Why Drugs Are Bad For You

I know it isn't the smartest thing I've ever done, but I didn't ask the doctor or the pharmacist yesterday to tell me specifically what each of the drugs are that he prescribed. And three out of the four medications I am taking are completely in Chinese.

I was able to look up two using Pleco (Chinese English Dictionary) and half of a third. But the fourth one is a mystery.

This is an antibiotic. According to medicine.net, it is used to treat bacterial infections of the throat, middle ear, tonsils, bronchi, pneumonia and bacterial infections of the skin and soft tissues. Side effects can include: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, dizziness, rash and headache among some other uncommon ones. Thankfully I have kombucha, which should help replenish good bacteria in my digestive tract.

This one was pretty easy to look up using the radicals on Pleco, and it means to take orally Dahurica (Dahurian) the leaf (or root) of the Angelica plant (yao). It comes in tiny round white pills, probably about one millimeter in diameter and is supposed to help with headaches, nasal obstruction, swollen gums and toothache; detoxify blood and relieve pain; and also can serve as an anti-inflammatory, laxative and sedative. 

I am happy to know that my behavior the last two days is due in part to the side effects:

"excitatory effect" on the central nervous system, respiratory system and vasculomotor system. You can experience increased an respiration rate, blood pressure and saliva production and a decreased pulse rate; it can be used to induce vomiting and can cause sensitivity to sunlight. 

(See "One Month Marker" to get a taste of my side effects. Though I should include that I couldn't get to sleep last night and went on a wide range of emotions from crying to laughing to heart ache. I definitely feel more winded going upstairs. And I think I may be experiencing the laxative side effect as well. Needless to say, I will be glad when these meds run out in about 4 days.)

Still working on figuring out this one. The second character is feng, which means wind and obviously relates to breathing. The fourth character is du, which means narcotic (or poison). The fifth character is jiao, which means glue, gum, rubber and variations of these words. I can see radicals that are similar in the other characters, but I can't put them together in the right order in my translator. So I am waiting on a translation from my friend.

The fourth one I am taking is a nasal spray for my sinuses. And I have no idea what might be in it.

All that to say...getting things translated first is probably a better idea. I actually trust the doctors here more so than ones in America because they have a long history of medicine and lean toward more "traditional" remedies and less on satisfying the drug companies. However, it is good to know what you're getting into first regardless of where you get your prescriptions filled.