Do you talk to your doctor

[treehuggertodd]

I was wondering. When you visit your doctor and he/she prescribes you something, do you ever ask them if there is another alternative that you can take that is less harsh?

[bruceH]

I have to admit that I'm guilty of not asking. I just assume that my doctor knows what's best and I take what he prescribes me. I always figure that if there was a safer and less harsh alternative he'd naturally prescribe that one...now I'm starting to wonder if that'd be the case

[Paplo]

Ya, I'm with doubletaurus on this one. I also ask my doctor questions when she prescribes me stuff. I don't want to take just anything, I want to take the BEST thing, and I don't believe that the best medicine is one that is chalk full of chemicals. I'm not saying that I only believe in alternative medicine, but I do think that herbs have a lot more healing powers than people give them credit and I happen to think they are less harsh and safer than pharmacuticals. I also research online when I want to see if there are other alternatives. It's up to you to take care of your own health after all.

[Kyra]

I do talk to my doctor and I'm lucky because I've got a doctor who listens to me and answers my questions. She doesn't just prescribe me something just to get me out of her office. She discusses all of my options and tells me which one she thinks is best, but ultimately lets me decide. She's also provided me with a few good medical sites where I can conduct online research. The mayo clinic is one of the ones she recommends cause there are a lot of bad medical sites out there.

[treehuggertodd]

That's interesting. I would have actually thought that more people would have talked to their doctor about alternatives. I've always believed that when it comes to a person's individual health, the person who is the most responsible for it is them. I like getting my doctor's opinion, but ultimately the choice of what I put in my body is my own and I like to know that when I make the choice I've done it for good reasons and not just because a medical professional told me to take it.