Every first of the month, I watch the same thing happen at the counter. 👀 People come in to restock what they ran out of over the weekend, not because a new month means anything medically, but because it’s the one date most of us actually notice passing. 📅 I’ve learned to use that. If a new calendar page is the only nudge some people need to check something they’ve been putting off, fine, let’s use it properly this time.
So here’s what I actually tell patients in Uyo and Calabar when August starts, not the polished version, the real one. 💙
Start the month with a number, not a guess
Half the men who come into BEZ Pharmacy over 40 have never checked their blood pressure outside a hospital visit, usually because something already went wrong by the time they did. Don’t let this be the month you find out the hard way. ❤️ If your top number keeps reading above 140, that’s not something to wait out. We started stocking the Omron Evolv because it doesn’t need a separate cuff hose people lose within a week, and because one reading tells you almost nothing while ten readings over the first two weeks of the month tell you a real story. 📈 Make it a first-of-the-month habit, not a someday habit.
The conversations people save for a new month because they’ve been putting them off
A woman came in recently, clearly uncomfortable, trying to describe a vaginal itch without quite saying the word. I’d rather you just say it plainly, because ketoconazole cream treats a fungal infection, boric acid suppositories treat something else entirely, and guessing between them based on what worked for your cousin can drag a problem into a second or third month. If you’ve been prescribed premarin cream, that’s a hormone medication, and any change to dose belongs in a conversation with your gynaecologist, not a decision you make alone at the start of a new cycle.
The same goes for HIV self-testing and PEP. 🧪 If there’s been a possible exposure, the window that matters is 72 hours, ideally sooner, and no amount of embarrassment is worth losing it. I’ve handed PEP to people who could barely look at me. I’ve never thought less of anyone for asking, and a new month is as good a reason as any to stop carrying that alone. 🤝
Reset the supplement shelf, not just the routine
Vigor chocolate and tongkat ali get asked about more than almost anything else we stock, usually by men wanting a natural lift heading into a new month. They can genuinely help, but if the real issue underneath is poor sleep, stress, or blood sugar nobody’s checked with a glucometer in months, no supplement fixes that on its own. I’ll sell it to you. I’ll also ask the boring questions first, because that’s the part that actually changes the outcome.
What I recommend more than anyone asks for is plainer: zinc, magnesium, a decent probiotic. Deficiencies in all three are common here and show up as tiredness or a digestive complaint people write off as stress by month three. Cod liver oil still earns its place for joint pain in older patients, and vitamin D deficiency is far more common in Nigeria than most people expect. 🌞 If your last bottle ran out weeks ago and you never replaced it, this is the month.
Restock before the emergency, not during it
Nebulizers, wrist and knee braces, crutches, compression stockings, a thermometer that still works. Nobody plans for these at the start of a month, and then rainy season hits and a child’s chest tightens at 11pm. 🌧️ If asthma runs in your family, having a nebulizer at home before the emergency saves you a frightening drive across Uyo or Calabar in the dark. Check the first aid box this week, not after something happens. 🩹
Two things I still slow down on, new month or not
Codeine-based cough syrup is one. We don’t hand it out casually at the start of a month or any other time, and the abuse pattern with codeine syrup in this country is well documented enough that a pharmacist who sells it without questions isn’t doing anyone a favour.
Skin brightening creams like Fair and White Gold are the other. I’ll sell them, but I’ll also say plainly that some lightening products carry steroid or hydroquinone levels that thin skin over time, and a new month is a better moment to ask what’s actually causing the uneven tone than to just restart the same routine.
One thing to carry into August
Finish your antibiotics completely, even when day three feels fine. 💊 Check your blood pressure before it checks you. ❤️ And if something has quietly bothered you through July, a rash, a missed period, a supplement you’re not sure is safe with your BP medication, let the new month be the reason you finally say it out loud.
Walk into BEZ Pharmacy in Uyo or Calabar and ask. That conversation is free, and it’s usually the one that changes what the rest of the month looks like.
💙 Happy New Month, from all of us at BEZ Pharmacy.