I have a love/hate relationship with pharmaceuticals.

I don’t really hate them. They are absolute miracles in most cases.  But with chronic pain like arthritis, I think we can do better.  There has to be a better way than exposing yourself to serious long-term side effects daily.

Thank goodness the anti-narcotic movement has led doctors away from prescribing dangerous opioid drugs, but that leaves few pain management drugs left in the arsenal.

The Alcohol and Drug Foundation says daily use of Ibuprofen may eventually cause kidney and liver damage, bleeding in the stomach and bowels, and increased risk of heart attack.

Prescribed muscle relaxers leave you drowsy and have serious long-term health effects.

Many of the drugs doctors are prescribing for chronic pain are off-label.  That means, when the drug was tested for FDA approval, it was tested for a specific condition and a decision has been made (supported by clinical data) that the drug’s benefits outweigh the risks for that use. 

When a doctor prescribes off-label, the drug has not been through the rigorous testing to get approval for the condition they’re treating.

But sometimes these approaches are best when nothing else seems to be working. 

One drug commonly prescribed off-label for chronic pain and other conditions is Gabapentin.  Off-label prescribing exposes patients to adverse effects not supported by evidence, but the use of Gabapentin has tripled over the past 15 years. According to GoodRx’s 2019 first-quarter report, Gabapentin is the fourth most prescribed drug.

It works by pruning the growth of neuronal connectors. Translated, it’s likely to have the unwanted side effect of future memory challenges.

With opioids off the table for most chronic conditions, doctors are forced to think outside of the box.  In a traditional, paternalistic relationship between doctor and patient, the doctor tells us what to do and we obey. To question them is disrespectful and it seems like we’re challenging them.

So, if your doctor tells you to try Gabapentin to manage your pain, you’re likely to try it.

Sometimes you get on these drugs without really thinking about it.  Your body has gone haywire and your doctor says this might help and guess what?  It does help!  Its great!  You have your life back again!  Until its effectiveness wanes.  And not without some serious long-term adverse effects.

And then there’s the whole “dark side” of Big Pharma.  The traditional means of educating doctors about medications by a pharmaceutical rep who is compensated by the number of prescriptions their doctors write is a suspect way of doing business. 

So, who do you trust to best manage your pain?  The answer is yourself.

A Whole Health approach is a system of addressing the patient’s chronic condition proactively.  The patient makes the decisions.  The goal is to manage your pain without the symptoms impacting your ability to live your life as you choose. Whole Health is an excellent alternative to traditional chronic pain treatments of prescribing medicines to suppress your symptoms.

The problem with this is that it requires us to be grown-ups. 

We must stop a bad behavior and/or begin a new, beneficial habit.

We don’t want to do that.

 We are too old. 

We’ve lived our lives, raised our kids, paid our dues and we want to do whatever the hell we want. 

But if we continue down that path, we’ll continue to create pain in our lives.

We would rather have a pill than exercise.

We would rather have a pill and eat and drink whatever we want.

Getting control of our minds is the hardest thing we will ever do. 

We want Big Pharm to make us a pill, so we don’t have to.

But these pills are problematic long-term.  Many drugs used to treat auto immune diseases suppress the immune system.  That’s the definition of how they work.  But do you really want your immune system suppressed?  If you could be motivated enough to manage your symptoms without suppressing your immune system, would you do it?

A Whole Health approach puts the patient in charge of their health.  The VA has developed a circle of health model that has the patient in the center with outer rings of preventative treatment and conventional and complementary approaches. 

There are eight components of proactive health and well-being and improvement in any of these eight components greatly affects your health. 

With arthritis its so easy to fall back into the excuses of minimalizing the disease – everyone gets arthritis as they age.  Just take some ibuprofen.  Quit doing the things that cause you pain.  But it doesn’t have to be that way. You don’t have to give up. Remember, the goal of Whole Health is to manage your symptoms, so they don’t change the way you choose to live your life.

You don’t want to go cold turkey on your meds and try to make a drastic lifestyle change all at once.  Take small steps in the right direction.

Change is hard. Especially when faced with emotional hurdles that make doing these things seem daunting. But through change you’ll find personal growth and put power back in your hands.

Both flower and vegetable gardening are the perfect prescription for Whole Health pain management.  Gardening checks all the component boxes:

• Power of Mind – Relaxing and Healing
• Spirit and Soul – Growing and Connecting
• Family and Friends – Listening and Being Heard
• Recharge – Rest and Sleep
• Surrounding – Physical and Emotional
• Personal Development – Personal Life and Work Life
• Food and Drink – Nourishing and Feeding
• Working your Body – Energy and Flexibility

Starting a garden is a proactive step you can take now to make positive changes. The more positive results you have, the more confident you’ll get. Do what you’re willing to do. Your success will breed success.

Take control of your health.  Take back your life. Get back to the garden!

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