Natural options can substitute medicaments totally?

Howlan · Post by **Howlan** » 04 Aug 2020, 02:04

tjportugal wrote:
> It depends on the cause of the stress. For instance, a student dealing with
> the stress of exam season is different from a person dealing with the
> stress involved with PTSD. Having studied Pharmaceutical Sciences, I would
> recommend sports and music for students (I would strongly discourage
> medication); as for someone with PTSD, some medication might be needed
> (especially to help regulate sleeping patterns).

Yes in case of exam the stress is mainly short-term, until you give the exam and get your results so dealing with it does not take the amount of effort that is put for someone with PTSD as that is a long-term problem and thus needs more care and guidance.

Joseph_ngaruiya · Post by **Joseph_ngaruiya** » 04 Aug 2020, 14:32

Howlan wrote:
> tjportugal wrote:
> > It depends on the cause of the stress. For instance, a student dealing with
> > the stress of exam season is different from a person dealing with the
> > stress involved with PTSD. Having studied Pharmaceutical Sciences, I would
> > recommend sports and music for students (I would strongly discourage
> > medication); as for someone with PTSD, some medication might be needed
> > (especially to help regulate sleeping patterns).
>
> Yes in case of exam the stress is mainly short-term, until you give the exam and get
> your results so dealing with it does not take the amount of effort that is put for
> someone with PTSD as that is a long-term problem and thus needs more care and
> guidance.

Can we categorize certain herbal drinks like spiced coffee or cinnamon/ginger spiced tea as part of medication? I got this question from a friend after sharing some of Gustavo's recommendations on natural remedies.

Joseph WK · Post by **Joseph WK** » 05 Aug 2020, 03:11

I agree that totally natural methods can only apply in certain areas and not others like in extreme situations.

I think the best would be to mix the 2 and not rely on one solely, for every solution.

Catie139 · Post by **Catie139** » 05 Aug 2020, 06:10

How severe is the stress and anxiety? That is going to be the determining factor, and I don't believe that it's fair to say that the natural healing element will totally eliminate the need for medication at any point. Natural remedies such as those listed in the book can also help people with diabetes, as well as several other ailments. Yet, I don't know of anybody that thinks that one day we will be able to completely do away with medication in favor of natural remedies.

ashleexry · Post by **ashleexry** » 05 Aug 2020, 12:02

I think it can help, to be honest. Doing exercises and meditating can really help ease one's mind. Daily exercise works as well as certain people's medicine to relieve anxiety and depression symptoms, and the results can be extremely durable. A moderate workout session can help alleviate hour-long symptoms, and a daily routine will substantially minimize them over time. And things like chamomile can help reduce anxiety, since there are compounds in chamomile that latch onto the some receptors in the brain, which can help induce sleep. Lavender also has certain properties that help reduce anxiety.

Kola+wole · Post by **Kola+wole** » 05 Aug 2020, 14:45

Having an open mind about using both methods would be great. For mild cases, natural option would be best and I think using both methods is best since they do complement each other.

Post by **Kirsi Cultrera** » 06 Aug 2020, 07:21

I agree with [mention]B Creech[/mention] on this. I have had to watch so many people struggling with mental health issues, and my conclusion is as follows... the medication does not solve the original problem, it only treats the symptoms. But if a person goes far enough without realizing that he/she has a problem, often the only way to get ahold of the current situation is to start medication. Once on medication, this person can start learning the natural ways of dealing with these problems. And hopefully, comes a day when this person can survive without medication.

These are difficult things and I think there is no absolute right or wrong. There are only a variety of ways to deal with the problem and finding the right way to go is often not easy.

djr6090 · Post by **djr6090** » 06 Aug 2020, 08:25

I used to think that people who took a pill to be normal just lacked the discipline to apply a natural approach to dealing with stress. Stress is one thing, anxiety is another. After a lifetime of dealing with stress in an unhealthy way, an individual may not have any choice but to use a medicant. But I agree with BCreech that an individual should learn to recognize stress early, and find healthy ways to cope. I have no doubt that a drug might get you over the rough spots, but personally feel adverse to this kind of coping.

Joseph_ngaruiya · Post by **Joseph_ngaruiya** » 06 Aug 2020, 14:06

djr6090 wrote:
> I used to think that people who took a pill to be normal just lacked the
> discipline to apply a natural approach to dealing with stress. Stress is
> one thing, anxiety is another. After a lifetime of dealing with stress in
> an unhealthy way, an individual may not have any choice but to use a
> medicant. But I agree with BCreech that an individual should learn to
> recognize stress early, and find healthy ways to cope. I have no doubt
> that a drug might get you over the rough spots, but personally feel adverse
> to this kind of coping.

Anxiety and stress are mental health issues, that in most cases, aren't easy to resolve. I disagree with your point that those taking certain medications can be lacking in discipline. For example, soldiers are the most disciplined human beings, but they also go through deep states of anxiety and stress. I believe mental health is a crucial problem in our society. We should all change our outlook towards it.

Laila Hashem · Post by **Laila Hashem** » 06 Aug 2020, 17:57

I've been put on medication before. Although I didn't get addicted, I found that my anxiety levels increase after a while on medication, perhaps because my body adapted to them. So, I have and will always be against medication as a treatment for myself. I don't believe they are complimentary. I was using both meds and natural remedies, but my anxiety was worse than ever. After stopping the medication and continuing with the natural remedies alone, my anxiety levels decreased gradually. Of course, that is just me. I know other people that swear by medication.

Kelyn · Post by **Kelyn** » 06 Aug 2020, 19:58

It depends on the person, the type of stresses/anxiety being felt, and the severity of those conditions. I'm sure there are also other factors that I haven't listed as well. For some, natural remedies and therapies such as exercise and meditation serve to reduce stress and anxiety to tolerable levels. For others, this will not be the case, and medical help will have to be sought. This might also include the taking of prescription medications. It is all dependent on the individual and their personal situation.

X-XXXX-X · Post by **X-XXXX-X** » 06 Aug 2020, 22:34

Well, most anxiety cases are really more mental than physical, so yeah, natural options would work just fine and even better on this particular case.

But not everything is like this and not every natural option really works. So for god's sake just go to a doctor and see what you have. If it's a flu, some tea will be as good as the worst tasting medicine. If it is tuberculosis, listen to your doctor for god's sake, those weird pills that some random lady gave to you at gym are not antibiotics. Neither is eucalyptus oil.

Natural options are for keeping you healthy, if they cured everything people would have died so easily in the past. Pharmacists have to spend at least 7 years in university, they know what they are doing.

If you spend too much time on things that don't work, whatever you have will probably get way worse than if you had just followed the doctor's instructions on the first place.

- Sincerely, Pharmacy student that plans on specializing in phytopharmacy and natural medicine.

Banette · Post by **Banette** » 06 Aug 2020, 23:50

I think it can be very harmful to push natural options too much. I think they definitely have their place, and certainly can be useful, but there are sometimes where it is very much an issue of chemical imbalance and that's the place for medication. There isn't any inherent harm in trying a natural solution and for certain issues its better to get a natural solution than chemical, but you should be open to the possibility of needing to take medication because that's what they're made for.

Howlan · Post by **Howlan** » 07 Aug 2020, 01:13

Joseph_ngaruiya wrote:
> Howlan wrote:
> > tjportugal wrote:
> > > It depends on the cause of the stress. For instance, a student dealing with
> > > the stress of exam season is different from a person dealing with the
> > > stress involved with PTSD. Having studied Pharmaceutical Sciences, I would
> > > recommend sports and music for students (I would strongly discourage
> > > medication); as for someone with PTSD, some medication might be needed
> > > (especially to help regulate sleeping patterns).
> >
> > Yes in case of exam the stress is mainly short-term, until you give the exam and
> get
> > your results so dealing with it does not take the amount of effort that is put
> for
> > someone with PTSD as that is a long-term problem and thus needs more care and
> > guidance.
>
>
>
> Can we categorize certain herbal drinks like spiced coffee or cinnamon/ginger spiced
> tea as part of medication? I got this question from a friend after sharing some of
> Gustavo's recommendations on natural remedies.

Ginger tea is useful not only to reduce stress but also for improving immunity. Not sure about spiced coffee though.

Howlan · Post by **Howlan** » 07 Aug 2020, 01:25

Joseph_ngaruiya wrote:
> djr6090 wrote:
> > I used to think that people who took a pill to be normal just lacked the
> > discipline to apply a natural approach to dealing with stress. Stress is
> > one thing, anxiety is another. After a lifetime of dealing with stress in
> > an unhealthy way, an individual may not have any choice but to use a
> > medicant. But I agree with BCreech that an individual should learn to
> > recognize stress early, and find healthy ways to cope. I have no doubt
> > that a drug might get you over the rough spots, but personally feel adverse
> > to this kind of coping.
>
> Anxiety and stress are mental health issues, that in most cases, aren't easy to
> resolve. I disagree with your point that those taking certain medications can be
> lacking in discipline. For example, soldiers are the most disciplined human beings,
> but they also go through deep states of anxiety and stress. I believe mental health
> is a crucial problem in our society. We should all change our outlook towards it.

Yes, curing stress and anxiety is not taken seriously in many cases. It just goes overlooked. But in reality, it can have several far-reaching detrimental effects as any disease. We should take proper care in case of any stress and if it does not back down by regular natural methods we should see a professionala nd get it checked out for medication or other treatments.