Lessons learned the hard way

How many times have you picked up a prescription and ignored the written materials that came with it? Well I guess I'm too trusting of my doctor and the pharmacy because last Friday I did just that. Yup, picked up my Non Steroid Anti Inflammatory Drug (NSAID) for my 2nd visit by the old man called Gout (yes that's right, NO woman would inflict this kind of pain on another woman!!!), rushed home and gobbled down my first dose. Let me tell you that I was in so much pain that at that point it probably wouldn't have mattered even if the papers said in big bold red print, "DON'T TAKE THIS DUMMY!!!"  The good news is that the inflamation was almost gone by Saturday and not at all noticeable by Monday, but then again I didn't notice much of anything through the fog that crept through my brain. On Tuesday my boss asked what I was taking because he has also fought the nasty gout and ended up in the ER when he took medicine. I printed out the information that Walmart so generously provides on the web site and before giving it to him I read it. Well.... seems as though my blood pressure medicine is listed in big bold print under the heading "DO NOT TAKE WITH THESE MEDICINES!" Not under the "potential drug interactions", but under the "under no circumstances are you to mix these two drugs!" So WHY, I ask, did my doctor prescribe it and WHY did the pharmacy dispense it? And and even BIGGER WHY DIDN'T I READ THE INSERT???? The answer to all three questions is "I don't know!" Have I called my doctor or the pharmacy yet? Well no not yet. Probably will call the doctor after I feel more back to normal and probably won't call the pharmacy. Giving them the benefit of the doubt since I switched to mail order back in May and so they aren't showing a current fill of the triamterene/hctz. Anyway, I hope if anyone is reading this you will learn from my mistakes and always read the inserts that come with your prescriptions and over the counter medicines.