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| Barb Polan Barb’s Recovery |
At an annual physical several years before I had the stroke, the LPN at my PCP’s office measured my BP and discovered it was a bit high. I don’t remember the exact number, but it wasn’t shockingly high; all that was a surprise was that my BP had been on the low side (100/70 or so) my whole adult life.
The LPN lectured me about the stroke risk associated with high BP, but I opted for a low-sodium diet rather than a pill. I have always been against using drugs to fix a problem if some other way is available. Reasons? Side effects – known and unknown. Who hasn’t taken some drug for a short term that resulted in an unpleasant side effect the doctor swore was unrelated to the medication?
When I was in my 30’s, I was diagnosed with arthritis in my sacro-iliac joint; it was a problem to me because the pain interfered with my sleep. My PCP (who didn’t last long) prescribed an NSAID (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory) for 6 weeks. In the course of treatment, I had a horrendously heavy menstral flow.
“Not possible [that it was caused by the Naproxen]," my doc said, “because it contains no steroids …"
Co-incidence that it happened while taking the drug? Or maybe it hadn’t been tested in 35-year-old female patients? How many would have been in that test group?
Then, here’s the best part: since the NSAID hadn’t worked, she offered to prescribe a “sleep aid,” to solve my problem sleeping.
Back to my BP story: Low-sodium diet for a few months, along with me taking my BP every morning. No obvious success – it was still very slightly elevated. Another physical, another lecture.
I gave in, agreed to go on a beta-blocker, and got a prescription for atenolol. Another year, in which my BP numbers had been all over the place – never exceedingly high, but not cruising at 120/80 either. Another physical and the LPN told me that a study had just shown that atenolol didn’t work to consistently lower BP, so she would switch me to a related compound that DID work – metropol. And it did – 110/70 every measurement since.
Bottom line:
- Drugs – I don’t like them.
- Pharmaceutical companies – I don’t trust them.
Given that drugs are sometimes necessary (even I take both metoprol and an anti-seizure med because I prefer that to the alternatives), and the tendency of the Western medical establishment to push pills to solve a problem, it is imperative for stroke survivors – Depressed? Got high cholesterol? – to stay up-to-date on news about their meds.
My blog has been responsible for me virtually meeting many interesting people – survivors, caregivers, an industrial design student who wanted help designing a bra that could be donned one-handed.
Because of my blog, I was recently contacted by Mario Trucillo, PhD, the Medical Editor at the American Recall Center (contact: www.recallcenter.com, mtrucillo@recallcenter.com), about a service his company has to notify patients about news regarding their medications.
According to Trucillo, “The FDA is constantly issuing safety warnings for drugs that get missed by those taking them due to difficulty to access. With Patient Safety Alerts you can customize what types of drugs you take and whenever the FDA releases a warning on a drug in that class, we break it down [in] plain language and send it directly to your email.”
Visit http://www.recallcenter.com/safety-alerts/ to sign up for the service.
The American Recall website also distributes recall information about a variety of medical devices, which could also be handy.
Nota Bene: Please understand that, although this reads like an ad or info-mercial, I have no affiliation with Dr. Trucillo or his organization. I have not taken an in-depth look at the website or verified its information, but it seems to me that he’s got a good idea and an easy-to-use website. Plus, he’s a polite and enthusiastic guy, and all of that matters to me.
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