July 17th
2005
12:31 AM
I had a heart attack in April 04 during a squash match. My business had been on the slide for about two years and two days earlier it had ceased trading. It was the two years of stress dealing with this situation that was the cause of the attack. There was a 90% blockage of the main right artery and a stent was inserted to open it up. Straight away the doctors proscribed a cocktail of drugs including Lipitor. After a three months I was only taking the lipitor. At the same time I was determined to get back to full fitness. I am 56 years old and very fit from the squash and I also used to race a bike at a high level 20 years ago so I started to train in earnest with a view to race again in 2005. It was frustrating as I seemed to fatigue easily. I naturally put this down to the after effects of the heart attack. Anyway I persevered with the training and got fitter. At the same time a pain started to develop in my upper left arm and my neck became very sore and stiff. I ended up going to see osteopaths and physiotherapists for teatment but nothing worked. On a spur of the moment decision I decided to stop the lipitor and rely on my diet to reduce my cholestrol. Out training with the guys I was getting back to my old self and was at the front on training spins and leaving them behind on the climbs. About four weeks later I was still suffering from the neck pains then I got my check up at the doctors. They told me that my cholestrol was elevated from the last readings and that I should definitely be taking the lipitor 40mg a day. I told him about the symptoms which he said were nothing to do with lipitor. Like a brainless idiot I took him at his word and started to take the 40mg a day. That was in February this year. There was no immediate change in my fitness levels. I raced a few events and did quite well but nothing like the standard I had been used to. Other muscle problems started to appear. My right foot on the pedal was now at a funny angle. My libido was now non-existent. At night in bed I was getting palpitations and my heart rate rhythym was very irregular with the heart stopping for about two/three seconds about six times a minute. My performances on the bike were getting steadily worse. In May I raced a 25 mile time trial and barely finished the distance totally exhausted. It was then that I researched Lipitor on the internet. I am very very angry to think that the medical profession can proscribe a drug with these side effects. Of course I stopped taking Lipitor immediately. That was 41 days ago. My heart rhythym is now normal, the palpitations stopped and libido back to normal, the soreness and stiffness in my neck almost gone. When riding my bike the foot on the pedal is now OK. My bike training is still suffering as my recovery is not very good though so it is unlikely that I will race agin this year. I am taking CoQ10 120mg L-Carnitine 500mg Lysine 1000mg Vitamin C 2000Mg plus Vitamin B supplements daily.
Please please do not take Lipitor as it is poison. It will proabaly take me anything up to six months to fully recover.
October 7th
2006
8:49 AM
hi, i used to have the same anxiety when i was on yasmin,i was convinced that i had something terrible and that i was going to die. i went to my doctors and had a complet check up and everything was fine. if i start to worry now i try to think positively and keep myself busy. do you have a healthy lifestyle? if not, try to eat healthy foods (organic if posible to avoid artificial hormones in meat etc) take a good vitamin supplement and excercise,the fitter you are the more confidence you will have in your body.it works i promise! please keep telling yourself when you get worried that you are fine and just keep reassuring yourself hopefully your mind will pick up this new way of thinking and will not keep drifting back to the negative patterns. i hope some of that helps you.
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