Too Many Choices

We're all laid low with a cold, but I've got it the worst right now. The past couple of days have been increasing more difficult to get through and, by the time J gets home from work, I've been downright miserable. Tonight, on our way to score our Diet Coke fix, I decided to run into the drug store to pick something up to hopefully help clear my head somewhat...

There are far too many choices when it comes to cough and cold medications. With limitations on the sale of pseudoephedrine, a host of pseudoephedrine-free versions of the original medications has cropped up, but you can still choose from the original medications if you're willing to pull the card and purchase it at the pharmacy. Also, in an attempt to cover every single permutation of symptoms possible, the new! and! improved! formulas! seem to be appearing on the shelves about as quickly as the snot accumulates in my sinuses. All of the choices were nearly too much for me, causing my poor, crud-filled brain to practically seize up with options.

The last time I was remotely sick like this was when I was 5 months pregnant (so, just shy of two years ago) and I was hesitant to take any medication. I eventually ended up in the doctor's office after nearly two weeks of suffering and had to relent to a strong prescription. I knew I needed something strong tonight and I didn't have any qualms about choosing a medication that I'd need to request at the pharmacy, but I wasn't prepared for the tech to tell me to swipe my license. I looked at her, thoroughly confused, thinking she meant that I needed to swipe my bank card. Nope. She needed me to run my driver's license through the machine in order to track my purchase (you know, to make sure that I'm not running all over town buying up all of the Mucinex D or other pseudoephedrine-containing medications). Apparently, they've been doing this for over a year, but it blew what little was left of my mind. I knew the black strip on the back of my license contained all of my information, but I've never had to use it for anything before (in fact, I've often wondered if it was ever used) and it all just seemed...a little too Big Brotherish to me.

That said, I picked some good stuff and, though still rather stuffy, hope to make it through tomorrow better than I did today. Thank God tomorrow's Friday.