Don’t you
love the television ads pushing one pharmaceutical or another? While the
middle-aged couple dances, gazing romantically at each other, the voice-over is
reciting the terrible side effects of the pharmaceutical that brought passion
back into their lives. The four-hour erection warning is amusing, but the warnings for some products are horrifying as in “possibly fatal.”
My primary
doctor is what some might call a “pill-pusher.” Her prescription pad is always
at hand. She knows her pharmaceuticals backwards and forwards. Every time
I leave her office I’m carrying written prescriptions and a paper bag full of
samples. Having viewed a lot of pharmaceutical television ads, instead of
stopping by a pharmacy to fill the prescriptions, I hightail it home to research
side effects. Whoo-boy! Are they ever scary!
Sometimes
I decide to give the pharmaceutical a try, only to find that it hurts my
stomach, keeps me awake, causes my bleeding gums or makes me crazy.
Before my
shoulder surgery I had to prove myself fit for the lengthy operation. This
involved, among other things, a visit to a cardiologist for clearance. Having
been conditioned to the prescription routine, I was dumbfounded when the kindly
gentleman advised me to go to the Community Mercantile, our local natural foods
cooperative, to purchase ubiquinol and D-ribose. He recommended three doses of
several capsules of each prior surgery. I don’t think he had a prescription pad
in the room.
Two weeks
after surgery I saw the surgeon for stitch removal and checkup. When he and I
discussed the nerve damage that occurred during surgery, he advised me to
take 1,000 mg. of Vitamin C and 800-1,000 International Units of Vitamin E every
day to facilitate nerve recovery. Again I was amazed to be sent to buy food
supplements instead of filling a prescription.
Hey, maybe
the times are a-changin’ and not a moment too soon. Unfortunately our health insurance covers only pharmaceuticals, not supplements.
Copyright
2013 by Shirley Domer
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