Being slowly killed by Prescription Drugs?
Question: from Mary
I recently am dating a wonderful guy but has numerous cardio problems as well as being diabetic type II, He also has a difibulator and is under numerous prescription meds that seem to be doing more harm than good.
He supposedly had 3 heart attacks but doesn't remember having them. Also supposedly a stroke. I believe he was used as a guinea pig for this difibulator as it almost killed him by shorting out 19 times and was never notified of a recall on it. He is 49 yrs old.
He experiences extreme pain in legs, knees, shoulders, feet and has ED. Now he is starting to experience problems with his eyes and headaches. I think these doctors have him on so many drugs his body is trying to fight them. Also fatigue is a factor and some pain in the kidney area. Oh, by the way they did a test on his kidneys a while back and injected him with iodine.
This poor guy has been through hell. Being diabetic and very conscious of his blood sugar and checks this regularly and is under control as well as his blood pressure. A better diet has been my main concern but have recently started investigating these prescripions. He recently had bloodwork done and would like to get back with you once I get the results.
After he showed me the meds he was on I started looking them up.
Lovistatin 40mg, Lisinopril 40mg, glyburide 5mg, actos 30mg hydrochlorothiazide 50mg, aspirin 75mg, hydrocodone 750 mg 4 per day.
After investigating this cholesterol drug Lovistatin I totally understand why he is feeling fatigued, nauseated in mornings dry heaves, muscle weekness, fatigue, chronic pain in knees, feet and shoulders, fever, headaches.
Then there is the pain medication which he tries to avoid except when necessary. As you can imagine he is in a lot of pain.
I would like to see him get on your Cardio Klenz, Cholesterol alternative and Omega 3 and/or Total Balance.
With a good diet and exercise (loves to bike) and is in good physical shape, I would love to see him get off this statin drug as soon as possible. I bet that would take care of alot of his problems including ED. Would it be possible to integrate some of these natural alternatives and slowly wean him of this statin drug and possibly any other prescriptions he's on.
He religiously follows his doctor's advice but all these medicines will ultimately be his demise by destroying his organs.I love him and want him to get healthy and live a normal life. Most doctors, though, frown on natural alternatives because they don't increase their bottom line.
Please help me save him.
Answer: from Warren
There is no doubt in my mind that if your man continues on this regime that he will not be long for this world. I find it both amazing and irresponsible for the Doctors to have him on all this medication.
I am not a Doctor but after just spending a few minutes on a data base I was able to determine that many of these drugs that he is on are incompatible with each other. If you go to www.drugs.com and look up the individual drugs and then review the drugs that they should not be combined with, then you will see what I am referring to.
It is no wonder that he is in pain and I would bet any amount of money that he will NEVER regain his health under this regime. With taking all these meds I would be amazed if he didn’t have ED.
So, the question is what can he do about it?
I agree that if he is able to be weaned off the drugs and have them substituted with the products that you refer to, then this combined with diet and exercise should see him being to be restored to good health, provided that none of his organs have been damaged excessively by the drugs.
The biggest challenge that you have and indeed many people have with their partners (particularly if the patient is a man) is convincing him that there is a better way and that his current regime will kill him, sooner or later.
Without a change of mind set which has to come from him then the task to regain his health will be impossible! He has to realize that the Doctors are not god and that they are only trained for drug intervention. They do not fully understand the interactions of drugs…and indeed even the drug companies do not know all the answers.
They certainly are not trained in natural alternatives and as such stay away from them. There is also the matter of liability. They can treat a patient and if the person dies there is no risk to them provided they followed correct medical protocols. However, if they used a natural alternative and the patient died then they could potentially be sued.
Unfortunately I cannot directly advise on what your partner should do in order to change his regime as there are too many drugs involved and to many life threatening issues he is faced with.
This is what I would suggest.
You find a Doctor who is experienced in natural therapies but is also a conventional Doctor and familiar with drugs. There are Doctors around that fit within this category. A good starting point would be to go to www.acamnet.org and find some in your area.
Then set up an appointment with a Doctor who shares the philosophy of avoiding drugs where possible and then work with him/her to start replacing the current drug regime with a natural one. Make sure you find one who does not sell supplements as many of them do and they tend to be quite basic and not up to the standard of Xtend-Life ones. In order for a new regime to work you cannot afford to compromise on quality or efficacy.
Refer the Doctor to our website and let him/her know that we are available to assist in any way that we can.
If you are able to follow these suggestions and most importantly that this is what your partner wants I am confident that the end result will be successful.
Good luck…keep in touch and let me know how it goes.
Warren Matthews
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Reader Comments (10)
Elliemay
I agree with the sentiment in Bernie Segal's book "Between Office Visit" where he talks at lenght about how important the doctor-patient-treatment relationship is. For clarity he is a cancer doctor, an oncologist who wrote a book to support his cancer patients "Between Office Visits". An extract from his book says:
"I know some patients who have sat down and been totally sincere with the doctor, and this sincerity has led to tears and hugs on the part of both of them. If you initiate such sincerity and closeness and there is no response and you don't sense there is a human being on the other side of the desk, get up and get out. [** I love the comment "get up and get out" thats how important the doctor's failure to relate is **]
Some people may feel, "But I can't get out. I am in a health plan." Then let me tell you what one woman did. She showed up at her health facility with her lawyer beside her, sat down in front of the doctor, and said, "You and I do not have a good relationship. It is destructive for me when I am trying to battle cancer. I'm going to get another doctor, and the health plan will continue to pay. My lawyer is here to work that out." She got up and left. I met her at an oncology conference where she spoke about survival. Don't be afraid to change your doctor (or use his or her first name)."
There are many great stories related in the book, but what it boils down to for me is to a) find a doctor you believe in, b) find treatments you believe in and c) find doctors who believe in you and treat you as a real person. They have a tough job sometimes, no question about it. But that is no excuse for them, or me for that matter.
Best of luck and hope this helps.
Adrien.
For some years I have researched the Internet on health issues and as a result have elected to purchase your products relevant to myself. However firstly we in the UK do not have the luxury of chopping and changing Doctors ad lib, My own GP in fact insists that I use statins for cholesterol control . and was unaware of the Co- enzyme depletion as a result. He also precribes Losartan Plus for B.P control ..
However I do take Cardio Klenz and TB mens plus together with Dr Sears Accel(coenzyme Q10) and for a man of 72 feel pretty fit.
However my only concern re your products is that whilst they are well researched .is. are the quantity of the ingredients sufficient . \i.e. resveratrol in Cardio Klenz is only 50mg whereas other suppliers offer products containing 300 mg or more ??? this applies to a number of ingredients in TB and CK . I have every confidence in Extend Life and your ethical approach to general wellbeing
I and feel sure that with your approach you would provide products which are have adequate amounts of the various ingredients to provide effective treatment and I would welcome clarification.
Incidentally following surgery for an acoustic neuroma , which was misdiagnosed by GP as facial nerve !!! I made a very speedy recovery and I feel that having had the benefit of Total Balance for some time that this could well have helped.
Regards James Sadd
While I tried (very hard at first) to urge and help her toward the path that Warren suggests, there are so many obstacles to making that kind of major change when a person is suffering from ill health.
First of all, and perhaps the most significant, is that person's own sense of confusion, fear and doubt. I'm a total believer in the idea that Warren stated about doctors not being god. But even though ample doses of theater are a significant part of their practice, doctors do unfailingly project the attitude that they are in control, and that they know just what they are doing. If you carry your own wits about you, there are times when you're able to see behind the curtain and realize that this arrogance can really be quite astounding.
This attitude from doctors is supported by the multitude of people around the doctors, and around the patients (their own families and friends), as it is by society in general. We are told on television nearly every day to get the final word when you "Ask your doctor." All of this momentous support for the sovereignty of doctors makes it extremely difficult for such a vulnerable and frightened patient to cast off the treatments they are so heavily vested in and go down a path that is not only unknown, un-tried, and un-heralded to them, but is actually scorned and prosecuted as some sort of snake oil voodoo practice by their doctors, the medical establishment as we know it, and much of our own society in general. "If it works, why aren't more people (doctors) involved with it?" these patients understandably ask.
Then there is the hugely significant issue of insurance to contend with. Their non-involvement with anything but traditional medicine puts the icing on the cake we just baked in the last paragraph. But on top of that, it presents a serious financial obstacle for a person like your friend or my mother who wants to go another way, but either already pays a fortune for medical insurance, or is not used to paying anything for health care, as it is covered by the insurance they get from their employer.
We're not just talking about the costs of supplementation here, which in itself is a significant financial commitment taken on by people who believe in it. For a person like your friend, finding the way back to health, IF, you can find the type of doctor that Warren describes, (I live in a major metro area, and it's not so easy) requires a lot of testing and therapies that will require time, patience, belief, and money that will have to come out of his pocket.
I know of what I speak as I have taken this road myself. It's not cheap, and to see results from this path, one must have a belief in the therapies involved, because unlike the magic bullet theories of modern medicine, healing the body holistically takes time. Consequently, one must have belief in what you are doing to give your body that time. And it’s not easy to be stalwart about something you hope will be true, in the face of scrutiny, doubt and ridicule.
Though I convinced my mother to try with an alternative physician in her area, her heart was not in the uphill battle involved. I cannot vouch for the overall effectiveness of his practice, but I think the meager introductory treatment steps he offered to my very sick mother seemed insignificant compared to the vast array of pharmaceuticals that her traditional doctors offered. Perhaps most of all, I think the idea of the cost involved for a retired person on a fixed income, to be spent in the shadow of self-doubt, and in the presence of a pessimistic spouse, melted any resolve right at the start.
So instead, my mother continued going down the road your friend is on, continued having worse and worse episodes, continued going to her doctors and asking them why she had so much pain, why she could no longer walk, why she had to begin having canisters of oxygen to breathe. They continued giving her answers that didn't amount to anything or improve her conditions. Like your friend, she had so many problems, to the point where they just really didn't know what to do for her anymore, but they just could never admit it to her.
In the end, my mother's heart just gave out. She was 72, a diabetic, and had been in a downward spiral from one malady or another for many years. Amazingly though she had been very ill two years earlier, she had danced at her 50th wedding anniversary. Of all the things that were wrong with her, she'd never had any heart problems and was never treated for her heart. It just became the weak link in all her body's other troubles, and couldn't handle stress of her illnesses and their treatments.
I know I've gone on a long time here. I was so very touched by Mary's letter, and by the tragic nature of our collective situation with regard to our society's view on health, that I wanted to share this story, not just as a negative indictment, but as a concrete example of what Mary is faced with in trying to help her friend. How things ever got this way, I don't know. I'm sure our doctors started out much more like the few holistic physicians out there, than like the garden variety pharmaceutical lackeys who are endorsed by our insurance companies.
In any case, Warren, thank you for your efforts, and for this site. It's so helpful to be able to reach out to others of a like mind with regard to such an important part of our lives.
Mary, I wish you the very best. Your friend may have a lot of troubles, but he is a very fortunate person.
Regards,
Michael Colford
Sorry for the delay in responding. Your comment came in as I was travelling.
I appreciate the points that you have raised and I will do my best to address them.
Lets discuss the issue of Resveratrol.
This is an interesting ingredient and a good one. However, there are a number of things that are important to be aware of regarding resveratrol.
First one is that there are two forms. Trans and cis. The trans is the natural form whereas the cis is synthetic. The trans is more effective than the cis.
The next thing is that there are many different strengths of resveratrol. They generally range from 5% to 50% of actives. Many supplements only use 5% but they don't tell you that.
As an example of what I mean have a look at a Solaray product (which is a reputable company). You will see that they use a 20% form of the trans type. Unlike many other companies Solaray are honest enough to reveal the form and potency. http://www.getnutri.com/product27128/resveratrol.html
All our resveratrol is of the trans (natural) type and all of it is the 50% potency. This means that you are getting a total of 50mgs a day of the active resveratrol in your daily dose of Total Balance and Cardio Klenz. This is ample.
Another important issue with resveratrol is that it is extremely sensitive. When put in an ordinary capsule its efficacy is reduced significantly due to its exposure to acid in the stomach. For best results it should be released in the upper intestine which it is with both Total Balance and Cardio Klenz because they are enteric coated.
With regard to the amounts of some of the other ingredients they have to be considered as a whole with others. For example, many herbal extracts and flavonoids have similar actions but the subtle differences are important.
By combining them some of the key actions are reinforced and a broader spectrum of action is acheived. In fact, the correct combination of them can result in a potency far in excess of the sum of the combinations. A similar principle applies to other ingredients including amino acids.
So, in other words when you look at an individual ingredient in Total Balance or Cardio-Klenz you are only seeing part of the picture. The key to overall efficacy and potency is how that ingredient reacts or combines with another. This is the secret of why Total Balance and our other products work so well.
I hope that this explanation helps James.
It is likely that when you stop the Crestor that your energy levels will improve. Also, please take some extra CoQ10 as the statin drug will have depleted your levels.
You can get the CoQ10 either by us in the form of our Total Balance or Cardio-Klenz both of which will give you a number of other benefits. Or, if you take CoQ10 on its own either get it in an oil form or within an enteric coated tablet.