Thursday, February 21, 2008

Stupid Human Trick

Of course, as soon as I put in print that some less-than-stellar moments and events can be humorous blog material, I go and pull a good one. It's fate.

Every morning I go through a routine before I feed the dogs. I have set up a photographed re-enactment of this routine for you.

First, I get out the pills.

I dump the morning pills from the dosette into this little bowl.

I take one of the pills out of the little bowl and half a pill out of the bottle. Does anyone see where this is going yet?

Here - a close-up of the pill bottle might enlighten you.
That's right. It's a pill bottle from the vet.

I take my round yellow pill (Pariet) before I feed the dogs because it needs to be taken a while before eating breakfast to work properly. The other little yellow pill is thyroid medication for Harrison the sheltie that he eats before the dogs get fed.

One would think that this routine should be automatic just because of its frequency, no?

No.
For some reason (stupidity is the only excuse that comes to mind) I took the dog's pill this morning. As soon as I swallowed it I realized that it was the wrong pill. I briefly considered inducing vomiting but then remembered that I, too, take thyroid medication. Harrison's pills are listed in mg. My thyroid pills are listed in mcg. I realize that I have no idea how to compare the two so do a quick internet search. Then I consider the possibility that dog thyroid pills are not made of the same stuff as people thyroid pills, swallow my pride, and phone the pharmacy. Bless her heart, the pharmacist didn't even laugh at me. (I bet there was laughter after I hung up and she shared the story with her co-workers though.) She assured me that it was safe to take dog thyroid medication this one time and advised me to take another quarter of his pill to equal my daily dose.

Needless to say, I am still alive to write about it. But if I should start barking and herding moving objects, someone phone the doctor.

6 comments:

Anona Esq. said...

I don't know if this will make you feel any better, but I took dog antibiotic for close to a week before my daughter pointed my mistake out.

When I asked her why she waited to long to tell me, she said that she thought I knew what I was doing. She said that she thought that I was just too cheap to go to the doctor and I was medicating myself with whatever I had on hand.

Now I make sure that I get my prescriptions filled at a pharmacy that has very distinctive pill bottles so I can't confuse my medicines with the dog's.

DebQ said...

Ha - you made me laugh out loud! (I didn't laugh until I knew you were ok!)

HaveFaith said...

I also have used dog antibiotic. When you have to drive 25 miles to the doctor, sometimes you just have to make do with what you have. I'm glad you are doing well.

Jane H Pittsburgh said...

Well I can see where that could happen. I mean I once almost brushed my teeth with prepartion h, so who am I to say you are crazy.. Jane

Marguerite said...

So funny now that I know all is well. Did you have a moment of panic when you realized what you'd done?

Sunny takes estrogen formulated at a human pharmacy. When I pick up an Rx for her, it's labeled "Sunny (dog)". The pharmacy checkout lady always looks a little sheepish when I have to sign the waiver that says the patient has been counseled on the side effects of the medication.

Jean in Georgia said...

Thanks for a good laugh! I can totally see this happening in my house!