I have come a long ways…

I-am-not-as-good-as-I-want-to-be

I was taking my pills this morning. Those nemeses of life as you get older and frailness walks upon you. At one time I took up to 40 pills once a day and another 20 later in the day. This morning I realized that I have been working slowly but surely to wean myself off pills that are not needed. I looked at 5 pills in my hand and I look at 4 at night. That is 9 pills a day, down from 60+ at the peak…

This is in Russia only, in America I took maybe 80 a day and more at times…

It all started 10 years ago, when I came to Russia. It started with dropping the worse to start, the happy pills as I call them, the antidepressants. These pills were hard to drop and I took it on as a do or die situation. Taking antidepressants is a death sentence and no one better believe different, or you will find out soon enough. They take your soul and they take your mind…

Some will say, “How do you know what needs to be stopped?”

Good question and the answer is, “Research, research and more research!” Find out about what you take, study for a longtime and then make a sound decision about the true benefits of taking such pills!

There are a couple of pills that I will most likely never stop taking. I have experimented with dropping them and I realized that they are essential to my life. Two in particular are the most important; a cardiac aspirin a day and long acting nitro pills, twice a day. These pills are the difference between life and death…

The aspirin thins my blood and the nitro pill regulates my heart on an all day bases…

I take sugar pills for my diabetes and I am down to two a day, sometimes three, if I see issues toward the high side. I am getting close to being able to adjust this dosage again and may be able to drop another level down on sugar pills. Cross my fingers…

I have come a long ways and weaning off the pills is making me feel better everyday. While there may have been a sound reason to take all these pills at one time, life is changing and as a result the pills needed to defend against life have changed…

Doctors are good to have, but I have a lot of experience with doctors and have found that most of the time, they prescribe and it is what they get the most kickback by prescribing to you. They just use what they are told to use many times and since repercussions are far and away, who cares…

One pill in particular that was killing me, was a beta blocker for the heart. This blocker effected how fast my heart beat and even how strong it would beat. It was designed to force you to slow down. It also made me fat, lethargic and weak to boot…

I studied this beta blocker for many years,afraid to stop taking it, but after much research, I stopped and it was hard to do. My body had grown reliant upon having this drug and my body and mind said, “Hey you going to die with out your beta blocker!”

I did not die and I have become much better without it…

Just like years ago, I was told to take Plavix for the rest of my life. Seriously the rest of my life? Then another doctor said to stop taking it! I said, “But…”

So I studied the drug and I thought about it and I made a decision. I stopped taking a drug that was tearing me up inside, a drug that one or two doctors said to take for life and I stopped. I stopped after research and not before and found out that Plavix was really only a short term drug for after heart surgeries and such. The aspirin I was taking the rest of my life was the actual long term medicine that was necessary and Plavix was not a long term drug. It is expensive and drug companies want you to buy it forever and ever and ever…

At least now I can check my blood sugar and not bleed for three days every time… 😉

I have lost at least 30 kilos since living in the village and that is around 66 pounds. If you do not think that makes a difference, then go away, it makes a difference in my quality of life. 10 more kilos and I will be at my fighting weight of 220 pounds. While I am not as strong and bulletproof as I use to be, I feel good and alert most of the time…

Times I still struggle, such as this morning, I woke at 3:30 a.m. and found my blood sugar at 3.2 mmo/l. That scares me and I have to keep hard candies by the bed to compensate if I wake and am disorientated. It was not too bad, so I sat up and ate a candy. I then let the heater blow over me and waited until things started to congeal. Then I walked the dog for a minute, drank a cup of coffee and fried one egg, one slice of bacon, toasted a bun and put it all together with a slice of cheddar cheese…

Now almost three hours later, I feel good, my blood sugar is 6.5 mmo/l and dropping and we had a long walk, I am writing a post and Boza is sleeping after getting a slice of bacon for him also…

But I must eat a small snack at least 5 times a day to keep everything working. The harder I work the lower my sugar goes down and in the same token, if I get sick, my blood sugar goes up and there is nothing I can do about it. I eat mainly proteins and it seems to stabilize me for longer terms of the day (though it does not effect the short term situation very much,) but I have found that potatoes are fine for me now, but bread (except in a small portion) and pastas of any portions are a No No! Thus, a small bun is okay and my body accepts that with no issues…

A lot of why I am writing this is as much my researching as it is for anyone else. If it helps anyone then fine, but it is for me that I write this kind of information. This helps me to assimilate the data and make better decisions. It is my life and I want to live as long as possible. This will only happen if I am informed, not reliant upon a doctor who, as proven to me many times, is not aware of many issues associated with taken certain drugs and the long term effects are certainly not known to them in most cases…

Yes, I have come a long ways and I am still alive because of coming that distance:

  1. I came to Russia, with a perfect girl and a person who cares about me…
  2. I have found that doctors in Russia in general care about you much more than the western counterparts.
  3. Pills have there place, but no one should try to take them for life,unless necessary.
  4. Diet is essential to health.
  5. Exercise in moderation is important.
  6. Research about yourself and what you take and what you do in life.
  7. Drink a cup of coffee or tea, walk an hour and get a doggy to walk with you.

Smell the roses, watch the birds, play ball with your dog and most of all love those who care about you with all your heart. For they will heal you and give you hope for the future…

I stopped this post and went outside with Boza, he and I tossed his ball around and Boza was the happiest dog in the world. Life is a ball (myach) and life is that simple…

I have come a long ways…

WtR

About the Author

Russian_Village

A survivor of six heart attacks and a brain tumor, a grumpy bear of a man, whom has declared Russia as his new and wonderful home. His wife is a true Russian Sweet Pea of a girl and she puts up with this bear of a guy and keeps him in line. Thank God for my Sweet Pea and Russia.