Category Archives: Medication

03.01.19
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The Opioid Epidemic and How to Heal Naturally with Chiropractic Instead

opioid

opioidLiving in pain can make life unbearable.

It is no shock that so many patients become addicted to prescribed opioid pain killers. Taking pain killers initiates a vicious cycle where the pain is gone and you feel ok too as soon as it wears off you are right back to square one again and relying on pills to be able to navigate life.

Florida has a huge prescription drugs problem. By the CDC’s latest numbers as many as 1 in 4 patients who are prescribed opioids for long term care will have to deal with addiction. Thousands are being treated yearly in Florida’s emergency rooms for abusing their prescriptions.

Just in the past 20 years, deaths involving prescription opioid medications have quadrupled.

It isn’t just an addiction that needs to be focused on. There is the fact that these drugs do nothing to heal you. Numbing a pain may convince the patient that they are healing or that the problem is less severe in nature than it really is.

Chiropractic and other non-drug approaches to pain management can be the first line against pain and addiction caused by the saturation of the body by prescription opioid pain medications. Growing research validates the effectiveness of chiropractic, leading many respected health care organizations to recommend chiropractic for pain relief.

The American College of Physicians updated the guidelines for the treatment of acute and chronic low back pain to recommend chiropractic first before resorting to drug therapies.

The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) encourages patients to utilize non-drug related therapies first before resorting to the use of prescription drugs to help alleviate pain.

Even the CDC Center for Disease Control has announced guidelines for prescribing opioids that also promote non-drug alternatives for the treatment of chronic pain.

You do not have to live in pain or constantly rely on prescription medication to try to normalize again. We invite you to come to see us at the office of Dr. Jason Kaster, D.C. right here in Fort Myers, Florida. Let us get you back on track to health and eliminate pain, naturally – by allowing your body a chance to really heal.

Call the office of Dr. Jason Kaster, D.C. in Fort Myers, Fl. 239-332-2555 or visit him online at www.drkasters.com to learn more.

08.01.17
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Will The Side Effects of Medication Simply Go Away?

Side effects

Side effectsOddly, the answer may be “yes”.

The lists of possible side effects can be over whelming. While it is only a small percentage of people who will experience side effects – but what if you happen to be in that small percent?

You have spent the money and taken the time to go see a doctor in hopes of feeling better. They have assessed your situation and made recommendations based on your personalized health profile.

After filling your prescriptions you head home and hope for the best popping the medication into your mouth with some water. Now, you wait. While it’s good to be informed, reading the enclosed pamphlet or print out from your pharmacy can be unnerving. The list of possible side effects is generally not a small list. You push it from your mind and move on with your day.

What if you begin to notice that you just aren’t feeling “quite right”? Is it a side effect of the new medication or just an off day? It isn’t easy to know. Should you call your doctor? Wait it out? Keep taking the prescription? Stop all together?

Doing a little research on your particular medication may help put your mind at ease and allow you to make a sensible decision.

What you generally aren’t being told:

If you really don’t know what to expect as far as an experience with a specific drug, you might give up on it right before it begins its intended function.

Most side effects are temporary. (unless you are experiencing a side effect that is life threatening – in which case, seek medical attention immediately).

If you take a new medication and feel something that makes you uncomfortable the natural reaction is to stop taking it. The medical community calls this “non-adherence”. Stopping a medication abruptly can sometimes be detrimental to your health.

The reason many side effects are temporary:

When ingesting a new drug it takes some time to reach what is known as a steady state. Steady state is reaching a balance point where the medication coming in is equal to the amount going out. This is why it is important to take them at the same times daily so that the concentration levels in your blood stream stay on track.

Once your body adjusts and reaches this optimal steady state, many side effects will dissipate to tolerable if not completely gone entirely.

Never hesitate to call and talk to your doctor, pharmacist, nurse practitioner or even many insurance companies have nurse help lines. You should always feel comfortable with what you are taking and if there is a serious side effect, your doctor can change the dose or the medication entirely.

If you are looking for a physician in Lee County, Florida please use our free resource by going to www.ipalc.org/find to search by specialty and location.