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I hope this topic does not get moved. I am asking the seniors here, the ones who are most likely to fall in the category of their numbers being too high.
And I am not intending to argue, criticize, offend, etc. I'm just collecting information for my own self.
For a long time I've been told I have high cholesterol/triglycerides, etc. and my doctor has prescribed medication for it. None of them agreed with my system. They didn't really do a lot to reverse the high numbers either. Eventually, the doctor I went to at the time said to stop taking them. And he wouldn't prescribe anything more. I seemed to get along fine, no terrible symptoms, etc. He also said I was borderline diabetic but never prescribed any medication.
I've changed doctors a few times for various reasons. Again, my numbers are high. But I'm not sick. I'm 77 and seem to be doing OK. So this most recent doctor prescribed another medication that was not a statin and had an additional plus of combating diabetes. I decided to take it because I had refused medication before and think the doctor was getting a little upset with me. (Might be just my imagination.) So I took the med, 4 pills a day, 2 in the a.m., 2 in the p.m.
Then the slide started. I found myself getting more and more tired and got to the point I was asleep more than awake. No energy. Had to force myself to get to the store for things I had run out of, nothing I wanted to eat (no energy to cook).
So I stopped taking them. I feel a lot better. I'm awake, I want to do things, why take something that makes me feel half dead?
I should also mention my eye doc put me on a different eye drop to deal with a problem I'm having. So I called him to see what he thought. He didn't think the drop was causing it but said I could cut the dosage in half. He also said he doubted the drop would have that affect on me. The pharmacist agreed with that.
I don't know if anyone had the patience to read this, I know it's too long.
I don't want to live to be 100 but I don't want to hasten death, either.
I just believe there are some of us who are like this.
I hope this topic does not get moved. I am asking the seniors here, the ones who are most likely to fall in the category of their numbers being too high.
And I am not intending to argue, criticize, offend, etc. I'm just collecting information for my own self.
For a long time I've been told I have high cholesterol/triglycerides, etc. and my doctor has prescribed medication for it. None of them agreed with my system. They didn't really do a lot to reverse the high numbers either. Eventually, the doctor I went to at the time said to stop taking them. And he wouldn't prescribe anything more. I seemed to get along fine, no terrible symptoms, etc. He also said I was borderline diabetic but never prescribed any medication.
I've changed doctors a few times for various reasons. Again, my numbers are high. But I'm not sick. I'm 77 and seem to be doing OK. So this most recent doctor prescribed another medication that was not a statin and had an additional plus of combating diabetes. I decided to take it because I had refused medication before and think the doctor was getting a little upset with me. (Might be just my imagination.) So I took the med, 4 pills a day, 2 in the a.m., 2 in the p.m.
Then the slide started. I found myself getting more and more tired and got to the point I was asleep more than awake. No energy. Had to force myself to get to the store for things I had run out of, nothing I wanted to eat (no energy to cook).
So I stopped taking them. I feel a lot better. I'm awake, I want to do things, why take something that makes me feel half dead?
I should also mention my eye doc put me on a different eye drop to deal with a problem I'm having. So I called him to see what he thought. He didn't think the drop was causing it but said I could cut the dosage in half. He also said he doubted the drop would have that affect on me. The pharmacist agreed with that.
I don't know if anyone had the patience to read this, I know it's too long.
I don't want to live to be 100 but I don't want to hasten death, either.
I just believe there are some of us who are like this.
I hate taking pills also
If i don't feel bad or see some kind of issue - I just can't do it.
Now i do take my thyroid meds religiously because i saw that rapid gain weight and blah tired feeling. It took a few months to get that worked out and boy what a difference.
You probably should keep going back to the doctor and tell him how these meds made you feel. Maybe they will put you on something else
My sister has to take all sorts of heart meds and it took about a year to get them just right. But she was always doing blood work and they monitored that so they could make the right changes.
I take a very low dose of HBP meds, my chloresterol numbers were high, I was able to bring them down quite a bit with diet.....but not enough. Went on statins for 45 days, but had to stop because of muscle aches. I will be starting a new one, to see if that one will work. I didn`t start any kind of meds until i turned 63.
I hope this topic does not get moved. I am asking the seniors here, the ones who are most likely to fall in the category of their numbers being too high.
And I am not intending to argue, criticize, offend, etc. I'm just collecting information for my own self.
For a long time I've been told I have high cholesterol/triglycerides, etc. and my doctor has prescribed medication for it. None of them agreed with my system. They didn't really do a lot to reverse the high numbers either. Eventually, the doctor I went to at the time said to stop taking them. And he wouldn't prescribe anything more. I seemed to get along fine, no terrible symptoms, etc. He also said I was borderline diabetic but never prescribed any medication.
I've changed doctors a few times for various reasons. Again, my numbers are high. But I'm not sick. I'm 77 and seem to be doing OK. So this most recent doctor prescribed another medication that was not a statin and had an additional plus of combating diabetes. I decided to take it because I had refused medication before and think the doctor was getting a little upset with me. (Might be just my imagination.) So I took the med, 4 pills a day, 2 in the a.m., 2 in the p.m.
Then the slide started. I found myself getting more and more tired and got to the point I was asleep more than awake. No energy. Had to force myself to get to the store for things I had run out of, nothing I wanted to eat (no energy to cook).
So I stopped taking them. I feel a lot better. I'm awake, I want to do things, why take something that makes me feel half dead?
I should also mention my eye doc put me on a different eye drop to deal with a problem I'm having. So I called him to see what he thought. He didn't think the drop was causing it but said I could cut the dosage in half. He also said he doubted the drop would have that affect on me. The pharmacist agreed with that.
I don't know if anyone had the patience to read this, I know it's too long.
I don't want to live to be 100 but I don't want to hasten death, either.
I just believe there are some of us who are like this.
I don't know why I'm laughing -- your story is exactly like mine. I took a high BP med for four years before I realized the medication was making me SO SICK. When I finally stopped taking it, it took only 48 hours before I felt like I had risen from the dead. The problem is that I do have high BP. The good news is that daily exercise lowers my BP significantly. The bad thing is that I hate to exercise. LOLOLOL I have high cholesterol too -- but I'll be damned if my MD will EVER get me on any of those meds. As for diabetes, my A1C always runs between 6.0 and 6.5, so I'm not all that concerned about it.
I don't take any Rx meds. One dr said last year that I had "borderline high" cholesterol from a test 3 years ago. What she failed to mention was that the ratio (LDL to HDL) was off the charts, which was excellent, and far more important. I didn't need any meds. I have since changed my diet to basically not eating any saturated fats, and I would bet my cholesterol numbers are now in the "low" range. No meds needed. I changed dr.
My BP was reading high when I visited the dr offices, one random reading taken with an automatic cuff. My BP readings at home were low, consistently low. When I pushed the new dr to take the reading himself and not use the automatic cuff, the reading was fine. Part of it is equipment, and part of it is time of day, or whether you just walked up a flight of stairs. I have consistently low BP reading at home using good equipment. No meds for me.
Doctors today, esp the young ones, are quick to throw a Rx at you, for anything marginal or borderline. They spend way too much time looking at algorithms on the computer screen instead of looking at the patient during appointments, in my view. Some are being wooed by Big Pharma with fancy trips and conferences, and they then push high priced drugs that can do more harm than good.
I am pushing back on Rx when the evidence isn't there or when the side effects are worse than what they are supposedly treating. One dr recently suggested I take an incredibly high priced drug for osteoporosis that is experimental, the trials were stopped after 2 years due to the high incidence of bone cancer, and it can't be taken for more than 2 years due to the potential for bone cancer. And after taking it for 2 years, and possibly gaining a little bone density, once the drug is stopped (and it has to be stopped after 2 years) all density is lost. I said "no thanks" to the dr. Always do your research before starting any new Rx. In any dr app't, if a new Rx is suggested, my response is: "I'll think about it and get back to you."
BTW, if the doctor had actually looked at the test results from the latest bone scan, he would have seen that the "osteoporosis" was very minor and in only one small lumbar area. Not even considered significant. Way overkill on pushing these drugs among docs these days. Pushing drugs on older adults is easy; actually analyzing the extent of what is wrong and analyzing test results is harder, and in that 10 - 15 minute appt, the easy way out is to just write a Rx.
I personally think the US healthcare system is broken for a lot of reasons, but that's a different thread.
Thank you for these responses. It makes me feel good to know I'm not the only one who feels this way.
Fran66: LOL, I loved what you wrote, when you stopped a med, you felt like you rose from the dead!! Me too!
My A1c is 6.7.
Someone else suggested seeing a dietician. Going to do that.
I think that will be a healthier choice for me.
A LOT of our health issues can be solved with diet and exercise.....my watch is reminding me to stand up now!! LOL
I eat mostly a plant-based diet, very few "processed" foods (and occasional cracker and Ezekiel bread toast in the morning). I try to get those 10,000 steps in over the course of a day, not always making it to that point, but it's a good goal. I feel great at 70! No drugs needed! LOL
I hope you'll do your own research on this: The Diabetes Association and The Association of American Physicians (or is it The American Medical Association?) recommended higher AiCs for 70+ and that EVERYONE with an A1C lower than 7.0 (or is it 7.5?) be taken off insulin. A LOT of MDs, PAs, CNPs, and nurses don't know this (an endocrinologist will probably know though). So -- arm yourself with credible information when you see your doctor. I often print stuff out off of my computer and take it with me to my PCP. I don't, of course, take in information from stupid web sites like "Mommy does Medicine'. LOLOLOLOL
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