Did you know last week was National Poison Prevention Week? Me neither. (Why do I always find out about cool stuff too late?) I LOVE the Poison Control Center. Local poison control centers are an amazing community resource. They provide information on environmental exposures (snake bites, kids eating lawn mushrooms, etc.), potential food poisonings, and household chemical exposures for emergency services, hospitals and any member of the community who wants to call in. 
And I should know because I have been inside the Center. (Oooo…aahhhh…) I spent a few weeks at the Utah Poison Control Center as part of my final year at pharmacy school at the University of Utah and I learned tons of things I still use today (many of which have since been confirmed by personal experience). In honor of the Week-After-National Poison Prevention Week, I would like to share the top three tidbits with you:

Have you ever heard someone raving about how much they love their pharmacy and wondered what they knew that you didn’t? As a native resident of “behind-the-counter,” I have ten GREAT suggestions to help you be able to say you love your pharmacy too. Don’t worry—these are easy as pie (the kind you buy in the freezer section). 

Do you ever feel like the stars have aligned just for you? And not in the terrifying nine-realms-convergence kind of way; in the good, solving-your-problems kind of way. A few days ago I had started preparing a post in response to a question by Christy H. asking “aaaalll about what [you] can and can’t take while nursing, and why.” And it put me in a conundrum because it really makes more sense to talk about taking drugs in pregnancy and breastfeeding at the same time but I couldn’t justify adding in all that effort when it wasn’t what she wanted. Enter Josh C. who sent a question in on behalf of his pregnant wife wondering what drugs are safe in pregnancy. Problem solved.

Let’s lay some ground rules! ALL drugs carry some level of risk. I always recommend checking with your obstetrician or pediatrician or calling the Pregnancy Risk Line at (800)822-BABY to help you make the best decision for your situation. For the most part, I’m keeping my recommendations to over-the-counter (OTC) products as this is where I’ve seen most women asking questions and otherwise this would be the world’s longest post (it may be anyway). As a general rule of thumb older drugs are better options because they have more data on safety in pregnant or nursing women and it is usually safer to take something in the second or third trimester than it is in the first.