Birchie - he was tired all the time, had pretty severe leg cramps and general muscle weakness (ex - he lifted a glass bowl off the counter and dropped it, said he felt like his hand just gave out), some nausea and stomach upset, started to have pretty out of the blue short term memory loss and just overall didn't feel right. He stopped them, the symptoms went away. Three months ago, he started taking them again just to see what would happen and within 10 days the same symptoms came back. It was freaky. He has always been medication sensitive, not sure it would impact everyone like that. I know a couple of other people who have had the leg cramps and muscle weakness, but not the others.
Shannon, how horrible. Good decision to check again and very good decision to stop. That's interesting how his cholesterol reading was down. I wonder whether it naturally varies over time.
Allison, a 10 hour day wouldn't be good for my blood pressure!
That sounds awful, Birchie. Hope you get it taken care of as soon as possible.
I'm off with dh this afternoon for a weekend in Monterey. Very excited! Next weekend I'm going to Arizona to visit dd, so my weight will not likely be going in the right direction for awhile. I was getting close to my redline but now I'm several pounds over. After Arizona, I intend to get serious about getting back under. I'm thinking I will promise myself a reward of some new clothes once I'm safely back under. I need an incentive! After Arizona is my book fair and I work crazy long hours that week, so it should help some!
JayEll, I told my doctor that I'd take statins when the studies done on them specific to women and specific to my cholesterol situation satisfied basic practices of good study regarding sample size, significance, and common factors.
Shannon, thank goodness he was aware enough of himself to stop before the drugs did any permanent damage!
Michele, enjoy the book fair - should be crazy!
Allison, I agree the 10 hour days are really tough. Not only does it eat into all the other things that life requires, but I just don't make good decisions when I'm tired with/from work.
to all! Just came back from a week-long recruiting trip for my company to my undergrad alma mater (MTU). It was restorative to have 8 unencumbered hours to think while driving each way, and it was also good to meet so many really top-notch, hard-working and aware young people. MTU is much more rounded than it was 25 years ago and has a greater variety of programs. The sophomores and juniors were polished, confident, and every single one of them had worked on projects that could make a positive impact. It was a good week.
Birchie - his has fluctuated over the years, but has always gone up here and there rather than down. Every man and most of the women in his direct line family have high cholesterol, but only one has had a heart condition, his uncle had open heart surgery after a heart attack in his early 40s. He also smoked a lot at the time. He lived for another 40 years after his open heart surgery, never any problem with it again. It was bone cancer that killed him eventually. We'll never go back to the statins.
We are going to be on vacation the next two weeks, we were going to Mexico but had to cancel it and reschedule that trip into next year. We are going to got to Biloxi for a few days next week, then after that I think we are just going to rest and hang out at home for the remainder of the vacay. Both of us are worn out and somewhat burned from work, so any break is a good break.
I was just reading about magnesium. A shortage of magnesium causes high blood pressure and muscle cramps. I do take a multi-vitamin, so I need to determine if there is enough magnesium in that. It might be that that is all I need to do--increase magnesium (as well as potassium, which I already do through diet). Looks like I'll also need to look at my book again. It could be I'm getting enough magnesium through food.
to all! Just came back from a week-long recruiting trip for my company to my undergrad alma mater (MTU). It was restorative to have 8 unencumbered hours to think while driving each way, and it was also good to meet so many really top-notch, hard-working and aware young people. MTU is much more rounded than it was 25 years ago and has a greater variety of programs. The sophomores and juniors were polished, confident, and every single one of them had worked on projects that could make a positive impact. It was a good week. 
