Remission symptoms and conditions

In 1988 I had some complications with my pregnancy. I went into premature labor on June 5th. My due date was August 17th. My son was born premature on July 19th, with a good birth weight of 7.11 pounds. I received Yutopar drip while I was in the hospital for 5 days beginning on June 5th. When I returned home I continued Yutopar medication in a pill form up to July 19th when my son was born. Other than jaundice, he had no other apparent problems. While in pre-school at the age of 4 years, his teacher noticed he was having several problems. One of which was staring spells. We took him to a pediatric neurology clinic. His eeg was normal, but the doctor did notice he had problems with cognitive delays. Our next step was to take him for a neuropsychological evaluation. He was diagnosed with sensory motor integration deficits. From there we did everything that was offered to help him, including occupational therapy. Also, we thought he was born with lazy eye. It turned out to be exotropia. We took him to eye therapy to avoid surgery, but it did not help. At the age of 6 he had eye surgery to tighten his eye muscles. From the age of 4 to 6 years old, our son went through a lot with all the testings, therapies and surgery. He continued to struggle with some learning problems and low self-esteem throughout his school years. Currently, at the age of 21 he still has some small cognitive problems. In April, at the age of 17, his hair stated falling out in hugh clumps. He hid this from us by wearing a hat all the time. In June, he was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease called alopecia areata. By the time his senior year of high school started, he had lost 45% of his hair in patchy baldness. With the help of steroid injections into his scalp his hair came back into growth. He came out of remission at the age of 18 and 19 and is currently in remission. To make things even worse, he started feeling like something was wrong with his heart. This was during the time his hair was falling out when he was 17 and 18, and he was receiving treatment for his hair loss. He also hid this from us. It was October by the time he told me and I brushed it off as stress. He finally told me again in December. He said he felt like he was going to die and his heart didn't beat all the time. I took him to the doctor. He was tested and 2 days after Christmas the doctor called and told us to take him to the hospital asap! His heart was pausing anywhere from 2 to 7 seconds. He was transferred out of the area to a pediatric icu. He was diagnosed with Ventricular Fibrillation and received a pace maker at the age of 18 years old. His pace maker currently does 40% of the work to help his heart beat. There was a team of doctors trying to figure out why this has happened to his heart, but couldn't come up with specific answers. They did every test they could think of. I asked them about Yutopar and they say no. I asked them about the short term amount of steriod injections he had to make his hair grow back and they say no. They say his heart may have had a virus or he may have been born with the defect. He had already started having behavioral problems when he was 15 right after his Dad and I split up. His problems became much worse after his heart and hair problems. We have done and still do try everything possible to try to help him, but our hands are tied because he is 21 years old. His self help is marajuana and doctor prescribed street drugs. He has what I would call severe anger problems, very low self-esteem and a very bad temper. His behavioral problems and mental status can't get any worse than it is right now. As far as a mental illness diagnosis, we don't have one. I know he has one though. I'm always left to wonder if the drug Yutopar I took while I was pregnant had anything to do with all of his many problems throughout the years; especially with his sensory motor integration disorder, ventricular fibrillation heart defect and autoimmune disease.

My experience with the NuvaRing thus far has been disastrous. I was prepared to put up with the ruined underwear from unexpected menstruation but today whilst sobbing uncontrollably on the freeway with my husband gasping at me helplessly was enough. He actually was the one who suggested that it may be the ring and after reading the accounts of other women I am glad it is not me (and so is he). I actually just read some accounts to him and he was looking at me with a "told you so" look on his face. I have been in remission from clinical depression for a year and a half now, and these feelings I am having whilst on the ring are those of depression. I was seriously scared that possibly I had slipped back into a depressive state, but only a few weeks ago I was happy with my life and safe and stable. I am also ANGRY at everything. Again, something I was really concerned about- that is totally not the person I am. I am also having periods of dizziness and loss of consciousness which I thought was dehydration, but I could not seem to fix it. I am sure this is an effective form of birth control for some women, but I would just like to let you all know that constant vaginal bleeding, depression and thoughts of no self worth, anger, dizziness and pain are not worth it. Not in my experience.

Male 28. Was diagnosed a couple of months ago with Ulcerative Colitis and was prescribed Prednisone. A large dose to start with then tampered off for 4 weeks. The first week I felt great, better than great, fantastic. The only downside was difficulty sleeping. The following 3 weeks, without any exaggeration have been among the worst I have ever experienced. I think the lack of sleep finally caught up with me, so I was constantly tired and generically felt depressed, also knee ache, eye pain, inability to think clearly (quite a problem when you are an Engineer), lacked energy or strength – and the Acne. Never before have I had Acne like this, and I used to suffer quite bad during my teens. Its just so aggressive, every few hours there seems to be new ones appearing. It seems to occur when ever I step down the dose. I think having this bad skin has really added to my depression over the last few weeks, it has been especially difficult considering I have been in the process of starting a new job. To top all of that my UC seems to be worst than ever! I’m worried that when I go back to see the Doctor next week he is going to put me on some equally-annoying medication or maybe another course of Prednisone if I’m lucky.

Does anyone know of some natural alternatives that are good for UC, very reluctant to put anymore man-made chemicals into my body.

I suffered with huge patches of psoriasis on both elbows which continued to grow larger and larger for years. Numerous treatments of various creams and light therapy had absolutely no positive results on my problem. Then I found a doctor who injected some small amounts of Kenalog directly into the layers of my psoriasis, and FINALLY the psoriasis disappeared completely. It was a MIRACLE for me! My patches of psoriasis now normally remain in remission for about two years. When I notice them to slightly reappear, I got get another Kenalog injection to clear it up for another couple of years. I have never had any side effects with this procedure except for positive ones! My self image has improved, and I can now wear short sleeve shirts without anyone asking me "what's wrong with your elbows?". I think it's the best thing!

They think that I have either crohns or ulcerative colitis. I have tried antibiotics, lialda, mesalamine enemas, with no improvement. After another colonoscopy they put me on prednisone at 40mgs, 30, 20, 10, then 5 decreasing weekly. Well the first week was okay. I had some of the side affects, insomnia, extreme hunger, and crazy. I could deal with that. But then when I decreased down to 30mg, my body flipped. I awoke from the middle of the night with burning pain in the knees. So bad I took 4 ibuprofen and threw myself in the tub with epsom salt. I thought okay that was weird because I have never had a joint pain in my life. I saw the gastroenterologist that day bc I was still having abdominal pain. He totally blew off the knee pain and said he had no idea what that was. I thought okay maybe it will go away. A few days went by and nothing. 3 days later and I awoke one morning crying in pain because of my legs. I called the on call doctor who also said he had no idea and go to the er. So I went crying hysterically for 4 hours. Even after 3 rounds of dilaudid I was still in pain. They suggested a Rheumatologist. So I went to one a week later who said I was going through steroid withdrawals. And there is nothing we can do but treat the symptoms of pain. I am now down to 10mgs have been out of work for 2 weeks and am absolutely miserable with severe leg pain, muscle weakness and fatigue. He also adjusted the drop down increments to 5 instead of 10. Anyway I will never take this drug again and I think they rushed to this one. Just wanted to share. I am glad I found this website because I went from a fully functioning physically fit 28 year old to a crippled crying crazy person. I think I was scaring my husband, honestly, until we both read some of your postings which were similar.

I started 40 mg Simvastatin in Sept 2007 and stopped it March 08. I developed severe carpal tunnel Sept 07 and it went away March 08.....gone. The illness simvastatin caused has taken a year to get better. At times, I was too weak to feed myself. Drenching sweats, 24 hour a day headache, vomiting, light headed, blurry vision, and swollen neck glands. On a scale of 1-10, fatigue was a 10. I developed Rheumatoid Arthritis. I had very few arthritis episodes but it showed on blood work. It went into "remission" Dec 08. I was still sick. They said RA was reason I was so ill. I honestly felt I was dying. They tried to fix me, cost me a lot of money. I started CoQ10 a month ago. Made changes with other meds too. I am just now seeing an improvement. The large swollen gland on my neck has started to go away. The headache and fatigue are getting better. It's been a long road. I think it effects so many people in so many different ways that doctors are not clicking. My father, my aunt, my cousin, my brother and I all had different aches and pains. The one thing we had in common was extreme fatigue. We all stopped statins and some recovered quickly. Dad and I are still suffering. No more statins for me.

Reading all this horrifies me since I have been on Remicade for almost 4 years for Crohn's and a still unidentified Inflammatory arthritis of some kind. I will pray for you all. But, on another note and by no means an attempt to diminish the severity of each account in this blog, I have had no such side effects and for the most part have had great success until recently. My Crohn's is and has been in complete remission since the beginning of the infusions. However, I have had increasing inflammatory issues in joints between infusions. I get 5 vials and they give me Solumedrol in the IV. I ended up in the ER last night because my joints were all frozen up and it was just unbearable. They gave me Solumedrol and Morphine, and I am 75% better today. The frequency and severity of the arthritis issues has gotten increasingly worse over the last 6-8 months. I get infusions every 8 weeks, and start to have severe joint pain after about 4 weeks. All that being said, it is appearing like Remicade is still working brilliantly for Crohn's but is having little to no effect on the inflammatory arthritis. The steroid they give during the infusion is what I think is doing the job for the joint pain since I was a 10 last night in the ER, and I am 3 this morning pain wise after getting the steroid. My case is unique and frustrating to the Rheumy b/c my sed rates and RA factures and C-Reactives are all relatively normal when I am in tremendous pain. So, they just ran alternate tests the other day to look into things like Myeloma and so on. I don't believe that Remicade has done any of this. I believe that Remicade's benefits for MOST people greatly outweigh the risks, especially when you are incapacitated with Crohn's etc. But in my case, it just does not seem to be working for my joint inflammation.

My 14 year old daughter received her first Guardasil shot in May 2008 second in September and was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma in November 2008. The diagnosis was questioned at my daughters Oncologist in conjunction with the shot. I never heard anything else after that. Luckily she is in remission after Chemo and many treatments

I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis in Aug of 2005 and in remission for 9 months. I came out of remission in May of 2006 and have been on prednisone since then until right now. I would go on high dose of steriods, try a new medication, and try to ween off and get sick right as I went off the steriods, so I'd have to do this rollercoaster all over again. For a year now, I have been on steady, high doses between 60-100mg daily with no break. I tried to go below 20 and got really sick again and have run out of medication to try, so I had my colon removed. Right now, we are trying to ween me off the prednisone (since i dont need it for my disease anymore) but have to go over 3-4 months and very slowly since I've been on it so long to prevent the body from doing all the fun things it does when you stop prednisone cold turkey, like a coma and stuff. I'm SICK of the side effects this drug has had on me! I have had countless sleepless nights, heartburn, night sweats, weight gain (i went from 140 lbs to 215 lbs right now), the moon face to where i can't even recognize myself, red face, weird skin, sensitive teeth, thinning hair, hungry ALL the time, stretch marks, all the weight is in my stomach, the buffalo hump, high blood pressure and high eye pressures etc. These are all the side-effects that have been horrible on this miserable drug. I'm sure there are a lot more I am forgetting, but these are the ones that come to mind. Hopefully they will go away once I am able to finally get off this drug!

I am 34 years old. I am a pharmacy tech. I have asthma and allergies. I have taken singulair pretty much every day since it came out on the market. I've had asthma since i was about 10 years old. I took theophylline as a kid. Steriods on and off especially during times when my allergies are bad. I still use Advair during the fall and spring. Every drug has a side effect. However breathing is pretty good damn thing. Do I have days when I feel low? Yeah. Do I sometimes have nightmares? Yup. Are "natural" products the answer. Not always. The fish oil that some of the posters are touting can also cause GI problems. Some of the natural products contain herbs and other plant derivatives that can be harmful for a child that suffers from allergies. Not proactively treating asthma can be deadly. Some of the parents are suggesting steriods as the answer - those can cause weight gain, growth suppression and can lead to a worsening of asthma.

Singulair has never made me feel like I've wanted to kill myself. I was more depressed and angry as kid when my asthma did not allow me to partipate in normal childhood things. I was sad and hated life when I couldn't keep up with friends at recces because I was having trouble breathing. You have to outweigh the costs with the benefits. I am more irritable when I have asthma flareup then I am on a normal day. For me, I choose to breathe. And singulair has been helping me for almost a decade.

I'm not saying the medication isn't causing these symptoms but maybe there is an underlying cause to your child's depression.

Any drug has a side effect. But without medical research and the medications that come with them - people would still be dying of simple diseases and we wouldn't have vaccinations. As a society, as a whole, we are a culture that looks to someone else to fix things and then blames the people who try to fix it. We need to stop being the "hot McDonald's coffee'" society.

Oh my gosh. I am on this website because I googled "behavior issues with Singulair" Both of my children are on Singulair. One from as young as 5 months old. Both Pulmonologist, allergist and Internal med Ped. insisted that it was a safe drug. They aren't living with it. My 7 year old has taken it consistently for 5 years and recently upped is having behavior, aggression, insomnia and constant reports back from the teacher on his behavior. We had him psychologically evaluated and they found nothing uncommon to his age. All his issues are described in almost everyone of these side effect threads. I am just afraid to take him off and feel the blame if something serious happens. I am calling tomorrow for possible alternatives.

After being treated for two major crohn's flares since 2005, I have had all the regular treatments for crohn's. Remicade gave me a liver abscess so the only choice left for Mass General Dr. I see from the MGH Crohn's and Colitis Center was Humira. It is helping to keep me in remission after a long bout early spring, but since Humira Pens were added to my treatments and medications I have had short term memory loss, lack of concentration and foggy head. I have been off and on Prednisone without the memory loss, but have had a bit of a fog due to it. This has been bad enough that after attempting over a month to get back to my teaching job, I have had to ask for a leave. Has anyone else complained about this problem with Humira?

I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in 2003, have been treated with Asacol ever since, and was in remission for nearly 5 years. I flared in December of 2007, and had my first experience with prednisone; I was on 40 mg/day for nearly 6 months. I gained 35 pounds, got the moon face, double-chin, tummy fat, muscle aches, extreme mood swings, excruciating headaches, night sweats, and UNCONTROLLABLE hunger. I, too, noticed the sensitive teeth, and now I feel like my enamel is really thin...almost see-through. Anyway, I've been off prednisone for about 5 months. The moon face went away for the most part, but my cheeks still seem a little chubbier than before, and my double-chin is a lot smaller, but still there. I've lost about half the weight, but only after joining weight watchers and working out 6 days a week. I feel like I can't lose any more weight to save my life. Does anyone have any suggestions? I never struggled with weight prior to taking this stupid drug. I'd appreciate any input.

began taking lisinopril in June. To my mindtheBP has not reduced significantly but I have developed a dry cough with accompanying mucus especially at night or when I lie down.On two occasions blood was in the mucus. This only occurred recently(last week). I am due for a doctor visit and certainly will brig this up with him.

started 10 mg in 1998. was controlling everything ok. In 2004 developed weakness in both legs, started slurring words and eye trouble, went to several doctors then in April 2005 had to quit work as I was just to weak. That was at age 54. Finally a neurologist diagnosed me with Myasthenia gravis, and lambert eatons myasthenic syndrome. Had my thymus gland removed, which is supposed to put disease in remission, also had small cell lung cancer surgery at same time. improvement did not come and the drugs for myasthenia only made me sick. started having chest pains and doctors ,.found several blockages in my heart ,still do as to weak for surgery, cardiologist took me off of lipitor and I seem to have stabilized, still have trouble with short term memory, and vision, and really weak

I just got off topamax after being on 800 mg/day for over a year. Unlike most of you, I used it to treat seizures. Because of the side effects (slurred speech, bad memory, and NO sex drive) my doctor to switched me to Lamictal.

After just one week, my sex drive is back to normal, my memory is better, and I'm more confident in my speech.

My daughter is 12 and just started taking Prednisone 5 days ago (40mg - she weighs 105lbs) .. I've been watching her salt intake - tonight she looks a little pale to me - is that a side effect? has anyone else experienced that? She has Ulcerative colitis (2 years this month) - started w/asacol, colazol, 6mp (gave her pancreatits) now is on methotrexate since Nov '07 - was put on prednisone because of a recent flare - to me none of these medications have put her into remisson - always goes 3-5 times a day - sometimes blood - sometimes not - don't know if prednisone will help - so afraid of the side effects -
Dr. said if it doesn't - Remicade will be the next option - after that surgery - only thing - my daughter has never complained of pain - except when she was on 6mp -
sorry for babbling - just so scared...

a full week after my first remicade treatment, i suddenly developed a very severe headache, followed by a stiff neck, a stiff left arm, a sore jaw where i couldn't open my mouth very far and i could not chew, then developed a fever, chills and itching. It came on fast but also subsided a good bit within about 12 hours. has anyone else experienced something like this, a full week after a treatment?

Remicade has totally changed my life. I could barely walk due to ankylosing spondylitis and I also suffered from severe ulcerative colitis. I still have pain, but nothing like it was 10 years ago. The ulcerative colitis has been in remission since my first infusion. If I die from taking Remicade tomorrow, I will be die happy. I was ready to die when I started the infusions!

I have been on prednisone for 5 1/2 months now, I was hospitalized starting in February until like the 25th of March for a bad exacerbation(sp) of my ulcerative colitis. I have taken prednisone for 9 1/2 months out of the last 17 months. I have experienced everything from growing facial hair I don't want to loosing what hair I do in a short period of time. Most of my hair loss started after I weaned off the prednisone about one week ago, or lets say it got much worse. I also while on prednisone got have got to experience the lovely side effect of pysicosis(sp) and am on meds to couter react what it has did to me. This is a evil and horrible drug, I hate it with a passion for all the harm it has did to me. I now have joint pain, restless sleepless nights, night sweats, tremors, not to mention the rapid weight gain. And to top all this off I am still not in remission, so this drug was used all in vain. Please be careful using this awful drug and if you have to use it, only use it for a few weeks at the time and not long term...the side effects can be horrendous and sometimes like in my case permanent to some extent. I do wonder about the hair loss, it has been worse this time than ever...I hope it stops soon.

PREDNISONE.... a word that is unknown to the naive and despised by the the knowledgeable. Before i begin i want to tell you that prednisone for lack of better word F***ed me up. So heres my story with the pill. About a year ago i was officially diagnosed with Minimal Change Disease, now remember i am eighteen at the time, and was prescribed prednisone to cure the disease. Now being unaware of the severity of the drug and disease i casually continued life while taking 80mg per day of prednisone. Well this was good and all because it did in fact put me in remission, but the side effects were starting go surface. My face ballooned up "moon face", started experiencing random series of depression, became insomniatic, and unfortunately gained several pounds. Well this was not the end of side effects as for me. I continued with the medication and after 6 weeks of 80 mg i began my 5 week course of 60mg. Then after that i started 4 weeks on 40 mg and began tapering 5 mg every 2-3 weeks afterwards. Toward the middle of 60 mg the drug started taking its toll on my body as my skin lost its elasticity so i started getting gruesome strecht marks all over my body. I also became constipated for whatever reason most probably prednisone was at fault. I became very frightened actually terrified so i started to research about the drug in hopes of finding ways to avoid some side effects. In doing my research i found out very disturbing information regarding prednisone. Along with all the side effects that i mentioned above, prednisone also causes cateracts, glacoma, diabetes via insulin resistance, and osteoporosis. Now these i consider as the more severe permanent side effects as the list unfortunately is much longer. Finding out about the side effects i became extremely paranoid and started a very strict diet to hopefully avoid some permenat side effects. I admit reading about the information on prednisone created my paranoia and/or possible phycosis which ultimately led to my stress which led to my severe depression. Now this wasn't any old type of depression, i was sersiouly in need of some help. Everyone around me could tell something was wrong and really i dont blame then for in fact i felt as if my soul had died, the very essence of my being. Now magin if you can someone taking away your youth from you, sucking the very life out of you... thats exactly how i felt. To add along with the depression my grades became a wreck in college as i dropped several classes, lost a friend, developed problems with my parents as they tired to help me, and disrespected family relatives with my uncontrollable mood swings. A few weeks in of dieting and exercising i lost a lot of weight (15-20 pounds). As far as side effects non had changed i still had to deal with all that was mentioned above especially with the fragile skin that was a real burden as i had even a few stretch marks on my face from sleeping on my side. At this point of my long and what seemed to be a never ending journey i become exteremly weak. My body had no energy to run on as i refused to eat and when i did eat it was either foods that are considered free foods or protein nothing else. Everything at this time had been taken away from me including smoking marijuana (marijuana drops blood sugar as this would cause me to start feeling faint and lightheaded), alcohol (same as marijuana drops blood sugar), and the fact that i was not comfortable in my own skin (literally). I was driving myself insane. Everyday i was behind the computer searching for more and more. I was obsessed and became my worst nightmare. Oh by the way half in the medication therapy i showed 1+ grams of protein in my urine which my doctor possibly thought it could have been a relapse. This news i did not take lightly i had lost it and was prepared of comiting suicide. I cant lie, i really did not want to live anymore i just wanted to end this and suicide seemed like a very real and convienent possibility. If it had not been for my parents talking to me giving me a 3 hour speech and lecture i do not know what i would have done. Suicide at that point became out of the question because i could not do this to my family. So i went and purchased urine dip sticks to monitor the protein. The doctor had given me a 2 week window or chance to get back into remission or else he was going to prescribe me cytotoxic agents aka chemo therapy drugs. This was horrible news to me. So as i monitored my protein i found out of a very interesting trend. I noticed that my protein levels in the afternoon were in fact positive for protein and were usually up and down as far as how much but in the mornings i noticed i was always negative. Now this give me a huge bit of hope because when in researching about MCD months earlier i found out that there is a coniditon called orthostatic proteinuria which affects mostly young adolecent males and is a condition described as for some unknown reason there is protein loss in the afternoon when the person is upright and active then when they are supine or laying down the kidneys do not allow any portein loss. This condition is in fact harmless. I was very happy from then news and i told my doctor, he was somewhat doubting, but i don't blame him he is looking out for my best interest, but sure enough after the 2 weeks had past i went in again for my appointment after testing and i was negative for protein as i had expected. We began tapering after that point and i continusouly monitored my own tests at home and eventually i got off the steroid, actually today is that day after a 9 month period of heartache and distress. You know people say that they went to hell and back in a hard moment in life, well i went to hell stayed there for 9 months then came back. I feel so everyone who as ever needed to take steroids for long periods of time, i know its tough but believe it as it is indeed a potent drug and in most cases a miracle drug. It gave me a second chance at life and no matter how hard it was or how much pain it put me through i cannot complain for it did in fact cure me and thats why i can never hold any grudges. So thats my story i kno its not pretty but what can i say it is indeed mine whether i like it or not.

I have been taking this drug 75mg everyday for 6 months. at first I was feeling so much better. This past winter I have been sick constantly. I almost never get sick and I have had every virus that has went around. now I am feeling so weird sleep disturbances weird dreams, not being able to sleep but being exhausted.. I have gained weight and want to eat all the time. I am going to the doctor in a few days and will be asking to be weaned off this drug.

I am a 25 year old, who was perfectly healthy prior to recently when I was diagnosed with Nephritic Syndrome and Minimal Change Disease and possibly FSGS (kidney diseases) I was put on 60 mg of Prednisone for 1 month then I was lowered to 40 mg for one month and I am then dropping to 30 mg. I am also taking Fosamax for my bones and a Vitamin D pill because my last lab test showed low vitamin D levels.

I am dizzy constantly and can not live a normal life, I can not drive or do any activities that I had previously done. My chest is so tight and constricted all of the time, my heart rate is so fast and pounds at my chest. I have no energy to do anything, I can barely open a door at times. I am beginning to grow unwanted hair on my face. My abdomen is always bloated. I have pain in my rib cage, and shoulders. I feel very sore throughout my entire body. I do not really sleep at night, so I look very tired all the time.

I have actually lost weight, I have no appetite at all. I am down 10-15lbs.

Now for the Pro- my Kidney Diseases are currently in remission and this has happened much faster than the Nephrologist had thought.

I am very anxious to getting my life back to normal and getting off the Prednisone.

Has any one else experienced increased heart rate, chest tightness, or rib pain?

I wish everyone the best in their roads to recovery!!

Hi
I started taking 10 mg. daily ofLipitor 8 yrs. ago and about a year later I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. There's no test for Fibro, just blood tests to elimate everything else ex: Lupus, RA etc. I've been suffering so much from muscle pain, all the tender points as in Fibro and also diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome. Three doctors diagnosed me with Fibro. and chronic fatigue. I had most of the symptoms everyone else is complaining about also. The pain in my stomach muscles are just about gone too.

It reached a point three weeks ago when I was having sharp pains all over my body and muscle cramps and charlie horses at night and I could just about walk up the stairs my hips hurt so much that decided to stop Lipitor. I was so tired all the time and in constant pain.

My doctors said it couldn't be the Lipitor. The pain in most of the tender points are just about gone but I know it will take a while to get out of my system. I lost muscle strength over the years and hope to get that back. I'm 64 years old and know it will take awhile .

I went to my doctor Tuesday and told him I took myself off the Lipitor and that I now remember being diagnosed with Fibro shortly after going on Lipitor. He got so mad at me and said that Lipitor doesn't cause a disease. As I said there's no test for Fibro and it's not a disease it's a syndrome or condition where the brain sends pain signals to the tender point muscles but there's nothing actually wrong with the muscles. I told him that 6 years ago when I tried going off Lipitor for 3 months and joined a gym, Curves, I felt fine and thought I was in remission. Then when I started taking Lipitor again I couldn't do the exercise in Curves and had to stop going. It never dawned on me it was the Lipitor.

I now have a problem with my heart, one condition I might have been born with but the Arrthymia I don't know about. My heart beats too many beats and it beats 4 beats and the 5th beat is backwards. Now I'm on 25mg of Topricin (the generic) beta blocker to slow down the heart beats. I don't know if this is caused by the Lipitor or not. My cardiologist said that Lipitor can affect every muscle in your body and she suggested that I get a RX for a blood test to tell whether I have muscle damage. I went for the test Tuesday but haven't received the results yet.

I'm going to change doctors, I don't like my doctor's attitude with me over the Lipitor. These doctors think they're God. When I told him on Tuesday about the 3 months that I felt fine 6 years ago he said that there are other drugs besides statins to lower cholesterol. I don't want to go on any drugs and the non statin drugs can cause intestinal blockage, he got upset when I told him that too. I'm going to try to lower it with flaxseed and fiber and see if that works. I go to Weight Watchers and kept 17 lbs. off for 6 years now, I do try and eat healthy.

I can't believe it cost me almost 8 years of my life in pain. It's even hard for me to get down on the floor with my granchildren, I have to crawl to the couch or chair to lift myself up and I get tired so easily. I just hope I get back to normal.

I'm so glad I found this website and figured out what was wrong with me. I hope my writing helps someone else dignosed with Fibromyalgia and taking a statin.

Thanks for listening.
Marie

I took it for severe epilepsy. I had two children on it fine, no problems. It put my epilepsy into complete remission, but for all the years I took it my life was destroyed by the emotional and mental side effects. Ended up homeless and in a domestic violence relationship, which I got out of when I stopped taking the poison pills. Coming off it felt like waking from a bad dream, but without epilepsy.

The effects which never went away were the dry mouth and no sweating, the enamal is stripped off my teeth. The mood swings and depression and exhaustion and memory loss and cognitive damage never went away. The loss of appetite and extreme weight loss(92lbs at 5'1" at first, 98lbs after tolerance) never stopped, nor did the constipation and resulting hemorrhoids.

Initial dose increases caused what I understand to be myoclonic spasms, which was a change in my seizure pattern, and other seizure pattern changes. The spasms came immediately after the final dose increase, were incapacitating in severity and lasted for about a half hour, and didn't fade for a week or two.

Did put epilepsy into complete remission.