With any treatment option, you have to weigh the risk versus benefits. My cousin felt the same way that you do about drugs. She stopped taking her blood pressure medicine and started relying on herbal remedies to make her healthy. Well, this plan didn't work out so well for her. She died quite suddenly as a result of uncontrolled hypertension. Rather than enjoyinging her retirement, she is dead. Her husband is enjoying the benefits of her retirement with his new wife that is 20 years his junior.