Fifties symptoms and conditions

For the last 2 yrs I had a horrendous cough that plagued me night & day. My Dr. didn't know what was causing the cough, couldn't give me any cough medicine to alleviate the condition. In addition to coughing, I would lose my voice. I went to an ENT specialist. She found me to have pre-polyps on my vocal chords, diagnosed me with 'vocal chord dysfunction' & told me surgery would be useless as the pre-polyps would reappear. This last June, I had a bout with bronchitis, severe enough to seek medical aid from the Emergency room Dr.'s. While there, the Dr. treating me asked about my cough. After listening to my list of aggravations, he asked if my Primary Dr. had told me that 'coughing' is a side effect of Lipitor. NO! I hadn't been told that!! --But, I QUIT taking Lipitor that day, haven't taken it since & though I still cough, somewhat, it's NOTHING compared to what I'd been suffering--for two years!!..

I also experienced hair loss while on Lisinopril. I noticed it about six months after I began taking the drug. There is visible thinning in the front, and my hair generally feels thinner all over. I always had a thick head of hair. Since I am now in my early fifties, it's possible that it's normal balding, but I don't think so since it happen all of a sudden. My doctor also said he never heard about hair loss being a side effect of Lisinopril, but numerous people have reported it on several websites. I really think the side effects of many drugs occur much more frequently than the doctors and drug companies like to admit. Obviously it would be bad for business if they were honest about it.

I've been off Lisinopril for about a month but haven't noticed any improvement in my hair so far. If it does come back, I'll update this post.

I have been taking Toprol for over a year and have gained 15 lbs. Recently I noticed that my heartrate was very low. It is normally 65 resting and now it is in the fifties and and sometimes lower. I feel tired all the time and depressed especially since my doctor raised my dosage. I had my physical a few weeks ago and the doctor did an EKG and also put me on a monitor for 24 hours. The EKG was normal and the monitor showed that my heartrate was up and down and the toprol was said to be the problem. Now I don't know what to do since my doctor doesn't seem to be concerned.