QUESTION FOR THOSE AGE 60 PLUS - Page 3

Mmsfoxxie · ‎06-19-2010

Well, the only prescription that I take on a regular basis is a glaucoma medication and thatcwas beyond my control. My mother was legally blind from it as was her mother and sister. So mine was cause very early because, unlike them, I got yearly check ups for glaucoma knowing that its hereditary. I showed no symptoms.

@LexaMom, I only take kind and it's not too expensive (right now, anyway). I do CVS mail order and before I retired I had insurance through my job, it cost me $15 for five little vials. Now, it cost me $38 through the mail for five of the same vials, same brand. It lasts me about six months.

About once a year for the last two years, I've had to get knee injections because of arthritis.

I'm 69 y.o. hoping I don't have to have a knee replacement.

“You can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore to be happy”. (By Nightbirde, singer of the song, It’s Ok)

LexaMom · ‎03-10-2010

@Mmsfoxxie wrote:

@LexaMom, I only take kind and it's not too expensive (right now, anyway). I do CVS mail order and before I retired I had insurance through my job, it cost me $15 for five little vials. Now, it cost me $38 through the mail for five of the same vials, same brand. It lasts me about six months.

So sorry you are also living through Glaucoma. I see my opthalmologist every 3 months and he has switched my drops many times. Also tried laser trabulectomy which kept me off drops for about 8 months. Right now I'm on Combigan and Travatan-Z (and there are no generics for either). My Medicare Part D prescription program charges $70 for 3 vials of Travatan, and $70 for 5 vials of Combigan Not that bad. The problem is the donut-hole where I have to pay full price. I'm still so grateful to have the drops to control anymore loss of vision. My three sisters are also using Glaucoma drops since it does run in families. God Bless.

QVCkitty1 · ‎05-23-2015

@excpa wrote:
I'm 77(and a half) and stopped taking prescription meds about 3 or 4 years ago when I stopped going to a primary care provider. I still see an opthamologist at least once a year. When I finally came to accept that they just kept adding meds without re-evaluating the need (and I felt I was being treated as a collection of organs connected to a checkbook) I decided to give it all up. I was taking a statin, 2 blood pressure meds, 2 diabetes meds and I think there were more, but I forget. I was also sent to have all sorts of tests, usually expensive, time consuming and annoying, if not usually invasive. I felt I was not listened to was concerned about drug interactions. None of the medics I went to seemed to be concerned about drug interactions. Strange thing: my health improved greatly, as did my bank balance. My eye doctor asks for my primary care physician and seems to accept (finally) that I don't have one. I told him I had "trust issues" and he seems to agree. I had a fall a few months back and found my blood pressure was in the low-normal range, without meds. My diabetes has not progressed and appears to have improved. I don't know what my cholesterol is doing and I really don't care.

I will (probably) seek medical help for an injury, but the idea of being tied down to some medical regimen that is not based on ME just doesn't appeal. I did it for many, many years (40+) but no more. I'm too old to die young and I really hate the modern medical climate that insists you meet some non-objective standard of measurements. I object to being given anti-depressants and refuse them. Since when do people not have the right to their emotions? Why is everyone expected to be happy all the time? Why is everyone so afraid of death? (I'm not a fan of pain, but don't want to become adicted to some opioid medication.) I rarely excercise, eat poorly and live a quiet, contemplative life.

And I wonder a lot. Ads for meds are followed by ads from lawyers wanting to represent you after you take the meds. Ads for foods are followed by ads for weight loss plans. I don't know what it all means.

Don't know if this is what you wanted to know (or why you wanted to know) but I hope it helps.

You and I think alike .

" You are entitled to your opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts."
Daniel Patrick Moynihan

SeaMaiden · ‎03-10-2010

@151949 wrote:
@SeaMaiden I hate to burst your bubble but most medications are things made from herbs and other natural things and when you are taking herbs and supplements you are taking "medications".

@151949 Oh, to clarify...pharmaceutical drugs....natural supplements are not included.

ID2 · ‎06-25-2012

My dh, age 62, doesn't take any medications whatsoever! I'm always so envious. I'm a Type 1 diabetic and have my share of meds.

"Pure Michigan"

SeaMaiden · ‎03-10-2010

@excpa How interesting! I totally agree with you how doctors start piling up drug after drug, to offset sift effects caused by another drug..... I think a lot of people die from this culture of using lots of drugs and not addressing the real issues.

cherry · ‎03-09-2010

I take thyroid pills and metformin. Both are necessary to live a healthy life ,for me

I am glad I live in a time when there are treatments for my condition. There is no way I will ever stop taking these meds.

The thoughts of what can happen to someone who does this, doesn't bear thinking about

Anyone can need meds in the blink of an eye. Because you don't today, doesn't mean your won't tomorrow.

I would rather listen to people who have been through med school ,and are giving me the best advice they can ,than turn my back on conventional wisdom and suffer the consequences

ID2 · ‎06-25-2012

@excpa wrote:
I'm 77(and a half) and stopped taking prescription meds about 3 or 4 years ago when I stopped going to a primary care provider. I still see an opthamologist at least once a year. When I finally came to accept that they just kept adding meds without re-evaluating the need (and I felt I was being treated as a collection of organs connected to a checkbook) I decided to give it all up. I was taking a statin, 2 blood pressure meds, 2 diabetes meds and I think there were more, but I forget. I was also sent to have all sorts of tests, usually expensive, time consuming and annoying, if not usually invasive. I felt I was not listened to was concerned about drug interactions. None of the medics I went to seemed to be concerned about drug interactions. Strange thing: my health improved greatly, as did my bank balance. My eye doctor asks for my primary care physician and seems to accept (finally) that I don't have one. I told him I had "trust issues" and he seems to agree. I had a fall a few months back and found my blood pressure was in the low-normal range, without meds. My diabetes has not progressed and appears to have improved. I don't know what my cholesterol is doing and I really don't care.

I will (probably) seek medical help for an injury, but the idea of being tied down to some medical regimen that is not based on ME just doesn't appeal. I did it for many, many years (40+) but no more. I'm too old to die young and I really hate the modern medical climate that insists you meet some non-objective standard of measurements. I object to being given anti-depressants and refuse them. Since when do people not have the right to their emotions? Why is everyone expected to be happy all the time? Why is everyone so afraid of death? (I'm not a fan of pain, but don't want to become adicted to some opioid medication.) I rarely excercise, eat poorly and live a quiet, contemplative life.

And I wonder a lot. Ads for meds are followed by ads from lawyers wanting to represent you after you take the meds. Ads for foods are followed by ads for weight loss plans. I don't know what it all means.

Don't know if this is what you wanted to know (or why you wanted to know) but I hope it helps.

Is this a serious response?? Really? It seems as though you are heading for a huge disaster when your health turns. It will. We only have one chance at this thing called life and I intend to go kicking and screaming all the way! I'm determined to be around a long time.

"Pure Michigan"

MalteseMomma · ‎03-09-2010

80 no scripts

........and it urks me to be paying $50 monthly for precription med ins. add on , when I do not take any at all!!!

software · ‎06-08-2016

I went through a health crisis last year which caused my blood pressure to be high. I was not on meds. Once the health crisis was solved, the BP came down, but not as low as it was previously. My internal medicine doctor put me on a very low dose BP medication. The cardiologist told me I'm borderline, I can decide to take the meds or not. I see my internal medicine doctor faithfully so I decided to stay on the meds.

I also take meds for Crohns and kidney disease. Neither caused by lifestyle choices, probably heredity or possibly because my mom smoked when she was pregnant with me. Also I was raised in an area in the northeast back in the 50s, 60s highly polluted. Both parents died of cancer in their 70s