Toxic level symptoms and conditions

I am a 35 yr old male and have been taking lipitor about 7 yrs. I have a genetically high cholesterol and it has been up to 275. On lipitor its around 175. Over the years I have been on this drug I went from being a normal weight and active to pretty much lethargic and sedentary due to lack of energy and gained ~50 lbs. I couldn't sleep. I got random nausea and fogginess in my brain to the point I could not remember how to perform my job. I usually had minor aches and was bloated. the past year everything has gotten much worse. For a year now, I have been getting large rashes on my body that itch severely and no medications have worked to alleviate them. I found out recently from my doctor that I have a genetic marker in my cholesterol that makes me 3 times as likely to have a heart attack. Its a portion of the cholesterol, i think its called LDL-b or something like that. Anyways, My doctor prescribed zetia to help with my cholesterol since the lipitor wasn't doing it alon. I begin feeling very sick when taking the zetia and after a week or two stopped it. The problems didn't end. As long as I remained on the lipitor, the problems seemed to continue. Its like the zetia released a dam of problems. I stopped the lipitor 4 days ago and have noticed that I feel energy coming back to me and the rash is starting to go away, but I ache severely all over. My shoulders, forearms, and legs are so sore and painful that I can't do anything about this except sleep so I don't feel the pain. I am also very weak feeling and I notice stiffness in my fingers and my grip is very weak compared to how it normally is. I have nausea and stomach cramps and constipation. I feel miserable. I notice its worse in the morning and gets a little better towards the afternoon. I typically took my lipitor in the morning. I do not know if there is a relationship here. Please advise on any help you can provide.

KMJ
07-30-08

We have all been saying that our issues regard not being informed about all of the possible side effects. And, we know that Singulair works well for some people. Nobody wants to take a good drug away from those for which it probably performs miracles. People who have toxic side effects have a right to know up front.

My observations about montelukast's chemical structure are either general or not quite 100% correct or could be quite vague - so forgive me. I do not claim to be good at organic chemistry. But from doing a little work, I have come up with some observations.

1. It would seem to me that montelukast might work quite well for people who have developed mold category related asthma. I observed that chloroquinolin, a component of montelukast, is a good fungicide effective against Aspergillus, Alternaria, Cladosporium, Penicillium and Candida. Dust mites can only digest if helped by aspergillus so they go into the mold category. Molds produce millions of spores so anyone who lives in contact with mold would be chronically sick from their presence. Then people get hypersensitized to that.

I am probably wrong but I could imagine that montelukast is: 1) a ligand that binds to an empty cysLT1 receptor for a period of time 2) 7-chloroquinolin-2-yl which either acts intact or breaks down into a quinoline fungicide so that it kills the chronic mold/fungus infection and 3) a sulphur/methyl anti-inflammatory component that tells the t-cells that they are not needed so they will die. Wow, that would be great for mold asthma if it was completely non-toxic. It would be also great under controlled circumstances for many people who are mold-miserable. If I am wrong, I better go out into my garage and start inventing such a drug.

This is my visualization to try to explain the side effects of neurotoxicity. So adverse reactions could be to the quinoline component as an allergic reaction or dose related so that it just built up to a toxic level over time. There are many signs that t-cell populations are significantly reduced by montelukast. The fact that the Italians can do it in the test tube might be that it's a chemical component of montelukast designed to cause the t-cells to die.

Montelukast is a large molecule so Artie says it cannot penetrate the blood brain barrier. That would be an argument if nobody was complaining about neuro-psychiatric side effects. The neuro-psychiatric side effects are identical to quinoline and quinolones. When I read about Lariam, it just sounds like a more extreme version of Singulair side effects. Chloroquinolins were used before they invented Lariam, which is stronger. The malaria Plasmodiums became immune. Hallucinations, anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts are completely consistent in all of the quinoline/quinolones. If montelukast breaks into sub-molecules then quinolines easily penetrate the blood brain barrier.

I find clinical evidence that montelukast may act as more than more molecule. And, that there is a rational for the existence of the chloroquinolin and evidence that it may be the source of toxicity.

I am glad to risk being called crazy. That is what the internet is for. We can present our ideas and discuss. So, just take this with a grain of salt. If I am close to the truth, this post will find it's proper home.

I had been able to sleep without any problems my whole life. I could sleep anywhere. Then about year ago, that changed. I wasn't able to sleep. I wasn't tired and could stay up all night. After about four months of this, I tried ambien. Started off with 10 mg for about four months. Then switched to 5mg. The 5 mg works just as great as the 10mg. I don't have all the side effects that everyone else has, but I do have some. I wake up with a "hangover" feeling. There is also the dizziness and headaches. And the depression is starting to really get to me. And I am really starting to have problems focusing. These side effects seem to increase the longer I take it. I know I am addicted to ambien...........I start to get panicky if I start to think of not taking it. I am going to try and break the ambien into smaller amounts..........I truly believe there is a toxic level with ambien.