Angiogram symptoms and conditions

I really don't know if this has any connection but here goes. I am 60 years old with no significant medical issues. My blood pressure has been creeping up over the past few years. Because of my job (professional pilot), I addressed the blood pressure issue with my family doctor and she prescribed Lisinopril. I was on the medication for a little over 3 months when all of a sudden with no warning my heart rate jumped to 185 and remained there for almost 2 hours. I underwent an angiogram (no significant blockage) and an echocardiogram (negative). I have an appointment with a Cardiologist in two weeks to continue follow-up with a stress test and possible electrophysiology study. Attempting to figure out what happened I started looking at what in my life had changed in the past few months. To my surprise I ran across this information on Lisinopril (rat poison).

About eight years ago I felt heaviness in my chest along with some pain/discomfort when doing hard physical labor and occasionally in the hot-tub. Following my doctor’s advice and an angiogram, a stint was placed and medication administered – Lipitor and plavix I also went through a 6-month program for cardiac recovery including dietary changes and a proper exercise program. About six month following that I gradually just stopped taking my Lipitor and plavix and returned to my old eating routine and other life-style. I don’t smoke (never did) and don’t drink or otherwise indulge in any recreational drugs. I’ve never been hypertensive with blood pressures typically at 115/68. I maintain a trim and healthy appearing body just naturally or genetically. I eat lots of red meat, not a lot of vegetables, drink gallons of orange juice, and eat much more junk-food than I should. About six years after that (near heart attack) event I was given a “stress test” by my physician… I was then 61 and tested at the level of a 38 year old! Two years after that I had a significant heart attack out in the middle of nowhere! It took almost 6 hours to get me to an emergency room in Spokane, Washington (that’s a story of its own). That was on a Thursday – I was back to work full-time the following Monday (four days later). This time around with more drugs than I could swallow in one gulp! Lipitor, Plavix, Coumadin, aspirin, and carvedilol. The combination or amount was more than I could tolerate and I was weaned off all but the Lipitor and aspirin within a year. My heart has returned to nearly full-function and I have no physician imposed restrictions. All that said, I’ve been gradually developing muscle soreness (pain, actually) in my fore-arms and legs. I’ve been growing more lethargic and tired with each passing month. I’m now 65 and feel that the Lipitor is inhibiting my health… I want to get off it and be “normal” again. Or is it just being sixty five? Can I just quit taking the drug? Leaving only aspirin for blood thinning and the hope of a better diet for cholesterol control.

Moderately high cholesterol and BP 150/90. Was put on Lipitor 20mg and after a week felt more fatigued than usual but nothing much more than this. Had stress test and angiogram which showed 60-70% block in one artery as well as arrhythmia. Cardiologist bumped Lipitor up to 80 mg which I took for 2 weeks. But by then I was suffering most of the effects described in these postings: aches and pains, giddiness, nausea, extreme weakness and fatigue. I took myself off Lipitor and even after one day my head started to clear aches started to diminish, though urine still a reddish color suggesting a lot more flushing out required. And, best of all, the arrhythmia reduced from moderate/severe to mild (which it always used to be before taking Lipitor). This drug is not for me. I'd rather take my chances without it and rely on strict diet, weight loss, etc. It is surprising that the possible side effects are so understated in the manufacturer's descriptions.

I began taking Yasmin after the birth of my son in Sept 06. Keep in mind i have had ultra sounds of my legs to check arterial flow as i work in ultrasound. In april of 08 I went to the er because my toe was in excruciating pain and turning blue. I went in for an angiogram immediately where they found the femoral arterie of each leg was completely blocked. In the leg with the blue toe they put stents in. The stents occluded the same day. Then I had to go to another hospital to have bypass surgery since stents cant be reopened. The first surgery took 9 hours.. The bypass graph occluded within an hour. They took me back into surgery for another 6 hours. I had to have a plastic graph placed which doesn't last as long. I am only 33 years old so they can only guess how many replacements I will need to have of that graph. After dealing with the head of hematology for both Northwestern Memorial and University of Illinois they both concluded that it was a severe effect of oral contraceptives. I will have the next leg done in a year or 2. They think once the drug gets out of my system that I won't have the problem with immediate clotting. I will be on warfarin and plavix for about another 18 months since my body has been through so much already i cant take the chance of clotting again or I will loose the leg.

Was administered Fluorescein for eye angiogram. Within 2 minutes my face, arms, hands, torso, legs, face, lips went dark red, swelling, intense cramping (diarrhea) and itching all over. HIves came on swiftly with intense shaking of my whole body. Jaw locked up, chest felt terribly heavy, blood pressure dropped to 70/50. Was given intravenous steroid and 50 mg benadryl. Four hours before I was stable. This was antiphylactic shock. I am not allergic to shellfish. This was very scary. Felt I was actually dying and afraid to go to sleep. A horrible experience, one I will never forget. Wish there was a way to know before hand if a person has allergies to this stuff. Wouldn't want to see anyone go thru this. I know I had the concerns of the doctors and staff at the clinic.

Brenda
6.26.08

I am 54 and began taking Simvastatin 20mg on Jan 11, 2008 my blood panel showed chol 319 ldl 251hdl 44 trig 118 on Jan 26 I experienced chest pain like I had swallowed an ice cube for fifteen minutes and thought it was a side effect of the Statin I went to the surgicenter and was checked in with Troponin at 0.1 after one hour there I had another pain and they gave nitro g and it continued the Troponin level went to 1.6 They sent me to get an angiogram and I ended up getting two stents. just before the procedure after not having eaten for 22 hours my blood panel was done again and my chol was 155 ldl 89 hdl 38 trig 136. my ldl had gone down 162 mg/dl in fifteen days. after two weeks now taking Plavix as well I began having extreme pain in my joints and both knees forearms and calves, so bad I can hardly walk and have been prescribed Darvocet for the pain. I want to stop taking the Simvastatin I am alarmed at the rate of decent and wonder if my symptoms could be a product of too low of cholesterol. I can't get a straight answer from three doctors I've spoken to. I'm being crippled by the cure

For the last two months I have been on 5mg of Lisinopril. I have always felt that I was a person with anxiety/depression symptoms. I have experienced some different feelings since I began taking this med about 2 months ago. My biggest concern is heart palpitations or irregular heart beat. I also have had skipped heart beats with loss of breath. I also seem to have more chest discomfort. I recently had a angiogram with installation of one stint. No heart damage or heart attack diagnosed. I can not blame all these symptoms on the drug but the skipped heart beats and chest discomfort were non-existent prior to taking the med and they continue even after my procedures. With my PCD's permission I have removed myself of this drug. Any thoughts on this?

I too was taking LIPITOR. After 3 months I became short of breath. At first I put it down to the weight that I had regained.I had lost 18kg.the year before. I had muscle pain, nausea, headaches.The Lipitor reduced the LDL alright,but the shortness of breath became worse and worse. If I was sitting on a chair and dropped a piece of paper on the floor I would be completely out of breath from bending over and picking it up! If I was walking for more than a few minutes I would be out of breath and had to stop. I quickly regained my breath; but the moment I started to walk again I would become breathless again!! My heart specialist decide to do an angiogram, that was o.k. He told me it was my weight that made me short of breath, I disagreed with him. My G.P. did not know what caused it either. I had had problems with Pravachol, severe muscles stiffness and pain. I could not straighten a bend leg or bend a straight leg.It was only after I studied the enclosed leaflet in the box of Lipitor that I noticed the RARE BUT SERIOUS SIDE EFFECT: Shortness of breath, if you suffer from this stop straight away and see your Dr. it said. It turned out that the ALVEOLI are affected. I had a lung function test done which showed my lung capacity was down by 20%.After cortisone treatment it has improved a bit but it is still 10% down and it effects me every day. I tire quickly and get out of breath walking uphill or against the wind.If there is a class action going let me know please! I am so fed up . I am only 63 but feel like an old woman.I will not take anymore cholesterol lowering medication; I rather live 5 years less, if that is the consequence.

36 yr old female. Was started on Toprol -XL in Sept 07 during my angiogram to relax my heart and lower my heart rate. Have also been on Lisinopril for several years prior for hypertension. Since starting the Toprol, I have had increasing depression, lethargy, shortness of breath, chest pains that have worsened, my feet are FREEZING all the time, I have gained 17.5 pounds, my fasting blood sugar is now up to 160-170 range, I have had many headaches (like the kind you get when your BP is sky high) and the other thing I have noticed is that my BP is bouncing ALL over the place. Last week it was down to 90/54 and I felt horrible. Then it will go up to 140/99(ISH). Find it really hard to finish my own sentences lately, and if I had nothing else to do, I could easily sleep 12-16 hours a day-everyday. I am down to 12.5 mg a day, and will be speaking to my cardiologist about this asap, had NO idea that Toprol could have been the culprit until I was told about this site. Thank you to everyone for sharing their stories, and good luck and blessings to all.

had bypass surgeryon dec 24 2003 . was put on 40mg of nusimivastatin at that time Starting having pressure in chest and around heart area in dec of 2004 had a barium xray done had start of hiatias hernia. Still having pressure when starting to walk in mornings went and had streess and ct scan every thing was okay with heart Nov 2006 still having pressure in chest area had an angiogram done all sutures and valves were okay. No one could detect what was causing pressure. Pressure was getting worse the past 8 months. In middle of july 2007 pressure was putting stress on heart and hernia and wind pipe. It felt over time a had a ballooon on my essapgagus. Got off simivastatin after having all this pressure and within 2 days half the pressure has receded and havenot felt better in 2yrs glennjack geejaa@sasktel.net

After by-pass heart surgery in 2002, my cardilogist put me on 40mg of zocor.
I was in good health with no physical limitations. I had no heart damage. The restriction of heart arteries were found due to my stress test that was performed each year as a part of my annual Physical. After surgery I was on zocor for three years, during that time I experienced a little tiredness, little weakness, a little muscle aches. some tingling in my right arm and shoulder. I went to my heart doctor Jan. 2006 and he changed me to vytorin (10mg zetia and 40mg zocor). about 6 months all of the about symptoms got worse.
By Jan. 2007, my muscles became so stiff, I could not walk, had balance problems, severe muscle aches and cramps, numbness and tingling in both arms and hands, also stifness and pain in my hands, stiffness and pain in both feet, stifness and pain in my back and weird nerve sensations over my entire body. During Jan. and Feb 2007, I was seen by my family doctor, a neurologist, and a muscle doctor. Thanks to the internet, I found info on zocor and zetia, which is the drug vytorin. Warnings described the same symptoms I am experiencing. I stopped vytorin, I am not taking any statins drugs now. My doctor order a blood test to check for muscle damage, It indicated severe damage, a Creatine level of 770. This level should not be over 200. After being off the drugs for 30 days the creatine level dropped to 645. My condition has improved by 25%. I am walking a little better, but I still having muscle problems, there is improvement. I think there will be a very long recovery. There seems to be some evidence that these Statins affect people of age much more than the young. I am 70 years old. PLEASE PEOPLE, IF YOU ARE TAKING STATINS DRUGS, STOPPED NOW! SLOVE YOUR CHOLESTROL PROBLEMS BY OTHER MEANS. Since I stopped my cholestrol has gone from 157 to 280, but I am not going back taking these drugs. I am trying the natural way now. I have read post after post on many web-sites of people with the same symptoms that were using these drugs. The drug companies and the FDA are responsible for the the degradation of people's health taking these statin drugs.

I am taking Toprol XL for HBP. My legs have been cramping very badly during the night sometimes (Charley Horses). Now my doctor sent me for a doppler and they say it showed abnormal wave forms in both legs. Now they want me to do an angiogram which I am quite reluctant to do. These cramps didn't come on until I had been taking this medicine for a few months. My BP however had gone down, lower than the doctor remembers seeing it. I had blood work done earlier in the spring and everything on it was in normal range.

I was healthy until I went to the doctor. Now it seems I am on the way "out" of the world.

It is amazing that a drug with the these side effects is presrcibed so easily. It seems to affect many people in so many different ways. It addresses the symptoms it is prescribed for but its side effects can be painful and uncomfortable as well as dangerous.

I started a ten day course of prednisone to aleviate lung inflamation due to allegy induce asthma.

Day 1 80mg
Days 2,3,4, 60mg each day
Days 5,6,7, 40mg each day
Days 8,9,10, 20mg per day

It worked well,I was breathing much better the second day and felt good overall.
On day seven I awoke to pain in my left foot. The pain persisted throughout the day. It was not until my girlfriend looked at and felt it that I realized the severity of the situation. She said it was cold and it appeared very white.
I decided to go to the outpatient emergency room, for fear of having a blood clot. They gave me a blood thinner and pain killers and also made an appointment for a arterial specialist. for the next day. I went home that evening and took a lortab and went to bed. Before I fell asleep the pain in my foot became excruciating, and I decided to take another pain reliever and was able to fall asleep for a couple of hours before I was awoken, again in pain. The next day I went to the Arterial Specialist barely able to walk the hallway to his office(it was now affecting both feet).
A sonogram was done on my legs which indicated no clotting.The doctor felt my feet and toes and said they were like ice cubes and noticed the right one was now purpleish blue at the toes as the left had been the night before.
The doctor agreed that the prednisone side effect may be causing my pain. He suggested an angiogram for further diagnosis, but I declined and left assuming the symptoms would lessen over the next few days. I have not taken the prednisone in 5 days and still experience pain and numbness in my feet, pain in my knees and hips and cannot stand or walk for any length of time without pain. I don't know how long this will persist and it seems doctors and people posting to the site can't say either. It would seem the length and severity of the symptoms is as varied as the symptons themselves. It appears to me after reading the postings that individuals are all affected differently (also dosage length of time on prednisone) In my opinion that makes its unpredictability a real risk for any individual.
Still waiting for normal.

My son, age 29 was put on this drug recently for inflammed sinuses. I don't know if the drug caused this, but he now has a blood clot in his left arem which is very very painful. He's having a sonogram today and the doctor said he may need to have an angiogram....his sinuses are not any better either.

Well you might not want to give me permission to complain. I hate to complain in front of family They suport me so much so I write complaints in a book but to find some answers is nice to my questions I ask myself.I have a question for you Gypsi. The Diurex will it work while still on prednisone. You all have made me deside to give up my addiction to Dr.Pepper for water. I am filling my bottle with water three whole days now. So here I go lets see if I can lose one or two pounds. I eat a very well balanced diet otherwise. So let see if I give up my one crutch if I can see some of this weight gone. Does anyone eles suffer from fatigue but have insomnia. My husband is going to go in for a angiogram Monday so I will not get back for answers until later in the week because I also have to go to the city for a MRI. They both can not be in the same city so I will be gone until thursday. I am going to buy the Diurex I am not even sure what it is but if it will work with out interferance to other drugs I will take it, thank you for encouragement.
Angela

I'm a 64 year-old retired pilot. I've had a form of rheumatoid arthritis for years. Recently I had chest pains & breathlessness when walking the dog & going uphill. Cholesterol was 6.8 so, prior to an Angiogram next month, I was put on 20 mg of Simvastatin about 5 weeks ago. The Cholesterol went down to 4.4 but I gradually began to feel quite ill with dreadful tiredness & lethargy, feeling low & depressed, not wanting to do anything, With chest pains & breathlessness worse than before. Joint & muscle pains were now really bad and I felt tender all over. Yesterday I felt very nauseous, with stomach tightness, dizzyness and a strange feeling of "unreality" and restlessness. I had lost interest in life, couldn't sleep & was quite ill. I could barely walk!

The last time I felt anything similar was 20 years ago when I got Shingles and the doctor (not the same one) prescribed Zovirax tablets. Boy, I was nearly suicidal then and "afraid" to hear the doorbell or the phone go. This was not good in an Airline pilot so I flushed the tablets away, saw my doctor (who only then read me the side-effects) and vowed to be very careful in future.

I saw my (excellent) doctor today; he immediately took me off Simvastatin, agreed that I was quite normal but probably just on one side of the bell-shaped curve of human responses to this drug. He took blood for a liver function test, checked blood pressure (normal) and listened to my heart and chest (all OK). He recommended a "Statin holiday" and said he may try me on another, different form (much fewer side effects) of the drug. I slept a lot all day today, couldn't eat at all except for an orange (still nauseous), felt the lower back pain still and was generally fairly ill. However, I think now (at nearly midnight and without taking my nightly pill) that I am beginning to feel a whole lot better!

I can live with the high Cholesterol (since all other factors in my life are good) but I cannot live with Simvastatin. Simple as that. You are not alone!