TMI Talk: The Stages of Taking Antibiotics

This is a sponsored post. All opinions, however, are my own and that of The Caro Diaries. Thank you to Monistat for sponsoring today's discussion. 

Being sick sucks. It's not just the being sick, but the whole feeling like crap thing, you know? After I went into surgery last month, I was on a ton of medication. I was popping four and five pills a day - which, if you know me, you know isn't exactly fun. 

I'm a girl who despises doctor's appointments, hospitals and medication. Seriously, I cried until I was 15 every time I had to take pills - and I used to make my mom crush them for me. Yes, I know, I'm a wuss. Even now when I take medication, I literally have to convince myself, and give myself a little internal pep talk. So I'd say my relationship with medication is a rocky one. 

Now don't get me wrong, I know the benefits of taking medication, and especially antibiotics - I mean, they're to get you better. But they suck sometimes too, am I right? Am I the only one who's experienced all of the below stages of taking antibiotics? Including one I didn’t expect, yeast infections – one no one is talking about! But today, I am. It’s Time for TMI! (Be sure to check out how you can receive a coupon or free sample of Chafing Relief Powder Gel® from MONISTAT™ Complete Care™ below.)

// you can't drink:

It starts simple. You get sick. You see a doctor. Doctor prescribes you some medication, and boom your plans for the weekend are gone! Say goodbye to that glass of wine after work, or that bottle of prosecco chilling in your fridge because one sip of it can negate your medications and even worse, make you sicker! Don't worry.. that diet coke looks good too! 

// hard to swallow: 

This may just be on me, but I feel like there is a direct correlation to the tasting of the pill and how hard it is to swallow. Pills that taste fine or don't leave an aftertaste go down just fine, but the minute that I try to shove a gross tasting pill into my throat, I suddenly have anaphylaxis and I can't swallow the pills. Then the taste is stuck on your tongue and you're chugging three glasses of water to help. 

// you need to remember them every day: 

Probably the hardest one for me because I'm so bad at taking medication. Especially the ones that taste bad. I mean, not only do you have to swallow it, but you have to do it every day - sometimes even more than once a day?! It's like they're trying to kill me (or save me.. same thing!?).

// on the bright side, you have an excuse to continuously eat:

Most antibiotics can't be taken on an empty stomach, which gives you an excuse to pig out three times a day in the name of taking pills. You name it, you eat it. Hey, if we have to shove gross pills in our mouth three times a day, we'll do it with a side of fries, thank you very much! 

// you finally start to get better: 

Usually around day five, you start to feel better, but of course you have to continue taking the monstrosity pills because if you don't finish the week, you'll never get fully better! (#beentheredonethat). This is probably the most frustrating part - I mean you're better, why are you still taking pills?! 

// the after effects - yeast infections: 

Now if taking your medication wasn't enough, you were apparently supposed to take probiotics this entire time too?! For us non-medical people, apparently when you're taking antibiotics, you're stripping your body of necessary biotics - so most people take pro-biotic pills or eat a ton of yogurt while they're on medication to avoid getting yeast infections.. but for some of us who didn't know that (aka why didn't you write that on the prescription, doc?!) and it's too late, there's Monistat. 

Growing up, I always thought yeast infections were really bad. I mean, they aren't really good, but they're a lot more common than I thought. It turns out, yeast infections aren't caused by sex or having bad hygiene, but really simply by being sick and sometimes even by taking antibiotics. Monistat polled girls to find out the extent of their knowledge on yeast infections and realized that we know a lot less than they thought we did. We're seriously misinformed over here! 

Monistat sent me a care package featuring some of their products to see, and they're actually pretty great. The best part is that you don't need a prescription for their products - so you can treat your yeast infection pretty easily, and without any hefty doctor's fees. They even included a flash drive with all of the information from their It's Time for TMI website so I could learn a little bit more about the causes of yeast infection. There's even a quiz for you to complete and you could win a full-sized package of their chafing relief gel (which btw is also a really great beauty hack - google it!) 

Were you as clueless as I am about yeast infections? Did I miss any of the stages of antibiotics? Raising a big glass of wine to you on this antibiotic-free weekend!