I am in no way going to tell you that doctors aren't needed or that sometimes you need medication to recover from an illness. I just wanted to say that up front so that you know where I stand. What I am going to tell you is that prescription and over the counter medications should only be taken when all other methods of treatment fail, and that all of them are chemicals that can produce side effects so should be used much more cautiously than they currently are. Here are just a few things I learned about medications, and I learned them the hard way.
I used to suffer from chronic Gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD), or chronic heartburn as many of you know it. I suffered for years, many nights unable to lay flat without pain, having difficulty sleeping, and hurting. I took Tums frequently, and tried every prescription drug that the doctors would give me to help. Prescription drugs provided me some pain relief and seemed like a Godsend until a few years after starting to take them I developed a severe and chronic fatigue. I was so tired all the time that I finally had some blood testing done at the doctor. My blood tests showed a dangerously and severely low ferritin level. What that meant is that my iron stores were very very low and I was suffering from a form of anemia. It took a special test to find it.. it is not routinely checked with annual lab work.
What I then went on to learn is that anti-reflux drugs stop the production of acid in the stomach, thereby helping alleviate symptoms of heartburn. But there is a purpose to those acids in the stomach. They are there, in part, to help you break down and absorb the iron in your food. Without those normal stomach acids, my body could not use the iron I ingested and it caused a severe form of anemia. This is just one common side effect of chronic heartburn medication that many do not know about. Chronic heartburn can, instead, be controlled with diet modification, which I now employ.
Antibiotics. Where would the world be without them? I shudder to think of all the infections that would kill people without the invention of antibiotics. But did you know that they, too, have frequent side effects that go undiscovered and undiagnosed? Because my diet was poor and I consumed way too much diet Coke and even Vodka, I had very frequent urinary tract infections. Many chemicals we consume in our diets cause bladder irritation and bacteria breed then where they shouldn't. Five or six times a year, I ended up taking an antibiotic called Levaquin to recover from those infections. What I did not know was that Levaquin has a fairly common side effect of causing tendonitis. I did not discover that until recently as well and only after having pain from tendonitis in both hands chronically now, 2 years after taking my last dose of Levaquin. Many report ruptured Achilles tendons after taking Levaquin. Some of these tendonitis symptoms heal after a period of time but many do not and are permanent damage from the drug. Mine appears to be permanent damage.
Because of the tendonitis and other pain I had, I used to take Vicodin or Hydrocodone several times a day. I thought that was the way to kill the pain. I also had frequent migraines and joint aches and took pain pills whenever those were bothering me. Then I found out that pain pills are not the answer. Both prescription pain pills and over-the-counter pain pills can also cause other problems including what they call "rebound pain". What that means is that the more you take, the more you need. Since I discovered what good nutrition would do for me 2 years ago, I have not had another migraine since. With my hands I now turn to rest, ice or heat for pain control and have not taken another pain pill. It is much easier to handle now than it was when riding the "yo-yo" pain cycle.
Cholesterol medication (Statin drugs are the worst) is another example of a drug that is widely prescribed but very harmful. Cholesterol is NORMAL in the body... after all, they never want it down to 0, do they? Cholesterol is PRODUCED in your body as a response to inflammation. You may not even know you have inflammation, but your body does and produces cholesterol to line the arteries in order to protect them from the inflammation. Of course we all know that too much of this lining of the arteries can lead to heart problems so the physician's answer is to give a chemical that blocks the production of cholesterol in the body. Ok, great, but then what? The inflammation, or root cause of the problem is never addressed and the body cannot heal itself. Now I suppose you know I am going to fill you in on what causes this body inflammation, don't you? Can you guess? It is chemicals, toxins, sugars, and foreign substances that we ingest.. when you cleanse those toxins out of your body and quit over-indulging on them, your body will heal itself and the cholesterol issues that concern your doctor will magically heal themselves too.
The drugs frequently given to patients for their cholesterol are called Statins. That is a whole class or group of drugs that causes many side effects in people that can be debilitating. These drugs are known to cause arthralgias (pain in the joints), myalgias (pain in the muscles), confusion, memory loss, high blood sugars, and even muscle weakness. In short, taking these drugs can make your life MISERABLE.
Another interesting piece of information about cholesterol is this: Cholesterol (your body produces it, remember?) is necessary to make testosterone in men. Testosterone is the male hormone that makes men, well, men. It is necessary for all the manly qualities that annoy us women so much, in addition to healthy sexual function. Without enough testosterone a man can find himself unable to do the very thing he likes best to do (I don't have to tell you this, do I ? - I am trying to keep this rated G). Enter Viagra.. or the little blue pill...
You see, when the human body has all of the nutrition it needs every day, and when it is allowed to perform uninhibited, it can produce amazing healing. The body works hard to stay in balance and will do so when we get out of the way. Almost 90% of all chronic illnesses can be traced to a mineral deficiency... and minerals come from the food we eat.
When I nursed at an internal med clinic and reviewed patient's medications with them before the doctor came in to see them, I always new if I found a man with a prescription for Viagra, he would also be taking one of the Statin drugs... it was true 95% of the time. It was really sad to find folks with a list of prescription drugs that kept growing with each frequent visit to the doctor. The harder they searched for ways to feel better, the more drugs they were prescribed to treat symptoms and the more drugs they were given to counteract the side effects of the other drugs. I think that is why I quit practicing traditional nursing.. just too frustrating.
Now I am only sharing all of this to enlighten you. I used to take about 17 different drugs a day and I felt crippled and terrible. My weight continued to climb and I felt much older than I needed to. I took frequent naps and really had a poor quality of life. Then I became enlightened. I made changes and now find myself feeling young and energetic! It has been a slow and ongoing process for me but one I feel I need to share with you. Please be an informed consumer. Look at the list of side effects on your prescriptions.. When you need it, you need it, but if there is an alternative out there... please give it some thought. Feel free to message me in an email any time you wish to know about alternatives or have questions. I will be happy to help you search out answers or talk to you about your specific situation or that of a loved one...
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