Prescription medications are being misused at an alarming rate. This misuse is not just coming from adolescents taking psychotropic medications at a party, however. Doctors too are partially to blame for misusing mediations in the sense of over prescribing. According to Kaiser health foundation in 2011 the average American age 19-64 took 11 prescription medications. Among the medications that seem most suspect for unwarranted use:

• Opiate medications (Vicodin, Oxycodone, Percocet, etc.)
• antidepressants (Prozac, Celexa, Lexapro, etc.)
• Antibiotics (Azithromycin, Ciprofloxacin, Cephalexin. ect.)

As Phoenix doctors practicing integrative medicine, we are perhaps more keenly aware of these over prescribing statistics. We make every effort not to prescribe medications except when absolutely necessary. After all we rarely take medications ourselves and we try to do the same for our patients. Believe it or not most doctors don't take medications because they know that lifestyle is key to maintaining health and treating current health issues. A combination of dissatisfaction with their work and lack of time leads to writing prescriptions rather than recommending lifestyle changes. Yet we should also point out that patients too bear some of the responsibility. Many patients fail to take seriously or seriously implement lifestyle changes. This leaves many doctors with little choice other than prescribe a medication. As your phoenix integrative doctor, we want to give a little perspective on both sides with regard to the above medications. 

Phoenix Doctors | Truth about Opiate Based Medications

Opiate medications are used to treat both acute and chronic pain and both doctors and patients have to walk a fine line with regard to their use. They are the most abused prescription drugs on the market. Some patients have legitimate reasons for taking these medications while others abuse them learning how to manipulate doctors to get more prescriptions than they need. Phoenix doctors (all doctors for that matter) have to balance this with the fact that patients should not suffer with pain. Both over prescribing and under prescribing - creating undue suffering - can create actions against a doctor for misconduct from medical boards. 

One solution to this conundrum is to take time to explain the risks, benefits, and alternatives before prescribing opiate medications. Their are side effects from opiate based medications but the main risks seem to be dependency and addiction. Once you begin taking these medications on a regular basis, they become very difficult to stop because your body gets accustomed to them. This is know as tolerance. This tolerance leads to a physical dependency and for some the dependency comes in the psychological form. When a psychological dependency exists, you are addicted. You believe you need this drug for things other than what it is prescribed for. This leads to misuse and abuse of the medication, a cycle that is difficult to break but starts with painkiller detox.

As a result, doctors using holistic pain management avoid using opiate based medications altogether. Many people don't fully understand the alternatives to opiates, and this understanding is a good place to start when treating pain. Some doctors will be more qualified that others to discuss these alternatives. 

Phoenix Doctors | Truth about Antidepressants

Prescriptions for mental illness is a big industry, 330 billion and counting. It's no wonder then why more and more money is being spent on advertising medications for anxiety, depression, bipolar, and schizophrenia directly to consumers. In 2005 alone 4.2 billion was spent on direct consumer advertising for medications and a big percentage was for mental health medications. Despite the marketing message that is delivered in these advertisements (mental illness is a deficiency in single neurotransmitter), a simple neurochemical explanation of mental illness and psychological disorders does not exist - to date. This explanation is used to make the consumer think antidepressant medications offer the solution to mental illness, and it seems to be working.

The number of american's taking mental health medications between 2001 and 2010 grew by 22 percent. People believe the advertisements and ask their doctors for the medicines even though the medications don't work much better than placebo. Indeed when we look deep into the studies on these medications, we find that the drugs don't really work that well.

To get FDA approval, medications must meet certain standards, mainly they need to be statistically more effective than placebo at treating the condition in question. Looking at the studies used for many antidepressant FDA approval, you find that the medications only improved mood slightly more (but statistically significant) than the placebo. This, slight improvement is only present if you look at the studies that were not excluded, however. The excluded studies, found no difference in mental health between the antidepressant and placebo groups. This may seem astonishing but it is pure fact and aired on "60 Minutes" several months ago.

Dr Kirsch a Harvard medical School Professor was one of the first to expose this truth and he did so by filling a Freedom of Information Act request. This request allowed him to access the unpublished studies on the antidepressants. These revealed that placebo (or sugar pill) is just as likely to make you less depressed as an antidepressant medication. There does seem to be more of a benefit to these medications when you have moderate to severe depression, however. 

You may have heard the saying; "doctors use medicines for which they know little about to treat conditions for which they know less about." When it comes to antidepressants, this seems to hold some truth. These are some of the most poorly understood medications yet most commonly prescribed. If you have depression or a mental illness talk to qualified phoenix doctors about alternatives to antidepressants. Some naturopathic physicians have great options for mild to moderate depression. 

Phoenix Doctors | Truth about Antibiotics

The inappropriate use of antibiotics leads to development of super bugs that cannot be treated and adverse reactions that are unnecessary. There are many clear indications for antibiotics but many doctors use them when they are clearly not indicated. For instance most upper respiratory tract infections including the common cold, sinusitis, and the like are caused by viruses and not bacteria. Yet many patients still get prescriptions for antibiotics that are for bacterial infections not viral infections. Likely reason for this..... doctors feel they need to do something for their patients when they are sick.  A prescription for an antibiotic seems like a plausible choice only because that is what most patients think they need. However if you don't have a bacterial infection, antibiotics won't help you. On top of that the antibiotics are putting you at risk for adverse reactions from the drug. The most common would be disruption to the "good bacteria" in the digestive tract and your digestive function in general. 

The other reason this is a poor choice is taking the antibiotics exposes bacteria to the antibiotic allowing them to develop resistance. The more you expose bacteria to antibiotics, the more likely they are to develop resistance. Over time we are creating "super bugs". These super bugs are already starting to pop up all around the world as MERSA, antibiotic resistant tuberculosis, gonorrhea, and others. 

These resistant bacteria present a threat to all of us. Next time you get offered an antibiotic, ask your phoenix doctor if this is absolutely necessary. Sometimes they are so discuss with your doctor. Infections that linger more than 7 to 10 days, those that create shortness of breath, create high fevers, etc are good indications for antibiotics.

For all of the above medications, it is never safe to simply not take your medication without discussing with your doctor first. While there are health concerns associated with some medications, there are also health risks associated with stopping or not taking medications as prescribed. Doctors of integrative medicine arizona can help you navigate prescription medicines and holistic medicine. For more information, click on the link below.