Disclaimer: I am a fan of Western medicine. I think they’ve made some incredible strides in curing and completely eradicating previously deadly illnesses and disabilities. I like doctors and nurses and EMTs. They work hard and often see people at their absolute worst. They deliver good news and life changing awful news and are sometimes forced do it just minutes apart.

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I’ve previously discussed that I take two prescription for two chronic problems that I have. More than anything, I’d like to be able to stop taking these medications either because the problems are fixed or because I’ve found a way to manage them through more natural (i.e., non-chemical based) ways. I’ve spoken to both doctors who treat these conditions and we all agree that there are some ways to achieve my goals without popping pills, although for a variety of reasons, we’ve decided to do this slowly and will probably wait until I have a new job.

In addition to these two matters, I also have Rosacea. If you don’t know what that is, Rosacea is a condition that usually appears on your face in which your skin becomes very red, irritated, itchy, and can even burn or feel warm. My skin has always tended towards the pink side, but the Rosacea has really become apparent over the past year or so. Depending on the time of the month, my skin can be more or less red and more or less irritable. There is also evidence to suggest that different foods can cause flare-ups.

I’ve never been treated for the Rosacea, but because I have the time, I decided to pay a visit to a dermatologist a friend recommended to me. It was also time for my annual mole patrol visit, so the timing was good.

The doctor and her staff were nice enough. Her office was very professional, although based on the posters on the walls, it was very clear she likes to write prescriptions. In my conversation with her nurse, I was very clear that I’m currently on two prescriptions, but in the process of finding natural alternatives and removing all chemical cleaning and personal care products from my life, and I did not want any prescriptions.

Why don’t I want to take pills or use chemicals? It’s simple. I’m not a fan of unnecessary chemicals that can do more harm than good and because I don’t want my body to develop resistance to drugs that I could really need someday for something truly important.

The office was pretty busy yesterday and my wait to see the doctor was more than an hour. She walked in, examined me from head to toe, declared that all of my moles are normal and healthy (yay!), and handed me three prescriptions for the Rosacea. THREE. She then suggested that in addition to those topical prescription treatments, I might also want to try an antibiotic (that would be a fourth!).

I was pretty worn down by this point (it was now two hours past when I had planned to have lunch) and simply ran by Walgreens to pick up what she’d called in for me while I got dressed.

Now that I’m home with the three new prescriptions, in addition to the two prescriptions I need to keep my body functioning normally, I stare at all these medications with great confusion and many questions that I wish I’d thought to ask or that the doctor had asked me.

She was rushed and it was easy to give me prescriptions. I know that and I don’t blame her; it’s not her fault. She had an overly full waiting room and every patient room was occupied too. Given how little insurance pays, she’s got to see a ton of patients and handing out prescriptions to each of them is easy and lets her see more patients in her day. Plus, insurance doesn’t usually pay for alternative medical care, but they happily pay for pharmaceuticals. This is what American Healthcare has become. Insurance will cover pills to fix problems, but not natural ways to fix problems and definitely not most preventative care.

Here’s what I wish she’d asked me:

1. How long have you been on these other two medications?
2. What is your daily dosage for each of them?
3. When did the redness in your skin begin to worsen?
4. Let’s talk about your diet. Do you eat a lot of spicy foods?
5. How much water are you drinking?
6. I see that you’re interested in not taking pills and not using chemicals. We have a three options. First, it is possible that the two medications you’re currently on are causing this side effect. We can talk to those doctors and see if we can change those medications. (NOTE: I don’t know if this is actually the case, but it might have made sense to explore.) Second, we have some great topical prescriptions I can give you that I’m pretty certain will help quickly. Finally, there are a few natural things to try that would include removing spicy foods from your diet and a couple of other life changes. If we go the third route, it will be trial and error and will probably take longer to find a good solution. How would you prefer to start?

As I said, I firmly believe in Western medicine, but I also believe there is a lot we don’t know when it comes to prescribing drugs. Obviously all drugs are tested and I’m fairly sure that the medical world knows how a single drug will react with the average person’s body chemistry. I even feel more or less comfortable that they know how two will react. But adding in a third? No way. There are simply too many medicines out there to know how all possible combinations will react with every single person’s individual body chemistry.

While more than anything I want to focus only on Eastern medicine, including acupuncture, cupping, massage, chiropractic care, nutrition, exercise, and natural alternatives to fix the relatively minor things that ail me, my insurance refuses to pay for those. I also wish my doctor had spent another five minutes with me to discuss the matters above. I don’t want to end up like the drug addicted guy (or woman) wearing this t-shirt.

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