Vitamin Information Center

Are you popping too many pills along with Alesse and INCREASING your risk of getting pregnant? Find out by checking if you are taking any of these medications and possibly reducing the effectiveness of your oral contraceptive pill.

Alesse is a combined oral contraceptive pill that is very effective in preventing pregnancy when taken correctly. However, did you know that certain other drugs, when taken alongside Alesse, can reduce this effectiveness and possibly increase your risk of getting pregnant? Alesse contains ethinyl estradiol and levonorgestrel which may react with any of the drugs listed below so please carefully check the package list of ‘active ingredients’ on ANY medications you are taking alongside Alesse.

NB. This includes herbal products, vitamins and minerals, over the counter medications such as pain killers, sleeping pills and other prescriptions you have filled. Check with your doctor if you use illegal drugs as well as Alesse and if you are a heavy drinker of alcohol or smoke to excess.

acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ascorbic acid (vitamin C) •anastrozole •antibiotics or medicines for infections, especially rifampin •aprepitant •barbiturate medicines for producing sleep or treating seizures (convulsions)secobarbital (Seconal), or phenobarbital (Luminal, Solfoton) •bosentan •carbamazepine (Tegretol) •caffeine •clofibrate •cyclosporine (Neoral, Sandimmune, Gengraf) •dantrolene •doxercalciferol •exemestane •grapefruit juice •hydrocortisone •letrozole •medicines for anxiety or sleeping problems, such as diazepam or temazepam •medicines for mental depression •medicines for diabetes, including troglitazone and pioglitazone •mineral oil •modafinil •mycophenolate •nefazodone •oxcarbazepine phenylbutazone (Azolid, Butazolidin) •phenytoin (Dilantin) •prednisolone (Orapred) primidone (Mysoline) rifampin •ritonavir (Norvir)or other medicines for the treatment of the HIV virus or AIDS such as modafinil (Provigil) •selegiline •soy isoflavones supplements •St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum) •tamoxifen or raloxifene •testolactone •theophylline (Respbid, Theo-Dur) •topiramate (Topamax) •warfarin

………..and possibly certain antibiotics (such as ampicillin and other penicillins and tetracyclines)

WARNING: Do not share Alesse with anyone else and keep the pack of oral contraceptive pills out of the reach of children. Do not use Alesse or any other medication after the expiry date on the pack. Sources: Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Inc.Philadelphia, DrugDigest, Drugs.com The above information is intended as a guide only and should not be substituted for the professional expertise and advice from your doctor or pharmacist.

With the availability of many commercial pet foods in the market, you may be confused in selecting the complete pet food that takes good care of your pet’s health. You may be wondering whether it is safe to feed commercial pet food or pet food prepared at home. Your pet’s health can be spoiled through any source of pet food and hence you should make sure that whatever food you feed to your pet should not have been contaminated.

Food related illness could occur in your pet due to bacterial infections, chemicals, mycotoxins, metals etc. Mycotoxins are toxins formed by fungus and some type of toxins affect one fourth of the world’s food crops. Hence mycotoxin litigation is a big problem and pain to the pet food industry.

We generally get confused with food infection and food poisoning. Pet food infection can be caused when the pets consume food with infectious microbial cell. They initially attack your pet’s tissues and start reproducing. Another important aspect to be noted is most of the clinical diseases will not be visible to you before 12 hours. Food poisoning occurs as a result of pet food that already contains a microbial toxin. The food poisoning symptoms are visible within an hour after your pet consumes the pet food. It is always recommended that homemade food preparation should be hygienic and if you are buying commercial pet food, take suggestions from people who are used to feed pets with such foods.

Selecting nutrition filled pet food is a challenging task particularly when there are many pet food providers offering more varieties of pet food. You can choose a complete pet food with balanced nutrition by evaluating the ingredients mentioned on the pet food package. The ingredients will represent fat, fiber, protein, vitamins and minerals in percentage values.

When you are ready to pay a higher price for the pet food, it is reasonable that you look for high and better value and additional health advantages for your pet. Cheap pet foods have more of ingredients that are grain based like wheat, soy and corn. Cheaper pet foods use ingredients like grains, bone meal and meat that are inexpensive and hence show poor nutritional quality. These pet food manufacturers justify that grain protein is equally nutritious when compared with meat protein. But there are arguments that grain proteins put excessive stress on your pet’s digestive system and also result in illness in the later stages of the pet’s life. Pets like dog and cat eat meat and their digestive system is designed for meat and not for grains. So it is always advisable to provide pet food suitable for your pet’s digestive system.

Normally pets are fed with the same kind of food every day if complete nutrition value is available with regular foods. Your pet always should be served the best nutritious pet food and so take time in choosing the perfect pet food for those deserving pets of yours. You can follow the below mentioned tips to avoid pet food problems:

Try to avoid commercial foods for your pets as stool hardening agents are used by most of the pet food manufacturers. Understand the terms used in the pet food label and select the food that provides the calorie needed by your pet. Never over feed your pet. Provide them plenty of fresh water.

NutriSource International is a health and wellness company dedicated to offering the highest quality, low glycemic meal replacements, herbal formulas and dietary supplements. Continue Reading…

The hardest part of buying electronics isn’t getting them to work - which is difficult enough. The real challenge is getting them out of the package.

Every gadget comes sealed in 10 pounds of indestructible plastic. It encases everything from iPods to phone cards to individually wrapped screws. It’s just part of our new plastic-wrapped world.

Nano-sized music players come in boxes the size of TVs, while TVs come in boxes the size of pianos, and God knows what pianos come in.

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