We all accept that prescription drugs are there to help us, but do they? Recently I read in a newspaper that when Pharmaceutical companies (Pharmas - Farmers?) carry out tests for new drugs it is ALWAYS on male rats, and human males, never on women or children - why?
Scientists have discovered recently that male and female brains are "wired up" differently, so obviously the effect of drugs will vary too.
Statins are now a drug that is as one newpaper doctor said, "dished out like sweets" by GPs. It is now known that these drugs cause a lot of side effects, and in rare cases lead to a rare form of fatal lung disease. I know that I was told to take one of the statins several years ago by a diabetic nurse (not a doctor!) who said I would have to take them for the rest of my life. After three years I realised my body was in general pain deep in the bones, and I was exhausted, making it difficult for me to work, never mind look after myself. Good job I had a husband at home, unemployed, with no money coming in, to look after me. I stopped taking the tablets, felt a marked improvement, told my GP who asked me to try them again, I did so, had the same problems within a couple of weeks, so stopped again. When I told him he accepted I should not take those tablets again.
When I was sent to the hospital to be assessed for insulin injections I was asked to try a different tablet as it reduced cholesterol in a different way. I did so, but a year on I have had to stop because I had the same problems once more. Despite the problems with the statins, the cholesterol target levels are being reduced again and so more people will be targeted with these tablets despite the warnings - which GPs said they were not told about by the pharmaceuticals.
No doubt I will be told I should try a different tablet again, but I am loathe to do so. They may even try to "blackmail" me in some way so that the docs can reach their government targets and get paid the money they seek - everyone these days is subject to the economic crunch!
I have also an underactive thyroid for which I take thyroxine. I know this is being affected, but the docs are finding ways of fiddling figures to make it seem as if everything is ok, when it isn't. Nearly all the diabetic drugs interact badly with the thyroid drugs but these two health issues are treated separately, and no-one will admit that sometimes the drugs are more dangerous than the disease itself.
I know I am living on borrowed time, but I would like to reach retirement age next year and have a couple of years without that responsibility before I die. Will I reach it? I honestly don't know. The next thing they are going to try to do is put me onto drugs for lowering my blood pressure, but I think it is the other drugs that is causing my raised blood pressure, and besides, I have to walk for a mile to get to my doctor's surgery (no bus there, or car) so it takes a little while for my blood pressure to drop due to the exertion I have had to do walking to the surgery. The appointment times can be so accurate that no sooner do I go into the surgery waiting room than I am called to the nurse and the blood pressure rate taken. It is always high. I have gone earlier and had a rest before going into the nurse's room, and then the pressure is fine. It is time that people were given a chance for their bodies to recover before taking tests like these.
As it is, my blood sugar always take twice as long to drop to a normal level after a meal as would be the case for a person who was not diabetic. Surely this is the same for blood pressure? I know my immune system is much worse, especially with two parts of the endocrine system showing as faulty, but this is not taken into consideration in the UK. It must be having an effect on the blood pressure too. I know the tablets for reducing blood pressure do have side effects, but as to the effect on my other medication, I can only look at the lists on the sheet which comes with the medication and I can assure you they all have some interaction that can lead to side effects with blood pressure lowering tablets.
I want to live my last few years with some sort of contentment. This will not happen if I am walking pill box and the tablets are creating so many side effects that I am in constant pain and suffering. If that ever happens I will just give up my medication and let my body die because there is no point in having a life if you can't appreciate it.
What do you all think? Am I right or am I wrong?
Just a note -
About pharmaceutical drugs, I agree that not enough testing is done on them before they are launched on the unsuspecting public, also that doctors don't have the time to find out enough about what they are prescribing.
My doctor (who is really a very good doctor) gave me some tablets for joint pain a little while ago and, although they worked for the pain, after 5 days my ankles swelled up like balloons. I stopped the pills and told him at my next visit. He said he had never heard of that happening before, and yet it is a LISTED SIDE-EFFECT. Brilliant!
Hope you saw my note about the Rune books on your other blog about "Words ..."
Best wishes, Kathrinn
Thanks
Carol A Noble
I agree that doctors never look or consider the list of side effects on information supplied with the medication. Even the good doctors cannot keep up to date with all of the new medications coming on the market.
By the way, my particular GP is a good one, but I have had so many bad ones in the past I don't automatically accept what people tell me, no matter how good they are!
As for the information you supplied for Rune books, I did get the message, thanks, and I will be looking out for them. I don't really like buying over the internet and at the moment I am not particularly filled with funds to go buying willy nilly so it may be some time before I get one of them, but thanks very much for your info - it really is great to find someone who knows even more than I do about Runes!
I wish you good health too
Thanks Carol - if you can only afford one of the books I mentioned go for the "Magical Alphabets" - it's so very comprehensive of multiple cultural systems. I don't think it was very expensive either, but then I've had it for some time.
Re drugs, I try to go for natural alternatives where I can (I have a Herbalist Diploma) - many work better and with less danger than the pharmacy ones. There is a place for both, of course, but I see no sense in taking a panacea for one complaint only to end up with a side-effect complaint (for which, of course, the drug companies are happy to sell you a further concoction!). I also agree with another comment here that killing pain can lead to further structural damage - it's sometimes better to wait it out and let matters heal in their own good time without the danger of adding to the original problem.
Best of luck, anyway. Regards, Kathrinn
allopathic medicine
I suppose that's the main problem with allopathic medicine these days. The doctors are only focused with targetting the symptoms instead of the main problem; and they prescribe drugs that may creat different symptons, but that's something to be solved by a different specialist.
Supposedly all that will be solved the day custom-targetted genetic therapies arrive to the market; although I'm not sure we will all be alive to reap their benefits.
PS: The best therapy for longevity is a good attitude and being surrounded by your loved ones. This is a scientificly proved fact BTW ;-)
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It's not the depth of the rabbit hole that bugs me...
It's all the rabbit SH*T you stumble over on your way down!!!
Red Pill Junkie
Koyaanisqatsi
It's a Hopi term, if I recall correctly, which means "Life out of Balance".
It seems to me that the prescription drug boom is one of the many manifestations of promissory materialism. There is little doubt that the rise of Western medicine has led to the eradication of many horrible diseases and has extended physical life for many. These are all good things.
The downside is the underlying assumption that this life is the only one there is, spiritual and religious ideas to the contrary notwithstanding.
You're absolutely right about the side effect issue. I've noticed that here in the States, some of the heavier television advertisers are the pharmaceutical companies, and nearly every drug ad is accompanied by a lengthy dissertation on known side effects that is tacked on following the claims of the life-changing effects the drug promises. It reminds me of Newtonian physics: for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
The questions regarding right and wrong are interesting questions, Carol, and also questions I have often asked myself. I've wondered before how I might personally respond to the news that I had a terminal illness. Would I subject myself to extreme forms of treatment or not? I don't honestly know. The quality of life question is worth asking, and I wonder if the doctrine of maintaining physical life at all costs is wise. I'm certain of an ongoing spiritual existence though, and recognize that many don't share that certainty. Perhaps I'm too certain. With the exception of an operation to repair an Achilles tendon injury a few years ago, I've steered clear of medical professionals for years.
I think that eventually we will find a balance, a more holistic approach to health maintenance. As it stands right now, that suggestion is still largely met with disdain and charges of quackery by the Western medical establishment. At the same time, though, Eastern traditions of chi management are making inroads in the growth of disciplines such as acupuncture, yoga and Qi Gong. It's also true that many ancient and tribal cultures had a quite advanced understanding of the medicinal value of various plants. Unfortunately, much of what was known to these cultures was eradicated along with the cultures themselves. In any case, all of these things are leading to growing numbers of health professionals in the West that are beginning to pay attention to the relationship between the mind and physical health, as well as natural remedies, so I wouldn't be surprised if exclusive reliance on pharmaceuticals is reconsidered over time.
In the end, I think that we all have to make whatever decisions make sense to us when we're faced with them. But I also think that what we anticipate can play an important role in outcomes. There are literally thousands of examples of spontaneous remission on record that remain inexplicable to Western science. There are no explanation for these events from the current accepted understanding of reality. So no matter what someone is faced with, we can never know with certainty what the future might hold, can we?
By the way, the Runes are an enigma, as is the I Ching of the ancient Chinese. These are both remnants of civilizations that lead me to believe that there were many things understood by ancient cultures that we are yet to rediscover.
Be well, Carol. And I do think your goal of contentment is the right goal.
drugs, testing and doctors
Certainly prescription drugs can be dangerous. The have side effects. And even without side effects, the wrong dosage can really hurt you, or kill you - more is not better. So "harmful" can be correct, but certainly not always. That is why the are prescription, and not freely available.
Also, more complete testing would be better. But I don't believe that drugs are never tested on women. There are quite a few drugs specific for female conditions. Why would they be tested only on males? My guess is that newspaper article is not correct about that.
However I have heard before from serious sources that heart-illness related studies focus almost entirely on males, and it not unlikely that most gender-unrelated drug studies use men.
As for doctors, we have to realize that our neighborhood family doctor is not a top-of-the-line researcher. They are the retail end of the industry. The GP or dermatologist (or opto... no opthal... no the eye doctor) does not know much about the biochemistry of the drugs.
As a comparison for simpler fields: there are people who design computer chips and computers. That is pretty difficult. Then there are first line tech support people you call when something is wrong with your computer. These people know very little.
This is a tad cynical, but your typical GP is like a tech support person, especially when it comes to drug interactions.
A remark about pain killers. I don't like them when I have physical damage to muscles ro ligaments or something like that. Suppose I have partially torn a ligament or a tendon or something. If I suppress the pain, I will rip it up even more. So I would rather have some pain so that I know to not make things worse.
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The large print giveth,
The small print taketh away.