What pills have you quit taking, looking for alternatives?

[Marianne]

Some time ago, I thought about all the pills I was taking. All the pills that I had been taking for a long, long time. At the doctor's office, it was always the same:

Doc: Take these pills twice a day, every day, forever.
Me: What are the long term effects of taking these pills?
Doc: When it happens, then we'll deal with that then.

So, for chronic carpal tunnel, I took Naproxen Sodium (Aleve is one), for 10 years!! Did a lot of reading on the web about long time usage - heart attacks! Hey, that runs in my family!

Made the switch to Ibuprofen. Decided to attack my liver for a while. Did some research on that, too. And Tylenol. And aspirin. Finally decided to take one low dose aspirin ONLY and tough it out. I didn't bookmark the study findings on this (!!!), but here's one article about benefits of low dose aspirin besides lowered risk of stroke -
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/243171.php . They won't do any more studies on aspirin because of the cost and the fact that it's so cheap to buy everywhere.

I have some arthritis, bursitis, that kind of tendon, joint, connective tissue issue. :/

I was pretty achy for a week, maybe even two weeks. Then I started feeling better, not so achy. Now, I take Tylenol or aspirin first. Some days I still have to take something stronger, but not often. I decided I'm going to stick with the drugs that have been around the longest.

Super B complex has helped my carpal tunnel more than anything.
I stopped the two blood pressure medications because Hawthorn is working better. (still take my bp regularly, just to make sure) Can't believe how much better I feel just not taking those anymore.

We put saturated fats back in our diet. My cholesterol dropped 50 points.
DH quit taking statin drugs (he had big time trouble w/them). His dropped 50 points after adding saturated fats, a year later, it's dropped another 25 points. He's added several things to his daily routine - niacin, etc.

Anyone else have a success story to share?

 

[moolie]

The only medication I take, other than the odd Tylenol for a headache, is my asthma puffer (Ventolin) and I need that one to breathe on occasion, so no way I'm throwing that one out!

I also have carpal tunnel, both wrists. I don't "take" anything for it, never have.

I've gone for extensive physiotherapy off and on over the years and have learned exercises and relaxation techniques to deal with the tension that builds up in my shoulders and neck that runs down my arms and makes my condition worse.

I've also learned, the hard way, to step away from the repetitive daily activities that hurt (particularly using my computer, writing with a pen or pencil, knitting/crocheting, painting etc.) and go for a walk while I do my exercises.

It's bad at the moment, because my job is mostly computer work and this is a busy time of year for me. I woke up this morning with my right arm entirely pins & needles and it took a while to clear it out. So once I'm done here and with my morning email check, I'm off for a long walk through a nearby woodland area then for lunch with a friend. I can't take the entire week off because I have a Friday deadline, but working at home is one of the best things I ever decided to do for my health and my family.

 

[hqueen13]

2 years ago I gave up my allergy meds. I have seasonal allergies that are predominantly affected by tree pollen. I was taking 5 prescription meds and STILL had symptoms. I wasn't "normal" the way I thought I should be with no reaction to the allergens despite the 5 meds. I was on Allegra, Singulair, Pataday, Nasonex and Flonase. Yes, 2 pills, 1 eye drop and 2 nasal sprays. It was disgusting.
Of course I should add that I'm an outdoors girl, and so I don't do the things they always tell you to do... stay inside, keep the windows up, blah blah blah...
But I quit. I quit taking ALL the meds. I found a natural allergy eye drop that is a TON better than the prescription, and a LOT cheaper. Less than $10.00 for a bottle that lasts me all season. Completely relieves the itchy eyes. (And when I say itchy, I mean so itchy I want to scrape my face on the carpet like the dog itchy).
I use a combination of things beyond that, and sometimes there is just no helping it. I take 2 different homeopathics, one for skin conditions (I get a little itchy sort of like heat rash itchy) and one for hay fever. In addition, I use Lavender or Ocotea essential oil to help reduce the hay fever reactions. I'll probably do more research this spring and see what else I can find to help me reduce reactions even more.
One of the big keys that I haven't been able to really work through yet is managing my diet. I no longer drink processed dairy, which reduced the chronic runny nose almost immediately. I try to stay away from processed cheese, but that's my guilty thing. Otherwise, I only drink raw milk, and in spring when my allergies are at their worst, I try to stay away from that too. I have reduced my sugar consumption a lot, too, which helps. I'm also working on reducing my gluten consumption, but that's another tough one with bread lovers in the house. I stick to spelt bread in the mornings for breakfast as much as possible, and try to stay away from breads otherwise. Though its hard to find a better conveyance for the butter I love to have!
I also add bee pollen to my diet in the spring as well.

Beyond that - I try to do a number of different things in order to maintain health and not use conventional drugs. I use arnica drops and spray on achy spots. I use a couple of different natural salves on bruises and scrapes, plus I use Essential Oils for a huge variety of things. I use activated charcoal instead of pepto, which is great.

I'm so happy with my natural remedies, we've completely given up a lot of things that we just don't need anymore since we've changed out diet and adjusted how and what we do for treatments.

 

[Marianne]

Wow.
Moolie, I have to use a steroid inhaler daily, plus the ventolin as needed. I did try a 'lung support' blend of herbs to make a strong tea. I was supposed to drink it three times a day for 6 weeks, then cut back to one cup a day. I never even made it one full week. I ended up using the ventolin waaay too often. Cedar trees are pollinating now, they are all around this area and that always affected my breathing anyway. So that was a wash for me. Something about breathing...I kinda like to do it.

Our grandson has asthma. He was using his puffer a lot, for a long time. Now they think it's mostly allergy related. This crap went on for years before someone really paid attention to the whole picture. After scratch tests/shots, etc, he's much better and doesn't have to use his puffer as often.

Do you use wrist braces at night for your carpal tunnel?

hqueen, that is just amazing! I finally found out that the el cheapo, 12 hour allergy pill from the Dollar Store worked better than all the high dollar crap we took before. My breathing is better when I take it. But it is allergy season around here.

Do you like oatmeal? I posted a recipe for soaked, flour free oatmeal pancakes. Sounds terrible, I know. But now I keep some in the frig most of the time. I can pop one into the toaster, then treat it like toast. Smear some butter on it, walk around the house, etc. Egads, I think about all the good stuff I didn't try for a long time because it sounded weird, like kefir.

I'm also trying to work on cleaning up the way we eat around here. Has to be a gradual thing as DH raises an eyebrow anytime there's something 'foreign' in the kitchen.

 

[moolie]

Moolie, I have to use a steroid inhaler daily, plus the ventolin as needed. I did try a 'lung support' blend of herbs to make a strong tea. I was supposed to drink it three times a day for 6 weeks, then cut back to one cup a day. I never even made it one full week. I ended up using the ventolin waaay too often. Cedar trees are pollinating now, they are all around this area and that always affected my breathing anyway. So that was a wash for me. Something about breathing...I kinda like to do it.

Our grandson has asthma. He was using his puffer a lot, for a long time. Now they think it's mostly allergy related. This crap went on for years before someone really paid attention to the whole picture. After scratch tests/shots, etc, he's much better and doesn't have to use his puffer as often.

Do you use wrist braces at night for your carpal tunnel?

I have a wrist brace for my right wrist which is worst, but it doesn't seem to work for me so it's in the bottom of a drawer now. I pull it out every once in a while when things get bad, but haven't for a long while. My physiotherapist determined early on that I build up tension in my neck and shoulders, and that reducing this goes a long way to relieving my wrist pain and numbness. Unfortunately my oldest daughter takes after me and is heading down the same road. The physiotherapy, the exercises they taught me, and avoiding repetitive stress as much as possible have been the biggest help. And having my hubs work the knots out of my shoulder and neck goes a long way as well.

Glad to hear about your grandson getting a handle on his allergies/asthma but sorry to hear that yours are so seriously affected by your environment

I have had need in the past to use a daily steroid inhaler (for two years in total), but weaned myself off it and (touch wood) haven't needed it again. My allergies are to moulds and mildew, so are easy to avoid unless I'm staying with family in Vancouver where it is damp and basements often get a little musty. Locally we get an allergy phenomenon called "snow mould" every spring as the snow melts, and this also affects me--it's that time of year again, so I'm not doing any work in the garden or yard until everything is melted and dried and well sunned again.

I have reactions to most allergy and cold medicines--they speed up my heart--so I pretty much don't take anything unless it is prescribed to me by my doctor who knows about the issue. On the homeopathic side of things, I was told years ago that strong coffee works as a substitute for ventolin in a "need my inhaler right now" kind of situation, something to do with the caffiene--I have tried it on occasion when I haven't had my puffer handy and it has worked well for me, but as someone who never drinks coffee a half a mug of strong coffee and about 10 minutes just sitting was all it took to open up my airways again.

 

[hqueen13]

hqueen, that is just amazing! I finally found out that the el cheapo, 12 hour allergy pill from the Dollar Store worked better than all the high dollar crap we took before. My breathing is better when I take it. But it is allergy season around here.

Do you like oatmeal? I posted a recipe for soaked, flour free oatmeal pancakes. Sounds terrible, I know. But now I keep some in the frig most of the time. I can pop one into the toaster, then treat it like toast. Smear some butter on it, walk around the house, etc. Egads, I think about all the good stuff I didn't try for a long time because it sounded weird, like kefir.

I'm also trying to work on cleaning up the way we eat around here. Has to be a gradual thing as DH raises an eyebrow anytime there's something 'foreign' in the kitchen.

Yeah, sometimes the el cheapo stuff works the best!!

I like oatmeal, but I also know that it is handled in the body the same way most other grains are, so while the gluten content isn't there, it still spikes your blood sugar, and I'm working towards avoiding that kind of thing. I do miss pancakes though... I was considering trying to find a spelt flour recipe for pancakes instead, because I really like the spelt flour and I can get it from a source that I know will be good and won't have gluten in it.

It has really amazed me as I've started sorting all of this out how many things I thought I knew that I was wrong about - like the fact that pasteurized dairy is one of the culprits, but that raw dairy doesn't bother me.

And yes... I know about avoiding so many good things because they sound weird! I just tried kale chips today and I love them... now I just have to find the time to get to dehydrating and making my own!

I totally get it about the DH..... the other half does the same thing, and our roommate, E, is even worse! Still working on trying to get him to let go of sugar. Being able to show him the correlation between weight gain/loss and how he feels in proportion to the volume of sugar he eats has been helpful, though it hasn't changed the habit completely. I'll get there someday

Even my mother, when I was talking to her once about how we've changed our style of eating commented that she felt better when she spent a couple weeks with us and was eating our food. I shook my head in wonder that she, knowing that fact, doesn't make more effort to change the way they eat at home. It doesn't cost a whole lot more to not buy the junk and to buy the nutrient dense foods instead. And you sure do feel a whole lot better for it!

 

[moolie]

Actually, spelt is not gluten-free. It's recommended for people who have wheat intolerance issues because it is an older type of wheat, but it's definitely not gluten-free. Oats are generally considered "gluten free" and are very healthy--especially when soaked or cooked, however they do contain one of the proteins that are in the gluten family so are not recommended for people with celiac disease and in many cases they are milled or processed in the same mills that handle other grains containing gluten so may be contaminated.

I've done a ton of reading on the wheat/gluten issue over the years because a friend of mine has a son who has celiac disease and another friend has a son who had severe wheat intolerance when he was younger, but is fine now that he's an older teen. All of that has made me truly curious about the subject, especially in more recent years as going "wheat free" or "gluten free" has become such a dietary fad.

The reasons most people choose to avoid grain in their diets are either related to:
- avoiding gluten (a type of protein that can cause an allergic type reaction in some people)
- avoiding phytic acid (which is present in the hulls and bran of seeds and nuts, and which can block dietary absorption of several minerals if these foods are not prepared properly)
- avoidance of "inflammatory" simple carbohydrates (sugars, grains contain complex carbohydrates or starches but the body ultimately breaks these down into simpler sugars for energy)
- avoiding modern hybridized wheat or modern gmo wheat (to which the human body is not as accustomed as to older grain varieties)

 

[so lucky]

hqueen13, please tell us what kind of eye drops you use? I don't like to use the OTC ones that have all the chemicals.

And, I just wanted to mention, to you who have carpal tunnel issues, you might want to try turmeric, for the inflammation. I use it for various inflamed arthritis joints. It lessens hair fall out, too, for those of you (me) who have thinning hair. By something like 30%.

 

[dfr1973]

We put saturated fats back in our diet. My cholesterol dropped 50 points.
DH quit taking statin drugs (he had big time trouble w/them). His dropped 50 points after adding saturated fats, a year later, it's dropped another 25 points.

I did this also - went completely off the cholesterol diet, then off the statin. Happily went back to real butter, real cream, real sugar, and BACON ... and my t-chol went down with HDL being "absolutely stellar". Fasting glucose went from just "normal" to "textbook perfect." My doc said she could not explain it but she certainly could not argue with the results. I have also lost weight instead of gaining, and gone down two jeans sizes.

 

[ORChick]

We put saturated fats back in our diet. My cholesterol dropped 50 points.
DH quit taking statin drugs (he had big time trouble w/them). His dropped 50 points after adding saturated fats, a year later, it's dropped another 25 points.

I did this also - went completely off the cholesterol diet, then off the statin. Happily went back to real butter, real cream, real sugar, and BACON ... and my t-chol went down with HDL being "absolutely stellar". Fasting glucose went from just "normal" to "textbook perfect." My doc said she could not explain it but she certainly could not argue with the results. I have also lost weight instead of gaining, and gone down two jeans sizes.

I just finished reading "Why We Get Fat" by Gary Taubes. He addresses this question. It was an interesting read.

ETA: He has a website as well, if you don't want to go looking for the book.