What Your Doctor Doesn't Know Could Hurt You or Someone You Love (continued)

One weekend I was babysitting my grandchildren and I took my portable oxygen tank that I now used when I walked. I didn’t usually use the machine when I slept at night but for some reason I fell asleep with the cannula in my nose. When I woke up the next morning I noticed that the gauge hadn’t moved at all during the previous 8 hours. This portable device is activated when one inhales and it then excretes a puff of oxygen every time a breath is taken. When I had awakened I had the usual morning migraine and then it hit me. I didn’t know that when one sleeps, breathing is shallower. The diaphragm doesn’t pump as well. All I knew was the needle hadn’t moved and I had always hypothesized the morning migraines were due to lack of oxygen while I slept.

I immediately called Dr. Jones and asked for a sleep study. He countered with the fact that he didn’t think I had apnea. I said I didn’t think I did either but I thought the lack of oxygen could be causing me the morning migraines. He acquiesced, as I can be a bit persistent and he is a reasonable man. A few days after the sleep study, I get a call at home, not by a nurse, a tech or a PA but Marcus Welby, M.D. disguised as Dr. Jones. He said, “You were right. You have hypopnea.” Well, I felt like I just won a medal or something.  “What is hypopnea?” I asked. “It is too little oxygen while one sleeps. The diaphragm does not pull enough air into the lungs and therefore can cause migraines.” he explained. Soon, the good doctor was prescribing an Apap machine (like a Cpap). This device forces air into the lungs while sleeping and with the concentrator attached bleeds in oxygen.  It is a very sexy looking apparatus. Thank goodness my man has already fallen in love with me. He’s stuck with me and the head gear. I am thankful for many things in my life. I am thankful I am not looking for a romantic love interest. This would be hard to hide. Ha ha ha.

Now there is rarely a migraine to be had.  How wonderful! The source of the problem and pain is found; the answer is met. No need for a prescription drug of any kind.

I write this to encourage people not to be dissuaded and to think a doctor has all the answers. Do not arbitrarily hand over your medical care to another person without doing your due diligence. It could save your life or the life of someone you love. A good doctor will cooperate with you and you can both work together in your treatment process. Too often doctors reach for a prescription pad when they should slow down and look for the causation of the symptoms. Masking the pain, although a temporary fix, does no good for the patient’s ultimate well-being. It can make the doctor and the pharmaceutical companies wealthy but often only delivers a toxic chemical into the mix. It often can escalate you to another level of problems. Can you tell me the last time a medication of any kind cured something?

And here is my take home message to you. Pain is not necessarily a bad thing. It is a warning that something is wrong. Obviously, if you cut off your finger and you are in pain you don’t have time to mull over the causation and analyze the best treatment, but rather kick it into high gear. Hopefully, a skilled surgeon can reattach your finger. But how many times do we have an obscure pain, ache or nagging tug somewhere and how many times does the doctor obliquely write a prescription for some drug without first trying non-toxic methods, investigate the causation such as diet, work habits, bad posture, over use of muscle groups, etc.?

How many times does the doctor thoroughly explain to you all the side effects that can go along with the prescriptions that he/she is prescribing to you? I never take anything without doing my due diligence. The internet is a great source of information. I don’t just take the first thing I find on the internet as truth and there is a process I got through to glean the truth. I primarily shy away from any Pharma backed site.

Every adult person should be an active participant in their own medical treatment. The doctor works for you. It is not a bad thing to question your doctor. Sometimes your doctor is more clueless than you are.  Doctors are human and have been taught a very myopic view. Undoubtedly, this person is very specialized and skilled. But sometimes because of their training they miss things because they are so highly-trained they aren’t looking for the zebras in the room, they have been taught to look for horses. Not every doctor is a moron but half did graduate at the bottom half of their class. In fact, I have met quite a few great ones, so this is not doctor-bashing, at all. My current pulmonologist is a great one. He treats me like a person, he has a sense of humor, and he laughs, shows his emotions and concern for me. I love this man. I wonder if his wife knows.

As an update: My condition has been given another name as medical technologies continue to improve. The new diagnosis is Diffuse Ideopathic Profuse Neuroendocrine Cell Hyperplasia (DIPNECH). The Carcinoid tumorlets are still part of the equation. Since modern medicine knows so little about this condition I have taken it upon myself to do some research. I learned that the neuroendocrine system controls hormones. I have a neuroendocrine disease. I have had years of low Vitamin D levels. I also recently discovered that Vitamin D3 is not a Vitamin but is a hormone. It can be found in supplemental form but the best source is the sun. Calcium cannot be absorbed into our bodies without adequate vitamin D levels. I just learned yesterday that I now have osteoporosis. A few years ago I was diagnosed with osteopenia. This is something I didn’t know about until doing my own research. I continue to investigate less toxic solutions to improve my condition and have taken great strides in improving my diet. I have eliminated carbonated beverages, to which I was addicted. Eliminated most dairy and processed foods, and strive to eat more organic fruits and vegetables.

There are certainly times that some medications are beneficial and even necessary. I don’t advocate quitting your prescriptions if you are taking medications. I do wholeheartedly encourage people to become acquainted with the pros and cons of their own prescription use. Look up the drug(s) and become familiar with the side effects. Stay clear of the pharmaceutical sponsored sites, as they often downplay adverse events. I usually go to blogs and Facebook sites sponsored by the patients themselves. Cymbalta is one drug I absolutely know is overprescribed and wrongly prescribed. There are many reasons I feel that way about this drug but when researching this poison I found many blogs from people experience horrific side effects and withdrawal problems. One such site I go to is: http://www.experienceproject.com/stories/Hate-Cymbalta/684792?comment-sort=oldest Another is: http://www.whatwinnersdo.com/.

Finally, if you have a Facebook account you can go to: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cymbalta-Withdrawal-Horror-Stories/312565197797.

When researching a particular drug I go online and type in “particular drug name” and “side effects” or “particular drug name” and “lawsuits”; for example “Cymbalta side effects” or “Cymbalta lawsuits”.

Many people simply do not appreciate the role of good quality food, clean water and fresh air as it relates to one’s health. Have you ever heard the phrase, “garbage in – garbage out”? We are propagandized to all the time. It starts when we are youngsters watching ads on television touting an array of overly processed foods. Many parents find themselves taking their tots to the Golden Arches® or the King of Burgers. It used to be cool when I was a teen to hang out at the fast food places. We have become a nation addicted to an overly sweet, salty and fatty diet. It is commonly known that our appetite for fast food takes its toll on our health and bodies.

It can be said the same for our nation’s craving for a quick fix pill or several pills. We are bombarded daily by a barrage of advertisements for a pill a day for this or that, a pill for life or a preventative pill. The pharmaceutical industry and many doctors downplay the negative consequences of the medication diet. I hope someday the general populace will be as educated about their over consumption of synthetic, toxic medications as they are about the negative aspects of eating a chicken fried steak smothered in gravy with a side of greasy bacon. Everyone knows about the scary rise in heart disease and diabetes, especially in young people.

Besides a health issue, just think about all the dollars saved by being healthy instead of relying primarily on medications to fix things. I am reminded of the time a good friend of mine, slightly overweight and somewhat of a couch potato, was told by his doctor that he should take cholesterol-lowering medications. He’s been on them for years. When I suggested that long-term use could be damaging to his liver and other organs and that proper nutrition and exercise would be better. His response back was, “Yes, you are probably right, but the doctor said I wouldn’t ever do those things”. In homage to Bill Engvall, to my friend, I say, “Here’s your proxy sign”.

www.dipnech.com,

http://dipnech.blogspot.com/

http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,41591,0.htm

www.ssristories.com

www.prescriptiondrugsarekillingus.blogspot.com

www.breggin.com

Recommended documentaries:  Food Matters, Food Inc., Fat Sick and Nearly Dead, King Korn, The Last Heart Attack- CNN documentary.

Until last year Toni Samanie was a standard-issue grandmother and mother. She lived life like most ordinary citizens. She worked in a successful sales environment and brought enthusiasm and a win/win attitude to the customers she helped. Then tragedy struck her most regular of families and she lost her 38 year-old son-in-law due to poly-pharmacy. She also has an orphan disease which has enabled her to see the fallacy behind the idea that doctors and pharmaceutical companies are straining day and night to "cure" people like her. Once married to a physician she has had a special view of the medical fraternity from within.

Always an avid reader especially with regard to American History. Having been reared near Manassas' Bull-Run and Fredericksburg, VA she has a fondness for Civil War History and West Point War Strategy. Coincidentally, she is the daughter and step-daughter of two Marines who fought in the Korean War. She grew up in the small civilian town of Quantico, Virginia surrounded by the Marine military base and Navy hospital. She has always viewed the soldiers in her family, as well as other soldiers, with high regard.

As a teenager in the late 60's-early 70s she grew up in a time of civil unrest. "Question authority was de rigueur by most all American youth. Occupy Wall Street is very reminiscent of those formative, yet troubled years.

So, now that the rose-colored glasses have been crushed she is coming to write about the criminal activity of the pharmaceutical industry and to help others be enlightened before it is too late for them. She does not have any formal education in writing but comes with the strength and passion of a soldier.

Her web blog is: www.prescriptiondrugsarekillingus.blogspot.com

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