Health Care On a Budget

I understand that affording adequate health care on a budget is a gut twister for the unemployed, self-employed, or those with serious chronic illnesses.  They say that catastrophic medical bills are the number one reason for bankruptcies in the United States.  As a the former wife of a very smart internist, I learned more than most laymen about every day health and how to fix things at home instead of going to the ER or minor emergency center.  I have also listened to people who had no clue what they were talking about give, even sell, "authoritative" advice and services that I believe could have been life threatening.  I want to post this section as a new page, but until I figure out how to do that, we will begin discussing health right now.  Under the links section, you will find reference to sites that are trustworthy and authoritative. 

Here is the BIG disclaimer:  Always check with your doctor before trying anything you read on this or another site.  You risk your life if you proceed without checking things out first with your doctor, who is afraid of being sued for malpractice and therefore; will not lie to you or mistreat you to sell a product.  This is especially important if you have a major condition like asthma, diabetes, heart disease or cancer.

That being said, I know many of you don't or won't go to see your doctor, so we do the best we can in the meanwhile.  There are many "natural" products that you can buy without a prescription.  We like the personal control and ease of access we get when we go straight to a remedy without having to check in at the window and sit in a crowded waiting room next to sick strangers who have handled every arm rest and magazine available in the room every day after blowing their nose or coughing into their hands.  YUCKY!  (I have always wondered why more doctors and nurses don't get sick from their patients.  I believe that one reason is they wash their hands alot.  I suspect that they have slowly built immunity up in their white cells to all sorts of bugs from their long time exposure to low levels of disease causing microbes.  Hence, they are protected from much of what ever is going around.)

Back to natural products:  the big pharmaceutical companies want you to buy their product.  They spend millions researching and marketing the latest gee-whiz drug to your doctor.  They fill her cabinents with free samples so doc can make you happy by sending you home with a party favor.  Sometimes that is a good thing and sometimes it isn't so great.  We are getting drug-resistant bacteria because so many of you insisted on antibiotics for viral colds.  Colds are caused by viruses, which is not something you can kill with antibiotics.  So stop it.  If you have a fever and sore throat, stay home from work and rest, take an acetametaphin or naproxin and drink some nice hot herbal tea or cocoa.  Half a day or so, you will feel much better. 

Here are some things that people go to the doctor or ER for unecessarily:

Mild sore throat
Running nose
Chest pain  (I'll tell you what to try before you call the ambulance)
Low-grade fever
Acne
Strained muscles
Tension and migraine headaches
Menstrual cramping
Allergic rhinitis (hay fever)
Heart burn
Anxiety

I will take each one of these and show you how to do it at home, often with the same essential elements that your doctor would use at the ER for a lot less trouble.

About the herbal and natural products and mega vitamins: you are spending too much here as well.  You will have very expensive urine.  Some of these cures are nothing more than old wives tales.  Some have very real benefit and some have so little benefit for the cost that you are wasting your money.  Doctors do not recommend natural remedies as often as they could, not because they don't want to, but because many of these things have no reputable, scientific research that proves clinical benefits.  And if they do prescribe it and it doesn't cure you, you will sue them.  So they will write you prescriptions and order expensive tests just to prove a simple diagnosis.  This is the nonsense that drove up the price of health care to the crisis point that it struggles with today.  That is not to say the easy remedies don't work; rather, it explains why your liscenced physicians err in the opposite direction.

Also, remember that many over-the -counter products used to be by prescription only.  Now they are out in a generic form.  Many are manufactured by the original maker.  So there you go.  You can get products that used to be only by prescription.  They are that strong and that safe.  I was surprised at how many of these are even at the dollar stores!

Here are some easy to obtain items that have been clinically demonstrated to help:

Oatmeal
Ground Flax seed
Cranberries
Prevacid
Zantac
Tylenol
Advil
Aleve
Glucosamine
Willow bark
Warm salt water
Triple anti-biotic ointment or cream
Cortisone ointment or cream
Monistat
Benadryl
Claritin
Zyrtec
Dramamine
Ducolax
Benzo-peroxide
Salicilic acid
Ice pack
Hot compress
Witch Hazel
Diphenhydramine
Ephedrin
Aspirin
Peptobismal
Kaopectate

With these items you can take care of headache of all sorts, cuts and scrapes, skin infections, acne, constipation, high cholesteral, hemorroids, knee pain, shoulder pain, nasea, allergic reactions, insomnia, coughing and congestion.  You can check your own blood pressure, pulse rate and oxygen level at home with devices you can buy at the drug store.  More detail on how to use these things later.

Finally, I would like to share with you how to quickly tell the difference between a heart attack and terrible heart-burn.  This may keep you out of the ER with what doctors call turkey chest pain.  You don't want to be a GOMER (get out of my emergency room).  Yes, they do talk like that about us.

Drink a few gulps of liquid Kaopectate.  If you feel immediate relief, it is not likely your heart, but the burning of your esophagus from acid reflux.  If you have other "heart attack" type symptoms, such as heaviness and tightening of the chest, pain on the side of your face and arm, shortness of breath, heavy sweating, loss of consciousness and nausea you need to dial 911 and take some baby aspirin while you wait for the ambulance.  Remember women and the elderly may not have the classic symptoms.  Trust your instincts if it feels really different and go ahead to the hospital.  But the Do not drive yourself to the hospital, please.