Using medications wisely

[Tom Braithwaite]

I have come to a less is better philosphy on medications. I have congestive heart failure, chronic atrial fibrilation, a history of DVT/PE (twice), obstructive sleep apnea and have suffered from depression.
I have to take medications but the question is how many and how much?

My parents both lived long lives and they had heath problems too, but they were not bombarded by the drug companies the way we are now.

My health was never worse than when I was in my early 40's and when I was really loaded down with meds. One of them was Lipitor. After watching myself really start to decline and acceping all the dire predictions of my doctors I decided I did not have much to lose by cutting some of the medications I was on.

I started by dropping the meds that were not absolutely required to keep me going. I also started to drop the new expensive brand name drugs and switching to older generic drugs that had a long clinical history and well known side effects. At the time I was too sick to exercise much so my exercise remained minimal. I did avoid junk food, but I had been doing that for a while.

I started to feel better and stronger. I knew on was on to something. The dozen plus medications on I was on, including lipitor, were making me sick. By the time I had my meds down to warfarin, lasix, digoxin, baby aspirin and prozac I was realy starting to get better. Five simple, generic drugs were taking care of business. Six years later and I still alive, feeling much, much better and I can actually buy my meds out of my own pocket. I getting around petty well and I do not listen to the chicken little doctors much. I get as much exercise as I can tolerate and I do not smoke cigarettes and I call it good enough. I expect to live to 70.

Tom

[Cat Mom2]

GOOD FOR YOU! If only more people would wake up to realize that the more medicines they take, the worse they are getting and realize that it is the meds making them sick!

I was healthy and had no medical problems before starting Lipitor. Over the 6 years I was on it, one by one, other meds were added for various ailments. Since being off of it, I only need and take the supplements now. My energy has come back, my memory improved, pain in the knees is gone and I am feeling like a different person. Everyone one at work was commenting on how different I am and kept asking me what I was on... I simply told them it was NOT what I was on, but what I was off of. No more statin drugs for me!

[Ray Holder]

Hi Tom,
I too have heart failure problems, but they followed on from taking simvastatin, but he doc said "well, you are getting older", I was about77 at the time, and it never got to a really bad stage, just going downhill all the time and finding great difficulty going up stairs.

The loss of Coenzyme Q10 in later years seems to be the major cause of heart failure, and statins can cause that loss to occur very prematurely. Q10 was discovered in USA, but Merck decided not to take it up, and most work on and with it has been done in Japan and Italy. Government approval in Japan was given for its use in heart failure circumstances, where a 75%success rate has been reported. Atrial fibrillation is among the problems which it helps, by making muscle action stronger and more normal. Dr Peter Langsjoen also specialises in its use in Tyler, Texas, and he was kind enough to give me some advice on dosage, etc.

I was in quite a bad way 4 years ago when I first heard about Q10, I started taking just 60 mg a day, and the improvement came in 4 days. It is not a drug, but a substance normally made in the body, needed everywhere for energy production, especially in the heart. I am now 85, so move your target ahead a few years!! but I now need a large daily 600 mg, split into 3x200 mg, and I get angina if I miss a single dose.

Q10 may make your odema better, weak heart muscle action can cause it, so you may become able to do without some of your lasix. A great play is made of Q10 interference wth the action.of warfarin, but this seems to be rare, one site said only one case has been reported, but beware anyway.

A Q10 and other meds interaction site said that some meds like prozac can reduce Q10 production, I cannot put my hand on it for the moment. Otherwise it does nothing but good to all body systems, I believe , as a non patentable supplement, its beneficial effects have been too great a threat to Pharme's profits for it to have their sales machines behind it. It could not hurt to try a couple of 30 mg capsules a day for a week or two, and see if you reap the same benefit as others have.

Ray