I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study about finding Answers at Walgreens about digestive health issues for Collective Bias and their client.
About 6 years ago, shortly after our twins were born, I began to experience crippling pain in the area around my ribs. The pain would start very suddenly, sometimes waking me up from a sound sleep, and would last anywhere from one to several hours. Basically, it felt as if there was a vice tightening around my rib cage. The pain got worse when I tried to lay down and actually felt like someone was standing on my ribs so that I could barely inhale. After I had endured several episodes, one evening my husband had to take me to the emergency room because the pain had not gone away after several hours. Well it turned out that I was experiencing severe anxiety and stress-induced heartburn. Who would have thought this pain had anything to do with my digestive health?
That night at the emergency room, the doctor prescribed something for anxiety, but I do not really like the idea of taking prescription medication for stress. Now, 6 years later, I still experience the same stress-induced symptoms, but not quite as often. I could go several months without noticing that tightening feeling around my ribs and, when I do, I immediately take an acid reducer. The past month and a half, I have been experiencing high stress levels. I work at home and it's summer vacation. Need I say more? Well, I've been feeling all the symptoms that usually occur before the crippling pain hits daily and I really wanted to find out if there was anything different I could do to prevent the symptoms and to treat them after they've begun. That's when I turned to Answers at Walgreens.
If you did not already know, Walgreens answers questions from their customers about how they can treat common health issues, such as digestive health, pain relief, and sleep solutions. You can find answers and recommendations in 3 ways . . . by talking to the pharmacist at your local Walgreens store, using the Pharmacy Chat on Walgreens.com, and picking up a free brochure about the health topic you want to learn more about. These brochures are available in a display near the pharmacy area within Walgreens and, not only do they contain helpful facts and suggestions, they also contain coupons to save on relevant products.
While I shopped in Walgreens the other day, I did not see a pamphlet for digestive health, but I did grab a couple of others that address some different health issues we've been dealing with at our house. Luckily, I was able to chat with a Walgreens pharmacist the night before. The chat is open 24/7, so I was able to sit down and ask my questions when it was most convenient for me (after the children had gone to bed).
During the chat, I learned that there is not enough evidence showing that herbal at-home remedies are actually effective for stress reduction, so the pharmacist recommended that I talk to a doctor. Although there were no revelations experienced by me regarding how to treat my heartburn-related symptoms, I did learn two very important things . . . that what I am taking is the correct thing and that I should not be taking that particular acid reducer while taking both benadryl and loratadine for my allergies. The pharmacist that I should only be taking one of those rather than both. I really had no idea and was glad I had decided to try the Walgreens Pharmacy Chat. If you haven't tried it, I highly recommend it as a way to get answers to your health questions in a convenient, low-pressure way.
Visit AnswersAtWalgreens.com to find special money-saving offers on your favorite health products and to find out which products will earn you Answer Balance Rewards.
