I hear this comment from my clients all the time. They believe so
strongly in taking a natural approach to curing their ailments that
they simply refuse
to use prescription drugs at all.
You may wonder why I am writing on this topic. What I want is to let
you know that as much as I choose to take the natural approach to
curing diseases, there are times when all else have failed to work,
prescription drugs can be a valuable last resort.
How to avoid taking a lifetime of prescription drugs...
Let me use an example to help make it clear. If you have high
cholesterol and you go visit your family doctor, he or she is likely to prescribe
to you a cholesterol lowering drug like Lipitor, Crestor or Pravachol.
And most people will follow their doctor's direction and take it
without asking questions or doing research to see what alternatives are
available. (The fact that you are reading this means you ARE doing
research to find alternatives!). But since you are informed, you would suggest to your doctor that you
want to try a different approach. Here's how your conversation could go.
"I understand that my cholesterol level is above what is considered
normal and I am aware of the risk I would face if I don't do anything
about it.
I havedone research on natural remedies and cure. I have determined
that many natural remedies have scientific evidence that they can lower
cholesterol effectively.
These would include fish oils containing omega-3 fatty
acids, garlic, red yeast rice and many others. I would like to take
these natural remedies first for 3 to 6 months or so.
Then you can have my cholesterol level checked and see where it stands.
After that time, I will re-evaluate using the cholesterol lowering medications."
Ok, it may not sound as smooth as that and, of course, understand that
your doctor may disagree with your decision because "he/she know best".
Be firm and say that you will consider the prescription option if all
else fails. (In case your doctor believes that fish oil doesn't work,
well, I guess he/she needs to keep up-to-date with the latest research
studies eh?)
Your family doctor will probably support you if you make it clear that
you are not downplaying the dangers of high cholesterol and you are
actually making a plan to bring your cholesterol down. Tell your doctor
that you are not making an excuse not to take the prescription drugs.
You are looking lowering your cholesterol but that taking the
prescription medication is not your first option.
If after you've tried all options at curing your high cholesterol using
natural remedies and it's not brought down to a "safe" level, you
ultimately may have to use prescription drugs in combination with the natural
remedies.
And that's the important message. Natural remedies (such as fish oil)
are proven to lower cholesterol but it can only do so much!
Prescription medications can bring it down a whole lot but if you use
it with natural
remedies, at least you don't need to use a very high dose. You can
combine using natural remedies with prescription drugs (if you have to)
so that you'll get the absolute most benefit with the least amount of
side effects and dangers.
Oh,
don't believe the reason for taking natural remedies is because they
have no side effects. That is absolutely not true. Some have little
side effects while others do have quite a bit (but they are generally
mild unlike prescription medications).
I hope you got some insight into a good approach to using natural
remedies to help you with treating and curing your health conditions.
Back to Top of I do not believe in using prescription drugs!
Revised:
September 23, 2009