some of the prenatal vitamins stink really bad, too. They smell up the entire pharmacy when they're being filled. Benicar, on the other hand, has an interesting smell, kind of like cottage cheese and/or buttered popcorn.

But if there's one thing everyone agrees that they hate handling, filling, or taking, it's Metformin. Some people even call them 'the fishy pills'.

[Eisa]

Mmmm, bubblegum-flavored amoxicillin...I also liked that stuff and was very disappointed I didn't get it more often.



This other stuff, though...when I had surgery at 16, they gave me liquid hydrocodone for pain. Problem was, it made me throw up. When you just had your tonsils out and various other things, that's not a good thing, I was throwing up blood.

So they gave me liquid phenergan to take before the hydrocodone.

Dear God, that stuff is NASTY. It tasted like vomit. And I had to have four teaspoons. I would take a twin popsicles thing, and bite off half with each spoonful to try and mask the taste enough that I could at least swallow it down. Ugh. So disgusting. That was the worst-tasting medicine I have ever had.

[PandaHatBear]

I used to recommend this, but I no longer do. The practice has been researched and they have found that in fact people are overdosing themselves unintentionally.

It's safer to take one or the other, but not both.

I didn't realise until recently that ibuprofen was meant to be taken only 3x a day, not 4 like paracetemol. Oops! I've started double dosing if I really need to, but I have an app to record what I've taken when...

[SongsOfDragons]

*nodnod* There is a 'do not exceed 4 doses in 24 hours' or something on the box.

Luckily neither of us two have had need of double-dosing for some time. *touches wood*

[Sapphire Silk]

Acetaminophen is paracetamol over here, isn't it? *looks it up* well that's exactly what Wiki brings up...XD

When Housemate or I have pain issues, she with her dental problems before her surgery and me rarely, we 'double-dose'. Kind of a bad term, but it's take a normal dose of ibuprofen at say 12:00 then at 14:00 take a normal dose of paracetamol, then at 16:00 and 18:00 repeat and so on.

I used to recommend this, but I no longer do. The practice has been researched and they have found that in fact people are overdosing themselves unintentionally.

It's safer to take one or the other, but not both.

[SongsOfDragons]

Acetaminophen is paracetamol over here, isn't it? *looks it up* well that's exactly what Wiki brings up...XD

When Housemate or I have pain issues, she with her dental problems before her surgery and me rarely, we 'double-dose'. Kind of a bad term, but it's take a normal dose of ibuprofen at say 12:00 then at 14:00 take a normal dose of paracetamol, then at 16:00 and 18:00 repeat and so on. They say four hours between doses of each so it's essentially leapfrogging. We've been told it's safe, by I think a medical practitioner that Housemate's mum knew (Housemate's snoozing still at the moment so I can't confirm) It works quite well before crawling to doctors and whatnot but it doesn't half blast through our medicine cabinet quickly.

*pokes liver* I think it's okay...I do get liver function tests every six months.

[Sapphire Silk]

Thanks for the info Panacea, that's kinda what I figured it was but wasn't sure. Must also be why they tell you that if you're taking narcs not to take Advil etc at the same time. I've found though that when that monthly time rolls around I HAVE to take Advil for the cramps as the hydrocodone doesn't touch it

Actually, you CAN take ibuprofen (the active ingredient in Advil) with acetaminophen.

Ibuprofen works better for menstrual cramps and other muscular pain than hydrocodone. I wouldn't take hydrocodone for that. Hydrocodone is good for short term treatment of acute injuries (fractures, dental work, kidney/gallstones) and long term chronic management of severe pain from conditions like cancer.