Years ago I remember looking at my mother in law’s kitchen cupboard- a whole shelf dedicated to medicine.
My mother in law suffers from mild depression, has varicose veins, has high BP and has suffered a tumour in the brain. My father in- law is a diabetic and has suffered a heart attack, and also has high blood pressure. Both of them together take probably up to 30 tablets a day between them, and most of the tablets are their to counter off the side attacks that the first tablet gives.
A viscious cycle.
I couldn’t understand it. It was beyond my naive mind of reasoning .I would see them both take these medications, up to 3 times a day for years on end, and yet although they are up and about- they have not had any improvements? What is the porpose then? Has their body become immune to the medication? Is it all in the brain? Could the body not function without it? Would they really get worse if they slowely- stopped taking some of the medication?
At my house all I had was a small box and that had Calpol for the Boi, A Paracetamol packet, a Nurofen packet, a Bongela and Cough medicine. And that’s how it had been for years. We use to renew our cough medicine and Paracetamol and Nurofen every time it went out of date because we weren’t using it. Ever.
That was then.
Fast forward a couple of years- I opened the medicine cabinet in my own house. I have 2 shelves full of medication, and yes with my constant suffering of tooth pain- I’m a pill popper.
How and when did this happen?
Well, firstly . The damn tooth, so we have got Ibuprofen, Paracetamol, Amoxicillin, Oragel, Pain out, Clove oil. Then I suffer from menorrhagia – so I have Transexamic acid on standby along with naproxen. I’m also anaemic….and then the hubby has a heart condition- and let’s not get into the details of the medication there.
Not to forget the standard cough medication, for dry cough, for wet cough, night nurse, and every other cough medicine you can think of. Eye drops, milk of magnesia, Iron supplements, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, and now ….. (Breathes heavily) I’ve emptied my whole cupboard out, so I’m going to have to clean up and put it all away.
When did we become these pill popping drug addictive humans? Are we all conditioned to turn into this?
Alternative medicine is becoming popular, and I’m noticing that even doctors are willing to talk about this alongside medicine. I am a big fan of it, but in all reality on most cases it only offers an temporary solution. For example- clove oil for my tooth. It gives me relief for a couple of hours but then I’m back in pain, and the ‘over the counter’ medications work longer and better.
So how do we get away from this drug culture? What Evan is a Drug? Medication is a drug, toxic drugs is a drug. Do alcohol, nicotine and caffeine come into drugs? They are all addictive?
With my condition, how do I Evan get away from the medication that’s prescribed to me?
A Lifestyle change would probably be the best answer, but with our world’s being so fast, it’s so much more easier to have the fizzy drink, than buy a health bar- and cost wise aswell, the foods that are bad for you are cheaper than the healthy food. Also in this fast paced world there’s no real time to cook the healthy stuff, it’s easier to chuck a burger in the oven, and frozen chips in the fryer- then to start chopping up vegetables. Not to say I won’t try. I will and I must.
Also how can a lifestyle change help my menorrhagia? I don’t think it can. So how do I overcome that?
So all in all, can we really get away from medication? With all the health condition we can get as we grow older -it seems impossible.
I’m just a drug addict like my inlaws. And the other millions in the world. Our bodies really cannot function without it.
The funniest thing is, as I was popping yet another nurofen and 2 paracetamol into my mouth for my toothpain , my Boy just said “Mum you have more pills than food!” . My Boy I replied. “Karma is a very funny thing!”
Love and regards
M11bna
