Discussion Board

I'm happy to say that at age 73 I don't take any prescription drugs. When seasonal allergies act up I use an antihistamine spray when absolutely necessary. My husband, at age 79 is off of all his meds and is doing great! Thank you Dr. McDougall!!

Well, our group takes way less drugs that U.S. averages. No wonder my doctor was surprised that I was on no prescription drugs - 84% of people over 65! Wow! Take care, LauraA

this is taken from Use of Prescription Drugs in U.S.
by Randolph E Schmid, Associated Press writer

Nearly half of all women were taking prescription drugs — 49 percent — compared to 39 percent of men.


Usage peaked at 84 percent for people aged 65 and over, with the top rate at 89 percent for black women over 65.


Even for people under age 18, however, nearly one-fourth — 24.1 percent — were taking at least one prescription medication. The rate rose to 34.7 percent between age 18 and 44; for those ages 45 to 64, it was 62.1 percent.

My preference is to find any other way but drugs. Adverse drug effects scare me away from drugs, not to mention the cost.

Re vitamin D, in one of the recent ASW's Dr. McDougall discussed good D levels (I saw it via the internet). I don't remember exactly what he said but after hearing it I'm no longer panicked about my "severe deficiency" of 6. My fear caused me to take the prescribed megadoses (50,000 IU) for 12 weeks, read Dr. Michael Holick's book and go out of my way to get the amount of sun he suggests in his book ("The Vitamin D Solution"). I got my level up to 32, then started taking OTC pills for a couple months (and quit when I got sicker than I've ever been, and wondered if messing with D had something to do with it!). Dr. McDougall mentioned that minimum D levels are lower somewhere else (Europe or Britain?), at 20, and he said he thinks 10 might be sufficient. My sense after trying to read about D is that a lot is still unknown. Plus people in Hawaii who wrote here that they get lots of sun and their D levels are insufficient. It all didn't make much sense to me, so I decided to quit worrying, then Dr. McDougall's talk at the ASW put my mind to rest. Now, I just make it a point to get some sun. I neither sunbathe in a bathing suit nor take pills. I'm waiting until more is known before messing around with it. So, D pills are out for me. Sun is in.

I answered 2 but I should have answered 3. An anti depressent, a birth control shot, and a rescue inhaler I forgot about because I only use it when I'm sick whitch isn't that often luckily.

Audrey

Count me as another on thyroid replacement.

And for my asthma I take 3 meds - one a pill and 2 inhalers, including a steroid. When allergy seasons hit I add a nasal spray and sometimes an oral steroid.

Sometimes I have to take oral steroids for my neuritis & sciatica.

For my cardiomyopathy I take an ACE inhibitor and low dose aspirin.

My B-12 level is maintained with twice a week supplementation, and my Vitamin D level requires 5000iu 3 x weekly just to stay above 20. The original reading was below 4, so it's an improvement. My doc doesn't want to overdo it with the supplements because my liver enzymes have a tendency to go up now and then with various meds so the less I have to take the better.

Just wondered what the sickness was. Was it associated with any symptoms from a possible overdose of D?

The sickness was what seemed to be a run-of-the-mill virus that about 6 of us got at work. Everyone got over it quickly, but I got very sick (ended up in emergency 6 weeks later, having coughed up blood). It seemed like my immune system was shot. Maybe it was coincidental but it happened after going all out to get my D level up (RX & OTC pills and sunbathing). Before that illness, flus and colds were always mild & quick.

VeggieSue, have you tried a gluten-free diet? I couldn't get my asthma and allergies under control until I went both dairy AND gluten-free. Might be worth a shot to get off the steroids.
Kate

My doc and I were tossing that around when he saw the Vitamin D level kept dropping, even with supplementation. He feels there may be an absorption problem, and a gluten intolerance could be the cause of that.

Wow! I was just talking about allergy season and just noticed in my email inbox was an alert from Pollen.com telling me to watch out, that the pollen count for my area is up today. Usually those don't start until April. It's been a weird winter!

I suspect that there's a whole lot that's not known about D. In the meantime, I don't plan on taking D pills.

Since I have no thyroid, I take Armour everyday so I can live. Other than that, nothing.

Nope! Used to be on BP meds, but no more!

I have to take replacement thyroid hormone because I have hypothyroidism. Without the hormone replacement, I could eventually develop dementia or even die.

My husband is on lipitor (for high cholesterol) and alipuronal (for gout). Now that he is on a healthier diet, his doctor is trying (at our request) to transition him off the drugs a little at a time.

I take 25mg Chlorthalidone for blood pressure under Dr. McDougall's direction. I've been on the diet about 10 years and have never been more than 10lb over-weight, but the BP is hard to control without medication. Wish I could get off of that one pill.