July 25th
2008
8:41 AM
I am a male of 67 years old. I took Lipitor for a year, and after a few months of taking it, I felt muscle pains in my arms and shoulders, as well as my back. I felt weak and could hardly put my socks on by myself. I told my family doctor that I thought the problem was caused by LIpitor. He said it couldn't be possible, but he couldn't figure out what was wrong, so he sent me to a rheumatologist, who gave me an initial diagnosis of polymyalgia rheumatica. I went back for a checkup, and although the sed rate was normal, the C-reactive protein was elevated. He felt his diagnosis was an accurate one. He prescribed prednisone for me. I had some doubts about it, since I am diabetic, and was concerned about the elevated blood sugar it might cause. Well, it did elevate my blood sugar, and I weaned myself off it within three months. My blood sugar went back to normal, and while the prednisone helped the symptoms of muscle pain and aches, after I stopped it, the pain returned with a vengeance.
About a year passed after discontinuing the prednisone, and I felt worse and worse. Any time I engaged in physical activity, such as yard work, I was almost incapacitated for two or three days. I felt weaker and weaker, and by now, my activity is about ten per cent of what it was three or four years ago. I am unable to do anything physical without paying a heavy price.
I would tell the doctor that I felt the problem was caused by the Lipitor. He would dismiss my comments, saying that the pain should have gone away after discontinuing Lipitor. He sent me back to the rheumatologist with results of recent blood tests. Both the sed rate and C-reactive protein were normal. The rheumatologist touched my back and other areas, which caused me to jump. He said it might be fibromyalgia. I told him again that I thought it was caused by the Lipitor. He said the same thing my GP had said: if it had been the Lipitor, the pain would have gone away when I stopped taking it. I know the Lipitor caused the pain, because I tried red yeast rice for a couple months. The pain increased to almost unbearable, so I discontinued the red yeast rice. If I were not susceptible to the pain from the Lipitor, would the red yeast rice have increased the pain?
So here I am with a fuzzy diagnosis from the rheumatologist, and no clue from my family doctor (that he will verbalize, at any rate). My life has gone steadily downhill. I used to be a strong, active person, but now I can do very little, and my strength is a shadow of what it formerly was. What can I do?
-- By bbsmith2008 | Reply | (7) replies | Private Message me
May 12th
2008
10:56 AM
HI, i too have to say i am kind of relieved after reading this website that i am not alone with my experiences of the kenalog injection. I was given kenalog injections to treat hayfever, although i wasn't told the name of the injection. They did help and i probably would of continued this year if it wasn't for the side effects.
I was told that to have one a yr was safe, then just before xmas i noticed a dent on my hip, this started getting larger and looked almost like scare tissue, I too was worried i had some sort of flesh eating disorder. The dent is still there and i will never have that injection again. I also have been experience problems with my hips and pain around my coxis,i am not sure if this too is related to the injection. I was told by my doctor who is very good that the kenalog had eaten my fat tissue causing a dent and that it will get better in time.
October 19th
2008
6:27 PM
Wow. I found this site after looking up causes for lack of sex drive. I've been on Yasmin for 6 years, but never thought for a minute it had anything to do with the problems I've been having. Loss of sex drive, vaginal dryness, hair loss, mood swings (partners always gets the brunt of those), repeated bouts of chest pains (diagnosed with pleurisy recently, don't know if there is a link).
I had got to the point that I thought this is just the way I am, it never occurred to me that something else could be causing this. I can't even remember what it's like to be normal.
I already have 2 kids and don't want any more at the moment so I don't know what the solution is. Well, I haven't wanted sex for the last few years so i suppose the bloody thing has done its job in that way!
I'm just shocked, this has been a real wake up call. I'm stopping taking the evil little things as of now.
-- By neveragainyasminnightmare | Reply | (4) replies | Private Message me