Filling out all those forms in doctors' offices! Does an

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Chris <BR>User ID: 3236354 Jul 30th 12:06 PM <BR>I didn't see this elsewhere on this site. <BR> <BR>I belatedly got around to reading the insert <BR>in the drug box. I had heard there were some <BR>liver/kidney side-effects to Vanco. <BR> <BR>There are ... but ONLY if you take Vanco <BR>intravenously. There are also some <BR>hearing side-effects (tinitis -- ringing <BR>in ears). <BR> <BR>If you take it orally, it's barely detectable <BR>in the blood at all. It's very "weak" in <BR>terms of penetrating the intestinal barriers <BR>and making it into the blood. It *WILL* pass <BR>the placenta, & will pass in breast milk, but <BR>this has only been detected in intravenous <BR>dosages. <BR> <BR>The point? I'm amazed. For such an effective <BR>drug, when taken orally it has very little <BR>systemic effect. It remains confined to the <BR>intestine and is VERY detectable in stool. This <BR>calms me a bit in terms of long term ingestion <BR>of 1g/day. <BR> <BR>No. I don't work for whoever it is that makes <BR>this drug. I just want to make sure I'm not <BR>damaging my son. <BR>Allison <BR>User ID: 1397584 Jul 30th 12:43 PM <BR>Chris, <BR>At one point you mentioned that vanco "was like a nuclear explosion in the gut- wiping everything out." I thought you might be reassured to know that is not necessarily the case. All antibiotics have "spectrums" (Lord don't we all know that!). Vancomycin doesn't really have a very "broad spectrum",it's just that it's so potent against cdiff and staph.Flagyl may be a different story, however. It's effective against a variety of bacteria and more likely to upset the delicate balance by also killing off the friendly critters. This may be one reason why flagyl can actually cause cdiff but vanco has not been known to do so. <BR>Lauren <BR>User ID: 8771373 Jul 30th 2:52 PM <BR>And these are two of the reasons (both of the previous posts) why I love this drug so much. Plus it gave me my life back.

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Years ago, my son (who was about 22 at the time) was going to have sinus surgery, and we had to talk to the hospital anesthesialogist first. He was reading the forms my son had completed when he said, "Whoah!" and started to laugh. I asked what was so funny. My son had checked "yes" in the "are you pregnant?" box. When I asked my son how long he had been doing this, he said he'd done it for years. This was the first doctor who ever noticed it! Quite an eye opener! <BR> <BR>Instead of slaving over new forms in doctors' offices, I put all my personal information on computer including previous health problems, current health problems, medications, etc. I don't fill out new forms unless I don't have the info. on my forms. I just write "see such and such section." Then I highlight the areas and staple the whole thing together. I make two copies of questions, hand one to the doctor, refer to the other, and say, "If you don't have time to answer these now, I understand, but would you E-mail me or phone me later?" This has worked out fairly well. Several doctors have commented that they wish more patients would do this. Of course, they didn't discount my bill for this! <BR> <BR>Think of the countless hours you spend in doctors' offices filling out new forms. Then, the doctor barely looks at them! (Or perhaps they are speed readers.) The computer info. is easy to update so it saves time in the office and spares nurses and doctors from trying to read your handwriting. Next time you are in a doctor's office, get a copy of their form and go home and duplicate it on your computer. It will save a lot of time and aggravation for both you and your doctor. <BR><BR>[Guest Posted by: 'Bobbie']