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Use of prescription and herbal remedies
by Cris, Oct 03, 1999 12:00AM
I don't know if I'm in trouble or not. I have a lot of medical problems and they keep throwing painkillers at me, but I'm pretty good about not using them, except for celebrex. I have to use prednisone or medrol on and off both for pain and for asthma. I take asthma inhalers and the like when needed. I don't sleep at night and they put me on Ambien which I have taken for many months now and it no longer very effective for helping me sleep, without it I can't sleep more than 2 hours, with it no more than 4 hrs, I used to be able to sleep 6 hrs with it. In addition, I am very overweight and tried to lose weight. On and off I will get sick of prescriptions and try a variety of herbal remedies in hopes of finding relief. By accident recently I found a herbal supplement for weight loss that actually seemed to work. It contains ephedra in the form of muhuang extract, willow bark, and something with caffeine, also chromium and a number of other herbs/vitamins. I discovered that finally I found something
that did help me lose weight, it also seems to give me energy which I have not had for a long time in the face of several medical problems. The dose of ephedra is 60 mg a day, I don't off hand know the doses of the other herbs. I also have hypothyroidism which seems to aggravate the obesity and have had a difficult time getting stabilized, and I always gain weight every time I take prednisone...this herbal supplement seems to stop the weight gain with prednisone, it definately has improved my ability to control my appetite, and I don't want to stop it. The bad thing is I have started having symptoms that I think might be related. A high pulse rate with lots of PVCs that are very uncomfortable, blood pressure that is varying widely from normal to 185/110, shortness of breath, trembling hands. I did go to ER once because the chest pain was so bad with it, it felt like a heart attack with a lot of pressure in the chest that radiated to both arms. Although the increased blood pressure and pulse rate were
present in the ER, seven hours of cardiac monitoring and an EKG showed no abnormalities and I was sent home and told to monitor my fever because I had fever all day in ER and have had it for weeks. Later I found out I did have low potassium and high creatinine, but nobody seemed to think these were very significant. I have increased intake of gatorade and bananas to compensate...I have a lot of stomach problems and have to run to the bathroom a lot probably due to irritable bowel syndrome. I did not tell the ER or any docs about the ephedra use since I know they would not approve. Since EKG and echo showed nothing except the tachycardia and PVCs and I was told these are not life threatening, I would like to keep taking the herbs until I lose more weight. #1 I am desparate to lose weight, and #2 after years of fatigue and bone draining tiredness and pain it feels good to have something give me energy, even if there are some annoying side effects. I decided to stop the herbs because I was scared I would
hurt myself with them but then went out and bought 2 more bottles....I know you don't get addicted to herbs but I can't seem to make myself stop taking them...I think the good side effects are more overpowering than the bad side effects. I think I am having some problems with depression too and I have very bad thoughts but immediately am able to have my rational side talk me out of the bad thoughts...none the less my cognitive thinking seems impaired and I am experiencing much memory deficit. I am on a lot of medicine but can't seem to get well and sometimes it seems too much. But being a single parent I have to try to keep going. I am able to fully function, I work full time in a demanding and physcially active job, most people think of me as a positive person and I have pretty much been able to hide my mental distress from everyone. I do know from past experience if I tell a doctor I have had a history of serious depression in the past which required drug therapy, and if I admitted to these feelings
again, they would then blame everything physical on the mental status....I would risk losing their respect as well....and if it became known in the community or among family would cause me a lot of grief and heartache and I think I couldn't handle that. I have tried St. Johns Wart, Ginko, Ginseng, etc in an effort to make myself feel better and function better but none have been effective except to lighten my wallet. This thermogenic fat burning formula is the first thing I have found that seems to help with the weight and gives my mood a boost. Even without sleeping much I am performing better throughout the day. Except for the anxiety and shakiness and palpitations. I kind of feel since I had my heart checked out with an echo and they said it was ok it should not hurt me to keep doing what I'm doing....I did decrease my dose a little in an effort to reduce the chest pain. When part of me thinks about me doing this I almost think I am addicted to the stuff but how can you be addicted to an herb.
I have a connective tissue disease, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, history of medication induced ulcers, and asthma with bronchitis....I also snore badly and think I might have some kind of sleep disorder, also I have bulging discs in my back that contribute to the pain, and heel spurs that make it painful to walk...nothing too major but everything together seems almost too much to take. I hate the way my life is going but don't want anything out in the open, not only would it be difficult for me to deal with my children see me as a strong person, just like everybody else does. What do you think of my situation? Do you have suggestions? Cris
that did help me lose weight, it also seems to give me energy which I have not had for a long time in the face of several medical problems. The dose of ephedra is 60 mg a day, I don't off hand know the doses of the other herbs. I also have hypothyroidism which seems to aggravate the obesity and have had a difficult time getting stabilized, and I always gain weight every time I take prednisone...this herbal supplement seems to stop the weight gain with prednisone, it definately has improved my ability to control my appetite, and I don't want to stop it. The bad thing is I have started having symptoms that I think might be related. A high pulse rate with lots of PVCs that are very uncomfortable, blood pressure that is varying widely from normal to 185/110, shortness of breath, trembling hands. I did go to ER once because the chest pain was so bad with it, it felt like a heart attack with a lot of pressure in the chest that radiated to both arms. Although the increased blood pressure and pulse rate were
present in the ER, seven hours of cardiac monitoring and an EKG showed no abnormalities and I was sent home and told to monitor my fever because I had fever all day in ER and have had it for weeks. Later I found out I did have low potassium and high creatinine, but nobody seemed to think these were very significant. I have increased intake of gatorade and bananas to compensate...I have a lot of stomach problems and have to run to the bathroom a lot probably due to irritable bowel syndrome. I did not tell the ER or any docs about the ephedra use since I know they would not approve. Since EKG and echo showed nothing except the tachycardia and PVCs and I was told these are not life threatening, I would like to keep taking the herbs until I lose more weight. #1 I am desparate to lose weight, and #2 after years of fatigue and bone draining tiredness and pain it feels good to have something give me energy, even if there are some annoying side effects. I decided to stop the herbs because I was scared I would
hurt myself with them but then went out and bought 2 more bottles....I know you don't get addicted to herbs but I can't seem to make myself stop taking them...I think the good side effects are more overpowering than the bad side effects. I think I am having some problems with depression too and I have very bad thoughts but immediately am able to have my rational side talk me out of the bad thoughts...none the less my cognitive thinking seems impaired and I am experiencing much memory deficit. I am on a lot of medicine but can't seem to get well and sometimes it seems too much. But being a single parent I have to try to keep going. I am able to fully function, I work full time in a demanding and physcially active job, most people think of me as a positive person and I have pretty much been able to hide my mental distress from everyone. I do know from past experience if I tell a doctor I have had a history of serious depression in the past which required drug therapy, and if I admitted to these feelings
again, they would then blame everything physical on the mental status....I would risk losing their respect as well....and if it became known in the community or among family would cause me a lot of grief and heartache and I think I couldn't handle that. I have tried St. Johns Wart, Ginko, Ginseng, etc in an effort to make myself feel better and function better but none have been effective except to lighten my wallet. This thermogenic fat burning formula is the first thing I have found that seems to help with the weight and gives my mood a boost. Even without sleeping much I am performing better throughout the day. Except for the anxiety and shakiness and palpitations. I kind of feel since I had my heart checked out with an echo and they said it was ok it should not hurt me to keep doing what I'm doing....I did decrease my dose a little in an effort to reduce the chest pain. When part of me thinks about me doing this I almost think I am addicted to the stuff but how can you be addicted to an herb.
I have a connective tissue disease, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, history of medication induced ulcers, and asthma with bronchitis....I also snore badly and think I might have some kind of sleep disorder, also I have bulging discs in my back that contribute to the pain, and heel spurs that make it painful to walk...nothing too major but everything together seems almost too much to take. I hate the way my life is going but don't want anything out in the open, not only would it be difficult for me to deal with my children see me as a strong person, just like everybody else does. What do you think of my situation? Do you have suggestions? Cris
Post Comment
the herbal companies must have alot of
under the table money invested in the
poiticians who decide what is called a
drug and what isn't.
I work in a intensive care unit, we put patients on ephedrine iv drips to keep their blood pressure up or during cardiac arrest to help get the heart working again, so I can totaly understand them
giving you pvc's and chest pain.
Take Care,
Anne