Q:My husband and I decided to take Chantix to help us stop smoking. Initially, we had side effects: daily headaches at the base of the skull, very vivid dreams, talking in our sleep, severe exhaustion right after taking the pill, and sleeping for a few hours and then waking up at 3 or 4 in the morning wide awake. I had severe abdominal pain and vomiting when I took the pill with just a little food.

Q:My wife has been taking Lipitor for about three years. Two years ago, she began to have memory problems, and they have gotten steadily worse since then. She has been to a neurologist, and there does not seem to be an organic cause for her memory loss. I am left wondering if Lipitor could be to blame. How long should she stay off it to see if her memory improves? Thank you for any information you can send us.

Q:I’ve been having problems with high blood pressure for quite a while, especially since I became a truck driver five years ago. I guess the connection is that I sit and don’t get enough exercise. I went off my blood-pressure medicine about two months ago, and it’s really been a challenge to keep my diastolic pressure in the 80s. I’ve exercised, lost weight and cut down on the beers I drink to a few each week. I still need a little help in keeping the blood pressure down.

Q:We are lice-free at last with Listerine, alcohol, vinegar and Denorex! We sprayed four heads every night with Listerine before bed, then combed and combed every inch with a nit comb. The lice were gone in three days, but we continued this ritual for seven more days to kill off any newly hatched eggs each day. I soaked the four separate nit combs in rubbing alcohol between uses and dipped them periodically in the alcohol as I combed.

Metro Business asked Andy Thornton, co-owner of LaDifférence home-furnishings store at 14th and Dock streets in downtown Richmond, about operating a business downtown and what the future holds for that area: “We really enjoy the whole character of what is down here. “Everybody in retail is challenged right now no matter where you are in the country. Downtown is having its own issues like the West End. “But the long term is a really exciting place to be. “[Downtown] just has a great dynamic. . . . People have a totally different perspective on life down here.“ Watch the full video interview with Thornton on TimesDispatch.com. Keyword: Metro Business

ACCOUNTING Amanda M. Orrock is a staff accountant with Christopher A. Enright.

BANKING, INVESTMENTS Anderson & Strudwick: Earl “Skip” Stewart Jr. is vice president. Kimberly Konstaitis is sales assistant.

Members on the board of directors for the Richmond Chapter of the International Society Certified Employee Benefit Specialists are: president, Gary Powers with Aon Consulting; past president, Sharon Jahn with Virginia Commonwealth University Health System; vice president, Craig Ruppert with RCM&D; secretary, Claire Holbrook with Wachovia Insurance Services; treasurer, Rick Owens with SunTrust; members at large: sponsorship, Cathy Rusch with Swedish Match; publicity, Dave Werner with Delta Dental; membership, Dave Talbert with KSPH; and education chair, Amy Burgoyne with Aetna National Accounts.

ARCHITECTS Winnie M. Sung is a senior project architect at Clark Nexsen. BANKING, INVESTMENTS Richard S. Johnson has been appointed to the board of directors for First Community Bancshares Inc. and First Community Bank. CONSULTING Thomas M. “Tim” Slaydon is project manager at Wiley & Wilson. ENGINEERS Debbie Reading is business development manager for Dunlap and Partners. INTERIOR DESIGN