I believe I’ve mentioned this before but it happened again this week: I was at a local pharmacy to pick up a prescription and I couldn’t believe all the medications I saw behind the counter waiting to be picked up! And on top of that, they couldn’t find mine because there were so many other brown paper bags with slips on them. I don’t know if mine was misfiled or not even there but they ended up starting from scratch and filling it while I waited ten minutes!
I should have known it wasn’t going to be easy when I pulled up and saw five cars in the drive-thru and a full parking lot. It wasn’t too bad inside as there were only two people ahead of me. However, after I had to have someone refill my prescription I’m sure I caused a traffic jam behind me.
I’m not saying medicine is not needed as some of it is vital but I have to wonder: Do we need all this “stuff?”
My wife and I were talking at breakfast (she’s the paramedic, remember?), and she told me that some of her healthiest elderly patients are on the least amount of medicine. Of course, not everyone is the same and some people have “good genes” but I remember her telling me about a nice lady who was in her 90s. Priscilla asked her what medications she was on and she said, “Oh, sometimes I take a Tylenol.” THAT’S IT??! I wanna grow up to be like her!
From adsdatasystems.com:
“According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Americans consume 75 percent of the world’s prescription drugs. Nearly three in five American adults take a prescription drug at any given time.
And, not surprisingly, seniors are the largest consumers of both prescription and over-the-counter medications. One in three Americans over the age of 65 takes five or more prescription medications.”
Again, let me stress, some of these are definitely needed but… all of them?
I’m always amazed at how you have to take some medications to protect you from the other medications. I have one of those. I’m on an anti-inflammatory due to chronic arthritis but I have to take another medication to protect my stomach from the original medication.
Recently I stopped taking one medication because I was tired of the insurance hassles and the refilling hassle and I really didn’t know if it was doing any good. Without giving away too much information, (Can I violate HIPPA if I’m telling a story about myself?) I used to be on a medication that was prescribed as a low dose medication for highly functioning adults. Yes, I used to be “highly functioning.” This allowed me to work, coach the kids and do everything I had to do. Well now I’ve slowed down so I stopped taking it. When the doctor asked me if I had noticed much difference I told him that my neck was a little stiff but that was about it. The benefits are that I don’t have as much trouble waking up in the morning and there are no more hassles with insurance.
At a checkup this week we were discussing the changes and my doctor said, “Well I guess the fewer medications the better.” Exactly my thoughts!
Priscilla also told me a story about an elderly patient she had recently. She asked him why he was on a certain medication and he said, “I don’t know, they don’t tell me anything!” Of course there’s the possibility that he just didn’t understand his doctor but I do have to wonder how many times people just follow what the doctor says without any questions.
She also mentioned that there are times when people get put on a certain medication to deal with a specific problem they are having at the moment, but then never stop taking it. The insurance or whoever keeps giving them refills when they don’t even need it anymore!
Then there’s the conspiracy theory that we don’t need ANY of this stuff but Big Pharma says we do! Is there a cure for cancer but that would put so many big companies out of business they keep it the way it is? That’s another story for another blog.
I guess the main point I’d like to make today is to ask your doctor, “Why am I on this? Do I still need it?” Try to simplify your medicine cabinet I guess. And if your loved ones are hesitant to ask, become their healthcare advocate and ask for them!
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