Health & Well Being

Been meaning to post this for a little while. I was reading Therapy Doc's blog over at "Everyone Needs Therapy" like I usually do. There was a post on ADHD and the need for a family assessment before prescribing medication. Now I am not going to comment on ADHD or the treatment options. The only part I want to comment on is the closing line which was, "Of course, medication is so much easier, right?"

It has really made me think about the health care system, the medical model, and what we are willing to accept. Let's face it therapy is work. It is not an easy process. It involves taking a chance... and opening yourself up.... being real. Deep down I am sure that most people would say that if they could just take a medication and skip the hard work of therapy they would. We're prone to go with what's easier. Let's face it this is part of the reason that some people self-medicate.

We seem to have embraced the fact that medication is the be-all and end all. In some circumstances it is warranted but I can't help but wonder if there is an over reliance on medication and a negligence on anything that doesn't fall under the medical model. If it can't be prescribed then it may get overlooked.

I can say, for sure, that the insurance company whole-heartedly embraces the medical model and this may be at the detriment of the patient. Take my Fibromyalgia for instance. I am on Trazodone to help me sleep but this does nothing for the pain. My doctor even admitted that medications wil largely be hit or miss. I go to the chiropractor and this helps tremendously. There's two problems. For one, I have to pay up front and be reimbursed. Compare that to medications where they just swipe my card and deduct the 80% automatically. Secondly, they only cover $200/year. That's only 3 months worth of visits. Then I'm on my own. I don't want to rely on medication when there is a holistic approach that helps. So in the end I feel like I am getting screwed by the health care system. After all I have something that works but affording it is a little more challenging. At least with my old job it was $500 which would cover me for 7 months.

Chiropractic care is just one example.... Therapy is another good example. My company will pay up to $200 to see a psychologist and then you're on your own. You would think by now that people could really get the help they need. But no.... I just wonder if things will ever change. I wonder if we will ever have a situation where people can get the help they need and not just be locked into the medical model where pharmaceuticals rule.

Free Health Care, Or Is It?

As I previously mentioned I spent Friday at the hospital. Every time I spend time in the ER it always makes me think of the health care system here in Canada. It wasn't that long ago that being fast tracked actually meant that you were fast tracked. Now I have had times when it was a half hour just to see the triage nurse. Get the handy dandy wristband and you're off to the main waiting area. Then an hour later (or so) you are moved to the fast track area for more waiting. Fours hours (or so) later you're on your way home. Last time I checked the fast track was designed to get you in and out if it was something minor that could be easily checked/treated. So how did we get here?

There is a doctor shortage in many regions at the moment. Too many doctors are heading south or are going to the big cities where they can make more money. This is the reason my doctor is 2 hours away and I never see. The long and the short of it is that we need more doctors.... We need accessible health care. If I had a local doctor I wouldn't have to make use of the ER nearly as often. The same holds true of a number of other people as well. Let's face it if I had a local doctor on Friday I would've been making an appointment to see them instead of clogging up the ER but it's not feasible to drive all the way to Pickering because of a toothache/congestion.

They say that you can't put a price tag on health. But what if you can't afford it? If you have drug coverage count yourself lucky... or if you rarely need medications. I would love nothing more then to be healthy but that takes money. It cost me $43 for the antibiotics from my trip to the hospital on the weekend. I haven't even filled the prescription for my Fibromyalgia medication. Speaking of which there is a treatment clinic in Toronto that would allow me to get personal care and nerve blocking injections. But it costs money to get there and for the medication. So it's a vicious circle. Being healthy would make it easier to look for a job and feel at my best but it requires money.

The same holds true for dental care as well. I really need to get the tooth looked at but I can't afford to. I don't have $200 to spend on it... or $1000 if they wanted to crown the tooth instead. Oh to have a job with dental coverage again. Even once I go back to the land of the working most jobs require that you be there for a year before you get dental coverage.

It costs money to be healthy. While our access to a doctor, even if it means waiting four hours, might be free that's the only thing that is. If I was on social assistance instead of EI then I would have drug coverage. How does that work? I paid into EI on all my paycheques and while it does pay more then welfare at least on social assistance I would have drug coverage and dental coverage. I have discovered that there is the Trillium Drug Program in Ontario. However, with my current income there is a deductible of about $450. So I would have to spend $450 on medications before they would kick in and help out. At which point prescriptions (as long as they're on the list) would be covered and it would only cost me $2 to get the prescription filled. While there is no harm in applying for it there is little chance that my medications would reach that high. Even if it did I don't have that kind of money any ways. Pretty sad when you see prescriptions as a luxury item in the grand scheme of things.

My Own Personal Pharmacy

Since I had the visit with the psychiatrist I wanted to take inventory of what medications I was currently on. My cabinet is reminding me of a pharmacy at the moment. I have way too many pills I think. So here is the current list:

Trazodone (to help me sleep)
Penicillin (in case my tooth was infected)
Ibuprofen (for pain... didn't realize they made a prescripton strength)
Bacolofin (muscle relaxant for the TMJ)

Vitamins:

Iron
B-Complex
Multi-vitamin

Prescriptions I have but am not taking:

Percocets (Just think of the Cypress Hill song.. "I wanna get high")
Zoloft (Do I look depressed?)
Oxazapam (Highly addictive sleepmedication)


So I went from no medical care for 4 years and barely being on medications at all... to a cabinet filled with prescription drugs. Welcome to the world of modern medicine. We have a pill for whatever ails you. Take1 (or 2) and call me in the morning.

Insomnia

I was just watching some TV and an ad came on for some insomnia medication. Probably a good thing it wasn't an informercial or I might have been watching it for a while and then calling the number to order some. Some days it really sucks to be an insomniac. All you want is one decent night's sleep. And it seems like everyone has some idea of how to achieve that. The doctors always tell you to quit smoking. I did that and it didn't help. They also tell you to cut back on caffeine. Yeah like that is going to happen. Doctors also tell you just to use the bedroom for sleep and sex, nothing else. They really wouldn't want to see my bedroom right now then. There's the TV, PS2 and computer. But even with just my bed and dresser it didn't help. Or there are always medications... most of them make you so groggy you can barely function in the morning and still don't want to get out of bed. Mind you I love reading the side effects where it says "may cause drowsiness." Wasn't that the whole point? There's also 101 herbal remedies to help you sleep. Or white noise... CDs... light therapy... etc. If that doesn't work maybe you need therapy to work on those issues causing you not to sleep. I did a sleep study once. They forced me to try and sleep earlier then I normally would and then wondered why I couldn't fall asleep. If it wasn't bad enough that it was only midnight and still early for me... I was hooked up to all these electrodes so it was not exactly comfortable. When I did manage to fall asleep an electrode would come off so they'd wake me up to put it back on. I'm still not sure if they're goal was to study sleep patterns or make me so tired that I would sleep well the next night. This is one of those times I miss not having a doctor. Not so I can take that drug I saw in the ad earlier... but to go back on the Lorazapam. Now that stuff was great. I can't imagine why they say it's addictive. Knocks you out and you wake up the next morning. In the quest for sleep I even spent $1000 on my mattress. It helps the Fibro but I'm still an insomniac. Although it could be worse... I could be Edward Norton in Fight Club or Christian Bale in the Machinist. So there's always that.