I'm making an attempt to bring the Blog up-to-date and current for this year. After going illness free for the entire year of 2013, I started this year with health problems. On January 5, I had what appeared to be a mini stroke. It was freezing outdoors, ice on the ground, so I went outside and picked up a 20 lb. bag of salt to put on the long sidewalk alongside our house. I had the 20 lbs. bag in the crook of my left arm, spreading the salt with my right hand. All went okay, aside from the cold. I came indoors, felt fine, when all-of-a-sudden my left arm went dead and limp. Oh shit! was my reaction. Right away I'm thinking stroke. I did not have slurred speech or droopy lips, tongue, face, etc. Stacy was due home in 10 minutes so I decided to ask her to drive me to the hospital, just-in-case. We get to the hospital and the waiting room is standing room only. There were so many accidents because of the icy conditions. It was even scary driving to the hospital because the roads were that bad. It took a while to get the attention of the receptionist. I'm standing there thinking, what if I'm having a stroke and this girl is not acknowledging me. Finally, when she did look at me, she got me right into the exam room and the tests began. First EKG, then CAT scan. In the meantime, the arm went back to normal. I was kept overnight for observation and had many more tests. MRIs of the brain and spine. Echo cardiogram, Ultrasound of carotid artery, neck and brain. Blood work and god knows what else. They could find no evidence of a blood clot or a stroke. I was given baby aspirin. I learned later that the night nurse was supposed to give me a statin, but never did. I nearly had a heart attack when the phlebotomist came into my room at 5:30 a.m. and yelled my name. I was asleep and nearly fell out-of-bed when she yelled. I mentioned that to one of the many people who came into my room and was told that I would receive a survey form. Never did get the survey form. That was January. It's almost July. I've never heard from anyone at the hospital regarding a survey or a bill. I was visited by people from every department imaginable. I couldn't wait to get-out-of-there. The bed was so uncomfortable. the mattress was constantly moving and I always felt like I was slipping out-of-the bed. Went home the next day and vowed I would do everything I could to not go back into the hospital. That was my first time in a hospital since 1980. And the last, I hope.
Jump ahead to my visit to the Neurologist. She wasn't sure if I had a stroke. She said it sounds like a pinched nerve. However, there's some sort of a calcium shadow on my brain that she thinks was a mini stroke some time ago in the past. So, she has declared that I've had both a mini stroke and a pinched nerve. In doing research on the Internet, I have found that the symptoms could very well be a pinched nerve. Especially because the salt bag was 20 lbs. and held in the crook-of-my-arm. So all the doctors want me to continue with the statin (Lipitor) which I've been totally against taking. I took it for four months and my cholesterol went down to normal with my Internist saying the results were "stupendous".
Lipitor symptoms in the beginning affected my walking. Legs were sore and sluggish. I wasn't happy about that. Then about May, I started to have aches and pains in my shoulder, arm, hand, hip and intermittent other places. I didn't connect it to the Lipitor until June 6, a light bulb went off. Did more research on the Internet and read of many, many people who had experienced the same side affects as me. Stopped the Lipitor and the pain gradually went away. There a couple of lingering issues with my hip and arm muscle but, they are dwindling.
Fast forward now to the cardiologist. He told me that the dose of Lipitor that I was given was high and no wonder I had those side affects. He wants me to take the lowest dose and let him know if I start to experience the side affects again. I also told him that I was considering taking coQ10 as recommended by my Internist and friends. He advised that I should take both. That the coQ10 alone will not keep my cholesterol down. As of today, I haven't taken any more Lipitor. I want to be pain free as my lifestyle was greatly affected from the side affects.
Updates will follow as I find out how my cholesterol is after not taking Lipitor and just exercising and following my usual healthy diet.
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