This is just a quick note that may or may not interest.
As of today, my Mum, a nonagenarian stroke survivor is officially drug free 
Before her stroke she hardly every accepted medication, other than, traditional home remedies passed down from generation to generation in her family. Sadly for her, she was hit with a stroke that robbed her of ability to speak for herself and the experts had “no time for her.” For this reason, she ended up having medication given to her and she could not refuse it (assuming she would have wanted to).
Since the stroke and as opportunity presented itself, one by one, medications were taken off repeat use and as of today she is totally free of any repeat medications.
So, yes, as of now Mum is drug free, just as she always was
Happy days
Below is a more detailed account. I have done this as I feel some readers might be put off by a lengthy post
Click hare for a detailed history and explanation of how this happened
Immediately after the stroke, Mum was put on medications, usually as preventative e.g. to reduce risk of second stroke.
But whilst in hospital, other drugs somehow ended up on her “repeats” e.g. Blood Pressure medications, diabetes insulin and some others - these condition happened whilst she was in hospital i.e. she was drug free pre-stroke with no diabetes medication, no BP etc. Essentially she was as fit as a fiddle.
Family advocates for her and always told the doctors Mum would prefer to be drug free i.e. she would rather not take any preventative medications but as they (doctors) effectively had authority to act in her best interest, they put her on various medications or convinced the family it was in her best interests.
Because of her finely tuned body, all of these medications caused problems because all medications come with potential side effects and if they come with side effects, it is a certainty that Mum will suffer from one of these side effects, even if this means she is 1 in 1000 who might suffer!!
As her full time carers and advocates, family addressed any issues that arose and pushed to get “unnecessary” or preventative medications taken off repeat prescription.
Slowly, one by one the medications were stopped until she was only on a low dose asprin (75 mg) as a blood thinner to reduce risk of second stroke. Despite requests to stop asprin not being effected and then perhaps by family taking eye off the ball Mum ended up with problems that were attributed to the asprin and whilst in A&E the consultant stopped the asprin with immediate effect, but they then added Ompeprazole, a PPI (proton pump inhibitor). This was deemed necessary to repair the damage (internal) caused by the long-term use of asprin.
Family discussed with GP and said since the PPI was prescribed only because the asprin had damaged her stomach lining and since she is no loner on asprin, there is no need for her to be on the PPI. The GP was not “convinced” by family’s arguments and suggested it was in Mum’s interest to carry on at a low dose (20mg - this was what the hospital discharge note says). Family was aware that a lower dose (10mg) exists and asked why if it is supposed to be a low dose the GP why she was suggesting continue on 20mg - she backtracked.
Note: This is just another example of when doctors have given Mum medication or doses that were not appropriate for what they were trying to achieve.
Anyway, the GP failed to understand where the family was coming from and where Mum was heading, and so we agreed to disagree and said we wish to discontinue repeated use of omeprazole as the perceived benefits and risk simply do not stack up, at least for us.
GP was sent packing - not meant to be derogatory or dismissive but it was a difficult conversation we had with someone who did not understand or appear to know what they were talking about.
In closing as of today, it has been agreed with the doctors that she can come off her final medication, omeprazole, a PPI (proton pump inhibitor) that was prescribed to repair the damage done by the asprin, but which was recommended to be used ongoing as a preventative measure.
So Mum is now back to her baseline wrt medications - totally free
Thank you for reading.
Wishing you a happy and healthy life and we hope we can remain happy and healthy now that drugs are no longer wreaking havoc with our finely tuned system
Namaste|
