I don't believe in vaccines at all, but I also don't have much faith in Western Medicine. But that's from research, fueled by negative experiences.
I started questioning everything when I was younger. My mother would take me to the doctor for every. little. thing. I actually got to the point where I would ask for "the pink stuff" because I liked the taste. I think I was five or six at that point. But after that, I started noticing brochures in the rooms talking about how anti-biotics may not always been the best choice. And I was confused. So when I was in my teens, and happily addicted to the computer and internet and anything that got me away from the world, I started reading up on things. And I was amazed.
By my senior year of high school, I was convinced vaccines were the devil, medicine in general was over used to the point where new illnesses were being born from it, drug companies made up illness just to make money off selling drugs for them. (I've even met pharmacists who agree with that last point.)
Then I went to college and took an environmental history course. It was a requirement for my major, else I never would have taken it. But because of that course, I was introduced to an amazing book that I still read today. In fact, it's sitting right next to me on the couch. "Having Faith: An ecologist's journey to motherhood" by Sandra Steingraber. She's amazing. Her books talks all about the 'natural' toxins we have in the world and how they negatively affect our world, especially our children. She strongly criticizes medical interventions during child birth and discusses the history of OBs and MWs, from both view points. And, of course, she encourages full term breastfeeding.
But her book, in addition to my own research, which includes other books on proper nutrition (given to me by my chiro), has really solidified what I already knew through research and my own experience: We would be much healthier if we didn't have all these medicines and all these processed foods and all these toxins used in every day products.
Just watch TV for half for an hour. You are almost certain to see at least one commercial asking if "you or a loved one has even taken" xyz drug, because if you have then you may be entitled to a settlement. It seems every day that a new drug is recalled.
And that's just the problem. In Europe, before a drug can be placed on the market, it has to prove that it won't harm/kill people, that it actually helps. In the US, it just has to go through one or two trials and then it can just be recalled later, after too many develop chronic illnesses and such.
So, no, I don't believe in Western Medicine for the most part. Certainly, there are cases when it's needed, like for emergencies. But even for illnesses that are treatable, I haven't seen much progress. But a huge reason for that problem - and maybe this is my underlying concern - is the fact that we have a profit driven medical system.
My reasons for not having faith in the Western Medicine? My biggest reason would be my mother. She has been going to doctors since I was 3 for her "condition". Now I call it that because every few years it has a new name. First it was carpal tunnel, then it TOS, then it was something else, then it was fibromyalga. She's been addicted to pain killers probably most of that time. I remember coming home from school when I was seven and seeing her passed out on the couch because the pills made her sleep. She kept a huge basket of pills next to her under the coffee table. I was too embarrassed to bring friends over, which didn't matter because they couldn't stand my mother anyway. They always said she was crazy. They were right. She is. Because her doctor makes more money by pumping her full of drugs. It doesn't matter how many times shes rushed to the hospital for having seizures where she almost swallows her tongue, it doesn't matter how many times she gets her head stitched up because she "fell over the cat" (her usual excuse), he still gives her more drugs, because they aren't the cause of her "episodes" as he calls them. She claims she's an epileptic, yet she's not on any medication for that.
I had a very good friend in college who had epilepsy. I remember holding her and falling to the ground with her during a seizure so she wouldn't get as hurt. I remember making the hour and half long drive with her in college to the nearest real hospital to see her neuro doc about new ways to help with her seizures. She was convinced he put her on too many pills and that was the reason her seizures were increasing, not stress from school. (She had been through that kind of stress before and it did nothing like that.) She ended up being right and was put on fewer pills. Two years ago, ironically around the same time DP and I discovered he had a brain tumor, she had brain surgery. I promised her I would fly to her - in NJ, I was in WI - and be there with her before hand so we could shave our heads together. She wouldn't allow it, especially since she didn't have to shave her head. Her surgery went well but she still has seizures during her menstrual cycle and was told from day one that she'll never be able to carry a child. (Her body also doesn't make estrogen so she goes months without a period and seriously has no chest, which she makes fun of and wears ridiculously stuff bras just to make people laugh.) I promised her then, and I still tell her now, that I would be more than happy to carry a child for her. Because I love her that. She's an amazing person.
And my mother trying to pretend she, too, has epilepsy, offends me greatly. It's just another way for her to "justify" her addiction, which, of course, she doesn't have.
Anyhow, I know this is completely off topic, but I felt the need to explain why I feel the way I feel. I don't go to doctors and I don't go to hospitals. If I'm sick, my body will take care of it. I rest and drink lots of fluids. And I do have a homeopathic cold and flu thing, made from natural organic ingredients. DP bought it bc I refused to take tylenol. I avoid doctors and hospitals like the plague. I have a chiro but he's just for when I need to get my back adjusted, like when I need to breathe better. (Apparently, I have asthma. Inhalers never worked and I also shook violently after breathing treatments. Whatever that means.) I do try to live as natural as possible, like a PP said. It's not the easiest of things to do, but I try my best. I prefer organic foods because they are healthier. I avoid fake crap like high fructose corn (I realize it's just like sugar and I hated all those commercials demonizing it because they did it for the wrong reasons.) and preservatives if I can. I don't eat meat so I do buy frozen substitutes. I try to avoid dairy because of the hormones. Oh, and I also see my chiro to talk about nutritional health. He's a big believer in eating natural, unprocessed foods. He feels they lead to a healthier life style. And I agree. He has vitamins that aren't made with chemical crap, just like my midwife has. And that's what I like about them. (And the fact that they actually applaud my decision not to vaccinate.)
But that's just me.
I tend to use western medicine more than homeopathic or alternative treatments, however I do not do so blindly and I make sure it is clearly needed. Which means, we rarely use it. (I'm under the care of a team of neurologists for my medical issues, DD2 was on Zantac for severe reflux as an infant, DS and DD1 have not yet had an illness that needed prescription medication.)
