Well Phlosphr went to the doc yesterday afternoon to followup on some blood work I had done a week or so ago. I walked into the docs and sat down…One thing led to another and before I knew it I was being asked if I had kids… :dubious: No not yet I said…
Doctor says, " do you want to live to have them??" :eek:
Ok, point taken.
So I’m going to start Lipitor today - I’ve heard of some nasty side effects. Does anyone have any anecdotes or info on the side effects, and how long they last etc…etc…
I was on Lipitor for about 3 years until my new insurance would no longer cover it (was changed to Lovastatin). I never had any side effects from taking Lipitor - never even knew I was taking it. I was told that it is one of the best for controlling cholestral (least side effects).
I also don’t have any side effects from taking Lovastatin.
Not really a side effect, but the biggest “effect”/change has been having to cut out grapefruit. I love gratefruit juice (and sodas like Squirt) that I can no longer enjoy. (In case you don’t know, the possible side effects of grapefruit and Lipitor are really nasty !)
Take note of this one. It seems that injecting grapefruit /grapefruit juice and some drugs can lead to higher levels of the drugs getting into your system. Grapefruit juice + cholestoral drugs may have had a hand in the death of my SO’s father, and a friend that has had an organ transplant has been told no grapefruit products. info
My doctor would constantly slip me Lipitor samples even though my insurance wouldn’t cover it. She swears by it. It did wonders for my cholesterol levels. And I never experienced any negative side-effects. I’m a believer.
Cholesterol seems to be the deadly enemy of all physicians, so they always insist you take statins. They do work, but they seldom bother to mention the dangerous side effects. I’ve tried several differnt ones, including Lipitor, and within a month or so, begin to get severe pain in my leg muscles. I’ve read a couple of articles that mention this and that it can be dangerous for the small percentage of people who get this reaction.
The slips that come with these statins mention that problem buried in vast amounts of verbiage about possible side effects. I can’t find a cite now, but did some research on the 'Net med sites, and it can be very dangerous. Also, statins can, for some people, cause liver damage.
The side-effect slips I got said that the physician should monitor your liver function periodically after starting, but none of my family docs or cardiologist ever did. As my level is about 250, I’ll be damed if I’ll risk this muscle deterioration trying to get the cholesterol lowered.
I tried the large doses of Niacin, and while the flushing side effect was not that bad, it really it really did not help. My current doc has me taking Red Yeast Rice, but have not done so long enough to see if it is effective. Flaxseed oil is also supposed to help.
My BIL is on it. For the first several months, he was incredibly flatulant, and the smell was over-powering. According to the people he carpooled with, they had to pull over and bail out, on several occasions.
The two side effects worth noting are an elevation in liver enzymes and muscle inflammation; both of these effects reverse when the medication is stopped, except in vanishingly rare cases. Neither of these side effects is very common; the muscle pain is barely more common than in placebo at the lowest doses. (Everyone knows someone who had liver problems and had to stop the drug, but that’s because pretty much everybody is on one.)
Study after study has reaffirmed the benefit of the statins. We have yet to find the floor for LDL; every time a study pushes it lower, it shows benefit. (Those in the highest risk groups should be down around 70 now.) The benefits are huge compared to the miniscule risk of any lasting damage from side effects.
It is important to get your liver function monitored periodically; you should have your doctor make a plan for this when he gives you the prescription.
My husband has also been on Lipitor for several years without any side effects. His doc did routine blood tests for liver function for a few months after beginning the drug but he doesn’t even do that now.
Been taking it since 2002. No serious side effects, except my legs are a little more likely to cramp up when forced into confinement on airplanes or in concert halls.
My father was on it for about 6 months. It helped his cholestorol, but his memory was completely shot during that period. He would ask me the same questions multiple times a day, as wel as tell the same stories multiple times. He has no memory of any movies he watched or books he read during that period. Actually he barely remembers anything from that time period. He finally decided to stop taking it, and admitted that it was like he came out of this constant haze he didnt realize he was in. Ever since his memory has been fine and has had no repeats of the memory loss symptoms.
My husband has been on it for a couple of years. Before he went on it, his cholesterol was over 300. No, that’s not a misprint, it was 300+. He has his liver function checked every 6 months, but hasn’t had any bad effects at all.
My doctor put me on Crestor, which from what I understand has a higher incidence of problems than Lipitor. He never told me to avoid grapefruit products (not and issue, as I hate grapefruit to begin with). I really need to fire this guy. He put me on it on FAT TUESDAY after I had been eating like it was my JOB all day. And didn’t ask me to fast.
