Is there anybody still out there who during dark winter months remembers coughing, spluttering, sniffing and sneezing, heaving feverishly, unable to get out of bed and there was no relief? No pill to take except chicken soup, Grandma’s old stand by? I do, but then again, I grew up in the old world where medication was not available for your every little ache and pain – your ailments were just that – insignificant, and you got over it in due time. What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger. And I’m still here.
Those Halcyon days, however, are over by a long shot where you felt victorious for fighting your inner demons without any intervention from Big Pharma. I am not saying I miss all those times, but when it comes to pain relief, the pain is in the taking what you take. Aspirin was all we had, the universal panacea since Hippocratic’ times, and it delivered what it promised. It gave us relief of pain, fever, headaches, etc. and even I can appreciate the slogan Bayer coined for it ‘The wonder drug that does wonders.’ Millions of people now take Aspirin every day to prevent heart attacks and doctor’s order to ‘take 2 Aspirins and call me in the morning’ suggests that you have survived another night and are fit enough to tell your doctor all about it.
But I get carried away with the virtues of this little pill. Because for every virtue, there’s the opposite, and that is vice. An aspirin is an aspirin is an aspirin. In the body of the wrong person, it can wreak havoc as badly as any other pill. Bayer would like you believe that their brand is superior, and they’ll charge you for it royally – or big bucks as they say over the pond. After all, somebody has to pay for all those flashy ads. The rise of choices of pills for every different ache and pain has been phenomenal. There’s big money in them there pills. So we come to one of them, the NSAIDs, anti-inflammatory drugs.
I remember arriving in California in 1980, getting a prescription for ‘xxxxxx,’ a nifty, oval-shaped little capsule that truly took pain away; you know, that inconvenient time of the month when doctors tell you that you could well be temporarily insane. Well, I had been with the pain of it all in the old world at least, and I lurved that drug! And in no time this wonderful drug became available OTC – over the counter. First you had to ask your pharmacist to hand it over to you. Now the shelves of your local drug store are groaning under the weight of that plentiful choice. Have been taking them faithfully over the years, treating myself to pain relief from minor pains to major injuries. Now what do I end up with? High blood pressure! Or drug induced hypertension, as the professionals call it. This ain’t no way to lower your blood pressure naturally!
So let me figure out what it exactly does to my body so I can appreciate the danger of taking these little puppies over a life time. Us women out there hate suffering from (yes!) fluid retention, the water in our bodies or mere certain places of our bodies (we all know where!)where it just sticks and wobbles like Jello or Blancmange for you discerning Brits. I have seen plenty of ‘water relief pills/tablets’ on offer at the local drug store/pharmacy so this is an issue. So here you are: holding a pack of ibuprofen and a pack of water relief pills to take your monthly misery away. ‘You don’t want to do that!’ your friendly check-out person warns you? No! Highly unlikely! Ibuprofen causes fluid retention, decreasing the function of your kidneys, therefore raising your blood pressure which of course puts greater stress on your poor heart and kidneys. This ain’t no way to treat a lady….or high blood pressure naturally!
There have been plenty of studies in women who had no high blood pressure to begin with, but after prolonged use of ibuprofen/NSAIDs ended up with hypertension. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9074128/ns/health-heart_health/t/are-painkillers-risks-worth-benefits/ Of course sometimes the risk doesn’t outweigh the benefit. Think of yourself with such conditions that are truly painful: arthritis, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, gout, or even psioritic arthritis. Pain is the name of the game, and I don’t know if that kind of prolonged, debilitating pain can be borne without accepting the risks of taking pain relief. Of course not, so you accept hypertension as the necessary evil for the benefit of pain relief. And you’ll have to accept taking medication for your drug induced hypertension. Not an easy road to take, but here you’re sitting stranded anyway. The consensus is: if your pain is bearable (and that is certainly pain in the eye of the beholder) hold off on those pain killers. Use them infrequently so you get the best benefit from them. Or better, try to lower high blood pressure naturally. Not just high blood pressure, but other normal, everyday ailments, aches and pains. Chicken soup will do…
