Is it really so wrong for someone to choose not to live a life that is extended through prescribed medications? I have asked myself this question many, many times, and I always come back to the same conclusion: I refuse to live my life taking prescription drugs, no matter what the cost. It is my life, after all!
For many years I watched my younger brother, who had kidney failure, going through weekly dialysis—blood cleansing, 3-times a week, and each session lasted about 4-hours (not including hook-up and take-down time)—and I saw his great unhappiness, watched the zest for life he once had flow right out of him. Until one day, at age 30, he stopped treatments and gave up on life.
Some choose life, and to live for as long as they possibly can, even if it means taking on a boat-load of medications. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with anyone making that choice. But we are all very individual beings; how we view life and how we choose to live it is a very personal thing.
I also watched my father’s health decay from too much medication. What began as one prescription to help one problem begat another and yet another. Each medication that was given to him was to offset what the previous medication had begun; a new symptom, a new problem. And he, too, soon got tired of living with pain, because there was nothing that could alleviate his many discomforts.
Image credit: Jamiesrabbits
My father’s symptoms all began with high-blood pressure. And at the age of 67, he, too, gave up on life. He, too, lost his desire for living.
It is a well known fact that many people today are over-medicated, and dying from it. Doctors prescribe, giving you to try one medication and then another, but cannot guarantee the outcome and that is understandable.
I have seen this happen now much too many times over the years, with family and friends. I have seen their health decline, and mostly because of too many medications.
So I made up my mind a long time ago; I never want to live my life by prescribed medicine or to be placed on a machine-assisted life. This, naturally, has often started my family into great debates. But, ultimately, it is still my decision, my final choice to make!
What are your thoughts on taking prescribed medications?