Medication vs. Herbal Remedies

I have spent the last three years learning that medications do not work for me, so it was a shock when I agreed to go on several new medications once I was diagnosed with Cardiomyopathy. Don't get me wrong, I didn't just cave overnight! I spent weeks agonizing over the decision- in fact I went to three different Cardiologists hoping to find out that meds were not the answer. The reason that I feel so strongly about prescribed drugs has nothing to do with politics or what I feel is right and wrong. No, my feelings about medications comes from having to take dozens of different pills, hoping to find one or two that either didn't make me sick or didn't help me at all. At one point (in the first year I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia) I was on 8 or 9 different prescribed medications, and that was after trying so many that I completely lost track of what they were. Not only that, but 99% of them made me feel terrible. Weren't we trying to get me to function better and to feel good? This certainly wasn't cutting it in my book.
The trouble with all of this was the fact that I just took the doctors word for it and didn't spell out in black and white that I was incredibly sensitive to drugs. To this day most doctors have trouble believing that I can only tolerate some meds, and if I am lucky enough to handle it, then I can only take pediatric doses. Now, it may sound like I am bitching about all of this, but in truth I am looking at the positive side of it all. My body has decided that the heart medications are not going to work, and one more time I have had to stop and listen to what my internal guide says I should do. The answer for me is to help my body deal with my health issues naturally. I have come to find out that if I just take a pill, or tons of supplements, my body never learns how to get back to excellent health on its own. I will always be reliant on something from the outside to make me well if I choose this path, and my goal is to become healthy and stand on my own two feet.
So here I am today- without the Beta Blocker and the ACE Inhibitor- and I am back to counting solely on Acupuncture and herbs to get me back on the road to recovery. I have to say that I am already feeling a lot better after only two days of this different approach, and if we can get my blood pressure to come back up to normal (which we will) then I will be one happy camper. I once again have to stay in the faith that I am in the solution, and that my Higher Power is guiding me every step of the way.