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4.8.12

MEDICINAL INSTRUCTIONS - always read the leaflet.

I found some medicine on the shelf behind my vitamins and I couldn't remember what it was for - these moments come more often than I would like these days. :(
The box read "Acetilcisteina cinfa 200mg" in big letters and "polvo para solucion oral EFG" in small letters. That second phrase means "powder to make a fine grain oral solution", but what was it for? So I read the leaflet.

The first sentence began - QUE ES acetilcisteina cifa 200mg polvo para solucion oral Y PARA QUE SE UTILIZA. "What is ace.....EFG  and how to use it".
The answer?
Acetiilcisteina cinfa 200mg polvo para solucion oral se presenta en forma de polva para solucion oral. Ace.... EFG is presented in powder form to make an oral solution. 
I would never have guessed.
Cada sobre de acetilcisteaina cinfa 200mg polvo para solucion oral contiene 200mg de acetilcisteina como principio activo. Each envelope of ace... EFG contains 200mg of ace... as its principal active ingredient.
So it contains what it says on the box - there's a surprise.


WAKE UP AT THE BACK THERE!

This was only the first short paragraph. The leaflet - for which I needed a magnifying glass - explained next what to do before taking aceticlisteina cinfa 200mg polvo.......EFG (I'm getting bored with typing this but you get the picture) - Not to take ace......EFG if you were allergic to any of the ingredients in ace.......EFG and went on to list SEVEN sub-sections, each one of which named the stuff in full.

Then came COMO TOMAR ace.........EFG. How to take ace.....EFG in another seven sub-sections, what to do if you overdose on ace.....EFG (only two sub-sections here, presumably because you would need to act fast?) and then one short sentence on what to do if you forget to take ace....EFG
By the time I got to 4.POSSIBLES EFECTOS ADVERSOS de ace.....EFG  and 5.CONSERVACION de ace....EFG I was exhausted, so you can do your own translation.

But wait! "Do not keep ace....EFG in temperatures in excess of 30*C". 
Tenerife has been on orange alert for three days and we've had temperatures up to 40*C. I found this on a shelf in my kitchen where the temperature gets even higher than outside. I should be throwing the damn stuff away.

Oh - I nearly forgot to tell you what it was for. In brief - which you will be delighted to know if you've stuck with me thus far - ace....EFG is for clearing the bronchial tubes. So now you know what to get if your tubes are blocked -
 ALL TOGETHER NOW!
acetilcisteina cinfa 200mg polvo para solucion oral EFG.
and I still can't type it without looking at the box.

3 comments:

  1. LOL!!! I find random medicines around the house too, usually for one of the kids from far too long ago. But the leaflets never tell what it's actually supposed to cure. I'm glad you - and we - found out. And I hope you threw it away!

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  2. My various medical problems cause me buy many different drugs and keeping a date check is important for those used infrequently. I do agree translations are tricky which is one of the reasons I return back to the UK each month for hospital treatment during the Autumn / Winter months.

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  3. Maurice - I have no problem with the translation. It's the constant repetition of the whole name of the stuff that bugs me - and they probably do that in drugs in the UK too, though I seem to recall that if you got drugs on prescription the chemist took the leaflet out, no doubt to stop the patient from reading the fine print!

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