Is it as annoying to everyone else all the varying degrees of disease symptoms we can experience from day to day? Just when I thought I was doing pretty well for a few days, suddenly Iām feeling like a wet noodle. But, here I am at 3:45a.m., unable to sleep, and tomorrow (I mean today) is a busy day ahead, so the downward spiral will probably continue!
Iām trying to figure out if my weak legs and increasingly painful feet are all due to PsA damage or is this caused by one of the pills I take to prevent heart diseaseā¦my statin has yucky SEs like weak muscles, joint pain, headache, etc., and I wish I knew if this is why I have more of these symptoms. Iām on the smallest dose of the statin I take, but it worries me itās the cause of my leg pain/weakness and some of the increased pain in my feet. Itās brought my total cholesterol down nearly 100 points, though, so it really is working to help me avoid more blockagesā¦
Ugh, I just donāt know whatās going onā¦it makes me feel depressed. Oh, and thatās another possible SE of the statin! But, all of this could also be a flare, or worse yet, Enbrel losing its effectiveness.
Did you miss me? (LOL) Iāve been away travelling for five weeks, oh boy, did I get home exhausted yesterday.
The statin thing is so frustrating, isnāt it? I fought taking one until my PsA specialist said she really wanted me on one, and then I relented. The first statin (Crestor) gave me insomnia. Yeah, the pharmacist laughed when he heard that, cuz he said that was a new one for him. But it was true! So then I switched to lipitor. Being really really, and I mean really, negative about statins, I cheated and took only a half dose of what was prescribed. OK, Iām bad, but thatās not news. Things went OK.
Meanwhile, I started getting what the ortho guy said was SI pain radiating down my leg and into my groin. It was AWFUL, but what could I do? A muscle relaxant helped a bit. Anyway, the statin seemed to agree with me OK. My NP laughed when I admitted having cheated, but my blood work was getting close to the āgoodā level, so I relented and started taking the whole dose.
We went away to England, and I started getting the most awful one-sided back and leg ache. I was even limping. Figured it was the unfamiliar bed. It was really spoiling my days. One day I thought āNot only is this leg aching, now it feels weak!ā, and that was the push that sent me to Dr. Google. And guess what ā¦ muscle weakness is one of the SEs of Lipitor.
I immediately quit taking it. The pain was gone the next day, and I havenāt been troubled with it since. This morning, back on home turf, I took half a dose of Lipitor and we will see how that goes. Iād almost changed my mind about taking a statin, but now Iām right back to feeling rebellious. On the other hand, I can do without a blockage or a stroke, which are risks that come with this damned disease of ours. I will be making an appointment with my NP to discuss. She will tell me to take CoQ10, like she did before. More pills.
Seenie, I DID miss you! I was wondering where the he** you were!!
Thatās funny, because I tried Lipitor a few years ago and it gave me such weird pains that my doctor told me to stop it immediately! (I think I mentioned somewhere along the way the weird sharp pains I got in my right boob and shoulder the three days I took it.)
Anyway, I had started on 10 mg of Crestor last August when I had the stent put in. Brought my cholesterol down into the 170sāwhich was -100 points. I noticed I was having a lot of brain fog, confusion, you know, that stuff you can get with PsAābut this was differentā¦I also had more anxiety. So my doctor told me it would be okay to take half the Crestor. That seemed to work for awhile, but my FEET! Ugh, they keep hurting more and more! Iāve been limping so bad and trying not to so a few days ago I reduced the dose to 1/3 pill, so about 3.3 mg a day!!! I betcha any money my cholesterol will stay down, because I swear Iām hypersensitive to most pills and the normal dose for most other people is too much for me! Iāve already noticed less pain in my feet yesterday and today, and Iām crossing my fingers (well, trying to anyway) that Iāve found the answer and not only will my pain be less, but my cholesterol will stay downāplease, PLEASE, PALEASEEEE!!!
I really didnāt expect my cholesterol number to be so good after I reduced my dose to 5 mg, but Iāve also been eating old fashioned oatmeal every morning for breakfast, and I think oatmeal is supposed to be good for reducing total cholesterol. I also religiously take my Ult. Omega fish oil, CoQ10, and try to eat lots of veggies, fruit and nuts. I am so hoping I can stay at the 3.3mg Crestor, and the dose is small enough to not cause the pain SE.
Iāll be interested to hear about your experience with re-starting Lipitor at half doseāitād be great if you donāt get the SE, but Iām not having positive vibes about that one! I think a lot of people have trouble with Lipitor. Iām thinking statins are poisonā¦my Registered Dietitian daughter seems to think so, too!
By the way, did I ever mention I had sort of apologized to my internist at my last physical and blamed myself for refusing to take statins after my bad experience with Lipitor? I said Iām sure you think Iām an idiot for not complying and taking a statin to prevent my heart diseaseā¦she said, no, you were born predisposed to heart diseaseā¦taking a statin probably wouldnāt have prevented your blockage. In my head Iām thinking, say whaaaattt??? Iām still a little confused about that comment and wondering, what IS the point of taking a statin then?
Yes cutting back on Statins is a good idea. BUT an even better ideal is folks with arthritis is no statins if there is a way. The whole mechanism of statins pretty much mirrors how we get systemic inflammation. Now cardiologists and their potions are a scary proposition and if you want to see medical nuclear war jsu have a non cardioloigist question one (although most Reumies could pass as one with out the mechanical interventions as they have the same education)
I would seriously ask him to consider Zetia or similar. It is a MUCH better medication for arthritis patients as it is less liver intensive (it works in the GI tract). Given you history of Stomach issues, it could even help with those. Zetia works by blocking absorption of cholesterol in the digestive tract. FWIW cholesterol causes a lot of stomach upset - think of eating a big greasy sausage. All these meds are a real balancing act so if he doenāt want to change or consider ask him politley of course why. Many get stuck on their personal experience (which is what you are paying for) that has resulted in good outcomes and really donāt want to fix what aināt broke. BUT the good ones will consider a possible better outcome for YOU.
So I came back, and started on a half dose again. The next day I accidentally took a full dose. That was about three days ago, and then the pain started: same thing, same muscles. I didnāt take any more, but my quad was so damned sore, it felt like a pit bull had a death grip on one spot. (Weird, it was like a really bad cramp in one place on my quad, and weakness everywhere else.) Today itās almost gone. Needless to say, I tossed the lipitor out of the pill reminder box.
I suppose I need to make an appointment with the NP, but I just donāt want to deal with the statin thing at the moment. I suppose @tntlamb is going to say ādo you want to deal with a stroke at the moment?ā Ugh.
My problem isnāt high cholesterol. My triglicerides are OK, but my HDL is low, so itās the ratio of LDL/HDL thatās wonky. Iāve read that depressed HDL is typical of PsA. One more interesting effect of our beloved (not) disease.
Anyway, Iām NOT going to deal with this today. Itās not an emergency, in my book,.
Iām smiling at the pair of you. Iām glad from what Mr Lamb said theyāve worked up a better statin now. Maybe thatās a better choice, although if you think Iāve a bad attitude to DMARDS, Iām pretty anti-statins not because Iāve needed them but simply from watching others with truly not nice side effects, that broke their emotional hearts and didnāt seem to do must for them cardiac wise either. Iād rather eat 25 tubs of benecol a day washed down with its yogurt drink to see if that made any difference first. But what do I know.
Best of luck Sceenie. It also made me smile that you do ā not dealing with this todayā thing too.
Thank you so much, tntlambā¦I appreciate this advice from youā¦I was so skeptical of statins but after my blockage I felt I didnāt have a choice! Maybe the statin isnāt causing any of my foot pain, but if it is, I need to stop itā¦Iāll definitely ask about Zetia. Anyway, like I said, Iām down to 1/3 of the Crestor pillā¦didnāt mention that to my cardiologist YET.
My rheumy appointment is coming up in a couple weeksā¦Iāll talk to him about thisāI hope he knows as much as you knowāIām not sure, but he listens to me and hopefully he knows what you mentioned in the quote above.
I take the statin before bed and my stomach often hurts during the night into the morning. Itās funny, my husband takes the largest dose of CrestorāI think itās 40mgāand he has no problems at allā¦however, he does have a lot of aches and pains.
Seenie, you crazy lady!
Seriously, thoughā¦
Hey, thatās interesting about low HDL being typical of PsA! Iāve always had high HDL (75 to 78)ā¦thatās part of the reason I didnāt think I needed a statin. Itās still high, even though my total cholesterol went down to 170! So weird! And, I thought high HDL is a good thing for removing LDL from the blood. That was another reason why I didnāt think my high total cholesterol was a bad thing. I always had a good ratio of HDL to total cholesterol, but I guess my genetic predisposition to heart disease doesnāt probably have much to do with my cholesterol numbers.
Anyway, I appreciate your thoughts and humor, too!!!
