Medication Alternatives to Over-The-Counter Drugs

Using medication alternatives instead of over-the-counter drugs will reduce your risk of poor health.  Over-the counter (OTC) medications can be as harmful to your health as prescribed medications.   The interactions  between drugs, drugs and foods, or drugs and conditions that happen with prescribed medications, can also occur with OTC drugs.

Although some OTC medications are necessary to prevent serious events, e.g., a daily aspirin to prevent heart attack or stroke in high-risk people, most are used  to relieve minor health conditions such as allergies, headache, or heartburn.  While these may be uncomfortable or even distressing, they are generally not life-threatening. However, like any other drug, OTC drugs can cause illness and even death, so should be avoided for minor problems whenever possible.

This post will give you information on alternatives to OTC medication.  Future posts will show how to work with your symptoms to recognise the message they are sending you.

Headache
The first step in finding a medication alternative is to discover the triggers to your problem. Say you have headaches.  Start to document when they occur and if there is a pattern to the days,  time of day, relationship to meals, certain foods, or stress,  tiredness  from lack of sleep or overexertion, eyestrain, or any other factors.  Patterns of occurrence can help you avoid the headaches and will point to the alternative treatments, you can put in place. For example you may take steps to get more sleep, relieve and manage stress, avoid certain foods, eat more frequently or have your glasses changed.

Treatments such as biofeedback, acupuncture, homeopathy, visualization, traditional Chinese medicine, or energy medicine may also prevent headaches, including migraines, and many other conditions.

When headaches occur, instead of taking a drug you could try lying down in a darkened room with an ice pack on your forehead, sleeping, or eating if the headache is related to hunger.  Heat and cold are also useful for relieving other forms of pain such as back pain.

Heartburn
Heartburn is another common symptom with twenty-five percent of those in western countries experiencimng it once a month, twelve percent every week and five percent every day.  Non-medication remedies for heartburn include eating ginger, but the best thing is to take steps to avoid heartburn.  Maintain a healthy weight, don't eat within two hours of lying down, avoid tobacco and alcohol and foods that can cause heartburn such as coffee, chocolate, fatty or fried foods.

Sinusitis and Nausea

Other common conditions such as sinusitis and nausea can also be prevented or treated with natural remedies.  Using a neti pot or bulb syringe to wash out the nasal passages with saline is an effective way of preventing and treating sinusitis, hay fever and other upper respiratory problems.

Nausea may be treated by avoiding spicy foods, caffeine, or pop, restricting intake to clear fluids like ginger tea, or to small amounts of bland food (for nausea without vomiting).  Taking deep slow breaths can also reduce feelings of nausea.

These are just a few of the conditions that may be treated with alternatives to drugs.  Prevention by identifying triggers to conditions that occur regularly, and taking steps to avoid them, or learning how to deal differently with those you cannot avoid, is important.  But plan for those times when prevention does not work, so that you have the natural alternatives to medication on hand and will not have to turn to OTC drugs for relief.

Images by:  steve harris (headache) and daryltanghe (neti pot)

Medication Alternatives to Prescribed Drugs

Using medication alternatives can help you avoid the dangers of prescription or over-the-counter drugs. If your doctor says that medication is the only option, ask if there are things you can do to reduce the dose or the length of time you need to take it. All drugs have side effects. You can safeguard your health by only accepting medication when it is absolutely necessary.

One alternative to medication is to not treat the condition at all. Ask what would happen if the condition goes untreated. Doctors often assume that patients who come in with symptoms want treatment. But maybe you only want reassurance that the symptoms are not an indication of something serious.

Changes in Lifestyle
The most common medication alternatives are lifestyle changes. In fact for some conditions, like raised cholesterol or raised blood pressure, lifestyle changes are usually recommended before drugs.

Stress Reduction:
About 75-90 percent of conditions seen by primary care doctors are due to stress. Stress reduction will benefit anyone who is ill, because even conditions not caused by stress are invariably worsened by it.

It is helpful to remember that it is not the events in your life that cause you stress, but the way you respond to them. If you have parts of your life that you find stressful, look to see if you can take a different perspective on the situation. A Life Coach could help you do this, though if it's a 'big rock' in your life, a counsellor may be a better choice. Meditation is also an excellent way to reduce stress.

Dietary Changes:
Changes in diet, especially when combined with exercise are medication alternatives that may work as well or better than medication without the side effects. This is often true for patients with raised LDL cholesterol or those with stage one hypertension who follow the DASH-II diet. This diet was specially designed to reduce high blood-pressure.

Most people, whatever ails them, benefit from diets that are mainly alkaline. This means eating a diet that is about 75 percent fruit and vegetables, eating only small amounts of red meat and eliminating sugars and most vegetable oils.

Exercise
Most people would benefit from more exercise, which is a good alternative to medication in several conditions. Thirty to 60 minutes of exercise a day can lower blood pressure, increase HDL and lower LDL cholesterol, lower blood sugar, decrease weight, and decrease the risk of heart disease.

Weight Loss
Weight loss is one of the most effective ways of lowering blood pressure. It also may decrease back pain since every extra pound of weight you carry equals another 7 pounds of strain exerted on the spine. Extra weight also adds strain on hip, knee and ankle joints, so weight loss can reduce or even eliminate the use of pain relievers.

Smoking Cessation
Smoking significantly drives up blood pressure by constricting the blood vessels and promoting plaque formation in the arteries. It also worsens any lung condition and heart disease. If you are a smoker, stopping will significantly improve your health and by preventing disease or improving existing disease will decrease the amount of medication you would otherwise require.

The second part of medication alternatives will look at how you can reduce your use of over-the-counter medications.

Prescription Drug Dangers: Nutrient Destruction

The dangers posed when prescriptions dru8gs interact with one another, with over-the-counter medication, with a medical condition or with food were discussed in the previous posts, but a less recognized danger is that many prescription drugs destroy essential nutrients in the body. The effects of nutrient depletion may not be recognized, if at all, for several months or years and may mimic the condition that the drug is prescribed for.

For example, the naturally occurring Coenzyme Q10, (CoQ10) which is responsible for making energy in body cells , is created by the same enzyme that creates cholesterol in the body. So Statins, drugs that lower cholesterol, also lower CoQ10. This substance also prevents the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol from being oxidized, and so has a protective effect because oxidized LDL cholesterol tends to clog the arteries and damage them. It is possible that lack of CoQ10 may increase the possibility of a heart attack, the outcome that the Statins are supposed to prevent.

Statins can also cause muscle damage and pain, and these are thought to be due to the effects of lowering CoQ10 levels. A study reported in 2007 in the American Journal of Cardiology showed a 40 percent decrease in muscle pain in patients taking Statins who were also treated with CoQ10. Those taking Statins should consult their doctor or pharmacist in order to determine the correct dosage before taking CoQ10..

CoQ10 is also depleted by Beta Blockers (a medication to help prevent heart attacks) and medications taken by mouth to lower blood sugar (oral hypoglycaemic drugs).

Vitamin B is another nutrient depleted by both prescription and common over-the-counter medications. Vitamin B is actually a complex of 8 different vitamins which are essential for a wide range of body functions including turning food into different nutrients and into energy. Deficiencies in the B vitamins can lead to a number of conditions including a lowered immune system.

Drugs that deplete one or more B vitamins include Aspirin, antacids, antibiotics, gout medication, and oral contraceptives, to name just a few.

Made mainly in the liver, glutathione one of the most important chemicals produced by the body. It is a powerful antioxidant that neutralizes free radicals, and detoxifies many toxins. Glutathione is also essential to the functioning of the lungs, and the immune, gastrointestinal and nervous systems. Glutamine deficiency is involved in many conditions including certain cancers, HIV/AIDS, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases.

Acetaminophen (Tylenol, Panadol ) is a common drug that depletes glutathione in the body. While it may not be harmful for most people at normal doses, it should be avoided by those with HIV/AIDS and other diseases in which glutathione-deficiency is present.

The best way to prevent any adverse effects from drug interactions or nutrient depletion is not to take any drugs. Stay tuned for ways to avoid drugs, or at least minimize the number you take.