Drug names are hard.

I’ve finally learned how to say things like “simvastatin” and “metoprolol”. Thanks to Dr. Tuohy we all know how to say “levetiracetam” too. But, obviously, there’s a lot more to it than just pronunciation. And actually, Dr. Tuohy’s lectures this week have caused me to envision seizure drugs as bullies who fight on the playground, and for some reason they congregate and sing songs from West Side Story too.

I’ll also never separate phenobarbital from peanut butter balls ever again. That association has stuck.

The real moral of the story is, I tend to use weird associations to remember certain things about drugs. Dr. Tuohy even gave us one for a drug called topiramate. Its brand name is Topamax, but apparently some people call it Dopamax because of the profound cognitive side effects it has.

Yesterday I asked some lady at the pharmacy if she was picking up Dopamax. Then I was like “aw for crying out loud.” I immediately told her it was my professor’s fault for calling it that!

Luckily, I don’t think I’ll be actually saying “peanut butter balls” to patients at work. Hopefully.

Now I’m just hungry for peanut butter balls.