Something You Should Know - Why Timing REALLY is Everything & Ways to Save on Medication You Never Knew

Episode Date: January 22, 2018

Sure, it’s great to want more money but if you don’t have the time to enjoy it – what’s the point? We begin this episode with a look at why spending more of your money on things that actually create more free time for you can make your life much more enjoyable. While the phrase “timing is everything” is tossed around a lot, it turns out there is a lot of wisdom in it. In short, it is not just WHAT you do in your life that is important it – it is also WHEN you decide to do it. Daniel Pink, author of the book When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing (http://amzn.to/2Dne4Ml) reveals why timing is so important and how to time events in your life to be more successful. Who hasn’t reheated pizza in the microwave? Everyone does with predictably disappointing results. Listen and you'll discover a better way that doesn’t take much more time but delivers much better results. And wouldn’t it be great to save money on prescription drugs? It turns out there are a lot of ways to save beyond the simple advice of getting generic drugs rather than name brands. Edward Jardini, M.D is author of the book How to Save On Prescription Drugs: 20 Cost Savings Methods (http://amzn.to/2mY1bBH) and he has some very clever ways to keep more money in your pocket and not waste it on medicine.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today on Something You Should Know, would you rather have more money or more free time? It's a complicated question we'll explore together. Then, timing is everything. It turns out when you do things can be just as important as what you do. We're pretty intentional about what we do, but when it comes to when we do things, we don't take it as seriously. And the science is telling us that when we do things has a huge effect on how well we do them, how we feel doing it. And when you hear what I have to say, you'll never reheat pizza in the microwave again.

And saving money on prescription drugs. For example, a lot of eye drop medications say to put two drops in each eye. Eye medications, eye drops, can be as expensive as any others. And because the eye can only really hold one drop of medication, using one drop of medication instead of two cuts prescription eye drop costs in half. All this today on Something You Should Know. As a listener to Something You Should Know,

I can only assume that you are someone who likes to learn about new and interesting things and bring more knowledge to work for you in your everyday life. I mean, that's kind of what Something You Should Know was all about. And so I want to invite you to listen to another podcast called TED Talks Daily. Now, you know about TED Talks, right? Many of the guests on Something You Should Know have done TED Talks Daily. Now, you know about TED Talks, right? Many of the guests on Something You Should Know have done TED Talks. Well, you see, TED Talks Daily is a podcast that brings you a new TED Talk every weekday in less than 15 minutes. Join host Elise Hu.

She goes beyond the headlines so you can hear about the big ideas shaping our future. Learn about things like sustainable fashion, embracing your entrepreneurial spirit, the future of robotics, and so much more. Like I said, if you like this podcast, Something You Should Know, I'm pretty sure you're going to like TED Talks Daily. And you get TED Talks Daily wherever you get your podcasts. Something you should know. Fascinating intel. The world's top experts. And practical advice you can use in your life. Today, Something You Should Know

with Mike Carruthers. So for Christmas I got a smart speaker. I got the Amazon Echo and this, by the way, is not a commercial. I just think they're really cool. I don't know if you've ever played with one of these. They are the new hot thing, but it's really a lot of fun. Alexa, hi. Hi. Alexa, what time is it? It's 2.58 p.m. See, you can ask her anything. She'll tell you anything. Alexa, tell me a joke. Why did the tuna cross the road? Just for the halibut.

And you can listen to the radio. You can listen to podcasts. Alexa, play something you should know. Getting the latest episode of Something You Should Know. Here it is from TuneIn. Today on Something You Should Know, if a fly lands on the food you're about to eat. Here it is from TuneIn. and play older episodes. So if you know that, drop me an email and let me know how to do that. First up today, let's look at the question, can money buy happiness?

The short answer is yes, but it does depend on how you spend it. Scientists at the University of British Columbia gave people some hypothetical choices, like would you rather have a pricey apartment close to work or an inexpensive apartment with a long commute? Would you prefer a high-paying job with long hours or a smaller paycheck but more free time? In addition, one group of participants was given a real choice between $50 cash and a $120 house-cleaning voucher. The people who were willing to give up the money in favor of more time, a shorter commute, less work, fewer chores, were happier, according to the researchers. Why? Because leisure time lets you do fun things. Even if you have a million dollars,

what good is it if you have no time to enjoy it? And it's painfully obvious that many people make the opposite choice and prioritize money over time. For example, you spend your weekends mowing the lawn and cleaning the gutters rather than hiring a handyman or a landscape service. You take the indirect airline flight to save $200, but you've lost six hours of your life. It's worth remembering what really makes you happy when you create your budget, because maybe if you spend less on material goods to free up money for services that make your life easier, you will be happier.

Now, Alexa, close the segment. And that is something you should know. Timing is everything. I'm sure you've heard that before, but perhaps we don't think about timing Timing is everything. I'm sure you've heard that before, but perhaps we don't think about timing as much as we ought to. In other words, when we do something, it can be just as important when we do it as what we do.

Someone who knows a lot about this and can explain it a lot better than me is Daniel Pink. Daniel's written several thought-provoking and best-selling books, including Drive and To Sell is Human, and his newest book is called When? The Scientific Secrets to Perfect Timing. Hi, Daniel. Thanks for being here. Thanks for having me. Good to be with you. As you say, you know, we say timing is everything, but you say we don't take it very seriously. And, you know, when you think about it, you're right. When we say timing is everything, it's kind of in retrospect, like, oh, see how that worked out? But what do you mean that we don't take it seriously? And what does it mean to take timing seriously? Yeah, well, you know,

you're exactly right. We make all kinds of timing decisions in our life all kinds of when decisions so when should we get married when should we um uh even more mundane questions of like you know when should we exercise during the day when should we do certain kinds of work and we tend to make those decisions based on intuition and guesswork and that's the wrong way to do it there's a rich body of science out there across many, many fields giving us evidence to make systematically smarter, shrewder, when decisions in our life. And if we look at this science, we can begin to refashion how we organize our day and what we do when. We can take advantage of some of the power of beginnings and midpoints and endings.

We can get better at synchronizing with other people in time. We can understand the power of breaks. And what I find in general is that we're fairly, especially in a given day, we're pretty intentional about what we do and how we do it and who we do it with. But when it comes to when we do things, we don't take it as seriously. And the science is telling us that when we do things has a huge effect on how well we do them, how we feel doing it. So give me some examples of what that means. Like when would I be better to do something? So what the research has shown is that the day typically follows a pattern of three key stages, a peak, a trough, and a rebound. A peak, a trough, and a rebound. For most of us, we proceed through the day in that order. Those of us who are strong night owls,

who are what are called evening chronotypes, people who rise late, wake up late, they go in reverse order. So we see this in our measure of mood. So our mood typically goes up in the morning, declines in the early afternoon, and then rebounds later in the day. But we also see it in performance. And simply moving the right tasks to the right time of day can make a world of difference. So let's take the peak. During the peak, we are typically better at doing analytic work. That's work that requires heads down, focus, analysis, being vigilant, batting away distractions.

You know, writing a report would be an example of that, or analyzing data. And we're better off doing that kind of work then. During the trough, which is for most of us the early to mid-afternoon, that's not good for very much. Our performance and our mood tend to sag. That's better for doing more mundane administrative things like answering a routine email or filling out expense reports or something like that. And then during the recovery, which is usually in the later afternoon and early evening, that's an intriguing time because our mood goes back up and we're less vigilant than during the peak. And that combination of that sort of looseness and an elevated mood

makes it a pretty good time for brainstorming and other kinds of creative work. And so if we can just get our bosses or on our own to move the right tasks to the right time of day, we're going to perform better. And what the research shows is that time of day, just time of day itself, explains 20% of the variance in human performance on these workplace tasks. That's a big deal. It doesn't mean that timing is everything, but it means it's a very, very important thing. And if we're more deliberate and intentional about making these win decisions,

we're going to work better. So you mentioned at the beginning that, you know, we use our intuition at times to make these big decisions like getting married or switching jobs. Well, how does timing... Aren't some of these things better left to intuition? Yes and no. You know, here's the thing. We can use some of this research to improve our odds. So marriage, okay, that's a good example, right? I think we should use our intuition on when we

get married. But there's also data here, right? And I'm not saying that you should change when you get married based on this data, but I think it's worth knowing about. For instance, at any level of education, we know that marriages are more successful if people get married after they finish their formal education. It doesn't matter whether your formal education ends at high school or college or graduate school. When people get married after their formal education, their odds of divorce go down. Now, it doesn't mean that every person who gets married after their formal education is going to stay married. It doesn't mean that every person who gets married before their formal education ends is going to get divorced. But what it means is that the odds are different. People might want to factor that into the timing of their marriage.

By the same token, there's research out of the University of Utah from Nicholas Wolfinger showing that there is something of a sweet spot in when we get married. Marriages tend to be more successful when people get married between the ages of about 25 and 32. Now, again, it doesn't mean if you get married when you're 37 or 47 or 57, you're going to get a divorce. But knowing that, knowing some of these things, I think can inform a decision. I don't want anyone saying, you know what, I love you, but I don't want to get married because I'm 33. I think that's ridiculous. But I do think that some of these intuitive judgments, and particularly something as intimate as that, can be informed a little bit by the data. Talk about the importance of breaks and how that fits into this conversation.

Oh, sure. So if you think about the afternoon trough, a very dangerous time, we see student test scores go down. Then we see errors in hospitals and all kinds of medical problems then. But a good antidote to all of that is taking breaks. And to my mind, the science of breaks is where the science of sleep was 15 years ago. 15 years ago, you had people who would come into an office and brag about, I didn't get any sleep last night. I pulled an all-nighter. And we thought those people were heroic. Now we know they're idiots, that they're hurting their own performance. And the reason we know that is the science of sleep, which began emerging robustly in the last 15 years. The

science of breaks, I think, is following a similar trajectory. What we're learning about breaks from the research is very powerful. We should be taking more breaks in the day, particularly in the afternoon, and we should be taking certain kinds of breaks. And this is one area, Mike, where I have completely changed my ways. I used to try to power through and never take breaks, and I had it completely wrong. I thought that amateurs took breaks and professionals don't, when it's exactly the opposite. Amateurs are the ones who don't take breaks. And I had it completely wrong. I thought that amateurs took breaks and professionals don't when it's exactly the opposite. Amateurs are the ones who don't take breaks. Professionals take breaks. And what we also know about breaks is some really good evidence about how to take better breaks. We know, for instance, that something is better than nothing. So a break doesn't have to be a one-hour break at all. Micro breaks of one or two minutes can be replenishing.

So we know something is better than nothing. We know that social breaks are better than solo breaks, even for introverts like me. So take a break with somebody. If you can choose who you take a break with, that can be very replenishing. We know that moving during your break is better than being stationary. So maybe if you can't go out for a walk, we know that being in nature is enormously replenishing on breaks. So if you have the opportunity to go outside,

even see any kind of nature, that can help out. And we know, which I think is deeply important, is that full detachment is better than semi-detachment, that you have to be fully detached in order to get the benefits of a break. So if you decide, say, oh, this sounds great, I'm going to go out for a nature walk, but if you do the whole thing with your nose and your Instagram feed, that's not going to be a very effective break. Well, and you point out that schools, many schools have eliminated recess, I guess because they think, you know, we have a lot of work to do, we don't have time for recess,

we need to be in the classroom working, but those schools are seeing a drop in test scores, and that's huge. I think it is, and I think it goes to, you know, just our notions of it. And again, I'm a convert on this, so I have the zeal of someone who's converted. The way I read the research is that we have to think about breaks differently, that breaks are not a deviation from performance. Breaks are part of performance. So, for instance, I mentioned in this afternoon trough, student test scores go down. This is based on some interesting research in Denmark that looked at 2 million standardized test scores and found that taking a test in the afternoon was equivalent to missing two weeks of school. All right, that's a little alarming.

But what they found the remedy for that was that you can get the scores back up if you give these kids a 20 to 30 minute break right before they take the test to, you know, have a little juice or run around. It's really interesting. And, you know, I think we have a sense of that, that if we step away from something, if we step back and kind of refresh, that we do better. I'm talking with Daniel Pink.

His book is When? The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing. People who listen to Something You Should Know are curious about the world, looking to hear new ideas and perspectives. So I want to tell you about a podcast that is full of new ideas and perspectives, and one I've started listening to called Intelligence Squared. It's the podcast where great minds meet. Listen in for some great talks on science, tech, politics, creativity, wellness, and a lot more. A couple of recent examples, Mustafa Suleiman, the CEO of Microsoft AI, discussing the future of technology.

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So Daniel, talk about the fresh start effect. The notion that we're more likely to do something if we started at the first of the month or the first of the year or the first of the week or on our birthday. Talk about that. Yeah, this is some really interesting research done out of the University of Pennsylvania by Hank Tendai, Katie Milkman, and Jason Reese. And what they found is that certain dates of the year operate, and this is their phrase, temporal landmarks. They're landmarks in time. And these landmarks in time. And these landmarks

in time have two really interesting effects on our behavior. First, like a physical landmark, they sometimes get us to slow down and pay attention. Second, they end up triggering this very peculiar form of mental accounting. So when we think about a business, a business will open up a fresh ledger at the beginning of a quarter, at the beginning of a fiscal year. And these temporal landmarks get us to do the same sort of thing for ourselves, that we use these dates, you know, New Year's Day being the most prominent, but we use these dates to open up a fresh ledger on ourselves and say, okay, old me, you know, never exercised and only ate fast food, but new me, I'm opening up a fresh ledger, I'm going to do things differently. And we're more likely to do that and adhere to the behavior,

as you say, when we do it, exactly as you say, when we do it on the first of a month rather than the 13th of a month, or we do it on the day after our birthday or the day before our birthday. And so the point here is that all days of the year are not created equal when it comes to behavior change, that certain days are more powerful ways to make that fresh start. So if we look for those kinds of temporal landmarks, the first day after you're back from a vacation, if you're a student, the first day of a semester, as you say, Mike, the day after your birthday, even things like a Monday rather than a Thursday, you're going to have a better chance of fostering that kind of change that you seek. What do you mean by always give the bad news first? Why?

A lot of us find ourselves giving good news and bad news. I certainly do. Everybody has said, I got some good news and some bad news. And the question is, which do you give first? I always gave the good news first. Yeah, I would too. Yeah, I would always give the good news first. Yeah, but why would you give the good news first? This is what I do, but I want to hear your reasons for it. Well, because then the conversation is at least starting off on a high note, and it may go down from there, but at least we're starting up and going down rather than starting down and then feeling depressed, and then not going up as high because we've got all this bad news.

Exactly. I'm with you 100%. For me, another reason is it's uncomfortable giving bad news, so you sometimes want to ease into it. I think you want to put a cushion on, lay it on a cushion before you deliver the hammer blow. And what the research shows is, no, that's not it at all. If you ask people, what do you want to hear first? Four to five people want to hear the bad news first. And the reason for that has to do with how endings affect our behavior. And in short, the research shows that given a choice, human beings prefer endings that elevate. We prefer rising sequences to declining sequences.

And so I've completely changed my way on this. I always gave the good news first. Excuse me, then settled into the bad news. And now I always give the good news first, excuse me, then settled into the bad news. And now I always give the bad news first. I'm the king of giving the bad news first. Well, your majesty, that's great. Yeah, no, but I mean it. Like, again, like on this kind of, like this book, this research has changed the way I do things.

I can tell. And so, you know, and as I said, in some of these things, I do things. I can tell. And as I said, in some of these things, I have the zeal of a convert. So it's like, oh my God, I've been doing this wrong for 50 years. It's interesting, because we've talked in the past when previous of your books came out, and I've never heard you talk this enthusiastically. Oh, really? Interesting. Yeah, you really seem to be really into this, like a convert. So talk about... Yeah, I've converted about a lot of these things, definitely. Let's talk about group timing. What does that mean? It means basically how do we synchronize with other people in time? So how do rowing teams synchronize? How do lunch deliverers synchronize?

How do choral groups synchronize? And there's some interesting rules about how to group synchronize effectively, and there's some interesting effects of synchronizing itself. So if you look at something like choral singing, choral singing, man, oh, man, the benefits of choral singing are pretty remarkable. It raises pain pressure. I mean it. It raises, not just singing, Mike, singing in groups. It raises pain thresholds.

It increases our immune response. It is a mood booster. It also has a remarkable effect on giving us a sense of meaning, a sense of purpose, and even getting us to do good deeds. It's stunning. It is funny to just hear that sentence. You know, the benefits of choral singing are remarkable. Who knew? It was a big... I didn't know until I started looking into the research. Truly, that was an absolute shocker to me. I had no

inkling that that was true. It's really kind of remarkable. So are there some fundamental principles to go by in group timing? Yeah, when we want to time with other people, it's helpful to have a boss. So this is why you have rowing teams with coxswains and choral groups with clear choral leaders. So synchronizing to a boss, a sense of belonging is really important in how groups synchronize, and so belonging is fostered by, you know, a shared language, shared code, other kinds of sort of mini rituals. And then what's interesting is that people tend,

there's a virtuous circle of synchronization where when we synchronize with others, we're more likely to feel good and do good. But feeling good and doing good makes us even better at synchronization, which in turn makes us feel better, which in turn makes us synchronize better. And so the rules are essentially, you know, you got to have a strong boss, you got to have a sense of belonging, and you got to tap into this virtual circle where thinking makes us feel good and feeling good makes us synchronize even better. And you say that the research, talk about the research from the NBA real quick. Oh, yeah, this is cool. So as a sports fan, I think it's cool. So it is

a good study by Jonah Berger at Penn and Devin Pope at Chicago of NBA games. And what they did is they took like 20,000 NBA games and they looked at the score at halftime. And what they found is that teams ahead at halftime were more likely to win. Not a shocker. They have more points. But the big surprise was that teams that were down by one, down by one, were more likely to win than teams that were up by one. That being behind by one was as good as being ahead by two. And this is part of a broader amount of research showing that at a midpoint, if we feel like we're slightly behind, we tend to kick a little harder, work a little stronger. That wasn't even what I was talking about. I was talking about the high fives and the fist bumps.

Oh, okay, yeah, okay. Oh, that's about on the synchronization. Sure, yeah, this is what they did is they had people watch videotapes of NBA teams early in the season. The people watching the videotapes didn't know what these folks were studying, but they marked down how many times they touched, these players touched, high fives, low fives, chest bumps, fist bumps, the whole array of touching. And they found that the amount of team touched was actually predictive of how well the team was going to do. And I do think that has to do with belonging. That touch becomes a part of how groups foster belonging. So if you're a sports gambler,

see how often these NBA teams are touching, and they might be more likely to cover the spread. Well, timing is everything, and our time is up, so we should make a graceful exit here. My guest has been Daniel Pink. His new book is called When? The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing. Just been out a couple weeks and destined to be another New York Times bestseller. There's a link to his book at Amazon in the show notes for this episode.

Thank you, Daniel. Thank you for having me, Mike. It's always a pleasure. Since I host a podcast, it's pretty common for me to be asked to recommend a podcast. And I tell people, if you like something you should know, you're going to like The Jordan Harbinger Show. Every episode is a conversation with a fascinating guest. Of course, a lot of podcasts are conversations with guests, but Jordan does it better than most. Recently, he had a fascinating conversation with a British woman who was recruited and radicalized by ISIS and went to prison for three years.

She now works to raise awareness on this issue. It's a great conversation. And he spoke with Dr. Sarah Hill about how taking birth control not only prevents pregnancy, it can influence a woman's partner preferences, career choices, and overall behavior due to the hormonal changes it causes. Apple named The Jordan Harbinger Show one of the best podcasts a few years back, and in a nutshell, the show is aimed at making you a better, more informed, critical thinker. Check out The Jordan Harbinger Show. There's so much for you in this podcast. The Jordan Harbinger Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. shows. And don't blame me. We tackle our listeners dilemmas with hilariously honest advice. Then we have a but am I wrong, which is for the listeners that didn't take our advice. Plus, we share our hot takes on current events. Then tune in to see you next Tuesday for our lister poll results from

but am I wrong. And finally, wrap up your week with fisting Friday where we catch up and talk all things pop culture. Listen to don't blameame Me, But Am I Wrong on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Over the course of your lifetime, you will most likely be prescribed many medications by several doctors to treat whatever illness you have at the time. And if you're like most people, you take those medications because, well, the doctor said so. But it's probably worth taking a harder look at the medications you take and the money you spend on them. Dr. Edward Giardini is a practicing physician and author of a book called How to Save on Prescription Drugs. Hi, Doctor. So what is the concern here? What do you see as the problem with prescription medication?

I am convinced after 20 years of practice that prescription drugs are overprescribed. It is too easy for doctors to pick prescription drugs as the first course of therapy. And studies show that as many as one in five patients is given an inappropriate or unnecessary drug. I think that comes as a surprise to a lot of people because why? Why give unnecessary prescriptions unless, of course, as you say, it's just an easy way to treat something and to make the patient feel like the doctor's doing something. Absolutely, that's why I recommend that patients review carefully all of their medications with their physicians at each visit, review the indication for each drug taken, and look for proof from the doctor that that drug

is actually benefiting them. If the indication is unclear or it's not certain that the drug is giving them any benefit, the patient should ask for a trial discontinuation of that drug. Well, but don't you think doctors will sometimes recommend a drug just in case? That, you know, if you have what I think you have, this drug can help. But if you don't have what I think you have, this drug isn't going to cause any harm. So there's no harm in doing it. Right. What you're describing is called a therapeutic trial, where there is some uncertainty as to the diagnosis or as to the benefit of the

treatment, and a trial of medication is sometimes justified in those cases. Then with close follow-up, we can see if the drug is actually having benefit. But too often, a therapeutic trial is given, no benefit is seen, and the patient continues on the drug. Well, that seems stupid. I mean, that's just a big waste of time and money right there. Mike, it happens all the time. Putting aside for the moment this idea that perhaps people are taking medications they don't need to take, assuming that the medications you're taking, you do need to take, you have ways of saving money on those medications. And I don't think people think there's a lot of ways to save money on medications, perhaps with the exception of, you know, generic versus name brand. That's a good

way to save money. But beyond that, there probably isn't much. Well, that would be an incorrect assumption. There are many ways that patients can save money on the essential treatments that they must have with prescription medications. Great. And so let's start with generic drugs. Is there any reason not to take the generic equivalent of a name brand drug? I feel there is no verifiable reason to take a brand name when a generic drug equivalent is available. And the only reason I would do so is if the patient insisted because they had their own personal feelings that the brand name was somehow better. But studies would not support that the brand name is necessarily any better or worse than its generic equivalent. And that can save you a lot of money right there.

Absolutely. Generic drugs are up to 90% cheaper than their brand name counterparts. Now, you say that you should refuse free samples from your doctor, free medication samples. And, you know, to me, that's like found money. Here's medication that you're going to have to go out and buy, but at least some of it's free. Patients should resist accepting free samples of a new treatment because these medications are expensive, they are patented, and once the patient has been started on that medicine, they'll be trapped into eventually buying that particular product. These are new

drugs. They have less experience, less testing. They're more risky, and often they are not as effective as the trusted older medications used for the same purpose. You know, it sounds a little like the neighborhood drug dealer. You know, the first one's free, but then you're stuck taking that medication. Your doctor doesn't have samples of all the available medications, only the ones that the drug companies would like him or her to prescribe. That leaves out about 99% of the available choices. So that in itself should convince you that it would not be good practice to only choose treatments that are sampled to your doctor. Does it make sense to shop around for price between the pharmacies in your area? Could the price be that different from a Walgreens to a CVS to a

Rite Aid to a local pharmacy? Absolutely. There is a tremendous variation in price among local drugstores in a particular community. We've seen as much as three or four times difference from one prescription, same drug, same amount, so it really pays to call around and find out how much that prescription is going to cost from one drugstore to another. We've found that there can be as much as three or four times the cost at the most expensive compared to the least expensive. Is it a safe assumption do you think or is it your experience that the big chain pharmacies are typically going to be cheaper than say a local mom-and-pop pharmacy? Not necessarily. I think anyone

taking an expensive drug should shop around each time they have a new medication. Sometimes the big box retailers are going to give the best deal, particularly for their generic loss leader programs, sometimes offering medicines for $4 or $5 per month. But oftentimes, the drugstore you'd least expect will have a better price than even the big box stores. So it pays to shop. So how else can I save money on prescription drugs? I have a number of quick, clever tips I can give you. If you're taking more than one of any pill, you may be able to get an equal dose of the same medication in a single higher dose tablet at a much lower cost. This is because the cost of varying strength of a tablet of a

particular drug is often the same. And an example of that would be Lipitor, the 20, 40, and 80 milligram strengths are all the same. So if you were prescribed for some reason two 20 milligram tablets, the 40 milligram would cut your cost in half. Another method I have, I don't have to tell your listeners that eye medications, eye drops, can be as expensive as any others, sometimes costing over a dollar per drop. And because the eye can only really hold one drop of medication, instilling a second drop is wasteful. Using one drop of medication instead of two cuts prescription eye drop cost in half, which could save you, depending on the number of eye drops you take, four or eight dollars a

day, which can really add up. Well wait a minute, that sounds kind of weird to me. If the eye can only hold one drop of medication, why would doctors and eyedrop manufacturers recommend more than one drop of medication at a time. It seems very weird. It's commonly done, but a review team of ophthalmologists who reported to the medical letter on therapeutics recommended that for almost all eye preparations, that one drop would be the maximum dose. The eye, even brimming with fluid, can only hold about 30 microliters of fluid. The typical eye drop dispensed from a bottle has 35 to 50 microliters. So even one drop is more than the eye can hold. Instilling a second drop either causes the medicine to spill onto the face or to go down the lacrimal duct into the nose. And that expensive medicine in your nose probably does little good for your eye.

Yeah, I would think not. You also recommend that people think about cutting tablets in half. Yes, a few doctors or patients realize that different strengths of a particular medicine actually have the same price. For example, the 20, 40, and 80 milligram doses of Lipitor, which the 80 milligram and cutting the tablets in half would cut your prescription cost in half. Well, that's a no-brainer. Yes, and even when higher dose tablets cost more, they rarely double the cost, so that the cost per milligram is always going to be less at the higher strength.

Occasionally, I've noticed on TV when there are drug commercials for prescription medications, they often mention at the end some sort of assistance, especially if the medication is expensive, some sort of financial assistance where you can get the medication for less. So talk about those programs. Pharmaceutical company assistance programs are underutilized. These programs are available to almost any patient who can indicate a need, and the only requirement is to apply. Sometimes they will request a verification of income or assets, but oftentimes they'll take your word for it. And once approved for these programs, the medications are free. Who wouldn't do that?

But I guess people figure that those programs, those assistance programs for drugs, are for people below the poverty line. Not at all. Sometimes you just have to indicate a need. Sometimes if your medical costs are very, very high, not just prescription drugs, but all medical costs, that can be subtracted from your income to calculate whether you would qualify. So many more people than realize it would qualify for these programs. Sometimes, for example, I know of one program, even an income of $70,000 for a family of five would allow you to qualify for the program. Any other last piece of advice above and beyond what you've given, which is a lot,

but any other ways that people can save money that they may not think of? The most important thing you can do to improve the cost of your prescription treatments is to discuss the price of medications with your doctor. Whenever a new medication is recommended, you should ask your doctor how much the medicine costs. It's likely the doctor won't know, but I think it starts the discussion. And most medical offices have internet access and can quickly check prices on drugstore.com, cvs.com, or another drugstore website. Always find out the retail price of a prescription before using a prescription

drug insurance plan. Often the retail price will be lower than the copayment of your insurance plan. Another tip is to only accept a few-week supply of a newly prescribed medicine for long-term treatment. So if the treatment is not satisfactory, say due to a side effect, you will not have paid for a large supply of unusable pills. Well, that's a good idea. I mean, who amongst us doesn't have old prescription pills sitting in their medicine cabinet that they haven't touched in who knows how long, and those pills just represent wasted money? Right, and even for temporary treatments or medications taken on an as-needed basis, it's best to request a fewer number of pills with available refills rather than buy a large supply that you may not use or that may expire before you have an opportunity to use them. Well, given the fact that pretty much everybody takes prescription medication at some point, and given the fact that it can really add up in terms of the cost, this is really important information. Dr. Edward Giardini has been my guest. He is a

practicing physician and author of the book, How to Save on Prescription Drugs, and you will find a link to his book in the show notes. Now, this may not be the most exciting advice you've ever received, but ever since I learned this, I use this all the time, and it has to do with pizza. What's interesting is that a lot of Italian food actually tastes better the second day, with pizza being the one big exception. And part of the reason why is that when people eat pizza the second day, they usually reheat it in the microwave, and the microwave is no friend of pizza. It turns the crust soggy and can quickly vaporize everything else on top.

Of course, you can always heat it up in the oven, but that takes forever. So the fast way to heat pizza up well is to put it in a frying pan with a lid on top and heat it on low. The covered pan becomes like a mini oven and it heats it up really nicely and pretty quickly. But if you do need to use the microwave to reheat your pizza, here's a little trick. Put a glass of water in the microwave next to the pizza. The water absorbs some of the excess radiation and helps keep the crust crunchy. And that is something you should know. We are getting ever closer to 1,000 reviews on iTunes for this podcast, and I would love to get there.

So if you haven't left a review yet, it only takes a second, and it would mean a lot to me to get to 1,000 reviews. That would be pretty cool. So head over to iTunes and leave a review if you have a few moments. I'm Mike Kerr Brothers. Thanks for listening today to Something You Should Know. Do you love Disney? Do you love top 10 lists? Then you are going to love our hit podcast, Disney Countdown. I'm Megan, the Magical Millennial. And I'm the Dapper Danielle. On every episode of our fun and family-friendly show,

we count down our top 10 lists of all things Disney. The parks, the movies, the music, the food, the lore. There is nothing we don't cover on our show. We are famous for rabbit holes, Disney-themed games, and fun facts you didn't know you needed. I had Danielle and Megan record some answers to seemingly meaningless questions. I asked Danielle, what insect song is typically higher pitched in hotter temperatures and lower pitched in cooler temperatures?

You got this. No, I didn't. Don't believe that. About a witch coming true? Well, I didn't either. Of course, I'm just a cicada. I'm crying. I'm so sorry.

You win that one. So if you're looking for a healthy dose of Disney magic, check out Disney Countdown wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Jennifer, a founder of the Go Kid Go Network. At Go Kid Go, putting kids first is at the heart of every show that we produce. That's why we're so excited to introduce a brand new show to our network called The Search for the Silver Lining, a fantasy adventure series about a spirited young girl named Isla who time travels to the mythical land of Camelot. Look for The

Search for the Silver Lining on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts.