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Teen Rx Meds
36 Plays8 months ago
Welcome to The Positively Healthy Mom Podcast! I'm Laura Ollinger, and today, I’m excited to welcome Lidia Molinara, a Pharmacist, Certified Geriatric Practitioner, and Patient Safety Officer with extensive experience in healthcare and medicine safety advocacy. Lidia has dedicated her career to empowering individuals to take control of their health, and today, she’s here to share her insights on managing "Teen Rx Meds"—a topic that many parents find both challenging and crucial.
In this insightful episode, Lidia dives into the complexities of managing prescription medications for teens, helping us see it not just as a necessity, but as a powerful opportunity to teach responsibility and health advocacy. Lidia’s passion for healthcare began with a desire to ensure patients make informed decisions about their medications. Over the years, her work has expanded into guiding families through the often-overwhelming landscape of medication management, herbal remedies, and effective communication with healthcare providers.
Lidia walks us through practical strategies for safely managing teen medications, making her guidance invaluable for busy moms who want to ensure their teens are taking medications correctly. From understanding potential side effects and interactions to establishing medication routines, Lidia’s advice is rooted in creating an open and supportive environment. She also offers tips on how to involve teens in these discussions, ensuring they take ownership of their health decisions.
For our listeners, Lidia emphasizes the importance of education and communication. She explains why teens should be informed about their medications and how parents can empower them to ask the right questions, helping reduce the likelihood of medical errors. Her expert advice fosters trust, giving parents peace of mind as they guide their teens through the often confusing world of healthcare.
Lidia also shares insights on how to make medication management a stress-free part of daily life. She emphasizes the importance of creating a routine that incorporates medication use seamlessly, allowing teens to take an active role in their healthcare without feeling overwhelmed.
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Transcript
Introduction to Positively Healthy Mom podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey moms, it's Laura Olinger.
00:00:02
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Welcome to the Positively Healthy Mom podcast.
00:00:05
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Because there's no manual for the hardest job in the world.
00:00:09
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Hello, everyone.
00:00:10
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Welcome to today's episode of the Positively
Meet Lydia Molinera: Pharmacist and Advocate
00:00:13
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Healthy Mom.
00:00:13
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Today, I have Lydia Molinera, who is a pharmacist and a patient safety officer, along with lots of other things.
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She's a speaker, a podcast host herself.
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She has spoken at the UN.
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She's given her own TED Talk called Three Steps for Medication Safety, and
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She's very passionate about empowering women.
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And so that's the topic she brought about at the United Nations.
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I'm just fascinated, Lydia.
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So tell us a little bit why you're so passionate about what you do.
Healthcare Education and Prevention
00:00:44
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It's just been a long career and I've seen so many things in my career that I wish I could reach out to the world and tell them, do these things and that will prevent you from coming and explaining what happened to you after the fact.
00:00:59
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Because so many things in healthcare are preventable, but it's again, that education piece.
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You know, we talk about knowledge.
00:01:07
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is power.
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And it really is when it comes to healthcare.
00:01:10
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And that's really what I'm so passionate about is spreading the message that we need to be advocates and really active participants in healthcare to prevent harm that can cause a lot of problems for
Teens and Medication: ADHD, Anxiety, Birth Control
00:01:24
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us.
00:01:24
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Mm-hmm.
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Mm-hmm.
00:01:26
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And so in the context of moms with teenagers or tweens, I want to lay out some concepts here.
00:01:34
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So first we've got the idea of, you know, our teenagers can be prescribed medications.
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And so you talk about, you know, what are the types of questions we should be asking our prescriber?
00:01:45
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And so common things that teenagers are facing, anxiety and depression, ADHD, anxiety,
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For girls, you know, whether or not to be on birth control.
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And then for tweens is when they start the HPV vaccinations.
00:02:00
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So, you know, where do we start?
00:02:02
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Like, I'll just kind of let you guide and direct and help us figure out, like, what do we need to know about these things?
00:02:09
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Well, the first thing I would say is there's always this golden rule when it comes to medications.
00:02:14
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It's really, really important to understand that when you go to a prescriber, first thing you need to do is make sure that you have signs and symptoms recorded with severity and dates.
00:02:24
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I'm always saying this because look, if we're having a conversation and I say to you,
00:02:30
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Well, I noticed that Tom, my son is really experiencing some symptoms and he doesn't feel well.
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He just thinks that, you know, he's, you know, having pain here or he has this headache or he can't focus.
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And I, as the prescriber, I'm going to say, oh, how long has that been going on for?
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Have you noticed anything else?
00:02:49
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Has he this, has he this?
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And I'm going to ask you about another 20 questions.
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So if you can keep track and the conversation goes like this, my son, Tom has had three headaches in the past four days.
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He rates them from one to 10, eight.
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All of a sudden now it's a clearer picture.
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And so as a prescriber, I can then direct my
00:03:09
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much quicker to what I feel we need to do as far as tests or what we need to actually ask more of or what you need to monitor more of.
00:03:18
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So obviously having the piece, like I say, the communication piece of recording and tracking symptoms, it's really important.
00:03:26
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The second thing is, is
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In the teenage years, we usually have our children in groups with other kids.
Communicating with Healthcare Providers: Honesty is Key
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And there's this thing called experimenting with different things that are available out there.
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And so being honest and saying, you know what?
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And this is hard to do with teenagers.
00:03:44
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I know they're not going to come and tell their mom that maybe they did smoke marijuana or they did try a drink or things like that.
00:03:51
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But having that open communication with your children is really important, even when it comes to prescription medications, because if you can be clear and say to your doctor,
00:04:00
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you know, Tom is on an antidepressant, but he went and smoked marijuana, or I think he's doing that more.
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How is that going to interact with his antidepressant?
00:04:10
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Those things are really important to know as well.
00:04:12
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So when I say tracking, I mean, sort of the whole thing.
00:04:15
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So when you go to a prescriber and you have that information, that's step one.
Understanding Treatment Plans and Risks
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Step two is going to be for really looking at those symptoms.
00:04:24
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There's a lot of really good resources online, trying to get some information before you even go to the doctor and saying, oh, you know, he's experiencing these things.
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Do I need to make an appointment?
00:04:33
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Do I have to bring these up?
00:04:35
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Is this just a passing discomfort?
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How severe is this?
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Anytime somebody complains about it, I would say more than twice per week, go see your doctor because something's going on.
00:04:46
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It's not just a passing thing.
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I mean, if you ate something and you have a stomachache, it's going to pass in 48 hours.
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even if you have the stomach virus, it's going to pass in 48 hours.
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But if it doesn't, you need to make an appointment and you need to start tracking.
00:04:59
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That's really what I always suggest is the most important thing.
00:05:03
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And then when you're at the prescriber, the golden rule, what is the risk versus the benefit of this treatment plan?
00:05:10
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So if the risk in your mind or when you're asking the questions is higher, then I wouldn't go with that treatment plan because the benefit doesn't outweigh the risk.
00:05:21
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So that's ultimately the number one thing you need to determine.
00:05:25
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So how do you do that?
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You have to ask the questions.
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why is this treatment plan going to be the best?
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How will it affect him?
00:05:33
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What are the long-term effects of this treatment plan?
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What are the long-term effects of this medication?
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What kinds of side effects are this medication going to cause?
00:05:40
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What do we need to watch for?
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How does it interact with food, with other medications, with vitamins and supplements, with his activities?
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You know, there's some medications that can cause issues with muscles.
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So if he's in a
00:05:54
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really like a gymnastic sport or hockey.
00:05:57
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Like what happens if he starts to take this medication with that kind of physical activity?
00:06:03
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So you really, I can't emphasize enough that asking a lot of questions to give you that information is going to help you make the best decision.
00:06:12
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And my favorite sentence is, if this was your son, what would you do?
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If this was your daughter, what would you do?
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Because it personalizes that relationship much further.
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And it will cause a pause.
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I've often used it.
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And usually the physician, the specialist kind of does a bit of a pause and has to think like, in this situation, what would I really do?
00:06:37
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And sometimes you get to a more personalized, truthful answer.
00:06:41
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And even at that, when you go home and you take that treatment plan, you have to monitor it.
00:06:47
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So it might work great for the first two or three months, but then something changes, something falls off.
00:06:53
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Teenage brains are continuously evolving.
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They're growing.
00:06:59
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It doesn't stay static.
00:07:00
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So medications, when it's, you know, I often say it's like, you know, you're mixing a punch and you're putting different things in.
00:07:08
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The color changes because, you know, after time, those chemicals will change while the brain is full of chemicals.
00:07:15
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So if you're adding a chemical, you've got to watch the side effects.
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And you should know which side effects
00:07:21
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make it so that I need to stop this or I have to go back and seek more medical attention.
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And in what route?
00:07:27
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You know, if this medication is causing him to have trouble breathing, I should go to emerge, right?
00:07:33
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So that one's an obvious one.
00:07:35
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But if this medication is causing a lot of, you know, drowsiness in the morning, can't get out of bed, is this a symptom of just being a teenager in the sense?
00:07:45
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Or is it a symptom of the medication?
00:07:47
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And that's where it gets tricky.
00:07:49
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So that's where tracking and questions is going to be the prevention that we need.
00:07:54
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Okay, that's fantastic information.
00:07:56
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And I already feel actually more empowered because I'm a mom, just like we all are, that's busy, right?
00:08:04
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And so when I take my kids to the doctor and I've got four kids, half the time, I don't know, I don't remember.
00:08:09
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I'm like, ah, this happened, you know, and I don't have that detailed information because like life just feels too chaotic.
00:08:15
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But that already made me feel like, oh, I need to be better about like really tracking, taking notes, asking good questions, asking all these things.
00:08:24
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And so the next question I wanted to ask you was something you and I chatted about earlier, which is oftentimes we as women are afraid to challenge if we have a male doctor or a male pediatrician for our kids.
00:08:37
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And we are afraid to kind of like push back and challenge them.
00:08:42
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what do you say to moms who just assume that the doctor knows everything and they're God and they know the right answer?
00:08:48
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How do we realize they're actually just humans?
00:08:51
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They might not have the full picture.
00:08:53
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Maybe they're in a rush.
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What do we do to get our minds straight so that we can have an educated conversation that feels empowered and equal?
Empowering Moms to Question and Challenge
00:09:02
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Look, I've been there.
00:09:03
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I, as a pharmacist, when I go see the doctor,
00:09:07
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feel the same way sometimes, because I'm like, it's on the tip of my tongue, I got to say this.
00:09:11
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Now, how do I say it so that I don't feel like I'm offending, you know, the physician or that I'm going to be overstepping my boundaries.
00:09:19
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And oftentimes, I won't even tell them that I'm a pharmacist, because I don't want to, you know, have that happen.
00:09:25
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What I often say is,
00:09:27
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And what I do is I have my questions written down before I go in.
00:09:31
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So when I sit in the chair, the first thing I'm going to say is I'm here because I have some questions and I need to speak to you about my son.
00:09:38
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And so here are the questions that I have.
00:09:40
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And I just start with that.
00:09:42
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I don't even like let the conversation, you know, get away from me because sometimes
00:09:47
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You start talking.
00:09:47
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And then the question that you went there to ask, you forgot.
00:09:51
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That's happened to me, too.
00:09:53
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So my way of handling this is writing it down and and making it easy for me, because as moms, you're right.
00:09:59
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Like, you know, there's going to be 15 different things, maybe from, you know, four kids that come up and it's like, I don't know where am I supposed to write this all down?
00:10:08
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I just take my phone and I do a voice note.
00:10:10
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or I just put it in my notes, or I just do a reminder.
00:10:14
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And then I go back and collect it before the doctor's appointment and I kind of write it all down.
00:10:17
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So then I say, okay, Tom said that he had these five things.
00:10:21
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These are the questions I need to ask.
00:10:23
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And then when the physician is talking to us and you feel like, yeah, no, I don't, I don't really like that.
00:10:30
Speaker
I don't really want to do that.
00:10:31
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Then what I often say is I just have to clarify this because I, I kind of hear what you're saying, but I don't understand.
00:10:40
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You clarify and you say, because when I explained that he's really not waking up in the morning, what I meant is he's, I can't arouse him.
00:10:50
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I can't actually get him out of bed.
00:10:52
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It's very difficult for him when he's sitting at the table, he looks like he's going to fall asleep or because he's been put on this medication.
00:11:00
Speaker
He's not the same engaging child that I remember.
00:11:04
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He's, he's, he, he kind of looks like a zombie when he's walking around.
00:11:08
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There's,
00:11:09
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The teacher said this, like, I'm really concerned.
00:11:11
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What should I be doing?
00:11:13
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That's how I put it back.
00:11:14
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I often will just ask the question again by saying, I don't know if I'm explaining myself correctly.
00:11:24
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And sometimes it's that, you know, like talking to anyone when somebody is sort of like, no, closed off.
00:11:30
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This is what it is.
00:11:31
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This is how it's going to be.
00:11:33
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You want to try and interject.
00:11:35
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Don't, don't feel that because
00:11:39
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the physician has all the knowledge that they are the God.
00:11:43
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They are your guide.
00:11:44
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They are the ones with all the knowledge.
00:11:46
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And trust me, they have a lot of knowledge.
00:11:49
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This isn't about, you know, that the healthcare professionals don't know.
00:11:53
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They know, but they don't know you.
00:11:55
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They don't know your child.
00:11:56
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They don't live with him.
00:11:59
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You do.
00:12:00
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So it's really important to advocate and to express it and
00:12:04
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That's the best way that I've done it.
00:12:05
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I just say, okay, wait, wait, wait.
00:12:07
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But I know what you're saying, but maybe I haven't explained because I still don't see how what you're saying and what I'm saying, help him.
00:12:14
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How is it going to help him?
00:12:16
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How is this going to help?
00:12:19
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I still have this concern.
00:12:20
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How does this treatment plan help this concern?
00:12:24
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And sometimes it will be, and sometimes it will be.
00:12:27
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Let's try it and see what happens in a week.
00:12:29
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Come back and book for a week.
00:12:31
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And when you get told that, make sure when you go to the front desk to book for that week that you say, the doctor told me I had to come back in a week and I want to be back in a week.
00:12:39
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Not, oh, the next appointment's here in three months.
00:12:42
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Nope.
00:12:42
Speaker
You say, oh, well then can I speak to the physician again?
00:12:44
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Because he specifically told me I had to be monitored in a week.
00:12:49
Speaker
That's really important because sometimes people
00:12:52
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At the reception desk, we don't get where we need to go.
00:12:56
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And so advocating, I often say, you know, we're sometimes taught authority means we need to lower our voice.
00:13:05
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But in health care, authority just means knowledge.
00:13:09
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It doesn't mean that we need to be silenced.
00:13:13
Speaker
That's really great.
00:13:14
Speaker
And, you know, I know where I live and I'm in Texas and like a lot of the Southern women, we're so polite and we're just, we want to be friendly and we want people to like us.
00:13:23
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And so we're just like, okay, you know, that's fine.
00:13:26
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I'll see you in three months, even though he said, you know, that's the type of thing that we would do.
00:13:30
Speaker
Not everybody, but you know, it's kind of a general conversation.
00:13:32
Speaker
But that's something that kind of something that would be typical that I can see happening.
00:13:37
Speaker
So let's go through the medications because I know super common is the anxiety and depression medication and the ADHD
ADHD and Antidepressant Medications: Effects and Trials
00:13:44
Speaker
medicine.
00:13:44
Speaker
I don't know if we should lump those all together, even though they're separate.
00:13:47
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Because what happens is, you know, doctors will prescribe those.
00:13:50
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And I do have, you know, lots of my clients are on those medications.
00:13:54
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And so what'll happen is I'll find out, you know, my client's on this medication and, you know, they say, oh, give it four to six weeks, see how it's working, come back.
00:14:02
Speaker
And so sometimes I'm with a client and they're, you know, from one medication to the next one, to the next one.
00:14:07
Speaker
And so I'm trying to help coach them from, you know, the mindset and the skillset side of it and the confidence side of it, because that's what happens a lot of times these things cut down kids' confidence.
00:14:17
Speaker
And so as a pharmacist, how can, what can you do to educate the moms about what we need to know about these medications just in a general sense?
00:14:27
Speaker
One of the biggest things, and I am going to preface this because I've seen it as well.
00:14:32
Speaker
And I educate this as the first thing that I say, when someone is newly put on or when someone is on an
00:14:38
Speaker
And it does take four to six weeks.
00:14:40
Speaker
And the reason for that is because like I was talking to you about sort of the chemicals and the balance of the chemicals, it takes a bit to change, especially if it's an SSRI.
00:14:50
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So the serotonin selective reuptake inhibitors takes a bit for your body to kind of change.
00:14:56
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It's kind of like working out.
00:14:57
Speaker
The muscle isn't going to happen tomorrow that it's going to change.
00:14:59
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It takes a bit.
00:15:00
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So that's kind of the process, that four to six weeks.
00:15:04
Speaker
But when people are on antidepressant medications, especially teenagers where the brain is evolving, it's really important to have a conversation when you start them on about suicide, idolatry, and suicide, and thoughts of suicide.
00:15:18
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Because depression equals sometimes, right, thoughts of depression.
00:15:23
Speaker
So then there's this blurred portion of, is it the disease or is it the medication?
00:15:30
Speaker
I often say anytime a child is put on an antidepressant, you have to talk to them about feeling like they are making a plan for suicide.
00:15:41
Speaker
Because if they are, you need to take your child to the doctor's office or to the emergency department if they're in active pursuit and get them off of the medication.
00:15:51
Speaker
Because we don't realize that
00:15:53
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that one of the worst side effects of antidepressants is suicide idolatry.
00:15:59
Speaker
We didn't know that when these were all coming out.
00:16:02
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Then we saw a spike and a rise in suicide and
00:16:07
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they were on antidepressants.
00:16:09
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So what was the correlation?
00:16:10
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Was it because they were depressed or was because of the medication?
00:16:13
Speaker
Studies have come out to show that yes, it's because of the medication as well.
00:16:17
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So that change in chemicals can sometimes push that suicide idolatry.
00:16:22
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So it's really important to watch that and to have that conversation.
00:16:26
Speaker
Again, it's risk versus benefit.
00:16:28
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If there's a non-functional, very withdrawn, you know, you know your child, if they're not themselves,
00:16:37
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Yes, these medications can help.
00:16:39
Speaker
And sometimes it is this trial and error and it's exhausting.
00:16:43
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This is working, this isn't working, this side effect isn't great.
00:16:47
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Medications isn't the be all end all.
00:16:49
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You know, we get excited when we're like, oh, we finally figured out what's wrong.
00:16:52
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Now we're gonna treat it with this medication and things are gonna be beautiful and we're gonna sing in the rain.
00:16:57
Speaker
No.
00:16:58
Speaker
That's not what happens typically.
00:16:59
Speaker
It's a trial and error and a process.
00:17:02
Speaker
And you have to be understanding even to get off of these medications can sometimes take a year, two years.
00:17:10
Speaker
It takes time because the brain chemistry changes.
00:17:13
Speaker
And that's, again, the risk versus benefit.
00:17:16
Speaker
But I'm going to tell you that there is benefit in these medications.
00:17:20
Speaker
If your child has tried to commit suicide or is suicidal, do you put them on this medication?
00:17:26
Speaker
The answer to that is you have to speak to your healthcare professional and look at the entire picture.
00:17:32
Speaker
But yes, then the benefit will outweigh the risk because if that's already happening, it might have a bit of additive, but you're not going to get a chance to find out if they're making a plan for suicide already.
00:17:45
Speaker
You've got to change that brain chemistry now.
00:17:48
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So it's tricky.
00:17:50
Speaker
It's not a one size fits all.
00:17:52
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That's why tracking is so important.
00:17:55
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Having just a little journal, even for your teenager to write and to track and say, today I felt, and then just check marks.
00:18:04
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I felt from one to 10, a five, I felt a four.
00:18:07
Speaker
Did I have suicidal thoughts today?
00:18:09
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No.
00:18:10
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So sometimes that helps, um,
00:18:13
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It's just tracking.
00:18:15
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It's really important to track.
00:18:16
Speaker
When we look at all the other medications, it's the same thing.
00:18:19
Speaker
Know the side effects, understand the risk versus benefit, and really get to know, is this benefiting your child?
00:18:29
Speaker
If it's not, go back and just say, he's not any better on this.
00:18:33
Speaker
Is there something else?
00:18:35
Speaker
I always, always start, even though I'm a pharmacist, I always start with non-drug measures first.
00:18:40
Speaker
If you haven't tried non-drug measures,
00:18:43
Speaker
I think you need to go back to the non-drug measures and try that.
00:18:47
Speaker
Again, though, if your child is already past non-drug measures and those aren't going to help because they are in hospital and they have attempted suicide, having a non-drug measure is going to help support it, but it's not the only answer.
00:19:02
Speaker
So there's a spectrum of when you medicate.
00:19:05
Speaker
And that's, again, risk versus benefit.
00:19:09
Speaker
Yeah.
00:19:10
Speaker
I'm glad you clarified that because I think a lot of parents are, you know, either very anti-medication and they want to go the holistic, natural route.
Mental Health: Beyond Medications
00:19:18
Speaker
And others are just like, hey, fix my kid, put him on the medication.
00:19:22
Speaker
And so you don't often find the ones that are patient enough to like try the non-drug measures.
00:19:28
Speaker
And, you know, from my angle, that's
00:19:30
Speaker
one of the things I coach on as I have a health coaching background.
00:19:34
Speaker
So we do all the modifiable lifestyle factors, diet, sleep, exercise, stress management, all those things.
00:19:39
Speaker
And then, you know, add in the medication if needed type of thing.
00:19:43
Speaker
So and then same with ADHD medicine, I've heard a lot of clients, in fact, you know, my own child, one of them was on ADHD medicine, and it was frustrating because they're like, try this one.
00:19:53
Speaker
Okay, so
00:19:54
Speaker
for six weeks.
00:19:54
Speaker
And then if that doesn't work, we'll try this one.
00:19:56
Speaker
And sometimes it is hard to be patient.
00:19:58
Speaker
It really is because when your child is suffering, they're not doing well, then you want that fix.
00:20:03
Speaker
And it's really hard to have that patience.
00:20:04
Speaker
Can you give any support or guidance for that type of scenario?
00:20:08
Speaker
As moms, we don't do this enough, but we need to also take care of ourselves when something like this is happening.
00:20:17
Speaker
Take your five minutes, take your five minutes, breathe, write down what's happening, try and track the patterns,
00:20:24
Speaker
And really look at, again, is this a welcome thing in our life or is it a negative thing?
00:20:33
Speaker
What is causing this problem?
00:20:35
Speaker
How can I help support this child so that they feel better?
00:20:39
Speaker
Because ADHD medication will correct some issues with ADHD.
00:20:46
Speaker
Others are modifiable by non-drug measures.
00:20:51
Speaker
And those seem to work almost sometimes the best.
00:20:54
Speaker
So ADHD, sometimes the child won't listen, right?
00:20:57
Speaker
They don't even hear you.
00:20:58
Speaker
It's not that they're trying not to listen.
00:21:01
Speaker
They can't, they don't hear you because they're hyper-focused on something else.
00:21:06
Speaker
So getting in front of them, talking right in front of them and saying, listen, I need you to, you know, do your shoelaces or, you know, whatever that is, or I need you to get your backpack.
00:21:16
Speaker
I need you to be ready in five minutes.
00:21:19
Speaker
I'm putting the alarm on.
00:21:20
Speaker
And then
00:21:21
Speaker
You give them 10 minutes, but you put the alarm at five minutes because you know it's going to take another five minutes.
00:21:26
Speaker
It's really important to have the patience and track because you're going to start to see this is like in anything, right?
00:21:34
Speaker
It's, I don't know how else to say this, but it's just like when you start to work out, oh, I'm going to work out.
00:21:39
Speaker
I'm going to lift heavy weights.
00:21:40
Speaker
I'm going to do so well.
00:21:41
Speaker
And then you're sore.
00:21:42
Speaker
And then you have that symptom.
00:21:44
Speaker
And then you're like, I don't really want to do that again.
00:21:45
Speaker
That was really not fun.
00:21:48
Speaker
And then you start to see by tracking, you start to see things going better, or you start to see things not changing, or you start to see things not improving.
00:21:58
Speaker
So it's either it's getting better, it's staying the same, or it's getting worse.
00:22:03
Speaker
How are you going to be able to make a difference if you don't know that?
00:22:08
Speaker
And we don't track enough to know.
00:22:10
Speaker
And that's the biggest issue.
00:22:12
Speaker
Because if you start to see improvements every day, you start to hang in there, right?
00:22:16
Speaker
You're like, okay, I know it's a struggle, but I started to see improvements.
00:22:20
Speaker
If you're seeing absolutely no improvements, look, we say four to six weeks for the full effect, but you should start to see some improvement.
00:22:28
Speaker
If you're seeing things degrade,
00:22:30
Speaker
And it's actually causing them to have really bad diarrhea, or they don't even want to go outside now.
00:22:35
Speaker
They're afraid to eat and they're losing weight.
00:22:38
Speaker
This is not helping.
00:22:40
Speaker
This is not what the overall goal was.
00:22:43
Speaker
You know, they can't take it with their other medication because that's causing them to have
00:22:48
Speaker
increased anxiety, we talk about ADHD medications, it can increase anxiety.
00:22:53
Speaker
So they take it before bed.
00:22:55
Speaker
Now they're up all night in the morning, they're sleeping.
00:22:58
Speaker
So even understanding how to use the medication properly is going to make a difference in in the results of the medication.
00:23:07
Speaker
So really understanding how to use the medication and tracking it is also going to equal better results and help you get through that
00:23:16
Speaker
painful process of let's see if this medication is going to work.
00:23:20
Speaker
Awesome.
00:23:20
Speaker
That was
Teen Health: Birth Control and HPV Vaccines
00:23:21
Speaker
really helpful.
00:23:21
Speaker
And then last kind of the two that we touched on birth control in the HPV.
00:23:26
Speaker
I know they're not the same thing, but I'm putting them into the same category.
00:23:30
Speaker
So what do you do to advise about those two things?
00:23:32
Speaker
Well, first is teenage girls.
00:23:34
Speaker
We know that they start menstruation.
00:23:36
Speaker
So they start to get their period.
00:23:38
Speaker
Really good to get your daughter to start tracking her period.
00:23:42
Speaker
It's a really good idea.
00:23:44
Speaker
Because there are things that can happen with periods, you know, being on the bus and then getting your period and, you know, and you're wearing, of course, it has to happen.
00:23:54
Speaker
And then we've all been there.
00:23:55
Speaker
White masks.
00:23:59
Speaker
Right.
00:23:59
Speaker
And then the embarrassment of that.
00:24:01
Speaker
So tracking is a really good idea, not only for that, but also for health reasons, because if things are irregular, she had a period and then she hadn't had one in four months.
00:24:10
Speaker
Hmm.
00:24:11
Speaker
It's kind of weird, right?
00:24:12
Speaker
Like what's going on?
00:24:13
Speaker
So there's apps on the phone.
00:24:16
Speaker
There's so many ways to track, but just circle, you know, like circle it on a calendar.
00:24:20
Speaker
They have school calendars.
00:24:21
Speaker
Just circle it.
00:24:22
Speaker
Put a P beside it.
00:24:24
Speaker
Just simple things.
00:24:25
Speaker
So tracking periods is really important.
00:24:27
Speaker
Second, if your child, boy or girl in the sense, your teenager is now saying, okay, I'm thinking of being sexually active.
00:24:34
Speaker
The HPV vaccine is typically three doses, and it is sometimes provided through schools, depending on the state, but it can help with decreasing the virus that causes cervical cancer and different cancers in boys as well.
00:24:54
Speaker
So that's one of the reasons why we like to start the vaccine before they become sexually active so that they don't get those warts that can cause those cancers later on.
00:25:08
Speaker
Is it something that I would recommend?
00:25:11
Speaker
Again, risk versus benefit.
00:25:14
Speaker
We've seen more benefit from getting the vaccine versus risk.
00:25:18
Speaker
So it is something that even with my children that I did vaccinate, I vaccinated myself.
00:25:24
Speaker
So even though I was older, I still vaccinated myself because I did have stage one cervical cancer.
00:25:33
Speaker
And my oncologist recommended that I get the vaccine, even though I already was past all of this, right?
00:25:42
Speaker
And I did.
00:25:43
Speaker
And so I've been really well in that sense since then.
00:25:48
Speaker
And I think it also is, and I know it's a comfort to know, okay, I've got something on board as well to help.
00:25:56
Speaker
So it is really important to look at that and have that discussion with your pharmacist or your physician, read more about it, see what the side effects are, just understanding about the different cancers that can come from that.
00:26:09
Speaker
And
00:26:10
Speaker
the gratitude that we have that someone did the right research to actually help prevent some of this.
00:26:15
Speaker
So it's not child proof.
00:26:16
Speaker
It's not a hundred percent.
00:26:17
Speaker
No vaccine is, but this particular one for your teenagers to protect them later in life, because that's when it can come out is actually a really good vaccine.
00:26:28
Speaker
And there's no signs or symptoms.
00:26:29
Speaker
It's not like you'll always get, especially with girls, you're not going to get a sign of it until sometimes it's too late.
00:26:37
Speaker
And then, you know,
00:26:39
Speaker
you find out that there could be an issue with cervical cancer.
00:26:42
Speaker
So it is something that I think is helpful and should be done before any like pregnancy years, you know, like thinking of conceiving, you should probably look at getting some of your vaccinations well before that.
00:26:55
Speaker
Or getting birth control pills.
00:26:57
Speaker
Again, it's obviously to prevent pregnancy for girls.
00:27:02
Speaker
There are different ones on the market.
00:27:04
Speaker
What we see is estrogen and progesterone ones.
00:27:08
Speaker
There's ones where they have to take pills.
00:27:10
Speaker
There are injections.
00:27:11
Speaker
There's IUDs.
00:27:13
Speaker
There's many different things.
00:27:15
Speaker
IUDs typically will be for older girls.
00:27:18
Speaker
You're talking about 18, 19, 20 year old girls.
00:27:21
Speaker
You're looking at that.
00:27:22
Speaker
There are some risk factors with ovarian cysts with those.
00:27:26
Speaker
Birth control pills, we know long-term and smoking is not permitted in the sense that it increases your risk of stroke.
00:27:36
Speaker
Birth control can be
00:27:38
Speaker
Increased the risk of stroke because of the progesterone and estrogen combinations.
00:27:42
Speaker
But again, risk versus benefit.
00:27:45
Speaker
If you do low dose and you try and prevent pregnancy, that obviously is a, I wouldn't say a bigger risk, but a bigger issue for your child who doesn't want to have a child at that point, right?
00:27:57
Speaker
So it is a preventative measure.
00:27:59
Speaker
The other thing is sometimes we see birth control pills used for acne and when you
00:28:05
Speaker
layer them in compared to using things like Tretinoin or the other harsher ones.
00:28:11
Speaker
Sometimes those are the first step and they work really well, you know, at advanced erotics.
00:28:16
Speaker
So sometimes that's the reason why they're put onto those.
00:28:20
Speaker
So again, it's asking the questions, doing your research.
00:28:23
Speaker
I like MedlinePlus, Drugs.com and the Mayo Clinic.
00:28:27
Speaker
Those are my credible resources.
00:28:29
Speaker
I refer to those.
00:28:31
Speaker
I think they give good information,
00:28:33
Speaker
MedlinePlus is from the US National Library of Congress.
00:28:36
Speaker
So it's really got a lot of good health information.
00:28:39
Speaker
And that's kind of where I do my own research as well and just look at things.
00:28:43
Speaker
And I mean, I have access to a whole bunch of different studies.
00:28:46
Speaker
But in general, that's a really good quick resource guide to check into the side effects of medications and why you want to put your child on a medication.
00:28:56
Speaker
You need to ask, is it a benefit?
00:28:59
Speaker
Hmm, this has been so insightful.
00:29:01
Speaker
Okay, last question is about safety for teenagers.
Preventing Teen Medication Misuse
00:29:06
Speaker
So we all think, you know, we're like living in this safe, you know, home environment where, you know, you can describe the scenarios because you said you've seen this happen a lot.
00:29:15
Speaker
So tell us about the risk of leaving medicines in your house that it's not in a safe environment.
00:29:23
Speaker
Right.
00:29:24
Speaker
So, you know, when we talk about little kids, we say up high and away, right?
00:29:29
Speaker
So we don't want our children to access medication when they're toddlers or, you know, at any age when they're younger.
00:29:36
Speaker
When they're teenagers, it doesn't mean your medicine cabinet should be left unlocked or available either because it can happen and it has happened where, you know, I had a situation where one of the moms had a medication because she broke her wrist.
00:29:53
Speaker
And it was a opioid medication.
00:29:56
Speaker
The son had fallen and hurt himself and was in pain.
00:30:00
Speaker
And she's like, I have this painkiller.
00:30:01
Speaker
I can give you this.
00:30:02
Speaker
Unfortunately, teenage brain, when you're looking between 13 and 25, these medications don't, don't,
00:30:11
Speaker
have the same side effect profile necessarily as adults.
00:30:16
Speaker
And we don't test medications on teenagers, right?
00:30:19
Speaker
We don't do clinical studies on teenagers, pregnant women.
00:30:22
Speaker
You know, we don't do that as often as we should necessarily.
00:30:26
Speaker
So when you're looking at these really strong opioid medications, don't give them to your child.
00:30:33
Speaker
unless you have a plan with it.
00:30:35
Speaker
It's only for two days or it's at the lower dose because just because it worked for you doesn't mean it's going to work for your child.
00:30:42
Speaker
Lock those up.
00:30:43
Speaker
There are a lot of medications that, you know, are accessible to them.
00:30:47
Speaker
You don't know what's happening at school.
00:30:49
Speaker
You don't know if there's a TikTok trend on something.
00:30:51
Speaker
Lock up your medications.
00:30:52
Speaker
It's really important to do that.
00:30:54
Speaker
And you have the code.
00:30:56
Speaker
Don't
00:30:56
Speaker
share it and what like really careful.
00:30:59
Speaker
And I'm not suggesting that every teenager is going to go in there and raid your medicine cabinet.
00:31:03
Speaker
But what I'm saying is if you're not home and they're, you know, they they're like, I have a bad headache.
00:31:08
Speaker
Oh, mom has this in the cupboard.
00:31:09
Speaker
Maybe I try that.
00:31:11
Speaker
That's an accident that doesn't have any real major, like, oh, I'm trying to be malicious or bad about this, but it has a consequence that could end up them going to emerge.
00:31:23
Speaker
So it's really important, especially if they're on other medication, that drug interaction could cause them to really have a problem.
00:31:30
Speaker
You know, we know mixing sleeping medication and antidepressant medication with some opioids or painkillers causes people to stop breathing.
00:31:39
Speaker
So lock it up and then really be careful when you are giving medications to your children, especially if they're yours.
00:31:46
Speaker
I wouldn't recommend it.
00:31:47
Speaker
Sharing is not caring in this instance.
00:31:51
Speaker
That's great.
00:31:51
Speaker
That's such great advice.
00:31:53
Speaker
Okay.
00:31:53
Speaker
Anything that I didn't cover that you think is really important for the moms to know?
Encouragement for Moms and Social Media Connection
00:31:58
Speaker
I just think that they need to understand that no matter what happens, the guilt level of moms needs to take a step back, you know, constantly, you know, putting it all on our shoulders.
00:32:11
Speaker
I think what's really important is doing the best that you can and being the best caregiver that you can in your situation and giving yourself
00:32:20
Speaker
that grace.
00:32:22
Speaker
Totally.
00:32:23
Speaker
That's wonderful and perfect way to wrap up our episode.
00:32:26
Speaker
And so how can people find you going forward?
00:32:28
Speaker
Well, I just started my Instagram account.
00:32:31
Speaker
So it's at Lydia Molinera.
00:32:33
Speaker
And so I'll be posting a lot more helpful tips on that as well.
00:32:38
Speaker
Okay.
00:32:38
Speaker
Well, thank you so much for your time.
00:32:40
Speaker
We really appreciate it.
00:32:41
Speaker
This was actually amazing.
00:32:42
Speaker
I'm so like blown away with everything that I feel like I learned.
00:32:44
Speaker
So I'm sure all the moms out there got something too.
00:32:47
Speaker
So thank you for your time.
00:32:48
Speaker
Thank you so much.
00:32:52
Speaker
Thank you for listening to the Positively Healthy Mom podcast because there's no manual for the hardest job in the world.
00:32:59
Speaker
Don't forget to subscribe and share with your friends.