Ast symptoms and conditions

I am generally classed as an active, happy and positive person, loving life.... but the last 4 months have been a blinking nightmare....
It seems we all pretty much have the same symptoms, horrid shoulder pain, muscle soreness, spasms, feet and generally feeling like "what the??" is where we are all at..horrid thoughts of MS? Motor Neurons, Parkinsons, etc. all sorts of possible sinister problems.
I too have stopped taking Lipitor only a week ago (and I only started back in October 2008 after "arguing with my doctor for many years not wanting to take it...and i didn't even know about the horror side effects, i just thought it was totally unnatural to strip the body of something almost totally,).. within 2 months I started showing signs of chronic neck C5/6/7 and left shoulder. Maybe I had injured myself once before and suffered pinched nerves, but the pain eventually went, but this is not normal or should I say usual...... I have constant buzzing of left thumb/forefinger and hand and my right leg. NEVER NEVER have I suffered from this type of symptom before in my entire 50 years... Even some days when the spasms are at their worst I get an itchy nose and tingling lips. The scariest symptom of a white flash in my left eye convinced me...So fed up with it and after stumbling on all the negative comments and side effects with this drug I made to decision to take control of my own life. It is too uncanny....As I said, it's only a week now free of Lipitor, I have increased my Vitamin C intake and making sure I take a Mega Multivitamin daily too. There is some interesting reading in various websites of Vitamin C vs Statins...

BUT it would really be nice to read any comments of people who have recovered from these rotten symptoms and what sort of time frame it took to get over them. Is there a light at the end of the tunnel for us all. Some indication of Recovery period is probably our greatest "want to know"... and also...when will i be able to enjoy cycling again. Thank you to everyone for the input and may our strength be returned, not only physically but spiritually as well. :-)

I am a 54 year old male who was prescribed bactrim by his ENT for a staff infection. I was taking 3 pills per day after each meal. I had no past health issues and never have been hospitalized. On my 8th day of Bactrim, I had major head pain, pain so severe i was vomiting, and lost 20 pounds. I woke up the next day Jaundice. I took a blood test and my alt hit 800, ast hit 500, bilirubin was 6.5, blood in my urine. Now, 5 months later and of course, off the drug since mid-July, my level alt level is still 240 and ast 140. These levels are way too high, and now need a liver biopsy. My GI doctor tells me unlikely that this was bactrim induced, right! Please, I never had a problem until taking this medication, and now who knows if my liver will ever return to normal and what other health issues will now take place.

I have been on Lisinopril and a diuretic for about 1.5 years -- started with 5mg of lisinopril. At first had a slight cough, but went away. In Feb 2008 routine blood tests were done and my ALT - liver enzyme was slightly elevated to 36. ( last test in 2003 was normal) --- had the test repeated in Aug 2008 and the ALT was up to 41. Doctor was not too worried, not very elevated - but I persisted as to why and she sent me for an ultrasound that showed all was normal for my liver, spleen, gallbladder, kidneys. My pressure was up a bit at the Aug appt - so she increased my Lisinopril to 10mg. I had another liver enzyme test done beg of Oct 2008 and now the ALT is up to 66. I told her the only difference is increasing my Lisinopril and that must be the cause for elevated ALT levels. She is not sure -- I am now being referred to a specialist -- but told to stop taking the Lisinopril for 3 weeks and they will see what the levels are. Have only seen a few mentions of elevated liver enzymes as a side effect -- has anyone else experienced?? My AST levels are normal.

Update: I have been off this medication for 15 days, no problems with stomach acid. I do believe my hair feels thicker as if I am getting some growth where I have loss it. The last side effect I am looking forward to seeing if it is affected, is my Liver tests. The enzymes have always been high (since I started taking this med some 5 to 7 years ago. No matter what I did I could not lower those results, maybe being off this medication will do the trick as I just read last month that one of the side effects are elevated levels in the livers (AST & ALT levels). That can't be good to keep those levels over the recommended zone.

I am a 48 year old male. Was placed on Zocor last year. Since the day I was placed on it, I have felt weak, no ambition, no drive, feel like a zombie. I eventually had pain in my legs so severe that I had to take Hydrocodone so I could sleep. The skin on my thumbs and two first fingers peels off. I haven't had a good nights sleep since the second day I was on this crap. I haven't been taking it since June and still have a lot of problems. I still am very weak, no energy, tired all the time, skin is still peeling off my fingers, can't think, can't keep a straight thought. I have pretty severe pain in my hips that started when I was on Zocor. Also, my knees are very weak, and they pop every time I get up. At the time I stopped taking it, I was unable to make it up a flight of stairs.
My doctor constantly denied any link between any of this and the Zocor, but amazingly, after I stopped taking it, some of the symptoms reduced. I still suffer from many.
I was a small business owner with 7 employees and have since lost everything. I have been unable to find a job now for almost a year. The doctors are all "programmed" to think and tell you that these are good for you.

For all of you "doubters":
This site is not full of a bunch of "gosipers" "trolling for a lawsuit".
It took me 6 years with my son on Singulair to realize it was the the
medicine causing his behavioral problems. Our family went through years of hell and major psychology expesnes as a result of this medication. Oh it was real, ask any mmber of our family. The lab results we had showing his liver enzyme (ast/got) sky high was real too. That was just before we took him off singulair. The liver enzyme returned to normal by one month off the med when he had his labs repeated. His behavior changed from violent (attacking people) to calm and reasonable also within the months time.
Would I like to see a lawsuit-yes !!! This medicine should be recalled. I have no doubt in my mind. Although evertyone reacts differently to all meds., there have been far too many reports that sed up red flags for this med.

Response to guest #31870 question.
My son was on Singulair continually from age 9-15.
At age 15 he began to develope acid reflux real bad.
He then was diagnosed with Gastritis and Moderate to severe Ulcerative Collitis, thus severe bloody diarea. He also had severe violent behavior on this med and would attack family members in a rage. His condition has not improved much off this med. He still has diarea and behavioral problems, but not violent. I think some of the effects stay with you. For example I think it could possibly have some permanant effect on the brain, as he was on it for 6 years. His behavioral problems started a few years into the med., the Dr. told me their was no connection. I beleived her and continued. Finally he had such bad stomach pains we went to the E.R.. His first ever blood tests showed that his ast/got (liver enzymes) were 3 times elevated (sky high). This is when I took him off singulair and then he developed the diarea and collitis. His live enzymes returned to normal within one month. This was about 2 years ago. I have never put him back on singulair, but I think he will have sone lasting effects forever, since he took this med during some crucial formative years, and for so long. If there is ever a law suit I will be the first to sign up.

pain in joints, kindeys very sore. My alt, ast test went up. andyone else with this problem

I previously posted that my son's liver enzymes were very elevatedon Singulair, Ast/got 3x what they should be. Off singulair one month and they went back to normal. He was having symptoms of severe reflux at the same time that the enzymes were elevated, had severe pain center chest-no vomiting. It turns out that he has a case of mild gastritis and moderate to severe ulcerative colitis. Has anyone else had this problem ? He never had the diareah from colitis until he stoped the med. He was on Singulair for more than 6 years with violent behavioral issues and meltdowns.

My liver enzymes went up high after taking singulair. I am a 55 yr old woman.
My ALT 134 my ast 79. For more info on singulair, just type in singulair and liver disease and Singuair dangers.

I have taken parvachol since August 2002.
The dosage began at 40 mg per day, and I didn't have any major side effects. Later the dosage was increased to 80 mg per day with 10 mg of Zetia. I took that dosage for about six months. It has left me completed disabled. I can't walk without extreme pain. My AST went up to 3 times normal and I realize that my liver has been damaged. The cardiologist never agreed to discontinue the drugs. My primary care M.D. did take me off all statins until more research is done to determine if my neuromuscular damage, loss of balance, painful eyes, and inability to walk can be improved. Has anyone else had these serious side effects?

I am a 54 yrs old female who was on 20 mg of Lipitor for 5 weeks with no obvious side effects until I had a Liver Function Test. My ALT, AST and GGT had risen to twice the normal limits however my cholesterol had dramatically reduced. I immediately stopped taking Lipitor. Six weeks after stopping the medication my Liver Function Test has dropped a little but still high. The Liver Function Test was normal before I took Lipitor and now I need to have many other tests just to make sure that it was Lipitor - crazy - I cure one problem (cholesterol) and gain another (malfunctioning liver!)

Has anyone experienced a rise in the Liver Function Test and how long did it take to revert to normal?

Would appreciate any adverise or information.

*****

Huge side effects after the second shot, never went back for the third. I've been to three doctors, two ER's and my partner called the police to take my to a psychiatic hospital. My liver function tests (AST and ALT) are abnormal. I have no memory, blurred eyesight, and generally unable to function at the simpliest task. I have called the FDA and filed a med watch form and called TAP pharm.

PLEASE everyone call TAP pharm (they know Lupron is bad) the number is ****** and the FDA ******

I have greatly improved by going to a Chinese trained physician, I highly recommend it. WE all have to complain.