What is it with doctors and their preference for recommending only drugs, when there are many other vital things to consider, and also many other health professionals with proven treatments, that are not considered or suggested to the patient?

Now I know that drugs are the best treatment in many cases, but I don't believe that every illness can be treated successfully with drugs, to the exclusion of other treatments.

For instance, my GP has never mentioned the treatments that have been the most effective for me. There is never any consideration for diet, exercise, vitamin and mineral deficiencies, massage, physiotherapy and so on.

For my chronic headaches, my pain doctor (not my GP) suggested remedial massage and an exercise/ stretching routine for life. The massage was immediately effective, as it turns out my tight back muscles were pulling on my neck muscles, hence the headaches.
So I was able to get to the cause and stop it. Mind you, that was after 25 years of awful head and neck pains.
I found that I needed a massage every week, but stretched it to 2 or 3 weeks because of the cost. The pains always returned, but I had a lot of relief.

My daughter has severe M.E. and researches the illness plus any treatments that may help. As a result she suggested magnesium oil and vitamin D, both in large doses, for my tight muscles.

And guess what? I don't need regular massages as the muscles are now soft again and not tight. It's been 3 months now that I have been headache free.
And...none of the treatment came from any of my medical people.

In an ironic twist, just as I became headache free, my lower spine became permanently sore.
My physio examined me and concluded that my butt or glute muscles were very weak, and my back was taking the strain, compromising the spine.
So I have added some special muscle strengthening exercises and spine bends to my routine.
I didn't bother with the GP as he would have just said my spine is worn out, nothing can fix it. That is what he said about my neck/ headaches.

So....get some more opinions from different medical branches, and specifically ask about the effects of weak muscles on your pain.

And, have a read about the benefits of large doses of magnesium oil and Vit D. I can't recommend them highly enough.

Deficiencies (very common) of these 2 alone can be the cause of a lot of medical problems, and the benefits of restoring them can be enormous, as in my case.
Quite astonishing really.

I am very happy for you, Peter. I've been posting for years about magnesium, as I discovered it for muscles over a decade ago.

Thank you for posting your experience. I believe it can benefit many others who come to read these forums!

Thanks for the post Peter.

Great to hear about the results you've had. I agree that I also wish more docs would adopt a whole body, mind-body approach open to alternative treatments.

And it seems to be getting better as times goes by.
Not only do I recover more quickly when I overdo it, but I can also tolerate much more activity and difficult situations without getting sore.
For instance, a bad reaction from doing too much would be a really bad headache for 1-2 days, and difficult to medicate.
The last one lasted just a half day and was quite mild.

I have just spent 2 nights in an awful bed-new foldout with a too firm foam mattress-tossed and turned all night, hardly any sleep, yet no back or neck pain.

Prior to magnesium and Vit D, I'd have been very distressed and in great pain afterwards, with no tolerance for that sort of discomfort.

I believe also that my overall mood is better.

It is well known that magnesium is of great benefit, many of those I mention it to are either on it or aware, yet it is still mostly unknown.

Such a simple remedy for a huge pain problem.

"What is it with doctors and their preference for recommending only drugs, when there are many other vital things to consider, and also many other health professionals with proven treatments, that are not considered or suggested to the patient?"

Because in Western Medicine, doctors are trained to prescribe drugs or suggest surgery as a first line of treatment. Many alternative therapies just aren't yet accepted/recognized by Western Medicine. Their standards of "proven treatments" are quite strict and may be different from a suffering patient's. The paradigm is beginning to change, but change is often a slow process.