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medication and veganism...

1K views 19 replies 8 participants last post by  Panthertracks 
#1 ·
Hi there,


I'm currently in the process of replacing my toiletries and cleaning products etc with vegan one's but each time I feel that I'm making progress towards becoming a fully fledged vegan I think of something else! Medication... how does that work? I have fibromyalgia and use yoga and meditation to help with that and choose to manage without painkillers but I often have very bad headaches and can't cope without painkillers (I'm a full time carer so can't just rest up). If you follow a vegan lifestyle in all aspects except for painkillers, does that stop you from actually being a true vegan? I feel bad having to take tablets and only do as a last resort but at the end of the day, I'm still swallowing something that has been tested on animals... Any help or thoughts would be greatly appreciated, thank you.
 
#3 ·
? I don't think most vegans would agree there. Practicality is a relative term and often times a cop-out. As long as animal testing persists it may be difficult for some to be completely vegan, but all avenues should be exhausted before simply giving up.

Hi there,

I'm currently in the process of replacing my toiletries and cleaning products etc with vegan one's but each time I feel that I'm making progress towards becoming a fully fledged vegan I think of something else! Medication... how does that work? I have fibromyalgia and use yoga and meditation to help with that and choose to manage without painkillers but I often have very bad headaches and can't cope without painkillers (I'm a full time carer so can't just rest up). If you follow a vegan lifestyle in all aspects except for painkillers, does that stop you from actually being a true vegan? I feel bad having to take tablets and only do as a last resort but at the end of the day, I'm still swallowing something that has been tested on animals... Any help or thoughts would be greatly appreciated, thank you.
How readily available is medical marijuana in the UK? In the US they've flooded the market with a strain containing negligible amounts of THC that provide all the pain-relieving benefits without the high. You don't have to smoke it either, there are edibles.
 
#7 ·
Scientists may use animals to test marijuana, but people who grow it to sell it don't. It's a plant. It's harmless. Though I'd sure rather be a monkey testing marijuana than man-made pharmaceuticals.

The practicality and possibility credo leaves a whole lot of room for personal interpretation, but I won't look down on someone for attempting to lessen their pain if they have no other options.
 
#13 ·
My sister has paranoid schizophrenia and requires several medications in order to function halfway normally. She went vegan a few years ago and is doing very well with it. I would never advise her to give up her meds and find a "natural way" because the meds she takes might not be vegan. The harm that might cause her would not be worth it.

I have severe osteoporosis and am on a medication that was probably tested on animals, but I have been through every other avenue and at the current time alternative options just aren't enough (I have tried many and my bone density continued to decline rapidly as proven by DXA scans). I have already fractured and I know the pain of that. I am doing the best I can under my circumstances (including putting on weight, eating better, weight bearing exercise etc). I am not going to worry if I am not 100% "pure vegan" because that is not what is important to me to focus on. I can certainly lobby the drug companies to come up with alternate ways to test drugs (and many groups are doing just that), and do the best I can to find medications that are not derived from animal products, but if I have to take something derived from an animal or tested on one in order to function or improve my situation (so that I can help animals such as the leafleting that I have done) than that is what I have to do right now.

As far as headaches and other types of pain and inflammation, I have used arnica oil messaged into the skin. I have also used turmeric and bromaline which both have anti inflammatory properties and seem to speed healing. Those really helped when I had achilles tendinitis. Sometimes hot and cold treatments (with ice and warm compresses etc) helps too. I am very fortunate that I do not get headaches often. I did give in once and use IBProfen last year when I had the flu and horrible fevers while traveling. I sure hope that doesn't disqualify me from being vegan. :)
 
#14 ·
My sister has paranoid schizophrenia and requires several medications in order to function halfway normally. She went vegan a few years ago and is doing very well with it. I would never advise her to give up her meds and find a "natural way" because the meds she takes might not be vegan. The harm that might cause her would not be worth it.

I have severe osteoporosis and am on a medication that was probably tested on animals, but I have been through every other avenue and at the current time alternative options just aren't enough (I have tried many and my bone density continued to decline rapidly as proven by DXA scans). I have already fractured and I know the pain of that. I am doing the best I can under my circumstances (including putting on weight, eating better, weight bearing exercise etc). I am not going to worry if I am not 100% "pure vegan" because that is not what is important to me to focus on. I can certainly lobby the drug companies to come up with alternate ways to test drugs (and many groups are doing just that), and do the best I can to find medications that are not derived from animal products, but if I have to take something derived from an animal or tested on one in order to function or improve my situation (so that I can help animals such as the leafleting that I have done) than that is what I have to do right now.

As far as headaches and other types of pain and inflammation, I have used arnica oil messaged into the skin. I have also used turmeric and bromaline which both have anti inflammatory properties and seem to speed healing. Those really helped when I had achilles tendinitis. Sometimes hot and cold treatments (with ice and warm compresses etc) helps too. I am very fortunate that I do not get headaches often. I did give in once and use IBProfen last year when I had the flu and horrible fevers while traveling. I sure hope that doesn't disqualify me from being vegan. :)
Thank you for sharing all of that. I think that both you and your sister are living a vegan lifestyle as defined by the vegan society and I think that is as much as anyone can do. Unless an individual is super fit and very lucky, most are going to need medical intervention at one time or another.
 
#15 ·
Personally, I don't think that using medications you really need that were tested on animals disqualifies you from being able to call yourself vegan. Like others have mentioned, in the modern world it's nearly impossible to be completely 100% vegan. I agree with those who have mentioned that it is about doing the best that you can (I'm not going to stop carpooling with my boyfriend just because his car has a leather-covered steering wheel).

For my personal story: I have severe "seasonal" (all year) allergies, and asthma, and eczema to go with them. I'm not going to stop carrying my inhaler, or do without steroid injections and ointments and pills when my skin is in such bad condition that I can't walk without my ankle skin cracking open and oozing blood. I also take an allergy medication daily so I can go to work without swollen teary eyes. I still would like to consider myself vegan, though. I need those meds to function, I don't just take them for fun. I've never sat around thinking "hey, it sounds like a good idea to shove my body full of dangerous steroids today."

I've never had the opportunity to talk to a vegan who -needed- medication and refused to take it because of animal testing (not to say those people don't exist, only that I haven't had personal experience with them).
 
#16 ·
Personally, I don't think that using medications you really need that were tested on animals disqualifies you from being able to call yourself vegan. Like others have mentioned, in the modern world it's nearly impossible to be completely 100% vegan. I agree with those who have mentioned that it is about doing the best that you can (I'm not going to stop carpooling with my boyfriend just because his car has a leather-covered steering wheel).

For my personal story: I have severe "seasonal" (all year) allergies, and asthma, and eczema to go with them. I'm not going to stop carrying my inhaler, or do without steroid injections and ointments and pills when my skin is in such bad condition that I can't walk without my ankle skin cracking open and oozing blood. I also take an allergy medication daily so I can go to work without swollen teary eyes. I still would like to consider myself vegan, though. I need those meds to function, I don't just take them for fun. I've never sat around thinking "hey, it sounds like a good idea to shove my body full of dangerous steroids today."

I've never had the opportunity to talk to a vegan who -needed- medication and refused to take it because of animal testing (not to say those people don't exist, only that I haven't had personal experience with them).
I imagine vegans who refuse medication when it's really needed are in the minority. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and I agree with you.
 
#17 ·
I don't like taking medications at the best of times, especially when I think about how animals have been tested on to make those medications. (Especially when there's a huge margin of error between something that works for a dog and something that works for a human).

But I still take medication if/when it's needed. I'm with LedBoots in trying to get 'as' vego a version as possible of the medication and hope that it's no longer being tested.

The other thing I do, with varying degrees of success, is work on ways to minimise the amount of times I have to go to the medicine cabinet. To use my hayfever as an example, I KNOW that if I go running of a morning that my hayfever symptoms are lessened dramatically. I think it has something to do with the adrenalin using up the histamines. When my hayfever symptoms aren't so bad, I use much less medication and hardly ever need my puffer (asthma inhaler).

Maybe there are warning signs when you have a headache, maybe it's being caused by lack of sleep or water, maybe it's being caused by stress. If you can look out for those things, maybe you can minimise the amount of times you need to take painkillers.

But to your original question, which I believe has already been answered beautifully but I like to give people my opinion, you can't be 100% vegan. No one can. Until we're in a world where everyone is vegan, or at least vegetarian, it's impossible for you to be 'vegan'. But that doesn't mean you can't call yourself a vegan, or that you reaching for headache tablets is somehow disqualifying you from the label. It's not.
 
#18 ·
Maybe there are warning signs when you have a headache, maybe it's being caused by lack of sleep or water, maybe it's being caused by stress. If you can look out for those things, maybe you can minimise the amount of times you need to take painkillers.

But to your original question, which I believe has already been answered beautifully but I like to give people my opinion, you can't be 100% vegan. No one can. Until we're in a world where everyone is vegan, or at least vegetarian, it's impossible for you to be 'vegan'. But that doesn't mean you can't call yourself a vegan, or that you reaching for headache tablets is somehow disqualifying you from the label. It's not.
I take the same approach as you and try to avoid headaches in the first place but they are a common symptom of fibromyalgia and I think it's that which is the cause. Stress undoubtedly makes it worse.

During the day I can usually see the warning signs and reach for my alternative remedies then, often these work but only if I get the timing right. If I don't get there quick enough the pain increases and I either just get on with it or begrudgingly take something. More often than not though I feel fine but wake up in the middle of the night with an intense headache and that is when I will take something but the headache lasts for days.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
 
#19 ·
Whether you are vegan or not is YOUR decision, YOUR identity. No one else's. No matter what anyone else says about what is or isn't vegan, at the end of the day it's up to you.

Personally, I use medication that was tested on animals (all meds are) and even some meds that contain animal products (example: vaccines) and yet I still call myself vegan. I consider medication "necessary" and I consider veganism as avoiding "unnecessary" animal products.
 
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