Risk factor 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!!!!!!!

It seems most people on here are blaming their "side effects" on the medicine. Could you quite possibly have health issues anyway? what about those people that don't take Singulair and have the exact same symptoms? Is it because they are THINKING about it?
It's one thing to be informed about medication. It's another to go overboard.

Science has NOT conclusively ruled out a link between Singulair and suicide. In fact, science DID reveal a link between Singulair and depression (a risk factor for suicide). In the clinical trials one montelukast participant dropped out and the investigator cited the reason as depression that was "drug related". Additionally, in the primary and Phase II/BIII Studies, 12 out of 1955 participants taking montelukast reported depression, vs. 5 out of 1108 on placebo, and 1 out of 251 on beclomethasone. This information is presented in the FDA's medical review for Singulair and is available on the FDA website. Depression was not only reported post-marketing as some would like us to believe. As the FDA explained in their update to the investigation, Singulair's clinical trials were not designed to measure neuropsychiatric events so some may not have been reported. Using clinical trial data to prove that Singulair cannot cause a particular symptom or outcome is as foolish as discounting post-marketing reports that show that some neuropsychiatric events associated with Singulair are consistent with a drug-induced effect.

I stumbled on this site while doing research on DVT's. I am a nurse and was on YAZ continuously (skipping the inactive pills and going straight to a new pack) to control my migraines for about a year. I developed 3 DVT's in my left calf and behind my left knee. I have been having charlie horse cramps as well. I am now on lovenox injections 2 times a day and 7.5 mg. of coumadin to deal with the clots.I have also had the issues with heart palpitations, chest tightness, and feeling like i can't catch my breath. I read in one of the posts where it was described as she "had to think to catch her breath". I totally agree! I thought this drug was great, until now. I stopped it last wed 1/7/09 when they found the clots in my calf/knee. Can anyone with experience tell me how long it took them to recover from the palpitations and breathing issues. I am a very health person, non smoker, with no prior or family history of any clotting issues. Thanks for all the info on here and God Bless everyone who has suffered!

I've been on Yasmin/Ocella for 2 years, and the other week I had two panic attacks, like my body suddenly felt achey, trembly, as if I couldn't breathe, my throat and chest were constricting. After a long time, both passed, but since then I constantly have felt a tightness under my jaw, lump in my throat, and chest tightness on and off. My doctor told me I was just experiencing anxiety but now I think it may be Yasmin, even though I never had problems until now. Sometimes the skin on my throat feels itchy/tingly in a subtle way. If anyone has had these experiences with the throat & chest on Yasmin, I'd like to know because I'm hoping the problem is this.

Got it placed October 2007 and have had extreme acne every month. Deep in the cheeks and near the chin. Nothing will rid it even antibiotics or retin-A. Had cramping, bleeding at first but that subsided. Now I just have a lighter period about every 6 weeks. But I'm getting it removed come my annual pap as the 3% risk factor of acne is probably a lot higher than that. I'm one that had maybe one zit every month growing up with my period to having probably 10-20 at a time. They are so deep they're not even poppable!

HELLO EVERYONE....IM SITTING AT WORK AND JUST DECIDED TO RESEARCH THIS DRUG LISINOPRIL...BECAUSE I AM REALLY BORED....WHEN I GOOGLED THE NAME I CAME ACROSS THIS SITE.....OMYGOSH...I THOUGHT I WAS GOING CRAZY...I HAVE BEEN TAKING Lisinopril FOR ABOUT 6 MONTHS NOW....I ALWAYS READ THE INSERTS THAT COME WITH THE MEDICATION BUT I NEVER SEEN THE SIDE EFFECTS THAT WE ARE HAVING ON THE INSERT...I SING IN THE CHURCH CHOIR AN I ALWAYS WONDERED WHY MY VOICE WOULD BE SO HORRIBLE AND MESSED UP..I AM SO HAPPY I GOOGLED THIS DRUG...DOSE ANYONE KNOW HOW LONG IT TAKES BEFORE YOUR BODY GOES BACK TO NORMAL AFTER STOPPING THE DRUG....

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'm 46, female.. developed blood clots on my lungs for apparently no reason, found them when going to ER and complaining of bad headache, nausea and left shoulder and back pain. I haven't had a recent surgery, nor was on birth control.

I'm dealing with anxiety, depression, unusual headache, horrible back and upper shoulder pain, itching of head, hair falling out during shampooing, , tightness in chest, trouble swallowing, really bad pain in hips, legs and feel like feet swell. I don't sleep well, even on Ambien.. doesn't keep me asleep. I awake in the mornings around 4:30 with diarrhea, nausea, headache and feel awful. Never get a good nights sleep. My hips hurt as well as dealing with parathesias down right arm and into hand.. feels like needles sticking in my hand. Most days I feel wiped out in the afternoon.. as I try and drag myself out of bed to get some excersise.

Does anyone deal with parathesia's down their arms or hands.. what feels like nerve pain?

Has anyone ever tried Aggrenox, also known as Dipyridamole instead?

Or actually tried the real Coumadin, instead of the generic Warfarin?

Has any other woman out there been told not to use a tampon when on her cycle, as this will cause more menstrual bleeding?

I'm so tired of Dr.'s not having personal experience of their own with this drug.. and telling the patient that they are crazy and need to be on anxiety meds or anti-depressants. I just found out that Warfarin is the main ingredient in RAT POISON..

Has anyone EVER gone the totally nutrition route, juiced and gone radical, telling their Dr.'s that they were getting off of all meds?

Does anyone suffer from feeling like their ears are full, or hearing loss?

I'm so tired of feeling afraid.. and tossed around by Dr.'s who really don't want to do the research, nor listen to their patients.

I'd love to hear from anyone who has some insight..on any or all of the questions..

I am 36 years old and have been on Lipitor 40 for about 5 years. Over time, I have noticed it very difficult to concentrate and focus. I am always dragging, and my shoulders, neck and legs always ache. I guess I chalked most of it up to getting old. But recently, I started to get burining, shooting pains in my left elbow area (doctor says tennis elbow). After doing a little research - I was shocked to find that almost every symptom that I have- can be related back to Lipitor. I stopped taking it for a few weeks, and I started to feel a little better. I stopped because I couldn't afford it. Once I was able to refill my prescription- the same issues started again. I think that I am going to stop it for good, and document changes in my body. Hopefully for the better

It just makes me want to cry reading all these posts. I to had side effects from this drug but not anything like alot of complaints on here. I only took it for 3 months and after investigating the side effects and the risks verses the benefits I refuse to take it. My Dr. says it it up to me. I went to the National Institute of Heath risk factor calculator and found that lowering my total cholesterol from 254 to 200 only reduces my risk factor 1% over the next ten years. Had I been told that before taking this drug I would never have gotten the perscription. I ask the Dr. why he even put me on it for a 1% risk reduction and he couldn't answer. All I can say is before you take any drug find out risk-verses benefits. If you believe a drug is causing you serious side effects tell your Doctor you want off of it.

I took Levaquin for recurring sinus infection - my doctor prescribed 3 different series. By the 3rd prescription I had developed severe joint pain, mild depression, rapid heart beat and chest pains. Blood tests showed that my cardiac risk factor was elevated. I have been off of the medication for over 6 weeks, I am taking nutritional and mineral supplements but still experiencing joint and tendon pain throughout my body. While I have exercised all of my life just walking is painful. My tendons 'pop' at odd times and are very painful. I also have nerve pain/spasms that randomly shoot through my joints.