Blood level symptoms and conditions

MAY 29th, i had a heart cath done. while on the table i had 5-7 sec MI.
was put in MICU, rest of that day and night. moved to heart ward, was put on 24 hour telemetry for 2 days. was started on LIPITOR. had never taken it prior to then.
as of April 8th, i had made a radical diet change, from a lacto/ovo vegetarian, to a "south beach"/modified Atkins NO CARB DIET.
in the period from apr 8th to may 29th, i had dropped 16 pound. i have a bad back, and with the added pounds i packed on, made walking a choir.
with the weight loss, i was walking a lot better. THEN May 29th, LIPITOR was added ............and within 2 weeks, i was having leg weakness, when standing i would feel like my legs couldn't hold me up, walking was now harder then when i had the extra 16 pounds.
sooooo....as of June 14th, I STOPPED TAKING IT!!!!! within days i felt more energetic, and could work a few hours a day. had an appointment with cardiologist June 19th, told him of problems, and that i had stopped taking lipitor. he agreed with me, said to stay on the diet, exercise more, and give it another 6 weeks and then we will check progress.
he did not prescribe any replacement for the LIPITOR. but i have been herbal and homeopathic savvy for a long time so i will continue the OMEGA-3 fish oil, 4 capsules a day, and 4 GARLIC a day.
i mihgt have to add some MILK THISTLE for the liver, if the LIPITOR did any damage.
my diet change if anyone is interested is, chicken, turkey, fish for meats, no hamburgers, or steaks or pork ribs. i STILL do a ton of
VEGGIES, mostly COMPLEX CARBS, lettuce, broccoli, spinach, tomatoes, cukes, zukes, summer squash, and have found a wonderful substitute for PASTA, and its SPAGHETTI SQUASH. split it, microwave 10 min, let stand for 5 min, then take a fork and strip out the meat of the squash, cover with PASTA SAUCE as you would make for PASTA. awesome.

Taking high dose of statin (generic zocor 80mg/day), I was short of breath, severe fatigue and couldn't get out of bead for long. The following information saved me. The article was published in 2002 by a Board Cerified Cardiologist:

"July 8, 2002
STATIN-INDUCED CARDIOMYOPATHY
INTRODUCTION TO THE CITIZEN’S PETITION ON STATINS
By Peter H. Langsjoen, MD
The medical profession has, after more than 30 years of excellent propaganda, successfully created the wholly iatrogenic - "pseudo-disease" dubbed "hypercholesterolemia" and the associated malady "cholesterol neurosis". After decades of dismal failure to cure this "disease" of numbers with low fat diets and a host of cholesterol lowering drugs, the medical profession stumbled upon the magic bullet, the cure for this dreaded artificial disease - statins (HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors). First released on the US market in 1987, statins have rapidly grown into one of the most widely prescribed class of drugs in history. Statins do three things:
1. They block the body's ability to make cholesterol, thus lowering the blood level of cholesterol, thereby curing cholesterol neurosis. Doctors and patients equally neurotic have immediate gratification. The "evil" high cholesterol has been dramatically lowered and the future is bright and promising. So far...so good.
2. Unrelated to their cholesterol lowering, statins have been found to have anti-inflammatory, plaque-stabilizing properties which have a slight benefit in coronary heart disease.
3. Statins kill people - lots of people - and they wound many, many more. All patients taking statins become depleted in Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), eventually - those patients who start with a relatively low CoQ10 levels (the elderly and patients with heart failure) begin to manifest signs/symptoms of CoQ10 deficiency relatively rapidly - in 6 to 12 months. Younger, healthier people who's only "illness" is the non-illness "hypercholesterolemia" can tolerate statins for several years before getting into trouble with fatigue, muscle weakness and soreness (usually with normal muscle enzyme CPK tests) and most ominously - heart failure.
In my practice of 17 years in Tyler, Texas, I have seen a frightening increase in heart failure secondary to statin usage, "statin cardiomyopathy". Over the past five years, statins have become more potent, are being prescribed in higher doses, and are being used with reckless abandon in the elderly and in patients with "normal" cholesterol levels. We are in the midst of a CHF epidemic in the US with a dramatic increase over the past decade. Are we causing this epidemic through our zealous use of statins? In large part I think the answer is yes. We are now in a position to witness the unfolding of the greatest medical tragedy of all time - never before in history has the medical establishment knowingly (Merck & Co., Inc. has two 1990 patents combining CoQ10 with statins to prevent CoQ10 depletion and attendant side effects) created a life threatening nutrient deficiency in millions of otherwise healthy people, only to then sit back with arrogance and horrific irresponsibility and watch to see what happens - as I see two to three new statin cardiomyopathies per week in my practice, I cannot help but view my once great profession with a mixture of sorrow and contempt.
Statin-induced CoQ10 depletion is the topic of a recent petition to the FDA requesting that this drug/nutrient interaction be identified in a black box warning as part of statin package insert information. A comprehensive review of animal and human trials addressing this issue has been submitted to the FDA as a supporting document. We, of course, do not expect any response from the FDA, but 10 years from now when the full extent of statin toxicity becomes painfully evident, at least we can, in good conscience, know that we tried and who knows, sometimes small sparks may spread in dry grass.

See Also:
Cholesterol Drugs And The Depletion Of Coenzyme Q10: A Review Of Human And Animal Data.
By Peter H. Langsjoen, MD
Citizen Petition: Needed - A Change In The Labeling Of All Statin Drugs"

I'm 58 years old and I've been on 10 mg Simvastatin for 14 months since I was diagnosed with Diabetes 2. Also Metformin and Glipiside as my bs got up to 499 at diagnosis with high cholesterol.

I had NO IDEA that my suffering the past year could possibly be tied to one of the drugs I've been prescribed. In the first three months after diagnosis, my Diabetes was controlled and I've even backed off some of the meds. My cholesterol also came down beautifully. However, the debilitating weakness and muscle aches (which has increased over the 14 mos.) has become so bad (especially this last week) that I came to the Internet looking for possible reasons for 'body ache'.

And get this: I take a packet of vitamins every day which includes a daily dose of Q10... BUT I haven't been able to take them for about a week and this last week I felt like I was ready for a wheel chair~!!! Worse than it's ever been, knees and feet in horrible condition, hands and wrists unable to open a water bottle. Total body aches so severe it made me want to research something, anything to see what might be the problem.... before seeing the doctor about it!

My shock at seeing my medication here listed with the horrible side effects I'm experiencing has been a revelation~!! I am going to stop the Simvastatinn and see what happens. BTW, I've been an active person all my life, was a 2nd Degree Black Belt and taught Tang Soo Do and know what muscle aches and pains are, know my body (at least I did) and pretty much thought my active life was over.....

Not now~!!! I'm FURIOUS!!

Well i just got back from the docs.......no surprise he highly doubted the singulair would have anything to do with an insulin blood level......same old song and dance.......I as a mother don't understand what a leukotriene receptor blocker antagonist is,but i was hoping those i pay the big bucks to that have completed med school do......i am wondering that one.....so i have to see an endo doctor and spend more monies but i have no choice it is the health of my son

I have been taking Yasmin for 1 year and 10 months. I have started having heart palpitations. I started noticing them in the evenings when I went to bed and in the mornings..now I notice them all the time. I just got back from the doctor and having an ekg, it showed the heart palps and he has referred me to a cardiologist. He advised me to stop taking Yasmin until my potassium blood level comes back since Yasmin can cause your potassium level to become elevated...thus leading to heart problems..

I feel horrible. Just the feeling of my heart "fip-flopping" makes me feel so weird. Waiting to see the blood work outcome...

BACTRIM ALMOST KILLED MY MOM.

BACTRIM CAUSED POTASSIUM LEVEL INCREASED SO HIGH THAT MY MOM HAD GONE INTO CARDIAC ATTACK. LUCKILY, DOCTOR AT ER RECOGNIZED HER CAUSE OF PROBLEM WAS FROM SIDE EFFECT OF BACTRIM AND HE TREATED HER ACCORDINGLY BUT SHE WAS IN COMA FOR 11 HOURS BEFORE SHE CAME BACK AROUND.

WHEN MY MOM HEART WENT INTO CARDIAC ARREST, IT HAD HAPPENED WHILE SHE WAS RIGHT IN EMERGENCY ROOM. I BROUGHT HER IN ER BECAUSE HER VOICE WAS BROKEN UP WHEN SHE TRIED TO TALK THEN 45 MINUTES AFTER WE ARRIVED AT ER, HER HEART GAVE OUT ON HER. SHE WOULD NOT BE ALIVE IF SHE WAS NOT IN HOSPITAL WHEN THAT HAPPENED.

BACTRIM ALSO DESTROYED HER BLOOD CELL, HER BLOOD NORMAL LEVEL WAS 10 BUT IT WENT DOWN TO 6.2 IN 11 HOURS ORDEAL. SHE HAD TO RECEIVE TWO PINTS OF BLOOD TO BRING HER BLOOD LEVEL BACK TO OUT OF DANGER LEVEL. I AM USING A LAY TERM BUT I KNOW WHAT HAD HAPPENED TO MY MOM.

MY MOM IS STILL NOT OUT OF HER DANGER YET BECAUSE HER BLOOD PRESSURE IS NOW SOARING FROM HER NORMAL LEVEL AROUND 110/65 TO A CURRENT OF AROUND FROM BETWEEN 140/80 TO 180/100. SHE JUST BEING DISCHARGED FROM HOSPITAL ONLY 2 DAYS AGO.

BACTRIM WAS PRESCRIBED TO MY MOM BY A PHYSICIAN ASSISTANCE IN EMERGENCY ROOM WHEN MY MOM CAME IN FOR CELLULITES ON HER FOOT AND SHE WAS ALMOST DIED FROM ITS SIDE EFFECTS OF BACTRIM AFTER SHE TOOK IT FOR 7 DAYS.

I SYMPATHIZE WITH THE LADY WHO LOST HER HUSBAND BY SIDE EFFECTS OF BACTRIM.

PLEASE DO NOT TAKE BACTRIM UNTIL YOU READ ALL ABOUT SIDE EFFECTS AND ASK YOUR DOCTOR FOR OTHER ALTERNATIVE DRUG.

I have been taking prednisone for about 12 years now. I have ocular myasthemia gravis and all of a sudden I might have gotten diabetes because of the prednisone. My blood level was 134 after I had a soda and chicken sandwich (about 2 hoursafter). I'm going to my family doctor this friday and get another blood test without eating for 12 hours. If I have it so be it, but if I don't I will get off this drug when possible. To my knowledge, I was never told that prednisone could cause diabetes. This angers me very much because I was never told of the alternatives that I could take. I have never gone higher than 20mg. Some days I would take prednisone everyday and other days I would not. If I were you, I would consult your doctor immediately and look into safer drugs. Prednisone may be the best steroid or near there, but it also has its side effects. You have to ask yourself is it worth taking and risk yourself of another disease.