YouTube - A victim speaks

[Brian C.]

This chap puts it all so eloquently. Describes exactly my experience and I am sure that of so many who visit this site. Encouraging addendum.

*http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=7KD7omFDAKo

Brian.

[poohhel]

Wow What a powerful example of what has been occurring to statin users... just today I was contemplating what life would be like for my family if I was no longer around... I was making plans of the things I need to teach them;

for example, I do all the bill paying for my household online so my husband has not a clue of passwords, etc... so I was thinking how I need to show him this weekend how to do these things.

One more test today on my legs and feet to try and explain the weakness, numbness, constant cramping and pains; not to mention the inability to walk for any amount of time and the increasingly weakening of my ankles... I struggle to go up and down the stairs.

I am so tired of test, so tired of getting no answers and so tired of living with the pain ... I seem to be getting more and more depressed... Is this what I have to look forward to for the rest of my life? I am only 44 and should have a much longer life to look forward too but if this is what it is going to be like from now on... is it really worth it?

I know my kids, my husband, and friends are tired of me moaning and groaning and not being able to do anything... is this what is left?

[Brian C.]

Hey poohhel, hang on in there! We have this group to support us with shared knowledge. It's ignorance that kills, remember that.

I know how you feel, there have been many times when I just didn't care if I lived or not, the effort seeming just too much. Sometimes that still comes back although fleetingly now.

At the end of the video Dave gives an upbeat message recorded a year later.
Hold on to that.

Brian.

[bunnylady]

I was also depressed, tired of the pain, the constant inability to even go grocery shopping- my doctor put me on a medrol pack of prednisone- wow! I felt normal- since then I have been on 30-40 mg of prednisone- have gone on vacations, flying, driving etc- can shop and play with grandkids- still take all the vitamins- I can feel the symptoms bleed thru a bit- but don't want to take a higher dose of the prednisone

see a doctor about getting on prednisone- perhaps it would be a good interim treatment until your body heals- I know some people on the board don't endorse it but I would rather live 3 good years than feel like crap for 10 or however long I've got left- I'm 59

[mgguy]

Poohhel, don't let this mood overtake you. I have read all of your posts and have been inspired by your determination to find out what is causing your symptoms and to move forward and heal. I think it is normal to feel discouraged when there seems to be no end in sight, but that is just a perception and emotion. You really don't know what your future holds. For all you know, you could be totally healed and living a very active and happy life within months. I say yes, prepare for the worst but keep moving forward and doing whatever you have to do day by day until you move past this. Please keep posting on this forum because you are making a positive difference in the lives of many people like me who are trying to understand what the hell happened to them from the statins.

[SusieO]

Pooh don't give up!!!! Each day I am able to even walk around the house I am so thankful.

I started exercising using an Ab Lounger and the first two weeks it went well and then last week I added in using my legs more to do a "better" crunch and by Friday I was in pain and my legs were very weak. I was depressed and down in the dumps, but I kept thinking "at least I can still walk some using my cane and for that I am thankful". I rested most of this weekend and today my legs are much better.

Do you have a cane? I swear using a cane when my legs are so weak and in pain really gives me a boost and I can walk better. It took me a while to even want to use a cane, but once I realized it made walking so much less painful I was happy.

Due to my bad memory I don't recall how long it has been for you since you have been off Lipitor. The depression got to me more in the beginning and once I felt like I was done with all the tests and just made the adjustment to the way my life was going to be the depression started to ease up. I truly feel all the tests with no diagnosis is what got me feeling so low.

I just turned 50 this spring and will be off Lipitor 3 yrs in October - I want to enjoy each day to the max since I am not sure when my last one will be due to the damage from Lipitor or whatever else it may be! Don't let this drug get the best of you and know all of us here truly care!!!!

[cjbrooksjc]

I will turn 65 this July 28th. I began Statins as an athletic 61 yr. old. I have only felt the miserable side effects for about 3 1/2 yrs and have been improving slowly since August 8, 2006 when I put them down for good. It is absolutely heartbreaking to read these stories of hopelessness from much younger people - and infuriating as well! But with the advent of lawsuits, and expose TV segments, and US Senate conversations about this misused, mismanaged medicine - I feel this enormous wave about to curl over and pound the living #$%& out of the pharmacy companies; at least that is my fondest hope. Courage friends.

Regards,

Brooks

[xrn]

Courage indeed!
Hi Brooks. There is a lot happening behind the scenes to bring about your fondest hope. A little patience my friend... not much longer to go now.

xrn

[Biologist]

Brian,

That was a good find of a video. Thanks.

I also watched this one which was listed on the same "page" as your video, and it too was good.

*http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=eMgHecqxffo

The guy mentions drinking non-chlorinated water. Probably a good idea for statin damaged people. I am as sensitive as anyone to energy concerns with hydrocarbon abuse with the plastic bottles, etc, but I may start drinking bottled water for some time to come, and I recommend everyone here consider doing the same. Chlorination is to kill bacteria. Our cellular bacteria-based mitochondria (yes, I've been reading the book you suggested, it's good) probably could use a break more so than most people's. I keep an aquarium or two with tropical fish. The fish don't like it either -- it can hurt or kill them. Everyone else can drink from the tap, we probably should not if there is chlorine or such residues in our local tap water. Just something to think about.

Brooks,

Reading another book recently I was thinking about your mentioning that you are or were constantly thirsty and that you have or had a weight problem. If you haven't recently, you may want to get hour blood sugar levels checked to rule out possible pre-diabetes. That combination of symptoms you cite can be an indicator apparently. (My guess is that you have already had that checked.) When I was trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with me a couple of years ago -- why I had such little energy and was sweating at temperatures where others were not -- I bought a blood glucose meter and monitored mine for a while. I was OK. Wish I had thought of statins as being the possible cause. It sure was. (Oh, and it caused the semi-ED for me too, as the guy cites in Brian's video.) I was a devoted statin junkie at the time having thoroughly bought into the multibillion dollar propaganda campaign so it never even crossed my mind that it could be the culprit. The lying bastards sure got me...

Gatta love this. Right from the bottle label on Lipitor (from one of my recent books):

"Important information: ...Lipitor has not been shown to
prevent heart disease or heart attacks."

Hell, these doctors don't even read the labels, let alone the package inserts! And you might expect that would be a minimum effort. You would hope they might actually read the studies because as fraudulent as they are, there is still some truth that leaks thorough -- such as showing stains are useless when the numbers are carefully examined. Like statins, our doctors are worse than worthless. In my case and your case, we had to go to the doctor to get sick. How insane is that?! But you got to give it to the drug company lawyers. Sounds like they've got themselves covered pretty well as far efficacy concerns are concerned. Hell, its right on the bottle!

BTW, here's a quote from one of my books that some may find of interest:

"Total cholesterol levels of 400 mg/dL appear safer than
total cholesterol levels of 188 mg/dL or lower. In 2003,
the Journal of American Geriatrics Society published the
findings of researchers Brescianini and colleagues.
Studying the total cholesterol levels of 3,295 participants
aged 65-84 over a 4-year period, they concluded that
those with low cholesterol levels (less than 189 mg/dL)
are at higher risk of dying even when many related factors
have been taken into account. Having total cholesterol
levels from 276 to 417 mg/dL was better suited for longevity
relative to having a total cholesterol level less than
189 mg/dL."

Big Pharma may need their good lawyers for Nuremberg II in the future. I hope we all get a front row seats...

Biologist

[Biologist]

Sorry, Spaceadmin, I meant to put an "*" in front of the hyperlink.

Chalk that up to statin memory problems as I had planned to do that before posting -- about 30 seconds prior to posting!

Thanks for fixing it for me.

Biologist

[cjbrooksjc]

Biologist: Yes, the sweating, exhaustion, thirst, urination - all pointed to some glucose problem, but that seems not to be the case; just Statins working their magic. And, inre to the lawsuits and labeling: a lot depends on what the labels contained when you BEGAN taking the medicine (I use the term loosely), and how effective Pharma's response has been to on-going complaints.

Regards,

Brooks

[vipergg22]

What we all believe in here. This appears to be on the ball and I am sure Duane would agree with a lot of his statements.

*http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=eMgHecqxffo&NR=1

[Biologist]

Brooks,

Yes, I agree about the date of "the notice" being a significant issue.

However, the fact that these drugs don't do what they are claimed to do is the least of the concerns for *serious* lawsuits. It's what they actually do (i.e., major damage) that should be the basis of meaningful suits. It seems to me.

BTW, in reading some of Sharon Hope's old writings on the web (whose husband was badly damaged by statins and was written about in Money Magazine some year ago), at one point she mentioned in a post that "conventional wisdom" is 1.5 years of recovery time per year of use for many people. Also, it is interesting that there does not seem to be any defenders (usually MDs) on the web for statins that I can find anymore. They use to debate her. They've all seemed to have gone away. I appears "web history" has now proven her right.

bucho has sure been proven right, by me recently, about the incredible ups and downs possible towards a gradual improvement. Yesterday was one of the worst days I have had in months. I actually went back to bed after being up a few hours. No energy at all. It's fortunate that I am self-employed and that it was possible for me. I had already been planning at that time for an equally bad day today and how to deal with what needed to get done. This has turned out to be one of the best days I have had ever. Both mentally and physically and energy wise. Go figure. I was thinking earlier today, that aside from my arm tremors and the need for carnitine, that I would hardly know that I had been through it all if I did not know better. Wonder what tomorrow will be like?

I do have a very tentative suspect -- because there has to be a reason for it, right? I give at least 25% odds that Vitamin C may be a factor by down regulating CoQ10 in all cells just as you "discovered" it can do per your research. Aside from the experiment I mention in another post recently of cutting all supplements for a few days at the end of last week, Vitamin C usage was the only change preceding my down and up days of yesterday and today. I had just recently (maybe Sunday) added it back at about two or three grams, but quit early yesterday. You may want to try leaving it off for a few days as a check. If it is a factor, you will notice an improvement inside a few days -- and maybe the very next day. I will be leaving it off for some time (out of caution) and may try an experiment much later on with it. (Two or three years from now, hopefully, I will be taking it regularly as I beleive Pauling & Co. may be right.) For now, I potentially put it in the "Chloride category" as something fine and recommended for healthy people, but questionable for statin damage recoverees. Again, low odds, but possibly very significant.

Biologist

[cjbrooksjc]

Thanks, I'll drop the Vit C for the time being. I had a couple of GREAT days last W/E followed by 'in bed and in the dumper' again yesterday. It's so frustrating, and hard to know the incubation period of whatever might be the cause of either ups OR downs. My natural inclination is to exert myself or take a pill, experience the result, and act accordingly. But I just don't know what sort of lag time we might be dealing with, and that makes it terribly hard to pin down cause and effect. Do you know what I mean?... sort of like multiple sign waves and determining the point where they all intersect occasionally. It makes me (and you, I'm sure) a bit nuts at times. I know I should be more patient and scientific in my approach to resolution, but that noble thought is really hard to contain when I feel like crap. Ah, well, off to bed. Tomorrow may be a good day; who knows?

Regards,

Brooks

[Val]

Biologist mentioned drinking water and I believe he was onto something. I too am a victim of Statins but also Cipro (fluorquinolones) another class of medicines found to have the same side effects. In my reasearch I've discovered several sites dealing with fluoride toxicity which again share the same symptoms.
Many of our most devastating diseases have actually developed in the last 50 years since fluoridation became so prevalent and due to the occasional failure of the dispensing mechanisms in municipal water supplies we have had the "opportunity" to observe the effects on survivors of fluoride poisoning which are basically the same as the side effects of Statins and other fluorinated pharmaceuticals. However these "accidents" are rarely publicized so the public is kept unaware of the dangers in order to avert chaos.
One of the first things I noticed was the destruction of the immune system and the many ill effects noted following that (think AIDS, cancer,
diabetes, etc. etc., all auto-immune disorders.
I can't help but wonder why Doctors and Scientists are not connecting the dots here.
Fluorides have been increasing in our water, foods, the air we breath and has a cumulative effect so that what our bodies may tolerate at 18 could possibly be lethal at 40. Would be interested in hearing others views on this.

[adec]

This is so sad. God bless this Brit. What an eloquent and powerful testimonial against statins.

I've met many specialists, doctors, nurses, clinicians, technicians, assistants etc along this 1.6 year long statin nightmare. And yet I've had extremely limited success in convincing any of them to the perils of statins, CoQ10 depletion, and the ENTIRE cholesterol MYTH. Myths are not based in fundamental fact or pure science, only conjecture. But it's almost like we speak a different language.

And even though I now speak fluent medicalese, I'm not part of that secret society. And they don't care how many references I make to Hippocrates.

Statins are especially akin to death sentences for the old and elderly. I'm actually more angered, frustrated, and incensed today than ever!

[Biologist]

Val, I think you are probably right on the fluoride thing. Thanks for bringing that up.

Biologist

[sos_group_owner]

Hello Val,

Re: I can't help but wonder why Doctors and Scientists are not connecting the dots here.

Oh, the dots are connected alright! Just not in our favor.
Doctor's get kick-backs, so they won't get out-of-line any time soon.
Clinical trial results are determined by or funded by the drug companies.
China's FDA executive was just executed for shady dealings, approving drugs without testing. FDA in the USA at least tests drugs going to market, but with 'manipulated' trial results, why do they bother? We are the guinea pigs and when we squeal (complain to 'compensated' doctors), they ignore our cries.

Best way to deal with this situation? Just say NO to drugs... cholesterol lowering drugs, that is... When the money stops rolling in, they'll get the message.

My vent for the day...

Fran

[Brian C.]

It's not just the financial aspect, what we are faced with here now is a MEME - a self-replicating cultural artifact.
Your difficulty in communication is akin to that experienced beween alien cultures - or religions

Science, not just medicine, is more like religion than a lay-person can believe!

And never forget Shaw's observation in "The Doctor's Dilemma":

"All professions are conspiracies against the laity"

That is "all" as in "ALL"

Brian.

[Biologist]

Brooks,

I agree completely with your last post in this thread. I do not see you as being unscientific though -- you've nailed the whole mess with your few words. There are just too many variables and too many unknowns for us to be very effective at reaching any reliable findings. And speaking of --- since I had a fairly sorry day yesterday and today has not been a much better, I am lowering my estimated odds to 10% on Vitamin C being causative. I will continue to leave it off for a while though.

Fran,

You mention "Doctor's get kick-backs, so they won't get out-of-line any time soon." I am not doubting it at all, but how blatant is the kick back? Do you know how the system works in the States? I am aware of the UK system where it seems to be very direct kick back.

Brian,

You post is right on the mark too. The meme concept is particularly insightful.

Biologist