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2014 started off on a very bad start for me. On December 31, 2013, while on vacation, I was diagnosed with H1N1 at a local emergency room. What made it exponentially worse was the fact that I am currently pregnant. While they caught it in time for me to not have to be hospitalized, I had a pretty severe recovery. I was in bed for close to three weeks, which meant missing two weeks in my dental job and no blogging work was able to be done during that time. I needed to let my body recover and take the natural course of feeling better. While the past week I felt a lot better, I struggled with remnants of a terrible cough coupled with advanced nausea from the cough (lots of phlegm- sorry I know it is disgusting), as well as from being pregnant. I decided to help solve some of my questions about what medicines I could take to combat the cough and nausea, I would talk to a Walgreens pharmacy professional online using the very awesome Walgreens Pharmacy Chat feature available online.
I have been a faithful Walgreens customer for quite a few years now and it is my go-to pharmacy to get any of my questions answered. While I love the in-store pharmacy, I recently found out a way I could ask a certified pharmacist a question from the confines of my own home. I was able to log onto my Walgreens account and set it up to upgrade my pharmacy account. At this point, I was able to very easily chat live with a Walgreens Pharmacy Professional via my computer or smartphone. What I love about this feature is because I was not feeling great, I had a hard time getting out of bed to see the doctor after my initial three doctor appointments. I really wanted to rest and get some tips without ever leaving my home. The Walgreens Chat is fantastic for those times when an unexpected illness occurs and it inconvenient/hard to visit your doctor.
The Walgreens Pharmacy Chat is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I was absolutely AMAZED at this feature that is now readily available online at Walgreens. With the chat, you are able to get prescription medicine details, over-the-counter medication advice, and general health issues answered by a certified pharmacist. I immediately logged in and was connected to a trained pharmacist who asked me how they could help me with any issues I may have. I explained to the pharmacist that I was still suffering from extreme nausea due to the pregnancy, as well as my nagging cough that seems to be getting worse over time.
Due to me being pregnant, she made sure that I called my OBGYN doctor, as they would give me the best medicines I could take while pregnant. However, she did give me excellent advice that I heeded during our conversation. She recommended I drink hot tea with lemon/honey, as well as drink copious amounts of water. She also suggested making sure I use a humidifier. While I was already drinking water, I never gave tea a try before. I immediately put this on check list to buy when I visited my local Walgreens later that day. She also told me for the nausea, to try Saltines to help keep the nausea at bay. Again, I put this on my shopping list. At this point, I was willing to try anything. While she could not give me any medicine suggestions (because of being pregnant), her advice to drink tea and eat Saltines were extremely helpful and I was grateful for the tips/advice.
A few hours later, I headed to Walgreens and picked up some hot tea and saltines. I already had a humidifier at home, but I needed to stock up on the other items that the online pharmacist suggested during our chat. I also scanned the pharmacy section and wrote down some of the over counter medicines so I could ask my OB when I saw him the following week. I checked out with my Balance Rewards card (I actually was able to get the tea at a savings) and was on my way home.
Wouldn’t you know that in the last day I have felt so much better! The Walgreens Pharmacy Chat really helped me out and I know it will help you all out too! Be sure to chat with a pharmacist using the Walgreens Pharmacy option online. They have certified pharmacists ready to help you out at any time of the day and the service is completely free, and so useful! Lastly, Walgreens has so many other great features online such as family prescription management and refill reminder emails or texts. As for me, I am back on the tennis court in my first game this morning after receiving great advice with the pharmacy chat. Here is to a healthy and happy 2014 for all of us!
I’m sorry to hear that your year started off to the flu. That’s great that your pharmacist went the extra mile for you.
Poor girl!! H1N1 is rough enough but to add being pregnant to it, makes it even harder!! Glad you are recovering!! I love my Walgreen’s!
WOW! That really sucks to be laid out for so long with the flu! I am so glad that you did catch it early, but that is a long time. Congrats on your pregnancy!! I only use Walgreens too and would never trust anyone else.
Wow! That is really a great service and I had no idea it was available. It’s horrible that you had to be so sick! I’m hoping the flu stays away from us this year!
Being sick with the flu is horrible. Walgreens is fantastic! It’s the only pharmacy I use.
That must have been scary. Hope you are feeling better now!
Man, sorry to hear you got so sick. I love that Walgreens service. I have used it a few times myself.
Oh no, so sorry you had to deal with the flu! Glad Walgreens could help make it better though!
I’m glad you’re feeling better! Considering how much money you’d already spent dealing with this, I’m glad you had a free but still useful option.
I like the fact that they have a live chat option. That right there is a big plus!
So sorry to hear! H1N1 isn’t a flu to toy with. I’m glad to hear you are getting better and Walgreen has helped you out.
Holy moly, I don’t think I have ever “known” anyone with actual H1N1 and how horrifying to get it while pregnant!!! 🙁 Glad to hear that Walgreens was able to help you out!
Great resource they offer! I had the flu with my baby when I was pregnant it was horrible. Be careful and get some rest. FYI I opted for not drugs and I only had it for 4 days!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE sites that offer live chat options, it is so great to be able to get your questions answered right away. I just wish more businesses were as responsive.
H1N1 is no joke, I make sure to get my flu shot every year to hopefully help keep me healthy
omg melissa! i didn’t realize you had h1n1!! glad you are better
I’m so sorry to hear how sick you have been. But I’m glad you are feeling better. I didn’t know about the walgreens pharmacy chat. That is such a neat tool. I love my walgreens.
That is awful to be that sick. At least you were able to get help getting better.
That really is a nice feature to have, especially when people tend to get sick on the weekends or holidays when NOBODY is open! No? Maybe that’s just ME. LOL
I’m so sorry to hear that you’ve been so sick! I’ve been bedbound several times in my healing journey and I can definitely attest at how NOT fun it is. I hope you feel better soon!
You really did have a tough time of it. I felt so badly for you with all your updates on Facebook. 🙁 I’m so glad you’re on the mend big time now.
On topic now, I think I’m going to use that Walgreens chat so much in the future. That’s incredibly valuable help.
So sorry about your illness! I know how bad that can be. Walgreens is awesome. I would love to be able to talk to a pharmacist online. So cool!
I’m glad you’re feeling better now – sounds like you were down for the count! I love the Walgreens Live Chat – I’ve used it a couple of times before and it’s always been helpful.
I have been hearing horrible things about H1N1 effecting healthy people. This is super scary, but I’m glad you’re ok now and were able to find some relief from all of this.