I agree with AFRobin in her approach to trying lifestyle changes before adding yet another prescription medication to your plate. I, too, believe drugs should be your last option. I just want to say that when, and if, dugs ARE the last option, do not feel guilty or that you have failed in your attempt to improve your condition, and therefore, your health, by turning to pharmaceuticals. Sometimes, unfortunately, we simply have no choice. Case in point...….I have a condition known as hyperlipidemia, this means that no matter how careful and diligent I am about watching my levels of cholesterol, my body produces too much cholesterol. When my lipid panels kept coming back with really bad numbers, my doctor said I needed to go on a very strong statin. I really wanted to avoid that for obvious reason. I was sent for a consult with a nutritionist to help me lower my cholesterol. I was put on a diet for 6 months that I didn't think would even keep a rabbit alive. But I was determined to stay off statins, so I followed that diet religiously. At the end of the 6 months, I had another lipid panel drawn and my LDL (the "bad" cholesterol) numbers had actually gone up! I already had 2 cardiac stents and it was decided that in MY case, there really was no other course of action besides going on the statins. I have been on a very high dose for several years now, my cholesterol levers are nearly normal and my cardiologist is keeping very close watch on my liver function, which so far, knock on wood, has remained very minimally elevated. I wrote this only as an example that SOMETIMES, even when we try our hardest to correct a medical issue naturally, there will be times it simply is not enough and we must rely on medication for optimum health. This does not mean that you should skip any lifestyle changes you've made. I still stick to the ultra-low cholesterol diet the nutritionist put me on, but I DO cheat now and again. Which I see as one of the dangers of believing if we're taking a pill to keep the condition under control, then we can just stop trying to help ourselves...….and that's NOT how it works.

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