Stress, it affects who we are.

So you have a headache. What do you do but reach for Tylenol, Advil or Aleve. You have nausea so you take Pepto Bismol. You can't sleep, so you take Sominex. When all these ailments happen we as society go to our physicians, hospitals or possibly get admitted. Test, after test are performed. Our physicians order labs, Cat Scans, MRI's, Sonograms or possibly more extensive tests. You name it, the doctors do it. Then what do you get?

Enormous hospitals bills if uninsured, high co-pays if you have insurance. After all the tests are done your told by your physician you have Severe Anxiety Disorder or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. That's all. That's all? I ask. What is stress so insignificant it doesn't matter? Give me a break!

What do the doctors do? They prescribe you Xanax, Ativan, Klonopin, Valium or other anti-anxiety drugs. According to WebMD, 90% of all doctor visits are stress related. The medications prescribed are called Benzodiazepines, sound familiar? I'm sure many of you reading this article are taking or have taking these medicines. Why? Because we can't handle the stress of today.

But did you know that these medications are in a tier guide of highly potential addicted medications. Thanks doc for giving us this stuff. According to Helpguide.org, these medications relieve anxiety and stress by slowing down the anxiety in the central nervous system. So yes it does help and I can relate.

However, the problem is that we become addicted. Yes I said that dirty word...ADDICTED! So doctors why do you prescribe this to us? Now because of a law, thank you congress, our primary care doctors must schedule an office visit every three months for patients who take these medications on a daily basis. For what? The doctors prescribed it but now the government is watching to make sure your patients aren't abusing it. If you have no insurance it is difficult just to come up with the payment for this unnecessary doctor visit.

Some doctors now want you to see a Psychiatrist and won't write out your prescription. What a Psychiatrist? Who has that kind of money. I'm not crazy, just STRESSED and yet the doctor is to blame for starting us on this medication. The reason for these changes is because these medications are placed in drug categories from 1 to 5 based on addiction potential.(http://www.kentucky.com).

So I ask you, what are we to do? Cut the drugs in half to make them last longer thus lowering the dosage. Doing that could result in potential withdrawl symptoms? Are these doctors nuts? Stress is a condition and although normal stress is tolerable what about extreme stress. Have you ever felt your heart palpitating too fast? Do you feel like you head is going to explode? Do you have nausea and vomiting? Aren't these some of the symptoms we went to the doctors to control and now they want to cut off the same medications that was given to help us? Why?

There are many people who are anti-pill and believe me, I know a few. But what about those of us who have experienced a loss of home, job, loved one or just had everything in life fall apart at once. We need to cope. How would you feel if you no longer had your medication? Could you handle stress, extreme stress without it. I know many people who take Xanax like its Aspirin. Just remember that Aspirin is bought over the counter, but our own physicians prescribed us this medicine. I know I speak from experience. Some days the stress is so bad that everyday activities are difficult for me.

I conclude this article with a question to those of you reading this article....Could you handle the stress in your life without any form of medication? If so what's your secret and maybe you should let these doctors know. Do you feel that this medication is helping you? Are you angry with your doctor for prescribing it and now making you cut down. I look forward to your comments. We as society must come together to overcome stress. But how? What is the right way to do this? I wish I knew, but I am just like you and do what the doctor says.