Muscle soreness symptoms and conditions

Been taking Lotrel (at least 5 years), then generic without connecting the dots. Constant back pain, easly fatigued, leg muscle soreness, occasionally a swelling in the inside of the mouth over a couple of days until a layer of skin flakes off and goes away (to return many weeks later), light spotted rash on topside of forearms, muscle weakness in arms with arms elevated, definite loss of sex drive, no endurance, easily prone to heavy sweating, back muscles extremely tight and rigid causing pains when exerting with repeated constant motion, blood work showing muscle damage, possible short term memory issues and ability to concentrate, periods of times with the feeling of constrictions on the body compared to a inflated balloon walls stressed with pressure. Exercise (walking) causes a drop in blood pressure to normal (110-125/68-84) compared to 140/90+/-.

I am generally classed as an active, happy and positive person, loving life.... but the last 4 months have been a blinking nightmare....
It seems we all pretty much have the same symptoms, horrid shoulder pain, muscle soreness, spasms, feet and generally feeling like "what the??" is where we are all at..horrid thoughts of MS? Motor Neurons, Parkinsons, etc. all sorts of possible sinister problems.
I too have stopped taking Lipitor only a week ago (and I only started back in October 2008 after "arguing with my doctor for many years not wanting to take it...and i didn't even know about the horror side effects, i just thought it was totally unnatural to strip the body of something almost totally,).. within 2 months I started showing signs of chronic neck C5/6/7 and left shoulder. Maybe I had injured myself once before and suffered pinched nerves, but the pain eventually went, but this is not normal or should I say usual...... I have constant buzzing of left thumb/forefinger and hand and my right leg. NEVER NEVER have I suffered from this type of symptom before in my entire 50 years... Even some days when the spasms are at their worst I get an itchy nose and tingling lips. The scariest symptom of a white flash in my left eye convinced me...So fed up with it and after stumbling on all the negative comments and side effects with this drug I made to decision to take control of my own life. It is too uncanny....As I said, it's only a week now free of Lipitor, I have increased my Vitamin C intake and making sure I take a Mega Multivitamin daily too. There is some interesting reading in various websites of Vitamin C vs Statins...

BUT it would really be nice to read any comments of people who have recovered from these rotten symptoms and what sort of time frame it took to get over them. Is there a light at the end of the tunnel for us all. Some indication of Recovery period is probably our greatest "want to know"... and also...when will i be able to enjoy cycling again. Thank you to everyone for the input and may our strength be returned, not only physically but spiritually as well. :-)

I have had all 5 types of migraines for 30 years. It seems I have had them longer then husbands : ), my children thought it was normal to "go to the ER" or to be in a dark room. I became very good at overcoming the incredible pain and pressure, rising to the top in my profession and being a single parent. I applaud my neurologist & his compassionate assistant. I toughed it out, ultimately, until Topamax came available. I still have migraines. I still must manage all my triggers. And people still don't get that migraines are all consuming and to overcome a migraine to attend a function is huge. However, I am currently, as others, backing off of several medications in a safe manner. My vision is not consistent. I tend to not play games, or read out loud as I cannot see what I used to. When I get up in the morning, my feet are sore. I have a dry mouth when I am speaking. My hands tingle and my ears ring. My gums bleed from pressure. It feels like I have a sinus infection. I have a constant headache and muscle soreness and weakness along with joint pain and low back pain. Having been on 75 mg Topamax since it came out, I no longer have the benefit of weight loss and weight gain is suddenly upon me--suddenly!! I do not wish to influence anyone in his or her choice. Personally, I am considering titrating off Topamax to see if any or all of these health issues change for me. I, too, have memory issues that are not associated with menopause. The problem with the list of side effects is that they could be present with other drug therapies or conditions. Once I have isolated the problems to Topamax, I will then have to weigh the cost of migraines vs. fewer migraines. I must remember to manage all triggers, as I hope others will also. I hope to be migraine free, with the benefit of good vision and better rest. I desire this for the readers of my post as well. Blessings.

I have had my Mirena IUD for a year and a half. Although I'd had a tubal ligation back in '05, my GYN recommended the IUD for the heavy (and seemingly never ending) periods I was having.
The idea of not having periods anymore was too good to be true but, admittedly-the Mirena has done wonders in that department. I feel normal again.
However, I do have some side-effects from it that are making me ponder the idea of getting it out: Weight gain (and unable to shed the pounds); fatigue due to insomnia; moodiness; feeling bloated; depression; muscle soreness/aches; almost non-existent sex drive AND a couple of times my fiance has FELT it during intercourse and it has caused him pain.

When I had this checked out, the Mirena was still in place. But I don't know...I think the long-lasting periods are almost worth dealing with compared to the other symptoms.

I have taken Levaquin for five days for a sinus infection. Day three I started getting muscle soreness. Day four I was so sore I started looking up possible sudden pain. Today I am so sore I can hardly walk and my joints are very painful in my feet,hands and shoulders. I started thinking about what was different and realized the only thing that had changed was that I was taking an antibiotic that I have never taken before. Wow, I am so glad I looked this up. The symptoms that you all are reporting are exactly what I am experiencing! I will never take it again. Hopefully the symptoms will resolve quickly.

I'm a 47 male and took Crestor for a year. I experienced muscle tremors, constant fatigue and muscle soreness. Not just a little sore but as if someone had hit me so hard as to leave a muscle bruise in both arms. One night my left arm and leg began to tremor and it was as if they were too heavy to move.

What I noticed was that all of my little aches and pains became severe aches.

I experienced blistering on my hands, a common side-effect of your liver rejecting the medication but my doctor didn't pickup on the symptom. Instead, he gave me a steroid-based topical cream that actually eliminated the blisters but they would return within weeks.

I experienced lapses in my memory and I started to forget words. I would forget the names of things and I found myself substituting the word 'thingy' when I could remember what something was called (like a phone).

I visited the hospital 4 times and my doctor countless time. Each time my doctor treated the current symptom and not the person as a whole.

It became too much to bare when I started having chest pains that felt like something was crushing my chest. At this point I started to do some research and found forums like this one.

During my time of the worse pain, I felt like I was actually dying. I started to get my effects in order and finalized my estate.

I stopped my Crestor about a year ago, after about 3-6 months my muscles began to feel better. After a year, I am finally starting to feel like my old self again (not that I was all that well before).

Statin affect people differently, but there is NO DOUBT that these drugs can have adverse effects on people. Listen to the commercial for Lipitor, "contact your doctor if you have muscle fatigue or weakness"......

I took 4 500 mg doses of Levaquin for a sinus infection on Aug 19-22 2008. I am now almost 5 months out. I suffered multiple adverse reactions and have been waiting to post to see how things resolved. I am 39 years old and in excellent health. I rarely see doctors and have never had anything chronic. This is what I experienced: extreme fatigue, all over muscle soreness/stiffness, severe headaches, tingling/numbness in hands/feets, serious shoulder problems requiring ortho, physical therapy and chiropractor, irregular heart rhythm, irregular kidney function, constant ringing in my ears, impaired vision. Currently most of these are resolved except irregular kidney function (although this has improved), shoulder issues (not normal yet) and ringing in my ears.

You can't judge the full scope of your reaction by your body's initial reaction. As time unfolds you will get the big picture of how this drug harms the various systems of the body.

I can not begin to explain how taking this drug has impacted my life and my family. I have 3 children to take care of. I thank God that I am healing and have now resumed almost all of my daily activities. I pray that I will soon be back to full health. This is absolute madness. I am so sorry that so many of us have been injury in such a way.

I was put on Lipitor 10 mg. last Spring about 8 mos. ago. I have never taken medications/drugs other than aspirin or Motrin or antihistamines. Since that time I have had a strange combination of unexplained symptoms arise throughout the months. These sx's included: Headaches, stiff neck and severe neck pain, acute shoulder pain, hip pains, joint pains, severe knee pain (tendon or Ligament problems?) and loss of movement, hair loss, jaw pain and some memory confusion. Initially, I had severe HA's for several months, but attributed them to stress, however, I had never experienced HA's as a common occurrence. Then we went away to our Maui house to get away from stress, HA's continued, along with leg and shoulder pains. At the same time, I started noticing several strands of hair falling out if lightly touched my hair to move it out of my face. The pains seemed to move around my body at different times, for no apparent reason. I am used to daily exercise, living in CO in the mountains @ high altitude, not usually having muscle soreness. Now, given my leg and knee pains have gotten so bad, I cannot hike and have difficulty climbing my stairs. Skiing is out. Snorkeling caused leg cramps. No explained reason for having muscle tenderness or soreness without my usual exercise at present time. When the pain leaves one area it tends to arise in a different part of my body. At the present time, my hair loss has subsided, as also my jaw pain and headaches. However, my leg pains and knee pains are so acute (for no apparent reason) it is impossible to exercise and difficult to walk that I looked up adverse reactions to Lipitor, finding all my sx's most probably might be attributed to this drug. Partially my fault for not looking up RX information prior, especially being a medical professional for many years. My husband kept throwing away the info when purchasing the RX. Too many unexplained symptoms, I decided to obtain the drug info. myself. I tended to make excuses for months, such as: I am getting older, under stress, must be an old injury, not exercising properly, need PT therapy etc.... I am dc/ing the drug immediately and have an appt. with my MD on 1/5/09 to discuss.

I went to a walk-in clinic with ear pain...was told I had an ear infection and prescribed Avelox. Took the first pill about 6pm with dinner and an hour later felt very cold..could not get warm, dry mouth, tremors in my lips, then the left side of my face started to lose feeling...not all the way numb but not as sensitive to touch as the right side of my face. Worse than all of that was the "detached, out of bodish" feeling and the mounting anxiety. I went to bed hoping to sleep it off and no better this morning. I woke up with muscle soreness and weakness in my left arm. My heartrate is sitting about 90-100 bpm and I feel so jittery. I went to my regular doc who said I didn't even have an ear infection. When does this go away?! I hate this feeling of not being normal, being so anxious. And I am so mad because I didn't even need this antibiotic!!

I was on prednisone while getting over pneumonia to help with my breathing. I was only on it for 7 days and the doctor didn't have me go off of it gradually. I missed the last dose on the 7th day and by bedtime, my muscles were sore enough it almost hurt to lay down. I took the last pill that night before I went to bed and had no muscle soreness in the morning. After that, the muscle soreness came back, along with dizziness. My pulse was also higher than normal. Two days later at night, I was still having muscle soreness and dizziness, although not nearly as but, but I was having a lot of trouble breathing and my pulse would refuse to go below 100 no matter what I did and the problems continued thought the night. The next morning I went to the clinic that prescribed me the predisone because the information they gave me said to see a doctor if these problems persisted. I told them I thought I might be having a predisone withdrawal because my mother, a nurse, said it was the most likely problem from experience. They completely ignored that saying it had been several days since I've stopped the steroid and kept asking me about my asthma (inhalers weren't working and it was definitely not an asthma attack -- I've had plenty of those, to all different degrees) and ended up giving me medicine for anxiety, which helped the closing of my throat, but none of my other symptoms. Three days later, my resting pulse is down to 80, but my breathing is so much worse than it would be with just my normal asthma and taking my inhalers as much as is allowed. I had no noticeable symptoms when I was on the prednisone except being less able to sleep. If it keeps up, I intend to go to a different doctor to see what is really happening, but I don't think it's 'normal' to have the withdrawal symptoms for this long after only having it for 7 days. I know I took it when I was younger (I'm 22), but I don't remember ever having issues going off of it before.

I have been on this Budeprion XL for only 2 whole days and I have noticed very bad muscle soreness in my shoulders and swollen lymph nodes. I had never heard anything bad about the drug, but decided these side effects were worth looking up. I'm surprised this hasn't been addressed in the news or something. I have taken Wellbutrin in the past and I don't remember having the same side effects ever.

About eight years ago I felt heaviness in my chest along with some pain/discomfort when doing hard physical labor and occasionally in the hot-tub. Following my doctor’s advice and an angiogram, a stint was placed and medication administered – Lipitor and plavix I also went through a 6-month program for cardiac recovery including dietary changes and a proper exercise program. About six month following that I gradually just stopped taking my Lipitor and plavix and returned to my old eating routine and other life-style. I don’t smoke (never did) and don’t drink or otherwise indulge in any recreational drugs. I’ve never been hypertensive with blood pressures typically at 115/68. I maintain a trim and healthy appearing body just naturally or genetically. I eat lots of red meat, not a lot of vegetables, drink gallons of orange juice, and eat much more junk-food than I should. About six years after that (near heart attack) event I was given a “stress test” by my physician… I was then 61 and tested at the level of a 38 year old! Two years after that I had a significant heart attack out in the middle of nowhere! It took almost 6 hours to get me to an emergency room in Spokane, Washington (that’s a story of its own). That was on a Thursday – I was back to work full-time the following Monday (four days later). This time around with more drugs than I could swallow in one gulp! Lipitor, Plavix, Coumadin, aspirin, and carvedilol. The combination or amount was more than I could tolerate and I was weaned off all but the Lipitor and aspirin within a year. My heart has returned to nearly full-function and I have no physician imposed restrictions. All that said, I’ve been gradually developing muscle soreness (pain, actually) in my fore-arms and legs. I’ve been growing more lethargic and tired with each passing month. I’m now 65 and feel that the Lipitor is inhibiting my health… I want to get off it and be “normal” again. Or is it just being sixty five? Can I just quit taking the drug? Leaving only aspirin for blood thinning and the hope of a better diet for cholesterol control.

What exactly do we need for a class action suit, guys?

Side effects: Severe disorientation as if very drunk (vertigo, dizziness, feeling "out-of-body" or high), hallucinations (including feeling things crawling on me), overwhelming fatigue (as if I hadn't slept for days), muscle soreness (as if I'd exercised for hours), joint and tendon pain (especially in hands, wrists and ankles), insomnia, nausea (lost 8lbs in a few days), racing heartbeat, dehydration, ringing in ears, stomach cramps, yeast infection and spotting.

The drug immediately made me sick but I thought it was just the sinus infection, and unfortunately kept on taking it. The side effects were actually worse AFTER I stopped taking it (I got much worse before I got better).

If you're on this stuff, STOP IMMEDIATELY. If you're scared and experiencing side effects as I did, PLEASE KNOW that they are real (you're not imagining things) but they WILL go away. Listen to your body, rest as much as you can, and drink plenty (and I mean PLENTY) of fluids. Despite the nausea, eat SOMETHING (toast, bananas, applesauce).

This is a 24-hour drug, so (verified by my pharmacist) due to its half life, it takes a MINIMUM of four days to leave your system. I only started feeling non-drugged a full 7 days after I stopped taking it. The fatigue lingered (kind of like getting over the worst bout of flu EVER) but now it's slowly going away, too. This stuff was an overwhelming blow to my physical health (I've NEVER been this sick), but I'm getting better. YOU WILL, TOO!

Unable to focus eyes on any target while moving. Later extreme muscle soreness and weakness. Unable to do some simple chores. Lower back and upper legs ached mostly first thing in the morning, got a little better later in the day. Have stopped taking Simvastatin. Will wait and see. Have taking statins since an angioplasty 11-12 years ago. T.

I have been put through the wringer with Crohn's. 15 surgeries, all of my terminal ileum removed, 1/3 of my large bowel removed, etc., etc,- Those with sever Crohn's know.

I spent years on high doses of Prednisone, Imuran, Sulfasizine and other drugs and nothing worked.

I was even retired from the US Air Force due to its severity.

Remicade has help tremendously. However, some of the side effects listed above, I have also been through. Some of them, have been explained through other factors and those attributed to the Remicade I take other meds to offset them.

For example, Head aches. I figured the head aches were from allergies that I have had for some time. I attributed some of the headaches to the Remicade. The head aches are very sever after my infusions and decrease to a dull roar after that. I take four aspirin and Sudifed PE and this leaves me with a dull roar shortly after the infusions and does away with them till the next infusion - perhaps this will help some of you.

The muscle soreness is horrible and I take aspirin or Tylenol, but that barely takes the edge off.

I started get those little red dots. Then the dots turn to blisters. I get these on my hands, feet and scalp. My GI Doctor said it wasn't the Remicade, but a Dermatologist showed me a recent article that should Remicade could cause Psoriasis. I take Clobetasol Propionate for these and it has cleared them up.

I took the Remicade years ago and then it was stopped - it was the way it was done then - not constant, just three doses spread out over three months.

I got the tingling fingers during those. A neurologist attributed it to the Steroids I had been on. The nerve damage is permanent.

A few years later, they started the infusions again and I experienced no muscle soreness, headaches, etc. and it did not help the Crohn's as it had before. When I talked to my GI doctor he showed me a study that people build anti-bodies to the Remicade over time. They doubled the dose and it started working again. For those who are experiencing the Remicade not working - perhaps this is what has happened to you.

I get the mood swings, but had never considered it might be the Remicade. I will talk to my doctor about this one.

I have the blood pressure decrease during my infusions, but it has not been sever.

More recently, my joints have begun to ache and initially the Remicade had helped to stop the minor joint pains I already had. Come to find out, I have had bone thinning due to the Crohn's.

The one symptom I have started getting this week is random, sever pain in odd locations - not joints.. They have been deep and feel like they are in the bone. One midway up on my shine, one midway down on my foreman and one in my right thumb. Has anyone experienced this. The pain has been horrible and it does scare me.

I also suffer from depression, but have had it for years prior to the Remicade treatments.

I was a competitive runner with a number of sub 3 hour marathons under my belt before I was prescribed statins for elevated cholesterol 2 years ago. The first go round was 40mg zocor but muscle soreness and loss of strength started within 2 months. Switched to NIASPAN but couldn't tolerate it. The last 7 months have been on 10mg of Lipitor and now have intense pain in my legs, soreness in my wrist and thumb and swollen feet. I can still run but much less than before and much slower. I regularly go to the gym but have seen a steady decrease in the amount of weight I am able to lift. I have a blood test in a couple of days and will be looking for myalgia again. I have discontinued the statin and don't plan to start again. I was healthier before the DR decided to "help" me with my cholesterol problem.

I am a 43 year old male in good health that decided to get off lipitor about 3 days ago due to the advice of my physician. I have been on it for 3 years at 20 mg daily. I am an avid runner completing 3 marathons in the last 4years, but lately haven't been able to run more than a mile or so without feeling tightness in my abs, legs, hips, and most recently my hands and elbows have mild to moderate pain. I've been noticing this over the past few months or so. I always thought it was due to over training, but I am convinced these are not normal muscle soreness/strain and I am eager to share my results as to how I feel in a few weeks/months. Today, which is day 3 without the drug, I have INCREASED pain in my hand, and an overall fatigue feeling. Has anyone else noticed this upon stopping the drug? God help all of us. This can't be doing mankind any good other than making the drug companies rich, and unfortunately, most physicians believe that these statins are wonder drugs, and prescribe them like candy.

please can u tell me does anybody on this site suffer from memory loss cause they are taking simvastatin

I have taken Cipro & levaquin or several occasions for several years. I DID NOT KNOW OF THE POSSIBLE EFFECTS OF THESE DRUGS ON TENDONS AND OTHER MUSCULOSKELETAL EFFECTS. A FEW DAYS AGO I HEARD A LEGAL AD ON TV WHICH CAUGHT MY ATTENTION: ' IF YOU OR A LOVED ONE HAS TAKEN LEVAQUIN AND SUFFERED A RUPTURED TENDON, CALL....... ' OVER THE PAST FOUR YEARS , I HAVE HAD THREE ROTATOR CUFF INJURIES, TWO OF WHICH REQUIRED SURGERY AND A LONG REHAB, AND A "PROBABLE" TENDON TEAR OF MY FOREARM FOR WHICH I WAS ON LIGHT DUTY FOR SEVERAL MONTHS, REHABBING W/ PT, STEROIDS, BOTH ORAL AND INJECTIONS, ANTI-INFLAMMATORY MEDS. AS MOST OF THESE INJURIES OCCURRED AT WORK- I AM A CCU NURSE- AND WAS TREATED BY OCC MED DOCTORS, AND THEN REFERRED TO SPECIALISTS WHEN I WASN'T GETTING BETTER, I WAS MADE TO FEEL AS IF THESE INJURIES WERE SOMEHOW MY FAULT, THROUGH POOR LIFTING TECHNIQUES,ETC. AT NO TIME DURING ALL THESE TREATMENTS FOR INJURIES DID ANY HEALTHCARE PROVIDER PUT THESE TWO THINGS TOGETHER AND ASK QUESTIONS, AND NOR DID MY OWN PHYSICIAN. THIS WOULD LEAD ME TO BELIEVE THAT THE POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS OF THIS DRUG HAS NOT BEEN WELL DISSEMINATED TO THE MEDICAL PROVIDERS.

I have been taking Simvastatin 20 mg. for about two and 1/2 months now. It really lowered my Cholesterol but I have been extremely fatigued and now I am getting really dizzy when standing up and having some nausea.

I was put on synthroid a year ago, due to a tsh level of 87. I pretty much felt better right away after taking it. First I took 50mcg and then it was upped to 100mcg. Everything went well until I had my latest tsh test. The level was going up again (tsh 5.4) so the doctor decided to put me on 125mcg. After about a week I began feeling like crap. Slugglishness, tiredness, muscle pain, joint pain, and it became progressively worse. I have an appointment coming up thank god. In the mean time I read 3 books on thyroid and it was mentioned that most people don't benefit from just taking T4 (ie. synthroid), despite the fact that the pharmac. and some docs say that body breaks t4 down into t3.
Some people's body cannot successfully break it down enough, some are cellular resistant to thyroid hormones, and those people absolutely need t3 in order to not develop Hypometablolism. The cell need the T3 to function. But unfortunately one can be hypo and still have good TSH levels, because this particular test only tests if there is enough T4 in the body.
Unfortunately, it's so hard to explain that to mainstream doctors.
One doctor I read about said it right: Don't just treat the test results but also the bodily symptoms, for everybody is different anyways. Just like our finger prints are unique, so is our hormonal metabolism.
I'm going to try to talk to my doc about this, but if he doesn't listen I will look for another doc until I found one that will. Good luck to all in this hormone jungle.

My 16 year old son took Singular for three days. Almost immediately after taking the first dose, he starting having increased blood pressure, rapid heart beat, tiredness, depression, thoughts of death, muscle soreness, tingling in his arms and legs, numbness, weird dreams (when he was actually able to sleep) and decreased appetite. He seriously thought that he was going crazy. It was not until I did some internet research that I finally linked all of his symptoms to this horrible drug. He stopped taking it on Friday of last week and each day since has been feeling better. He is not 100% back to normal yet, but each day seems to be better. It was a scary three day period while he was using this medication. Hopefully it will only take another day or two to get out of his system completely.

wow! lamictal. im taking it for bipolar and it sounded so great due to the fact that it concentrates on the "lows" more than the "highs" and since i've been battling depression and suicidal thoughts since the 4th grade i thought this would be a wonderful addition to my medication. i would keep the seroquel at night and only take during the day "as needed" i was told there weren't very many side effects, just following starter kit exactly and i wont get that terrible rash. i didn't have access to a computer until a few days later after my first dose. so i didn't really get a chance to do much research. the first night i was surprised i felt a little loopy. didn't thank much of it. BUT several day late i felt i had the mind of a child. my speech slowed, my motor skills were off i felt heavy in body but light in the head. i could produce simple words. i knew the meanings of the words just had know actual word for them and would have to try to explain these words. stupid me started a new medication just before having to study for an exam( i was not expecting such a quick start of side effects) wow! i had no short term memory. could barely function. it was hard to even order a cup of coffee. of course there were other side effects such as pounding headaches and muscle soreness but they were nearly as annoying as the mental side effects. i started out at a low dose of just 25 mg. i had to stop taking it so my head would clear up and i could actually function just to take my exam. im not cleared up all the way yet but i do feel better. im sure my psych teacher will understand. ....but something im curious about is a weight limit issue. it really seems the side effects shouldn't have started so quickly and so intensely. i haven't been able to find anything about weigh a certain amount to take certain dosages. does any one know about this? should lower weights start even slower? im am a few pound below 100 and im thinking that might be why it hit so hard. considering its the weekend im not going to talk to my pdoc until maybe after my exam about stopping than restarting, but i do plan on restarting and giving it more time for the side effects to clear up

I also have been having muscle problems in my legs. My leg muscles have
become weak, and I have difficulty walking up steps. I used to run a lot, but had to stop several times (for months) because I felt I had no energy. Muscle
soreness, as well as various radiating pains, also are a problem. I'm, 49 years old, but I don't believe these problems are due to normal wear and tear. I do know all of these symptoms began to appear after I had been taking Niaspan for at least several months. Thanks, M. Gray

This note is regarding some measures for healing and pain relief. I have been in pain due to taking Levaquin three months ago. My pain is widespread. I have peripheral neuropathy. My whole body is tender and sensitive. All of my joints ache. It's hard to walk or sit for long. My pain is still disabling but it has improved. I thought that I would share with whoever may be interested what has helped my pain the most. I see a chiropractor every week and I also see a Chinese doctor every week. The Chinese doctor does therapeutic massage (deep tissue) and he also does acupuncture weekly. The acupuncture doesn't hurt as much as you might think. Other things that I've found that are helpful are warm Epsom salt baths and any topical cream that warms the area such as zostrix. Creams for muscle soreness may work also. I try not to take pain medication because it can just lead to other problems . If I have to take something I take either excedrin or Tylenol. NOT ibuprofen. Also, the body can't heal as quickly if it is being bombarded with offending agents. Therefore I have eliminated the following: Sodas (regular and diet), nutrisweet, msg (read the label), bleached flour, caffeine and many other things. I try to avoid sugar and I use stevia as much as possible. I have done a lot of research regarding nutrition since this happened to me. What I have come to realize is that good foods are like medicine. I have to supply my body with the proper nutrients and it will heal itself. Lots of fruits, veggies, whole grains, nuts, lean meat (I don't eat red meat). I avoid fast food and processed foods. The rule of thumb is that if nature made it it's good for you. If man made it...read the label very carefully. I hope that this info will be helpful to some of you. My prayers are with you all.

chris