Question why your doctor wants to give you drugs? Is it really needed? Is it going to help? What are the side effects? Doctors use drugs across the population without consideration of the individual. Statistically it might be OK but it might not be individually.
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Yep, Trump and untold millions of Trumpers.
Facsism is a hell of a drug.
The allergies for me started after a 1-2 years and get worse with increased exposure. Everyone will develop a reaction eventually. For some its immediate, for others it takes 5+ years of regular contact.
I never buy pre-ground coffee, and haven’t worked with roaches enough to develop problems. Somewhat related, I had a friend have a wedding dinner at a butterfly house that was covered in facts about how many maggots, roaches, etc. were in common processed foods. Not appetizing!
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All of the voices in my head agree that I’m back.
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Just a cautionary note:
In this age of data-slurping and unaccountable aggregation and sale of profiles: be extremely careful what you share online about your health, whether that’s medical history, genetics, current or past drug use even if you feel pseudonymous.
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I’ve had some success using two tests for potential doctors:
- For dentists: Do they immediately recommend removing my wisdom teeth? (I’m in my 40s and have all four.) That’s game over, but sometimes for fun, I’ll ask what’s wrong with my wisdom teeth. Usually they hem and haw about how they “usually cause problems” so it’s better to just remove them. Um…no. They don’t even have cavities. Not helping you pay for your beach house through unnecessary medical procedures.
- For doctors: Do they immediately recommend (or in a lot of cases, threaten) statins? (My numbers typically hover very close to the limits for each kind.) Another automatic buh-bye, especially when diet and exercise are the obvious and cheapest recommendations.
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This has been the strategy I adopted several years ago after the falling out with my doctor over statins and blood pressure medicine. I just stopped taking all that crap cold turkey and he got really pissed off and scolded me about. Haven’t been back to see him since.
Over the last several years I eliminated all added sugars and started a whole food, mostly plant based diet. I exercise regularly now 3-4 days a week. I’ve dropped 35 pounds, my blood pressure is steady at 125/80 and my resting heart rate is in the low 50’s. I still have joint/back problems but that’s genetic so not much I can do about that other than keep doing yoga and staying limber.
That’s the thing about doctors that I just can’t stand anymore. They don’t treat people as whole beings but rather as individual pieces and parts. GPs do nothing but shove drugs at you, specialists basically scare you into believing you’re going to die any minute now and surgeons only want to slice and dice you up. I still struggle finding a doctor who treats me holistically.
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“Statins might make you a big jerk…”
Finally I’m prescribed a drug with no discernible side affects! 
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What’s interesting is the realization that I rarely ask my prescribing doctor(s) what the side effects of a medication might be. I usually depend on the pharmacist for that. I’m going to have to start asking the doctor.
They put me on Simvastatin (generic for Zocor) for a while to reduce my cholesterol level, then took me off of it. I don’t recall any mood swings that I could attribute to it, and Wikipedia doesn’t list any as a side effect – although it does say that possible side effects of statins in general can include “memory loss, forgetfulness, and confusion”, and that some users report “feeling “fuzzy” or unfocused in their thinking”.
Honestly, if your doc is doing their job, you should not have to ask. Part of our job is presenting the risks and benefits of any treatment. Part of the “non-paternalism movement” from the 80’s was to give patients more autonomy and empowerment in their own treatment.
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Try a Nurse Practitioner instead. I’ve had great luck with those.
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Concur; best GP I ever had was an FNP, and he never seemed to tire of me always teasing him about not being a “real” doctor.
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