C reactive protein symptoms and conditions

Three and a half years ago i suffered a heart attack, i had three stents put in and was put on Aspirin 75mg, Cardicor, 1.25mg, Tritace 5mg and Lipitor 80mg. I was fairly fit at the time, didn't drink or smoke and ate properly.

But now i'm suffering, i've been to the hospital and my GP, but are told there is nothing wrong, my hear tis good. So why am i suffering with light headedness, pains through my body, back, neck, chest, stomach. So much so i thought i had gall stones or kidney stones. My right knee can't be touched, it is so sore. Chest heaviness, eyesight getting worse, slurred speech, depression i could go on.

I've said this to my doctor, he just brushes it off and says i'm on them for life, ....apparently standard treatment for anyone who's had a heart attack. I walk 5 miles a day, eat 5 or more fruit and veg, don't smoke or drink, do all what i'm meant to. My cholesterol is really low, but so is the HDL too. I was never recommended CoQ10 or a vitamin B complex.

It was my mother who told me to research the side effects of all the meds i'm on. I agree, we all want to live a long and healthy life, but at what cost. I am now of the opinion that doctor's are so use to thinking they are near god like, they have forgotten that we are individuals, that we know our own bodies. I'm sick of the fact that the large pharmaceutical companies send out there sales reps to doctor's surgeries and that is what is deciding what the patients end up taking and not the patient's problem.

DOCTOR'S WAKE UP TREAT THE CAUSE NOT THE SYMPTOMS!!!!!!!

I have been using nuvaring since 2004. I am basically healthy but over the last year i have developed a series of symptoms.

1. Decreased sex drive and cannot orgasm
2. Increase Sed rate
3. Positive C reactive protein
4. Fatigue
5. Anemia
6. Aches in my legs and lower back
7. Depression
8. IBS

They have ruled out lupus and RA even though i seem to show those symptoms.

Wondering if anyone else has experienced these. I'm especially curious about Sed Rate and C-Reactive Protein.

I posted several months ago on this string and wanted to update. I had bloodwork done for the 1st time since I quit the 20mg of Lipitor in August. LDL went from 123 to 210. Total Chol went from 191 to 285. HOWEVER all shooting pains I had been experiencing in legs, feet, and chst are GONE! Went back to my Dr. today, told her that same result and my serious objection to taking any kind of statin and she prescribed CRESTOR while telling me it was more potent than Lipitor! WTF!!!

I refuse this course, am drinking 30 - 40 ozs. of water each day now like I should have been, doubled my CoQ10 to 200mg/day, finally getting back into the gym to lose weight and get the HDL up from the level of 36 it is now. also started to drink the new yogurt type "shot" of Promise for cholesterol that provides 2 grams of plant sterols per day.

I will not take statins ever. I WILL find a natural way to keep my Chol under control. I've also been convinced that you don't have to be at or under the 200mlg of total chol to be healthy. Look at your C Reactive Protein and Homosiytes (sp?) If they are in range you should be good.

I know Lipitor was the cause of my rupturing each of my Achiller tendons a year apart while playing tennis in my late 40's Muscle pain soon followed.

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.

“The first heart disease indicator to be recommended by the American Heart Association in twenty years entails only a surprisingly simple, inexpensive blood test. This high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) test takes the traditional cardiac check-up a step further, pinpointing those people who are at a much higher risk than others for heart disease, America’s leading cause of death. From hs-CRP results, doctors gain crucial insight into inflammation of the blood vessels around the heart, a factor not considered until now for patients at risk… People who have suffered a heart attack or stroke and those with at least one risk factor, such as family history, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking or diabetes, should be tested. While the American Heart Association and Centers for Disease Control just recently recommended hs-CRP testing as an option for those already at risk, The Cleveland Clinic has used the hs-CRP test routinely for at-risk patients for several years. Hs-CRP is a great test for people with one or two risk factors who wonder if they are really in jeopardy of a heart attack or a stroke (Greater than 3.0 mg/L High Risk for CVD). It’s probably less useful for people without any risk factors.” See entire article: http://my.clevelandclinic.org/heart/news/hot/crp.aspx
Hopefully, your physician/cardiologist will do a C-Reactive Protein (CRP) test, and based on the results of the CRP, consider a low dose statin (5mg Lipitor –split tablet in half or 10mg Zocor), instead of a high dose. See article by Dr. Cohen, Associate Professor of Family and Preventive Medicine and of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego: “Overall, the risk of death was the same with high-dose and lower-dose Lipitor. In other words, high-dose Lipitor offered no advantage in the study's most important category: preventing deaths.” See, www.medicationsense.com (HIGH-DOSE LIPITOR FOR HEART ATTACKS: HOW EFFECTIVE, HOW SAFE?)
Also see, the recent article (Feb. 2008), by Board Certified Cardiologist, Dr. Peter Langsjoen, M.D., FAAC, which details the trouble with statins and the requirement to supplement with 300mg to 600 mg of CoQ10 daily: *******/magazine/mag2008/feb2008_Alleviating-Congestive-Heart-Failure-With-Coenzyme-Q10_01.htm, as well as, CITIZEN PETITION TO CHANGE THE LABELING FOR ALL STATIN DRUGS (MEVACOR, LESCOL, PRAVACHOL, ZOCOR, LIPITOR, AND ADVICOR) RECOMMENDING USE OF 100-200mg PER DAY OF SUPPLEMENTAL CO-ENZYME Q10 TO REDUCE THE RISK OF STATIN-INDUCED MYOPATHIES (INCLUDING CARDIOMYOPATHY AND CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE). *****/OHRMS/DOCKETS/dailys/02/May02/052902/02p-0244-cp00001-01-vol1.pdf.
In closing, I hope your physician/cardiologist will consider recommending CoQ10 in addition, should he/she make the decision to prescribe the above (Low Dose Statins to reduce inflammation of the blood vessel wall/endothelium). See, the following medical research/article: ******/cgi/content/abstract/57/1/1

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?

The arthritis/crohn’s disease drug Remicade, manufactured by Centocor is a deadly drug and should be taken off the market. The drug has caused death and permanent damage to patients across the world. The drug company makes billions of dollars and downplays the side effects including the increased risk of lymphoma and blood problems. The company downplays infusion-related reactions saying that those reactions usually occur within 1-2 hours post infusion. Here’s the truth:

*Centocor has been reprimanded by the FDA for publishing false claims in its marketing literature given to physicians. See FDA website for official document.

*The literature lists syncope (drop in blood pressure), bradycardia (slowed heartrate), pancytopenia (dangerous drop in blood cells..platelets, whit blood cells, red blood cells etc, increased risk of lymphoma, serum sickness. The literature says to call MD if you are “pale”.

*Here is a case of what happened to a woman in her 30’s with rheumatoid arthritis after only the 2nd infusion. She was not on methotrexate at all so this is all Remicade’s fault. Approximately 2-3 days after the 2nd infusion the patient began to feel tired and sore but still worked an 8 hour shift that day. By 12 midnight the patient’s entire body flared up…every joint was literally swollen and she was vomiting violently.. She could barely get to a phone to call for help. Her blood pressure dropped to 50/40 and all of her blood counts plummeted. Her Sedimentation Rate (which measures inflammation had always been below 2 and it spiked to 29!!!) Remicade caused the opposite of what it was supposed to do. It also increased greatly her C-Reactive Protein which is also a measurement of inflammation and can cause cardiac inflammatory processes as well increasing the risk of cardiac damage. The nurse in the triage area told the patient that if she had not called for help SHE WOULD HAVE DIED !!! She ended up in the hospital for 5 days in an isolation room. She was in excruciating pain and had to be given Oxycontin every 12 hours and Dilaudid IV every 2 hours to control the pain. For the first 2-3 days she could not even walk or go to the bathroom without assistance. She was given high doses of prednisone to decrease the inflammatory process and get her pain under control. A hematologist performed a bone marrow biopsy which revealed an abnormal population of plasma cells that can develop into myeloma or lymphoma. The hematologist said that the patient would have to be monitored lifelong to watch the pre-cancerous cells. The patient was out of work for 3 months and was forced to change jobs because of her fatigue level and short term memory problems. She also suffered post-traumatic stress due to her near-death experience and total upheaval in her life. She is a healthcare professional. Even 4 years after the reaction her blood counts are still abnormal and she has still had short term memory problems and vision problems.

I'm a 46 years old male normally good shape,I was put on Lipitor due to high cholesterol and family history of heart problems.I've been on lipitor for four years , 2years on 10mg, 1 years on 40mg and 1 year on 80 mg.
The last 6 months I have been experiencing severe archiles tendonitis to the point where I can hardly walk. I am extremely disatisfied with this drug and have read a lot of complaints regarding this drug.

Has anyone else experienced this side effect?

Please reply to this post.

Thank You

I have been taking Remicade for years. At first it was getting the job done. I started having severe pain that seemed to migrate to different places in my body. Sometimes the bottom of my feet would get so tender I could barely walk. My finger would bend while sleeping and I could not straighten it for days and it would hurt real bad. Knees and ankles would do the same things and then move onto other parts of my body. I thought it was more of a tendon problem, but the pain could also be in any random spots on my body, like shins or maybe a random place on my back. My wrists seem to be a favorite place too. The pain can set in fast and sometimes leave fast. Prednisone is the only thing that seems to help these symptoms. I have been taking 5mg a day for years and when I am having problems that is not enough. I went to a Rheumatologist and he says it is not the Remicade but another antimmune problem. My family doctor thinks it is a side affect of the Remicade and I tend to agree with him. I am going to have my damaged pouch removed in hopes of getting off all medications. I have been living with a colostomy bag for the past three years and it is the least of my problems. Before that I had all my large intestines removed and a pouch which worked well for approx 15 years. I am one of the early people to receive that kind of surgery. I can only pray for all of you that are suffering and lend hopeful advise to your journey.

I have been on NuvaRing for 2 years 8 months. I have been seeing a doctor for the past 20 months for a series of unresolved symptoms:

1) extreme exhaustion
2) unexplained weight gain/inability to lose weight
3) Gall Bladder attack
4) High Inflammation based on CRP (C-Reactive Protein), predictor for heart disease, alzheimers, stroke, cancer, etc.
5) Loss of mental focus - Constant brain fog.

Other symptoms digestion problems, bloating, zero sex drive.......

It just occurred to me this weekend that it might be the NuvaRing. I had a gall bladder attack in June of 2005, with no symptoms and not a typical profile for someone to have an attack. In May 2006 my husband and I took a trip to Hawaii and I skipped my period by inserting a 2nd ring when I removed the first. I did not feel good the entire trip (bloating, extreme headaches, sensitivity to sun, stomach upset), and even had a skin reaction to the tag on my swimsuit (sign of high inflammation). I have been through cancer tests, bone marrow test's, tested for autoimmune disease (all thankfully came back negative) and there is no explanation for the high inflammation I am experiencing. My inflammation/CRP levels are 2x what Lupus and Rhumatoid Arthritis patients experience.

I have been on an anti-inflammatory diet for 6 weeks, and the results were actually worse at the second test. So in trying to deduct what could be causing the inflammation and other symptoms it finally occurred to me that - BINGO maybe it is the NuvaRing! I read the potential side effects and was shocked - gall bladder disease, heart disease is one of them. I have been off for 2 weeks, and I already feel like a new person. I have not been tested again for inflammation (will happen in 2 weeks), but I am almost positive that is the cause.

Don't let this be you, do not let symptoms go as long as I did before realizing what you are doing to your body. Maybe the NR works for some people, but judging by the number of responses on this board, not many!

In January I was diagnosed with polymyalgia rheumatica and temporal arteritis (giant cell arteritis). I was put on 60 mg prednisone and an array of other meds to help with pain, inflammation, water retention, and stomach problems from everything. I've lost some vision from the TA. I've experienced the weight gain, the moon face, stomach problems, depression, fatigue, muscle weakness, lack of memory and concentration, and generally feel miserable. The brain fog is awful! I don't trust myself doing much of anything these days!

When I was first put on the prednisone it completely took away all my TA and PMR symptoms. I could walk and get up and down again, didn't have the headaches, and didn't hurt all over.
My doctor tried to taper my dosage about 6 weeks ago and all my symptoms returned and increased as I went down on the prednisone. He upped me back to 60. That time the symptoms didn't go away. They lessened but were still there.

He's trying to taper again, and I'm down to 30 mg now and feel worse and worse. My sed rate has been normal, so the doctor thinks it's from the prednisone. Does it mimic all the TA and PMR symptoms? I also am having a lot of hand and feet cramping.

Does anyone else have these two illnesses? I would be interested in your experience. I want off these meds! Anyone found an alternative approach that's helped?

God bless!

I have been on Zocor for one month and have noticed vague muscle soreness, almost like the flu, I ache when I try to sleep. Supposedly Zocor has no side affects, but after reading I am not taking any chances. I went on because of high c-reactive protein and slightly high cholesterol. I've decided to watch my diet closely instead. Thanks for everyone's input, I now see the light and can maybe avoid additional pain!