What do Prescriptions, OTC (over-the-counter) Drugs and Trains have In Common? Very few doctor's know because the pharmaceutical companies don't tell them. I suspect the drug companies are hiding their heads in the sand or just plain ignoring the fact that they are doing harm when they purport to be doing good! The favorite expression coming out of the doctors’ mouths that I heard over my twenty years as a medical office nurse was, "The benefits outweigh the side effects!" That may be true in life or death situations but I seldom ever saw life or death situations applied to that expression.

When a train is coming at you on the tracks and you’re stuck and can’t move it’s going to do some big damage or kill you! Taking prescription and some OTC medications do the same thing but nobody is telling you. I am not here not to scare you, but to give you some insight on taking charge of your health.

There is a train coming down the tracks at people taking prescriptions and OTC drugs who cannot get out of the way. The elderly who take most of the prescriptions. So it’s not a big deal since they are going to die anyway, right? WRONG! This is a little talked about truth of the medical profession but a well-known fact in a lot of medical establishments in the U.S.

 Where most other countries tend to revere the elderly and take care of them we tend to put them away in nursing facilities or board and care homes to keep them out of our hair and nobody cares! That train is headed straight for them and nobody is caring! Well I care and I am here to try and wake you up and hopefully in some small way do something about it!

Not only are the elderly being affected but the unborn and children. It’s a common fact that what hurts the average adult is doubled and tripled in effect in the elderly, infants and children.

There is a seldom-told truth about the long-term effects of all the chemicals we take by prescription or use in the bath and shower. Absorbed from the foods we eat and on top of those chemicals are the topical preparations put on in the form of lotions, shampoos and conditioners that have been found to cause hormonal imbalances and immune deficiencies as well as deplete our system of necessary vitamins and minerals. Yes there have been some little, back pages of the newspaper, news coverage of those health risks but not enough up front.

The other problems not being talked about nor warnings issued are the problems arising from some commonly prescribed and over the counter drugs.

Every prescription has the potential to harm our bodies in one way or another but the most severe damage is to our nutritional health and creates the decline in good health! Certain drugs cause severe nutritional deficiencies all by themselves… every prescription or OTC drug takes a heavy toll in unwanted, and dangerous side effects…When was the last time your doctor told you to take vitamins and minerals when he or she prescribed a medication? The very reason they should is the side effects of those drugs.

A rare statement from a doctor who once told me that, "Statistics are against chemical medications simply because they kill people." His advice, "Take herbs, not a single person died from herbs last year but more than half million died from prescription and OTC drugs."

Beware if you are taking any of those listed below or actually any drugs….

• DIURETICS - given for Chronic Heart Failure and high blood pressure, these not only wash potassium, magnesium, sodium, zinc and vitamin B2 right out of your body along with the water but sets a body up for chronic dehydration. Even more alarming is the report from the National Cancer Institute in November 1998 and again other studies reported on in  2009 and 2010 states that, "diuretics also increase the risk of kidney cancer," as found by the researchers that conducted the studies.
• HRT - HORMONE/ESTROGEN REPLACEMENT DRUGS, such as Premarin, can leave you deficient in all the B complex, vitamin C, magnesium and zinc
• ANTACIDS steal vitamins A and B1, folic acid, calcium, copper, iron and phosphorus from your tissues.
• ANTIBIOTICS deplete numerous vitamins mainly B2, C, D, niacin, folic acid, biotin…and multiple minerals - calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium and zinc. Antibiotics not only kill bacteria but in doing so kills your immune system leaving you open to come down with whatever virus, bacteria or fungal infection you come in contact with. Read about your Amazing Ecosystem Within!
• ANTIDEPRESSANTS and MOOD ELEVATING DRUGS not only deplete the body of minerals - that affect the muscles and body. Depressed people have shown to be extremely low on vitamin B's and yet the medications deplete further vitamins. The drugs shuts down parts of the brain that produce serotonin and B vitamins necessary brain nutrients that can eliminate the need for the drugs. This makes it difficult to make smart nutritional decisions creating further mental problems. You would be better off taking herbs or Mega doses of B Complex vitamins than taking these drugs!
• CHOLESTEROL lowering drugs wash out the nutrients your body needs to stay healthy as it washes out the cholesterol. It deplete numerous vitamins --B2, C, D, niacin, folic acid, biotin and minerals---calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, zinc, etc. and CoQ10 the brain and heart necessity!
• BONE AND JOINT MEDICATIONS - are creating far more problems than they are eliminating! Read bone and joint drug induced problem facts!
• SHAMPOOS and CONDITIONERS - have several chemicals but a couple that has drawn attention is DEA and Sodium Laureth Sulfate, or simply SLS which are absorbed into your blood stream and make changes in our hormonal systems that cause free radicals to run wild and in turn cause cancer & other diseases.
• CHLORINE in our municipal water systems has been proven to cause cancers of all kinds, with bathing in chlorinated water being worse than drinking chlorinated water. Creating Free radicals that careen through our bodies devouring our immune fighters.

This next one really bothers me! The fact is that doctors treat patients with ant-inflammatories every day of the year, probably one of the most prescribed treatments by far! I observation this from my 20+ years of working in medical offices and that was that arthritic patients never got any better and always became worse. Yes they relieved their pains temporarily and momentarily while masking the damage and allowing the arthritis to progress as the years wore on. Since I have learned the following I now understand why!

• ANTI-INFLAMMATORIES aka NSAIDS - the most popular being Motrin aka Ibuprofen and Tylenol -  to name just a few - stop the production of good prostaglandin’s, which when in proper proportions promote healing of the joints and cartilage. Prostaglandin destruction happens with depletion of necessary minerals and vitamins therefore causing further damage to your joints and muscles… Also ongoing use makes the liver very toxic setting it up for cancer, Hepatitis, etc... These drugs are in most cold medications and other OTC drugs making it possible to overdose, and judging by all the liver problems in existence that number is MANY!

• ASPIRIN, the most commonly used over the counter drug anti-inflammatory, anti-fever, drug does a lot more damage than just destroying the cartilage in the joints. One adult size aspirin causes the stomach to bleed a teaspoon of blood every time one is consumed. Do you think that is good? Is it any wonder that digestive problems are rampant?

Other Medication Depletions are:

1. Oral Contraceptives Can Result in a Deficiency of folate!
2.  Antacids like Tums, Rolaids or Maalox can weaken bones by hindering their mineral uptake.  This requires larger doses of balanced minerals.
3. Drinking grapefruit juice with the antihistamine Allegra (fexofenadine) decreases its absorption! 
4. Drinking grapefruit juice or eating grapefruit while taking blood-pressure-lowering drug Plendil (felodipine) increases its absorption and can create low blood pressure to the point of passing out or death!
5. Drinking cola drinks when taking an antibiotic sets up a chain reaction of all kinds of later problems!
6. The antidepressant drug Prozac (fluoxetine) and Fibromyalgia drugs Cymbalta, Lyrica, Savella can decrease the appetite in some while increasing the appetite in others while depleting the system of many minerals and vitamins!
7. If you use a blood thinner drug such as Coumadin (warfarin), tell your doctor if you eat a lot of green leafy vegetables or take fish oil supplements as they can cause the blood thinner to over react and the possibility of bleeding to death! There is a healthier safer natural alternative!
8. Large doses of zinc can interfere with the absorption of Iron, Copper and Calcium! Balance in good things is just as important and taking good things. "Too much of good is bad" and that is important to remember when taking minerals and vitamins also!

So be diligent, get off the train tracks! If you choose to take prescription or over-the-counter drugs make sure you take a good quality vitamin and balanced mineral supplement along with them!!! Not the ones you pick up on sale or at the grocery store or pharmacy. For maximum absorption use a liquid, powder or capsule form that can actually be absorb into your system, otherwise you will be wasting your money.

A word to the wise here: To determine if your body is absorbing your cheap or not so cheap vitamin and mineral pills, put one into a glass of water, let it sit. If it has not dissolved within the hour, it will not be absorbed into your system either! Simple but true! Our city sewer filters can attest to that happening millions of times a day!

***Lena Sanchez a happy Retired Medical Office Nurse/Administrator, Medical Office Consultant turned Alternative Health Consultant took charge of her life in 1992 substituted healthy drug-free alternatives getting actual pain relief after 30 years with fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue, Meinere's Vertigo and never ending illnesses all kinds never solved with conventional medicine . Now committed to helping others do the same by educating on truly treating illness and disease rather than masking symptoms. See http://www.antibiotic-alternatives.com  Other informative health articles regarding prevention and steps to take to be the healthiest you can be found at Free Healthy Natural Alternatives To Drugs Articles