Has anyone NOT consumed any pharmaceutical products in the last year?

[Verily1]

DP and I were discussing painkiller use to alleviate pain during exercise.

He said that as a society we are becoming very dependent on medicines. So we both tried to think of people we know and what meds they are on. Then we thought of all the meds we have taken over the years.

We couldnt think of anyone who has probably ever gone a year without using some form of pharmaceutical product.

If you include asthma, diabetes and high blood pressure pills to painkillers, anti histamines, contraceptives, lemsip, gaviscon, canestan, anti depressants and anti anxiety meds as well as anti biotics and any dental pain relief it seems hard to escape not using anything in a given year.

Are there such healthy people on mumsnet?

Or do I just know unhealthy people?

[Aragog]

I guess in many ways I am 'dependant' on medication, yes. It's just the way some posters use the term it comes across as a negative thing. Well, for me it is a positive thing. The medication stops me from living with pain, it stops my joints from being disfigured and and it stops me becoming disabled in the future.
Likewise without the medication I have been taking for my heart, and the medication used during the procedure, I was indeed dependent on it, even if for a short time. It has made my future life much more pleasant, all being well.

[Aragog]

Or do I just know unhealthy people?

I don't particularly see myself as unhealthy per se, though I haven't been lucky with my health in recent times.

However I do have a chronic health condition which necessitates several daily medications and a weekly injection, and irregular though not infrequent painkilling medication. I have also just had a heart procedure with means I have had medication related to that too. Both mean that I am immunosuppressed at times, so can pick up bugs I am not careful - made worse by working with young children. I do practice good hygiene and - touch wood - have only really picked up the odd cold in recent times, and have managed to miss some of the nasty d&v type bugs going round.

I don't 'pop' cocodamol but I do use the prescription strength ones, plus other painkilling meds, when I have genuine pain. Unfortunately in cold damp weather this can be daily.

The only medication DH really takes is heartburn/indigestion over the counter meds, if he eats too much fatty or sugary food. Can't remember last time he went to the GPs, or took meds for a cold, etc.

17y dd takes OTT painkillers for period pain (on the odd time she now has one) and takes the contraception pill.

[Ylvamoon]

OP I think if you talk about the people who pop a pill during / after exercise them I think there are plenty of people who can take that type of pain. Plus it can be dangerous, as pain is a way of alerting you that there is something wrong.
But as for other types of medication, nope why should we not make the most of what is on offer? Cold remedies that keep you going, antiseptic wound healing creams, or medication for chronic conditions, they all have a valid and vital role to play. The question should not be about people who are "healthy" enough not to take anything at all; more the when, what and how much is taken

[thebakerwithboobs]

I don't think I have? I had a Hall's Soother in a work meeting last month but that's just because I was bored and it was there.

[YouSirOweMeOneNewHat]

@AmIThough

Surely the people you know 'pop' co-codamol because they're in pain/uncomfortable though?
They'd not be taking it otherwise, unless there's an addiction which is, obviously, a very different conversation.

[Trewser]

I'm sure my friend who has lost 4 teeth to peridontal disease would be frustrated to know that if she'd only used mouthwash...

[BlueCornsihPixie]

The treatment for gum disease isn't medicated mouthwash....

[MoreSchnitzelPlease]

Eg dentistry- 95 % of the population get gum disease at some point. The treatment is often medicated mouthwash ie a pharmaceutical product.

There’s also all the topical treatments eg steroid cream, cold sore cream, nit treatment, eye drops, medicated spot creams

That is surely because we have better regulations for products now. I don't see how that is a bad thing.

OP, you don't understand why people are getting defensive, when everything you have said about 'pharmaceuticals' has been couched in less than positive language.

[ActualHornist]

It’s not unhealthy to take painkillers? I’m not dependent on them but I’m not suffering with a migraine when there is OTC medication that can stop them.

Honestly this attitude leads to the martyrs who won’t take a paracetamol when they have a headache. You don’t win any medals for suffering!

[Woodlandwitch]

I used to take antibiotics a lot for repeated cistitis.
Since taking D mannose I haven’t needed to.
I don’t tend to take painkillers either so I have probably gone around a year without pharmaceutical products.

Unless you count d mannose and other vitamins as pharmaceuticals in which case I have done.

All change now I’m pregnant as I’m popping Rennies most days

[Yeahthatthing]

Prior to being diagnosed with my underactive thyroid in 2012 I went years with the only meds I took being my pill. Even now, I very rarely (9 - 12 months) take anything but the pill and my thyroxine.

[WellardAvocado]

Are there such healthy people on mumsnet?

You think people can't be healthy if they need the occasional painkiller for actual pain not to abuse oneself through exercise or hayfever tablet??

[thenightfury]

I do rely on ibruprofen to keep my migraines at bay and also have a weakened pelvis from my pregnancy and birth of DS. I couldn't work without taking a pain killer sometimes

[Kaykay06]

Are you talking about people who take painkillers or people who need certain meds to survive, both very different and some people need painkillers to live their lives.

I assume you don’t require medication to stay alive? Or your child need medication to control a potentially fatal illness? You should be grateful of that. And not judge others because you manage to not pop a paracetamol for a year. People do need educating about how to use medicines correctly and those who waste and misuse medicines. But to say everyone who needs medication is unhealthy is a load of crap. I have no thyroid, doesn’t make me unhealthy I can’t just grow a new one.

[thenightfury]

I have my pill, that's the only thing I've had a prescription for in over a year.
Last prescription I had was for a an antibiotic cream and antibiotics for an infection in my c-section wound.

[stayathomegardener]

It's an interesting topic.
I could be classified as quite unwell, I have CFS.
However I actively try not to take any meds as they can mask important symptoms that I can probably resolve naturally if caught very quickly.

In the last year I've taken a week of painkillers to reduce inflammation with a physical back injury. Obviously should I need medication I would take it but I do actively avoid.
It's important for me personally to be in tune with my body as much as possible.

[MoreSchnitzelPlease]

Congratulations to anyone who hasn't taken pharmaceutical products. Your medal is in the post.

Seriously though, before such products people still took home remedies or tinctures/salves/etc from medical professionals. It's not as if medications appeared out of nowhere.

[AmIThough]

The only medication I've taken have been pregnancy related.
Anti-sickness meds, folic acid, iron and codeine (early labour).

I rarely take other meds but know people who pop cocodamol daily.

[SpuriouserAndSpuriouser]

but it’s ok to recognise how almost universal consumption of pharmaceutical products is surely?

Well yes, but you keep phrasing it as if it were a negative, when surely the availability of safe and reliable healthcare is a good thing? We're so privileged in this country to have that, it's not a given in some parts of the world, so it just seems odd to question it.
Yes, most people in this country probably don't go a whole year without using some form of medication/pharmaceutical product, but that shouldn't be the goal, and it doesn't mean (as you insinuated in the OP) that someone who uses medication is inherently unhealthy.

[Oliversmumsarmy]

I don’t think I consumed anything up to me having to buy a bottle of cough medicine at the end of September.

I have never had a headache

[Verily1]

It was dp who used the word ‘dependent’ not me btw! I think there’s a big jump from musing on a trend in society where I think it’s appropriate to use that terminology to name calling individuals who happen to use a product.

From these replies, which seem generally quite defensive in tone, I think there’s a lot of undercounting.

Eg dentistry- 95 % of the population get gum disease at some point. The treatment is often medicated mouthwash ie a pharmaceutical product.

There’s also all the topical treatments eg steroid cream, cold sore cream, nit treatment, eye drops, medicated spot creams.

And I don’t think any child has never had anything.

We weren’t saying it’s not been good, these treatments have obviously improved our quality of life substantially but it’s ok to recognise how almost universal consumption of pharmaceutical products is surely?

[wonkylegs]

Technically I'm healthier on my chronic condition meds than not on them as they adjust my faulty immune system to a more normal one

[EmilyStar]

I’ve not had any pharmaceuticals in the last year. Unless you’re counting vitamins.

But that’s really down to luck.

I know plenty of people who have a healthier lifestyle than me who need medication.

[YouSirOweMeOneNewHat]

*woman

[YouSirOweMeOneNewHat]

Posted too soon..

I think that the word 'dependent' is so often linked to addiction that, when saying someone is dependent on meds, it's almost an implication that they're not in pain, they just need the drugs.

Realistically, who likes having to take meds?
I will be on my medication for the rest of my life I imagine.
When people here that I take multiple doses of opioids on a daily basis I get the look.
Immediately the mind goes to addict. Not 'women in so much pain she needs strong meds just to exist.'

Dependent is almost always linked to painkillers too.
You'd never say someone was dependent on their inhaler, or their insulin.
Again, stirs up a link to the person taking the med being weak - when, in reality, they just don't want to be in pain.