Modern Medicine and Medication

[Kilala]

I had a passing thought last night. It lingered in my mind and well... now I want to know how you feel about it.

In this day and age many a problem seems to be sorted out with some kind of drug. Okay I hold my hands up. I am NO expert in this matter - and so what I say may be a load of... bull.

I have somebody in my family who always has some medical dilemma. She says she is always ill... but fact is - she looks so healthy it's unreal. That is besides the point anyway. After being to many a doctor she's been given anti-depressants... and well pills pills pills. But! The pills cause more issues... and so what is the answer? MORE PILLS. And so the cycle continues.
I just feel that sometimes in this time... pills are prescribed a little too freely. Especially for something like depression... but I am NO EXPERT. And maybe I'm being really selfish here.
I saw something like this on a medical documentary... I guess it's what got the cogs whurring.

I myself... when I have a headache sure I get a panadol.. I'm just as guilty as the next person x3. So this isn't some accusatory post.
But I thought to myself... maybe next time I'll try something herbal? Because.. well.. doesn't your body slowly become immune to the drugs you take? Like antibiotics. I'm saying that from only a very vague memory... but hey! You won't flame me... right? XP

So what are your thoughts? On well... modern medicine and medication! Also... do you think herbal treatments should be taken more seriously? I'm in two minds about as I can be a huge skeptic xD.

[sweet-as-sugar]

In my personal experience, yes I do suffer from depression. I have tried a few things..since I have been dealing with it since I was 12. That is 9 years. At first, not realizing what was wrong, I did nothing. Over a couple years, my mom realized I had classic symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder, which she deals with as well.
She picked up St John's Wort drops, which I had to take under my tongue twice a day. Vile, terrible tasting stuff I hated. BUT. My mom could notice a difference in my mood if I skipped one day.
The following year, I had sort of forgotten about the herbal treatment, and had probably the worst season of SAD in my life- it just didn't go away. I was extremely unhappy for no apparent reason, at times felt suicidal. A couple friends gave me bottles of St John's Wort pills- which upon reading the labels, realized one prescribed 3 times the dose of the other. o_O Yikes. So I finally went to me doctor, told her what was going on, and she told me that St John's Wort is basically a natural form of Prozac. But since it is a natural remedy, there is no real regulation on it- at least here in Canada. So...I have been on an anti-depressant drug my doctor can monitor me on. My life may not be perfect, but it's like night and day from how I felt before.

Like I said, this is my experience, and does not mean I am against one treatment or another. Everyone is different and needs to find what works for them- natural worked for me for awhile, but now I am on modern medicine.

[Clint]

Every type of pill-form medication causes side effects, so that person will go back to the doctor, who will proscribe a new type of medication to help with the side effects. The new medication will have side effects of it's own, causing the person to go back to the doctor to get new medicine. It's all pharmaceutical bullshit. Back in the 1800s, there were "miracle potions," which were essentially just watered-down alcohol. They serve no medical purpose, but when people drank them, the suddenly felt better. The reason is because of the placebo effect. It's pointless to take medication due to an illness, because modern medicine just doesn't work as well as those miracle potions. Marijuana is another drug that has healing capabilities, and the side effects are much less severe. One of the reasons why it's illegal in many countries is because if it wasn't, it would put many pharmaceutical companies out of business. And sure, marijuana has some nasty side effects, like the fact that if you smoke it all day, every day, for 35 years, you'll go completely insane, but some of those prescription pill's side effects include death. It's near impossible to die from marijuana.

[SOLDIER #819]

There are plenty of drugs out there. There is no one "anti-depressant" or whatever. The idea is that (ideally) most available drugs have their own uses. It provides a person with alternatives. If one isn't working with the person's body or if the side effects are too severe for it to be of any help then it's best to get off the med and try something else, provided s/he wants to continue.

The problem, I think, is that people feel as if they need to continue with that particular drug. They either don't think about whether the drug itself has benefited them and go along with the doctor's assertion that it "should" help, or they have themselves believe that it really is working when in reality there isn't much of a noticeable change at all. And since doctors aren't trained in mind reading quite yet, they have little choice but to believe the patients in most cases and find ways to help them enjoy the benefits of the med.

If it isn't really helping or brings out side effects that are even worse than the depression itself then the patient should report it. They really should take an active role in their own health because a lot of the time that is what it takes to find a good balance. One type of anti-depressant used to make me amazingly drowsy... so after some working with it we just took me off it and moved on.

And of course, a person needs to consider whether the source of their problem is chemical rather than environmental. It's not always easy to judge, especially with public opinion usually being on opposite extremes. For some people there is ALWAYS an alternative, a way to improve your life without medication no matter how bad the symptoms may be. Then there are those who become a little too comfortable with the idea of medication. But, there really is no ruler for mental events. The person must be as honest with themselves and their doctor as possible and work toward the best possible solution.

As for herbal substances... ha. I'm not really aiming this at anyone in particular, but why put more value in a no-name company's claim over modern medicine? They could claim that, "China has been using this to cure X for hundreds of years!" but health in China and probably all of the world back then was down the nonexistent toilet. You may get a placebo effect, which may be all you need in some cases. I guess what makes it so appealing is that natural solutions will "cure" you, while meds are unnatural and "change" you by messing around with your chemistry. It makes it that much easier to swallow, I suppose, regardless of whether it works or if it will "work" in the proper way.

I think there is something to be said about taking your body and its ills seriously, regardless of the route that's being taken. Being proactive can't hurt.

[Govinda]

As for herbal substances... ha. I'm not really aiming this at anyone in particular, but why put more value in a no-name company's claim over modern medicine? They could claim that, "China has been using this to cure X for hundreds of years!" but health in China and probably all of the world back then was down the nonexistent toilet.

Ah, see now, old Chinese remedies can actually be pretty useful. One substance, quinine, is used very effectively in the fight against malaria. I'm not sure in what capacity, as I studied it a long time ago, but what scientists did was take the Chinese traditional substance and synthesise an effective pill from it.

As for mental health patients, I can't really comment. All I know is that brain chemistry is very delicate, and so there's a wide space for error. But I can't really comment.

Regarding other pills - paracetamol, ibprofen, codiene - I think they're great. Aspirin saves lives too. Antiretrovirals are wonderful. I mean, I'm not the type to instantly pop a pill the minute I get a headache, not at all; but I accept fully that my mum's immunosupressants keep her alive, and her boyfriend's heart pressure pills keep him safe. My ibprofen horse pills let me get to sleep when my hips hurt. Modern medicine is good news.

My best friend's mother is a medical doctor, but she is a fan of homeopathic alternatives. She admits that it's tricky though, and that a lot of why homeopathy works is just down to the fact that it's not just pills, but a practice of unconditional positive regard to the patient. I take natural things as supplements, but I'd never trust them in place of a synthesised drug. Just strip the bark right off that tree and hand it this way...don't need a drink of water to make that headache go away!

[Walter Sobchak]

About three years ago, I was really depressed. I had a job full of intense hours, as well as making me wake up early in the morning. When I woke up, I had two shots of Southern Comfort and a shot of vodka and went to work. I felt much better and made it through the day.

You have to remember that a doctor is within the same realm of the used car salesman and the computer retailer. Yes, you need these things, but do not allow yourself to be taken. Or just take NyQuil for any ill.

[RamesesII]

Myself i believe in the placebo effect how do we know what they are actually giving us is actually medication and what if it is mind over matter pfft who knows.

Well antibiotics are essential just a mild dose of what they are meant to be curing or can even be dead cells of that virus etc that's why sometimes when you take antibiotics it can actually bring you down more but because it is only a weak version of the virus you blood cells find it easier to fight off than the so to speak have a battle plan to fight the much stronger disease in the body. Henceforth have you ever thought why there are so many different types of antibiotic.

To answer the question i used to be a man who would just plug on through a sickness until it literally pulled me down or left me bed ridden therefore i believed that my immune system would become strong which it did for a certain time i would only ever get the flu once a year i hardly ever got a vomiting bug or a cold...until i had kids and a wife and work got busy thats when my stress levels went up and i did start to take drugs to get over things quicker and now i am back to square one and with kids you catch whatever they have i used to be able to power through a flu in two days now it takes four to five.

I try not to take drugs because i think of the effects they must have on me in the long run but if it is a little more serious or i have no choice than i do, i still go drugless when it comes to flu's and colds etc and i have even gone through food poisoning without anything but i did get admitted into hospital with a type of blood poisoning once and they had to pump me with antibiotics, at one stage the nurse kindly came up to me one day to pump the antibiotics into my iv and she said 'we are going to give you a stronger dose for the next couple of days' all nonchalant about it i didn't think anything of it until it reached my arm holy s**t did it burn my arm just throbbed and throbbed as if some one was hitting it with a hammer i said stuff that for a joke but i couldn't do anything about it.

I have never really tried herbal remedies i suppose i eat a lot of vitamin c when it comes to flu time and echinacea tablets are meant to help i do hear good things about herbal more natural drugs but i never go out of my way to use them.

[shinra_32]

With every doctor sold out to the drug companies you can't trust any of them. It's like pneumonia treatment, you go in and instead of getting a reliable antibiotic like Amoxicillin of Kelflex doctors want to prescribe Z-pak. You only take it for 4 days and then usually have to go back to the doctor because it didn't work. Is it the best option out there? No, but the drug companies offer all kinds of kick backs to the doctor for prescribing it. Same way with Prozac about ten years ago. If you went in with an ingrown toenail you would get a prescription for it. Sure sometimes it is needed. In general as a world wide society we are over medicated. Look at the bs they give little kids. Little kids have a longer prescription list that some 80 year olds. Ha! Then schools make them sign pledge to be drug free. It all too funny.