On my healing path, there have been occasions when my doctors gave me a prescription for Norco to help control pain.
Each time has left me scratching my head and wondering, why?
Why would someone hand me a prescription for Norco when they have information right in front of them that I’m allergic to acetaminophen? (Acetaminophen is in Norco in case you’re wondering about that connection.) In one case, we’d even had a full conversation about how it (acetaminophen) affected me and how I came to figure it out in the first place.
So there’s that why. And then there’s the why a doctor would hand me such a script without even asking me if I wanted or needed it. I didn’t and I don’t, thank you. I have other, far safer, and far more effective methods of managing pain and I much prefer to use them rather than a prescription drug that will have me feeling like crap as long as it’s in my system. I much prefer to use plant based treatments from Mother Earth and believe it or not they work better, we just don’t tend to think of them first.
I feel that most doctors *think* that their patients want drugs so if there’s a reasonable opportunity to prescribe them, they just do it. There’s not even any conversation about other alternatives and ways of handling pain and that just makes me sad because so many people just don’t know. And for these people, when a doctor says here’s a prescription, they feel like 1. they have to take it and 2. they have to take it all.
This is never the case with painkillers.
Painkillers are not these awesome good guys that come bearing gifts for us. They come with some very serious strings attached. Those strings – or consequences – can be, and often are, far worse than the pain they’re being taken for.
I’m not saying there is no place for pain meds – goodness knows how I’ve needed them at times and when you need them, you NEED them. However, I am saying that you have to educate YOURSELF on what side effects or warnings that anything you put in your body comes along with.
There are always other options worth looking at.
You cannot depend on your doctor to tell you the potential issues the drug he or she is giving you carries with it. The doctor is going to treat your symptoms to make you feel better and if the best “fix” is to cover the symptom or temporarily hide it, that is what he or she will prescribe. (Note: I do know that there are some amazing evolved doctors who think outside the box but they take some work to find.)
The best thing that you can do for your health is to be your own health advocate (or find someone who will help you with this) and question and research EVERYTHING before you jump all in with it. You will be the one to face the consequences – whatever they are – so you definitely want to know about them – ALL of them you can find.
You need information in order to make the best decisions for yourself and you will not get the information from where you would expect to get it (especially so if there is really something to be concerned about).
Look, I believe that doctors are good people in general. They’re doing what they believe in and probably giving it their all but they are people (fallible human beings just like you and me) and they have different standards of care and consequences than you might have for yourself.
You simply cannot stick your head in the sand and just blindly follow directions or recommendations when it comes to your health. You must know what you’re facing and what options are available to you.
This is your life and your body. You will be the one to live with the outcome of whatever decisions are made regardless of who makes them… don’t blindly turn responsibility over to someone with an agenda different than yours.