Bad cholesterol symptoms and conditions

Went off simvastatin in March, all pain went away within a couple of months, but muscle weakness in legs remained. In October, found out my cholesterol is sky high, over 325. So Dr. wanted to try Crestor 5 mg. Within 1 week, I had overwhelming fatigue, could hardly stay awake during the day and the weakness in my legs was getting worse. So I just went off Crestor. Frustrating!!

started 10 mg in 1998. was controlling everything ok. In 2004 developed weakness in both legs, started slurring words and eye trouble, went to several doctors then in April 2005 had to quit work as I was just to weak. That was at age 54. Finally a neurologist diagnosed me with Myasthenia gravis, and lambert eatons myasthenic syndrome. Had my thymus gland removed, which is supposed to put disease in remission, also had small cell lung cancer surgery at same time. improvement did not come and the drugs for myasthenia only made me sick. started having chest pains and doctors ,.found several blockages in my heart ,still do as to weak for surgery, cardiologist took me off of lipitor and I seem to have stabilized, still have trouble with short term memory, and vision, and really weak

I was wondering if anyone knows if there is a class action lawsuit against Yasmin.

I started taking Yasmin last October and the first three months I was on it, I was bleeding every day. It was the first time I ever got on a birth control pill. I stayed on the pill for a total of 6 months until one night I suddenly had severe abdominal pain along with nausea. It went bad from worse and I was rushed into emergency room later that day.

My diagnosis was acute pancreatitis due to high level of triglycerides. The doctors ran a series of tests, blood, ultrasound, CAT scan, and X-ray, etc. Their conclusion was Yasmin caused the dramatic increase of my triglycerides, and ultimately caused my acute pancreatitis.

My triglycerides level was below 200 before I started taking Yasmin and by May this year when I was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis, my triglycerides was over 4,300!

After spending 3 weeks in hospital for pain control and being off food and water for a total of 2 weeks, I was able to go home and get on with my life. My doctor told me I should never take any form of birth control pills nor any kind of hormone. I stopped taking Yasmin since the day I was admitted.

If anyone knows of a lawsuit or a lawyer that is working on a case against Yasmin, please let me know.

I am a 58-year-old woman that changed from zetia to zocor about 6 months ago because of the price of zetia AND I had tolerated the zetia ok but my chol was still elevated. My initial dose of zocor was just 10 mg, even though I had a lot of aches and pains from the slighest exertion I really did not connect this to zocor. After my last checkup, the doctor wanted to up my dose to 20 mg daily because my chol was 228 (liver functions were all ok). I have been doing that for 6 days and my legs have become very achy, my left knee has swollen above my kneecap (which is very painful), and my lower back hurts. I have been having a lot of trouble sleeping and feel draggy all the time. I got on the net to research these symptoms when I found this site. I am going to go off this med and see if my condition improves! I will post an update as to the results.

I am a 51 year old male. November 2007 jaw pain sent me to the hospital where they found a 99% block in my right coronary artery, yep 4 stent's. Three month late the same this time 2 stent's and two weeks later 2 more. I now have 8 stent's. My DR. put me on several meds including Zocor. The zocor made me very tired and headaches. He change it to Lipitor 10mg. I have been on it for 7 months and a few day's ago I have notice pain in both knee's and hip. I once again find it hard to concentrate, feel sluggish and have headache's. I NEVER have headache's. Stopped taken the Lipitor, hope the pain goes away. It a shame that the medical field is so quick to put us ALL on drug's, how about herb's instead. I'm going to look into a natural way to lower my cholesterol.

My GP, (doctor) prescribed Niaspan Prolonged Release Nicotinic acid (Ph Eur) 8 days ago to lower bad cholesterol. It came in a starter pack 7x375mg - 7x500mg-7x750mg for three weeks to run consecutively, which I take in conjunction with Zimverstatin 40mg nightly. First 7 nights, no problem, last night started the second week dosage...and after taking the first 500mg tab, I got busy on my com for a while...as you do...then Bang! I began to burn up inside, sweat leapt out of me like a garden sprinkler, I went weak, nauseous, ran to the loo (Toilet) ran around the house in sheer panic as my heart raced so fast, it felt like one continuous beat, then I nearly collapsed. On passing the bathroom mirror I saw my palour had gone to a waxy-grey, then I instinctively took two 75mg aspirin, and in the end collapsed on the bed. I woke up about 20 minutes later and realized I was not in heaven as my room was still as untidy as it normally was...never mind. I am waiting for a call-bcak from my GP...there are things I need to know as I suffer with angina....thanks for reading this.

In response to dtrzaski post Im am sending out this question to everyone. We know there have been stool/stomach/weight issues. Are there any other children that it has been discovered to have high cholesterol. My son was discovered to have high cholesterol at around 3yrs old, apprx 6 months after starting Singulair (regardless of a very healthy diet lots of fruit and veggies!) Any thoughts out there?

I started on Yasmin a year ago because I believed the TV advertising. I had no noticeable side effects for several months, then began heart palpitations, anxiety attacks in the middle of the night, crying for no reason, severe headaches, and my blood pressure, which has always been low, skyrocketed to as high as 160/130. I asked my gyn if Yasmin could be the cause and he said maybe, so I took myself off it. I had to go on blood pressure medication, but I'm hopeful that after that poison pill is out of my system I can get off the meds. The doctor's office called yesterday to say my cholesterol was so high they wanted me to go on medication for that. I last had cholesterol checked in Nov, and it was fine. I've been off yasmin for two weeks and already feel more hopeful and less anxious.

Due to an slight increase in triglycerides and bad cholesterol, my doctor put me on Lipitor for a limited time just before Christmas of '07, promising me that when my numbers got back down within normal ranges, he would wean me off the drug. I developed chronic constipation, severe pains in my knees and calves and sleeplessness for the 5 weeks I took the drug. I took myself off the drug and I'm back to normal. I haven't had any blood work yet, but I feel I can get the numbers down with diet and exercise, which is what I wanted to do to begin with.

I am 44 year old male and have been on Lipitor for about 2 years the last dose of which was increased to 40mg. I am active, go to gym regularly but I have found especially over the last 6 months that I get stiffness all over my body if I am immobile in a single position for a while - in any part of my body - that verges on painful. I cannot sit with my legs folded, or on my haunches without getting very stiff. Even getting out of a chair will leave me with stiff ankles or even sore feet and a lower back that need to be walked out to be better. At night my hands hurt from being still. I also have tinnitus which comes and goes. Because of my doing so much weight training and exercise I cannot understand why I feel like how I imagine a much older person might feel in terms of stiffness and body aches. I am going to get a blood test for liver and cholesterol tomorrow as a result of reading these reports because they may explain my aches and then I am going to stop at once and advise my doctor of what I have done and see if this makes a difference. I also feel that I have a lower libido. This cannot be arthritis either because that pain does not come and go, it tends to stay in one place. There might also be other symptoms that I have not realized - if this is related to Lipitor. I will report back to this forum.

I'm aged 51 and have had high blood cholesterol for years, diagnosed in my mid thirties. Over the years I have tried changing diet but it didn't reduce tha bad cholesterol. Three years ago I decided maybe I better reduce the cholesterol as they say it clogs up you arteries etc. I went to the doctor and he put me on Lipitor and within a few months my levels were down to normal. I got joint pains in my hands, back, neck , legs and had sore heels after long walks. The doc then decided I'd go off the Lipitor to see if my levels stayed normal but they went back up. After a week the new pains had gone away. I came up with a plan to take 3 x 10mG a week rather than one each day and this worked with a lot less joint pain. The last test I had my levels are back up again so he put me back on 10mG a day and now three weeks later the pains have built back up and I don't like them. Desperate for a different solution I was listening to one of the Juice Plus promotions and something they said set me thinking. They said that having a high level of bad cholesterol doesn't always mean it will badly affect your arteries as it has to react with free radicals in your body to cause the damage. Their theory is that a diet rich in antioxidants will combat the free radicals and generally reduce the risk of disease which also includes any bad effects from high bad cholesterol. Now I'm wondering two things, how do I know if my high cholesterol is causing me any harm? is there a test I can get done to measure how it is or is not affecting me? Can anyone throw any more light on this?

After having taken various statins for over 8 yrs., my Doc decided my bad cholesterol wasn't coming down fast enough to suit him. A yr. ago, he put me on Vytorin, not the advised dosage, 10/40, but 10/80. I have been suffering from severe panic attacks for over 30 yrs., but they had been bought under control with meds..With the Vytorin, the panic attacks have started again, I am horribly depressed, afraid to go anywhere and panic at the thought of anyone coming to visit. I also have night sweats and muscle pain in my arms so badly it is agony to stretch. Muddled thinking, outbursts against those I love, inability to concentrate, etc. finally caused me to seek my own remedy. After reading of others' experiences with Vytorin, I put 2 and 2 together and stopped taking it on my own, My doc's gonna have a fit when he finds out. But 2 wks. after stopping, my energy levewl has returned the depression is not as bad and the panic attacks are easing. The bad pain is still there; don't know if that will ever go away.....

I began taking 10mg per day of Crestor on 19th May this year. I received the documentation regarding side effects and read it. After two days I had tingling pains in my legs and I was checked for further cardiovascular problems, and cleared. I enquired if Crestor may be the problem but I was assured it was not.
I had a CT scan and then subsequently an MRI of my lower back looking for restricted blood flow but after seeing a neurosurgeon this was ruled out as the cause of the tingling. There was some degeneration of the back but not serious blood flow restriction. At about this time the Crestor dosage was increased to 20mg. At this stage I had back pain but it was not thought to be related. I enquired again if it might be Crestor but was assured it most unlikely.
Pain in my back increased dramatically one night shortly after and was so intense not only could I not sleep, I simply could not get myself to think of anything else despite intense mental energy to try to do so. I was on the verge of calling an ambulance, but walking around and applying heat seemed to relieve it slightly and I lasted until morning. Doctor thought it was a locked facet joint and sent me to a physio. She helped considerably and I assumed this was the problem. However, the next day it returned. Upper body strength was fine but from the middle down was just plain sore. The physio worked on my back again, and suggested I get a back brace which I did and I struggled on with that as a help.
The pain shifted from my back to the top of my hip and I went back to the doctor to check my hip. He assured me the pain was on the top of the hip, not the groin area and was unlikely to be my hip. I began taking over the counter pain killers for the pain which was hitting about 8 out of 10 spasmodically. The physio was mystified and suggested it may be kidney stones, and so I went back to the doctor to check that out. He had already taken a urine sample which had no blood at all. The pain shifted to the hip and upper right leg. By the time I was able to see him, the pain was quite severe and I was sure it was my hip. He was not sure, but prescribed Panadine Forte for the pain and sent me for an Xray of the hips.
I was very distressed about this, as it appeared I would not be able to continue working. The hip Xray showed perfectly normal hips but the pain was even worse, by this stage in the right thigh. In desparation I saw the doctor again and agreed to try and “tough it out for a few days” using pain killers, another round with the physio, and as much rest as possible. The physio was so convinced it was not muscular but rather a possible kidney stone she sent me back to the doctor. While waiting to get to see him I began looking at the side effects of Crestor on the internet and after checking with the doctor I stopped taking it on Aug 1st to see what happened. Within a day I began to improve but I still thought it might be kidney stones (possibly a big one blocking a tube completely and therefore no blood) and my doctor ordered a CT scan of the bladder area which confirmed that both kidneys were working just fine.
Slowly over a week and a half the pain is completely gone, the back is fine, the hips are fine, the groin is fine and I feel so much more like living. I am now absolutely certain it is Crestor that has caused the whole problem. The docotrs have now prescribed Lipitor in it’s place, and I have the tablets but as yet I have not begun taking them. I am a bit fearful of doing so, but I will begin in a few days time. However, if I get any repeat of the muscular problems I have had I will stop immediately.
I decided to document this as I realise this is important feedback concerning a relatively new drug. I don’t know how this is conveyed to a national data base, but it seems to me this is a serious side effect that has very nasty consequences. Was it that my kidneys were objecting violently to the drug? I don’t know. But it caused me great distress and this is surely a concern.

consider the following if one is experiencing any symptoms of parkinson's--tremor, shuffling walk, lack of arm swinging on one side while walking, rigidity...and taking a statin:
Ivanhoe Newswire) -- The results of a recent study has scientists concerned
about a possible link between statins -- the cholesterol-lowering class of drugs
-- and Parkinson's disease.

Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill discovered
people with low levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) -- "bad" cholesterol --
are more likely to have Parkinson's disease than people who have higher levels
of LDL.

UNC researcher Xuemei Huang, M.D., Ph.D., reports the link raises questions
about whether cholesterol-lowering drugs, like statins, could increase a
person's risk of developing Parkinson's disease.

Dr. Huang and colleagues are now planning a study to further investigate this
possibility and other reasons for the unexplained link. In a UNC press release,
she reports she would not recommend people change eating habits or stop taking
prescribed medications because of the preliminary results of her small study.
She cautions previous studies have linked smoking tobacco to a reduced risk of
Parkinson's, but health providers would never suggest smoking.

Parkinson's patients are more likely to carry the gene APOE-2, which is linked
to lower LDL levels, reports Dr. Huang. This is another area she will explore in
her upcoming study.

S

On: Wed, 28 Mar 2007 06:43:56 -0700

45 year old male active all my life in soccer and hockey. Realized that my recoup time after events, while on Lipitor was taking longer. I attibuted the joint pain and musle soreness to dehydration, past injuries and getting older. Went to PCP last week for blood work. Enzymes were very high, good cholesteral, not enough, bad cholesterol, to much. Luck of the genetic draw! I Mentioned some nagging aches and pains while getting the work done. Got a call from the doctor telling me to stop taking the Lipitor. So I did. Two weeks ago I played some hockey, very low keyed. The next day I felt like I was hit by a truck. Have not taken the Lipitor since the call. Played hockey at a quick pace yesterday and today I feel great. Yes I'm sore, but I do not feel like I was hit by a truck like I did while taking Lipitor. I know my body. I've been athletic all my life. The recoup time was increasing. I did not a first consider Lipitor. Lipitor does have side effects that we are just learning about. I'm living proof. I'll be eating more "Oatmeal." Helps to alleviate the gas caused by Lipitor! And the body aches............

The Key to taking Niaspan:
Look, you will flush.. The key to taking this medication is all in the pre-treatment. Most of your Dr's do not give you the proper education you need to take this drug successfully. Niaspan is an amazing drug and WILL save your life. The flushing is there, but it is managable. The horror stories you read above were listed by patients who almost certainly didn't have the pretreatment guidelines or did not follow them. The following is the correct dosing guidelines. Remember, Niaspan is the most effect product on the market to raise your HDL. You need this because HDL carries the bad cholesterol out of your system. You should also excercise.
DIRECTIONS: 1. Aspirin (325mg) UNCOATED!!! 81mg aspirin may do the trick, but don't do it.
2. Take Niaspan with a low fat snack. Applesauce, Yogurt. The higher the fiber in the snack the better. The fiber helps to coat and thus reduces the flushing.
3. Maybe most important of all. NO HOT OR SPICY FOODS!!! NO HOT LIQUIDS OR ALCOHOL!!

THERE IS NOT A BETTER DRUG TO BE TAKING. YOU CAN NOT BUY NIACIN OVER THE COUNTER AND EXPECT TO SEE THE DIFFERENCE YOU WILL SEE WITH NIASPAN. NIASPAN IS FDA REGULATED. OVER THE COUNTER PRODUCTS ARE NOT!! CHANCES ARE, IF YOU ARE NOT FLUSHING, YOU ARE NOT GETTING ANY BENEFIT. I CAN TELL YOU FROM EXPERIENCE, IT'S NOT THAT HARD. TAKE A LOOK AT THE KEY STEPS IN PRE-TREATMENT. YOU COULD BE EATING SOMETHING SPICY OR HOT AND IRRITATING THE NIASPAN IN YOUR SYSTEM. TRY USING A HIGER FIBER SNACK AND CHANGING TO THE 325mg "UNCOATED" ASPIRIN.

Thank you,

Higher HDL

$7 drug plan cost. Doctor after me for long time to use it. After about 4 days, very painful back and shoulder muscles. Didn't know what caused it. 6 days, even more painful, especially in lumbar region and a bit in legs. Found info on net about muscle pain and destruction. Threw in trash. Took several weeks for pain to go away.
Bad cholesterol make double rate heart problems. Maybe from 1 in 10,000 to 2 in 10,000. I'll take that risk. Life not worth living anyway with extreme pain and destroyed muscles.

Please don't send your email address to LARRYHOR; he's compiling an e-mail list for spamming purposes...if he was serious he would just name the "2 nutrients" and "1 vitamin". What a fraud!

Anyway, I've been on Lipitor for 3 months (10 mg tablet daily) and my bad cholesterol has seen a substantial decline, with no side effects. I plan on getting off Lipitor soon. And I've changed my diet , too, which may have helped quite a bit (a lot less animal protein, a lot more greens)!