December 5th
2007
9:58 PM
I am in tears reading everyone's Lipitor experiences because I can relate to so much of what you all are saying. I am a 48 year old female. Was on Lipitor for a little over a year, and stopped taking it about 6 weeks ago. My symptoms included excruciating neck and arm pain, leg muscle pain, knee pain, tingling arms and elbows, hip pain. I blamed my neck problems on a previous injury. I did chiropractic treatment, acupuncture, massage. All helped temporarily, but it always came back. I assumed it was something I would have to live with for the rest of my life.
Then i started having the strange leg muscle pain. It felt like a Charlie horse but in weird spots like my ankles, my shin as well as my calves. Then the knee pain started. I can not sit any length of time without my knee aching. I also have a hitch in my hip...I guess that's what you'd call it. I feel pain when I walk, but can usually walk through it. I was also tired all the time, day after day. Sleeping was miserable because of the neck, knee and hip pain. In combination with the tiredness and the aches and pains, I thought I was just getting old, maybe arthritic!! And this from someone who has always been active....walking, weight lifting, always on the go.
I started getting suspicious when I started listening to the Lipitor commercials on TV that stated "...report any muscle pain or weakness to your doctor as this may be a sign of a rare, but serious side effect..." or something like that. Maybe that's a new "warning" that they didn't use to say on the commercial? Well, I went off of it on my own and I could not believe how much better I felt after only a few days!!! My chronic neck pain has basically disappeared...I still don't have full movement like normal folk but the pain is gone! I have so much more energy, and my leg cramps are gone. I still have a problem with my hip and knee.
Since being off Lipitor, my cholesterol has gone sky high....actually higher than when I first started! My total cholesterol began a little over a year ago at 247, got it down to 190, now after being off the Lipitor for 4 weeks it's a whopping 298!!! My ldl started at 162, got down to 128 and is now 206!!!!
So in addition to all the problems I had being on the Lipitor, it appears going off of it has worsened by cholesterol!!
I am now taking ground flax seed - 2 T daily. I am also going to try cholesterol Off by Nature Made. I will NEVER subject my body and spirit to statins again.
I thank all of you for posting your problems with Lipitor. I wish you all luck, and maybe we'll get to meet each other someday....in court.
-- By conij | Reply | Private Message me
December 14th
2006
10:38 AM
Kim:
It seems you didn't read all of the posts, that have been written here during the last days. There is noone who says, you will be like you are now forever!!
You think noone here was as bad as you and dejay Kim???
Ok, I think I didn't tell my whole story for too long. So here it is. And dear, believe me: I and many other ladies were exactly as bad as you and maybe even worse!!!
I also nearly lost my job, because I wasn't able to work for months!!!!! I wasn't able to sing in my band, which I had done until that time for 14 years, which really broke my heart!!
I didn't even leave my house for about 3 months, and after this time I went out to the supermarket only together with my husband, never alone and only for a few minutes because I wasn't able to stand more than a few minutes without getting a fainting spell!!! I simply was no longer "alive"!!!
Tingling arms and legs, hurting muscles, muscle weakness, headaches to the point where I wanted to put my head off! Fainting spells without any reason, just doing a few steps to the toilet nearly made me break down, breathlessness like an 90years old ill person just after doing a few steps around here in my living room, aching joints, numb feeling in my legs, arms, and the list goes on!!
I went through a total hell and worse! I really believed I was goin' to die within the next months and believe me: At some point I couldn't even awate it, because I didn't want to feel all this any longer!!!
Well, I normally don't really want to think back to that time, because it was a living nightmare, which I'm still somehow shocked about!
Some days I even wasn't able to go into another room here in my own house because of the anxious feeling, the dizziness, the faint feeling and the breathlessness and weakness! Most of the time, my husband had to stay with me even on toilet!!!!!!
My head was foggy, I felt as if my life was just a dream and I wasn't really awake. I was sitting here all day in ONE room, trying to read a paper or watch TV, couldn't even work on my computer or do ANYTHING else because I had very bad vision problems and nervousness to the point where I thought, I'd go crazy about that!!
Sometimes a day I got some tiredness which wasn't only tiredness. It felt, as if someone had knocked me down and I was going to faint! I never had such a frightening feeling my entire life before!!!
My mum and dad had to come around here every day to cook for us and do our household because I wasn't even able to wash the dishes or something else because of my severe symptoms. I had turned into a total "baby", just awaiting the day that they would even have to wash me and put my clothes on!!
And for about 5 months NOONE could find out anything, thousands of doctor's visits and NOTHING!!!!! And no one was aware, my bcp could make me feel like this until I found an endocrinologist who really admitted, that all this could be brought on by my holy Yasmin!!!!! That was day 1 of my new life!!!
The next 3 - 4 months after getting off still were pure hell. But Kim and dejay, one thing you should know: I HAD BEEN ON THAT NIGHTMARE PILL FOR OVER 5 YEARS!!!!!!! And not only a few weeks or months!!
What should I tell you more?? I think this should be enough for you to see, that you're not the only ones who are doing that bad!
And comparing how long I had been taking that sh... and knowing how long you only had been on it should give you so much hope! Think about it!
I went through the hell I mentioned above for about 8 months!! And what do you see: I'm still here and look at me now:
I'm working again, singing again (have 3 new bands!), living again. Even though not everything is back to where it should be I started to live again and have still hope, that I'll be back to normal one day and completely can forget, what I've been going through!! What do you think how anxious should I be about a permanent damage, after being 5 years on this poison??????
So please kim and dejay, listen to what the ladies here are telling you and try to keep your chins up and keep in head what you've been told here so many times. IT WILL GET BETTER!!! I think you NOW know that I'm aware how hard that is and that I don't tell you just some "stories" without knowing what I'm saying.
I'm working as a lawyer's assistant and believe me: Even my boss isn't willing to start a lawsuit against a pharmazeutic group! It's sad but true: We can't really prove that we got those problems because of Yasmin and that's the problem!! There IS no doc who will attest us that fact!!! The only thing we can do is help each other, listen to each other and try not to loose hope and stay strong. This is what brought me back to life again, and nothing else!!!
And to your pacification: I finally found TWO doctor's who admitted, that the cause of all this COULD definitely be Yasmin!!
Hope that helps somehow, but please READ it, especially kim and dejay!!
Ant the others: Sorry for that long post, but I think it was really necessary!!!
Best wishes !!
Silke
-- By voicesi | Reply | Private Message me
September 14th
2005
6:47 PM
I have been on Yasmin for about 3-4 years. First couple of years was great and it worked for me to have a period. Over the last few years I have had weird issues. Light bleeding for eight weeks, pain on the right side. Had an endometrial biopsy that came back fine. Was put on Yasmin and Provera together. Have been having anxiety issues which was caused by Provera when I was on it a few years ago. Went back for for major pain on right side, had a CT Scan, doctor said it showed some white spots on the ovary that typically mean benign or it could be a dermoid cyst and it was nothing to worry about. Over the last few months have had major back and hip pain that is bad while on the Yasmin and Provera and goes away when off for the week. Have seen a new doctor, am scheduled for a MRI tomorrow and tested for PCOS and will have the results next Tuesday. I do not know if my symptoms are from the Yasmin or not, but I am about to take my self off of it to see if things improve. Also have had the tingling arms and legs and hair loss over the last few months. I can not clearly confirm the symptoms are caused by birth control as I have looked all over the internet and found very little. I have found one article that said arm and leg tingling while on birth control is a symptom b/c of the reducing of B-12 while on birth control and one article that stated that a study overseas showed that women on birth control experience back pain more then women not on.
-- By lisa52077 | Reply | Private Message me
January 13th
2009
4:21 PM
I am on my second time around with Topiramate (generic Topamax). It has been a year, and I have no reason other than weight loss to take this drug. I also don't know if the online generic versions are really Topamax except I do experience some of the side effects I read about, the tingling arms and legs, the itching, and the foul tasting carbonated drinks. I have started at 25 mg. per day 3 days ago, and am at 250 mg today with no cut in appetite except an hour after I take the pills. Do you think they are even real?
-- By riclavelle | Reply | (2) replies | Private Message me