A Pill Popping Party!

Yea! We are having a party! Not just any party, we are having a pill popping party! In case you have not noticed the myriad of commercials that are on TV, we are encouraged to take pills from everything from ED to toenail fungus. And if the pills cannot be purchased over the counter, you are also encouraged to talk to your doctor to write you a prescription for the "cure all" pills.

So what is my beef? Don't pills give us health, longer and better life? Yes, to a degree I do. I have been taking hypertension pills for some time now (two pills a day), cholesterol pills (one a day), aspirin (one a day), multi vitamin (one a day) and calcium pills (two a day). My wife also take some of the same and some different pills every day. We are prisoners to our medicine cabinet and the mail order company for getting us the pills we need to keep the supply going. We have become addicted to the pills we take.

Earlier this week I was in a small repair shop for a tire repair. As I was talking to the owner, I noticed he had his five pills that we was going to take at noon time lined up all in a row. They were different colors and different sizes. I had no idea what they were for nor did I ask him. We all seem to have the unique "cocktail" mix of pills that we take.

I read in the ads now that taking a multi vitamin is not enough - now we have specialized vitamins for men, women, cholesterol and so on. Also, lets not forget about the epidemic of ADD, ADHD, depression, bi-polar disorders and so on. So if you are an adult with hypertension, borderline diabetes, high cholesterol, depression, ED, and so on, think of how many pills you would have to take just to maintain. Now consider going into your local health store because you are feeling a bit run down. Maybe a Vitamin D deficiency? Take two a day and call me in the morning. Knees hurt? Take two joint pills at noon.  Not wanting to catch an early cold, Vitamin C every morning should help. Lets not forget about the wonder Vitamin, B12, Fish Oil, Saw Palmetto, Omega 3 supplements and on and on and on.

Now for one more pet peeve. One of the local radio personalities recently waged a campaign against all of the ED pills being advertised on TV. I agreed him. His point was, if small children are watching an ED commercial, is it really necessary to go into embarrassing detail on what ED is and why it is important to take pills to fix it. Also, who wants questions from a small child like "why is having an erection for four hours bad for you, and by the way dad, what is an erection?" With the non stop advertising for pills that will "keep you ready whenever the moment is ready", we get the message. Enough already!

So the next time you take your morning meds or vitamins, think about what you are doing. Are you taking pills to really extend or enhance your quality of life, or are we all slaves to the pharmaceutical industry. I don't know. I just know this - I am tired of popping pills every day and just wish there was a shot I could take once a year that would give me the same benefit. I am so ready to quit this pill popping party!