Alcoholic who drinks Listerine risks serious health problems

Q. My 31-year-old sister is an alcoholic. She has been to two rehab facilities within the past year.

My parents and I have been very supportive and paid her bills for those.

She has lived with both of us, but when we put rules in place, she has ignored them. She finally got a job, and then about two weeks ago, she started sleeping all weekend.

I couldn’t find any alcohol in the house, but we bought a BAC (blood alcohol content) detector, and it would read off the charts.

She’d say she wasn’t drinking, and she would have this wild-eyed drunk look.

I saw a huge bottle of Listerine in her bathroom yesterday, and today it is gone.

She always smells of it, and it broke my heart when I realized what she’s doing.

A. Your sister might need more help than you can give her. As you have realized, she might be abusing Listerine for its alcohol content.

Only a desperate and addicted person does this.

We heard from another reader who reported that her mother died of liver failure, kidney failure and heart failure after several years of secretly drinking large amounts of Listerine.

Please get in touch with a professional who can guide you to treatment for your sister.

This is not a do-it-yourself project.

Q. When Armour Thyroid disappeared, my doctor used a conversion chart to try to get the same results from Synthroid.

So far, my hair is thinning, my fingernails are peeling back layer by layer, and I have begun to gain weight.

I am usually cold, tired and upset because I am miserable on Synthroid. I’ll have to wait another month before a blood test will tell if the dose is right. I can already tell it isn’t.

I’d appreciate any information you have about getting the most from Synthroid, since I can’t get Armour anymore.

A. Many people with thyroid problems do well on Synthroid, but some feel better on Armour desiccated thyroid gland.

Armour has become scarce lately, with no indication when the manufacturer may replenish the supply.

Your doctor could prescribe Erfa desiccated thyroid from Canada. This is more similar to Armour than synthetic levothyroxine (Synthroid).

Your symptoms suggest too little thyroid activity.

We are sending you our Guide to Thyroid Hormones with more information on test results, symptoms and treatment of this condition.

Anyone who would like a copy, please send $3 in check or money order with a long (No. 10), stamped (61 cents), self-addressed envelope to: Graedons’ People’s Pharmacy, No. T-4, P.O. Box 52027, Durham, NC 27717-2027. It also can be downloaded for $2 from our Web site: www.peoplespharmacy.com.

Q. I want to share a remedy for midlife vaginal dryness. Suddenly last year at 54, I realized that regular lubricants such as K-Y Jelly were no longer working for me.

Then I found Replens at the drugstore. This is an oil-based moisturizer to be applied every few days.

It took a week or so of daily application to build up enough. Later, I switched to K-Y Liquibeads, which is less messy.

Our sex life is now back to normal, and both of us are pleased.

A. Replens bills itself as a vaginal moisturizer rather than a lubricant.

A key ingredient in Replens is polycarbophil, a polymer that attracts water to the cellular lining.

Readers tell us that they also have had success with applications of olive or coconut oil, vitamin E, Sylk (made from kiwi vine extract) or Corn Huskers Lotion.

XIn their column, Joe and Teresa Graedon answer letters from readers. Write to them in care of The Vindicator or e-mail them via their Web site: www.PeoplesPharmacy.com. Their newest book is “Favorite Foods From The People’s Pharmacy: Mother Nature’s Medicine.”

2009 King Features Syndicate Inc.