I've been thinking a lot about my mother lately. This is my 75th year. She died at 77 of pancreatic cancer. (For some reason, I was convinced she died at 75 but I just did the math.) Mom had arthritic pain from about age 50. I noticed she and Dad both took a lot of Motrin to ease the ache in their shoulders. I have written extensively about the allopathic bent of our house hold--mother was a nurse and my father was an Orthopedic doctor, treating everything to do with bones and joints. If you care to read it, here's the link.
In my own awakening to my body and how to care for it, especially after trying to make sense of an early diagnosis of breast cancer at age 34, I took a strong stand against drugs.
In my work as a wellness adviser, I talk with ever more people who suffer from debilitating arthritis. It seems as though getting to be 50+ is about when the visits to the doctor, the physical therapist, the water aerobics for arthritis relief AND the search for the perfect pain killing medicine begins. Or intensifies.
What is the draw back of pain relief medicine, you might ask, especially when it relieves the pain? WebMD has an excellent article about Living with Chronic Pain in which the author lists 9 dangerous mistakes people frequently make when taking medicine for pain. I'll give you the short version. Read the whole article if you want to go deeper.
1. Pain Medication Mistake #1: If 1 is good, 2 must be better. Not so. In fact, I just tried cutting back on the herbal remedy I use to manage my pain. I have gotten accustomed to popping 2 in the morning just to get things moving comfortably. The Pain Relief Complex is a Cox 2, 5 Loc inhibitor, completely safe in your stomach and having no side effects or interference with any medications you might be taking. I tend to be of the "If 1 is good, 2 must be better" school of thought. This morning I hurt when I got up. It is day two after a hard climb up Manastash Ridge over in Eastern Washington. Instead of popping 2 Pain Relief Complex, I took only 1 of the tablets. I did my routine Back2Life machine time and the Feldenkrais hip opener exercise and went for a 50 minute walk. The walk includes a spectacular view of the Sound for starters, and a 190 tread staircase and steep hill. The up hill part takes half the 50 minutes. I'm back at the computer and have no pain. One Pain Relief is enough this morning.
2. Pain Medication Mistake #2: Duplication over dose. This paragraph has to do with using multiple pain meds at the same time. A "no, no".
3. Pain Medication Mistake #3 Drinking while taking pain meds. Not a good idea. All those bottles say no alcohol. That means beer, too.
4. Pain Medication Mistake #4 Drug interactions. What else are you taking for what? Even those supplements? Careful about mixtures.
5. Pain Medication Mistake #5 Drugged Driving. Whoa. Don't do it. Could be worse than drunk driving.
6. Pain Medication Mistake #6 Sharing prescription meds. So your best friend got Percocet for pain after surgery. If it is old, it could be bad. No sharing.
7. Pain Medication Mistake #7 Not talking to the pharmacist. They are behind the counter at the drug store for a reason. Know what supplements and medications you are taking and show the list to the pharmacist.
8. Pain Medication Mistake #8 Hoarding dead drugs. These prescription meds are good for a specific amount of time. Do not keep them past their pull date. Kids get their experimental drugs from their parents' (aunts', uncles', grandmothers') medicine cabinets. Not a good thing.
9. Pain Medication Mistake #9 Breaking unbreakable pills. Breaking a pill changes the way the drug works and could cause major problems.
The article is worth reading. Better still, try the Pain Relief Complex and remember, it, like drugs, may not work instantly. Be patient. A college class mate of mine had been on Celebrex for 10 years for her arthritis pain. She switched to Shaklee's Pain Relief when her doctor told her about the dangers researchers discovered from side effects of Celebrex, pulling it off the market. It took 2 1/2 weeks for the pain relieving effect of Pain Relief Complex to kick in. A steady 3 tablets a day managed her pain as well as the Celebrex had done.
My question remains, would my mother have lived longer if she had not taken so many medications? What does all that medicine do to your liver and pancreas? I plan to explore the side effect issues in future blogs. Stay connected.
Be Well, Do Well and Keep Moving.
Betsy
BetsyBell'sHealth4U
2063 933 1889
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