Anyone who has read this blog long term knows I am not a fan or a believer in prescription drugs, pharmaceutical companies, or anything related. The United States has waged this so-called “War on Drugs” for years, claiming that illegal drugs are a horrible thing… which they are. But legal drugs are just as horrible, only worse because they are legal, more accessible, and easily abused.
Prescription drug abuse among teens is going up each and every year. Kids are raiding their parents’ medicine cabinets and getting high on a constant basis, and it probably won’t slow down anytime soon. Take a look.
Obviously, some serious problems as you just saw. But the problem, as I see it, is not necessarily to employ a “Lock Your Meds” campaign. It’s the incessant, multi-billion dollar advertising scheme the pharmaceutical industry employs in our country. Sure the kids are gulping down their parents’ pills. But what if the parents actually took their health more seriously and didn’t even have the pills to begin with?
Drugs do not CURE the cause, they SUPPRESS the symptoms without even touching the cause. Sure Prilosec and Nexium will help your GERD so you can continue to eat garbage. Or you can take care of your GERD by putting your health first and eat better. That’s what I did.
Burritos and GERD
I last took a prescription drug over 12 years ago. I had just gotten off work and went to a burrito shop (similar to Chipotlé) in Scottsdale. I ate a Big Blue Burrito (that’s what it was called), which happened to be a double-sized burrito. It was huge, at least 1500 calories, and I wolfed it down in less than five minutes. Easy.
Several minutes after my last bite, I started having horrible chest pains. Not knowing very much, I thought I was having heart problems, or maybe even a heart attack. I went to the hospital and they ran a bunch of different tests, including an EKG, but found no evidence of heart trouble. The ER doctor asked me the typical history questions, and when he found out I had this pain after eating so much, so fast, he determined it was simply GERD, gave me a prescription for some pill (I don’t remember which one), and sent me on my way.
So I took it a few times, but found it pretty useless. I had reduced my eating speed and food quantity so I didn’t see the point in taking it. My wife January was on my case to take it, too (for those of you reading this that know my wife… can you believe that…? January, pushing me to take a drug?), but I didn’t listen. It just made sense to take care of the real problem, which was behavioral, instead of taking a drug to cover up a symptom of a behavioral problem. But that’s just how I think.
Rubber Bands and Purple Fingers
If you wrap a rubber band around your finger and leave it there so it becomes swollen and purple, are you going to the doctor to get some medication for it, or worse, get it amputated? Or are you going to just take off the rubber band? Sounds like a stupid question right?
Think about this question the next time you take a prescription drug. Look at the pill in your hand and think about whether it will actually help you eliminate the core problem that is the cause of your symptoms, or if it’s just covering up the symptoms.
Now that’s something to talk with your doctor about.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
That’s so sad when children & adults abuse prescription drugs… Masking the pain is not treating the pain…
A medical doctor will sell you pills.
A surgeon will sell you an operation.
A chiropractic doctor will get to the root of the problem and remove the interference that is causing your symptoms.
My advice:
Find a chiropractor that stresses diet and exercise as part of his treatment plan.