Originally Posted by TominMO (Post 401807)

I guarantee you it was not a panic attack. I am not at all prone to them. It was a purely physical event that came out of nowhere (I am also not prone to chest pains). And in fact I stayed pretty calm throughout.

It is possible that it was just severe chest pains that went on for about 30 minutes, then cleared up since I was laying down and resting. A heart attack warning sign, or precursor. But it had all the symptoms of a heart attack. Maybe an EKG etc would say otherwise, IDK. I still think it was caused by the ibuprofen and a congenital weakness in my heart, which has never been an issue before, even with plenty of heavy workouts in my life. This was the first time I have ever taken ibuprofen three days in a row. All I was doing was painting, pretty mild activity.

But here's the bottom line: I will not take prescription meds, and that's all doctors are good for basically. I refuse to get on the AMA's healthcare merry-go-round. So it makes no difference whether it was a heart attack or just severe prolonged chest pains. I have a naturopath/herbal medicine specialist I trust far more than the official medical profession. And given that I eat pretty healthy, I seriously doubt I have any blocked arteries.

Most people looking at me for the first time think I am 55 - 60, and about 95% of the time I move like I'm 35. I'm up on ladders, roofs, whatever it takes to get stuff done.

The key is prevention so you don't ever have to go on the merry-go-round. Lots of otherwise smart people don't get this.

Side note to Bigdano:
What we want is a system that gives the maximum amount of personal freedom (and requires the maximum amount of personal responsibility). That is the Constitution. Any system that starts with central control, not de-centralized like we have, will become oppressive in short order. That's just human nature. It's always the people least deserving of power who crave it, so we have to keep an eye on all politicians. If you can figure out something that works better than capitalism and still preserves personal freedoms, great.
Not meaning to turn this into a political thread.

Originally Posted by Thumper (Post 401812)

I use ibuprofin daily. 65 years old. It helps me with the inflammation on my shoulders and knees.

Originally Posted by bigdano711 (Post 401811)

I agree with just about everything, especially the not taking pills stuff. I don't live the healthiest or eat the healthiest, but I am absolutely not afraid of dying. I'm afraid of a pro-longed, painful death, but death itself? Nope. We all have an expiration date. Preventable? To a degree. Inevitable? Absolutely.

Originally Posted by Fast_Freddy (Post 401816)

Aspirin. If you think you're having a heart attack, take some aspirin and see a doctor immediately. Regardless of your feelings about western medicine, there are many health issues that it can treat very effectively. Stents add years to people's lives, as can bypass surgery.

Originally Posted by bogieboy (Post 401846)

While i am an anti docter kind of guy, if not for western.medicine i wouldnt know i am leiden factor v, and would be dead over 10 yrs ago now.... i am a 3 time survivor of bilateral pulmonary emboli... and that only because of blood thinners.... my blood has a genetic predisposition to clotting, which means i am at major risk for heart attack, stroke or PEs.... if not for western medicine i would have died when i got the first round...

Probably not a bad idea to check in with a doctor... clot problems (like a heart attack) are not something to mess with at all.....

Originally Posted by TominMO (Post 401848)

Not disagreeing with you or how you got your problem fixed. I will point out two things:
1. There is such a thing as epigenetics. This means that many health conditions lie dormant until triggered by poor nutrition (junk food, smoking, booze, other recreational drugs). If people didn't do those, they would not get medical conditions whose symptoms the medical establishment makes a lot of money from treating. Both good and poor health is (IMO) about 95% attributable to what we consume.
2. A good nutritionist and herbal wellness person could probably suggest natural remedies--not prescribing medication you understand, that would be illegal. More like a "try this, it works great for lots of people" situation. Just eating mostly healthy and taking a high quality vitamin/mineral formulation will do a lot. Then you supplement based on your particular situation.

3. Bonus point. The fact is that I am making a conscious decision to have nothing to do with the medical establishment (unless I get hit by a bus while crossing the street and texting, for example). I despise the corrupt racket that it is. While I'd like to live a long healthy life, I'll take health quality over longevity. Whatever anyone's religious beliefs are, or lack thereof, we all will die and it makes a lot of sense to come to terms with that.
I assure you that there are alternatives to the medical establishment that have high integrity.

Cue the Frank Sinatra song. You know which one.

Originally Posted by Texas Pete (Post 401862)

All drugs have side effects. Every human has genetic differences to the next human. One side effect may affect one human but not another human. One side effect may be minor to one human but major to another human. Making blanket statements about to or not to use a drug because of the outcome for one human is not right. Warning someone of the possibilities is fine.

I just read a medical news article on SSRIs and since this country is in love with anti depressants I found it interesting that a listed side effect is loss of sexual desire. The article was about people who stopped taking SSRI medicines but permanently have the side effect of complete loss of libido for the remainder of their life. Now I don't post online everyone stop taking SSRIs because I understand it's a fixed chemical compound being used on an infinite variable mix of genetics individuals so individual results may vary.