Find out if drug therapy actually needed. Every condition doesn't require drug therapy, and many are best treated by some alternative. The classic case, finally widely recognized by the medical profession, is high blood pressure, often best treated by diet, exercise, and other life style changes. Don't hesitate to press the doctor about all the alternatives to drug therapy in every case. Increasing fiber and liquid in the diet is preferable to using laxatives.
Some experts say that anxiety and sleeping problems are best treated by non-drug approaches.
The drugs often used for these problems, tranquilizers and sleeping pills, are considered powerful drugs with risks too great for the usual benefits. Many doctors find the easiest approach is to write a prescription. It takes time to explain an approach involving diet, exercise and life-style changes. But treatment plans should not be treated by what is most convenient to the doctor. Unfortunately, it is much harder for a doctor to make good money by giving good advice than it is by doing surgery or ordering invasive, extensive and sometimes unnecessary tests.