I felt compelled to write this in case it may help some or at least open some eyes. You may not agree with me and that’s okay. We all need to form our own conclusions when it comes to our health and well being. As someone who used to take prescription pain killers daily, I can say from experience that I’ve never once benefitted from pharmaceuticals. In fact they’ve only ever made my pain and functionality worse over time. I’ve seen the same deterioration in others. Why is it that doctors are so quick to hand out pills rather than trying to help us in a way that might actually make a real difference? It’s because of the big pharma companies and the root cause is money. As long as these companies have us believing we have to have their drugs to get by they have us in their pockets. They give docs incentives such as bonuses and trips to prescribe more and more meds. The best things that I have personally done for my health in recent years have been to cut out as many harmful things as I can (RX drugs, chemicals in products I used, and reading labels in what I eat) and using as many natural remedies as I can. It may sound crazy but it’s working. There’s a reason people didn’t have so many autoimmune diseases hundreds of years ago. I believe our culture is to blame for fibro and many other syndromes. Just something to think about.
I agree in many ways about how some doctors push medication. I see a neurologist for my fibro. She automatically put me on effexor. I did let her know I had a bad reaction to it in the past. Then didn’t listen to me and insisted. Also kept me on celexa also. So for 3 weeks I wasn’t able to sleep or eat. I took myself off the effexor and after withdrawals all my symptoms went away. I am still not back to normal from being on the effexor. I had my pcp and ER doc and pharmacist ask why I was on effexor and celexa at the same time? Not I am a non compliant patient to my neurologist and she won’t treat me anymore. I know my body. I know what I have tried in the past. I also expressed I wanted tools and to be educated on my condition so I know how I can help myself handle it better. Not have medications BandAid my health. I wish they would listen. That’s all!!!
Yes, patients sometimes have bad experiences, but it's a bit of a leap to say the entire medical profession is untrustworthy or that all medications are just a subtle strategy for emptying our wallets. I know many patients on these groups who are alive because of their doctors' care and their medications.
Karli, I don't know if your prescription pain meds are opioids, but if they are, that may be why they have not been effective for you,. Opioids are not effective for many fibro patients. What has been tried so far?
Maleena, it sounds like it's time to shop for a new neuologist. I hope you are reading the Fibro 101 pieces and that they are helping you understand fibro a bit better. If you have questions, bring them in discussion and hopefully the group can help give you additional tools for better coping. All the best to both of you, Karli and Maleena!