The past couple of weeks has been a combined effect of muscle cramps and soreness, pain in my sides and abdomen, random chills that flow through my body, and insomnia. It seems a lot of these journal updates weigh heavily on how much I don’t feel good, but the truth is….I don’t feel very good. I suppose I was under a false impression that getting on the medication would be a bit of a magic pill. Do what’s prescribed, stay on track with it, and — badabing — I’m back to feeling 100%. Not so, my friend. Not so.
Going on three weeks now, I’ve been taking Lipitor (Atorvastatin Calcium) for high cholesterol. 10mg of it every day. Anxious to chock one up in the “live and learn” category, I didn’t look into the side effects of the drug before starting to take it. Here are the listed side effects of Lipitor:
- unexplained muscle pain, tenderness, or weakness;
- confusion, memory problems;
- fever, unusual tiredness, and dark colored urine;
- swelling, weight gain, urinating less than usual or not at all;
- increased thirst, increased urination, hunger, dry mouth, fruity breath odor, drowsiness, dry skin, blurred vision, weight loss; or
- nausea, upper stomach pain, itching, loss of appetite, dark urine, clay-colored stools, jaundice (yellowing of the skin or eyes).
Less serious side effects may include:
- mild muscle pain;
- diarrhea; or
- mild nausea.
This is not a complete list of side effects and others may occur.
You have to love that last line.
For those of you who skimmed or skipped the list go back and check out “fruity breath odor” as a listed side effect. Seriously. Fruity breath odor.
Apparently the reports for this cholesterol reducer are true because I picked up some harsh side effects.
Since a few days after starting the Lipitor my sleep has been awful. I was kept awake and re-awakened from pain in my legs. Throughout the day I would manage sharp pains in my abdomen and chest. Being drowsy is also listed as a side effect. I don’t know how one doesn’t get drowsy when sleeping for any length of time is unachievable.
I didn’t contact the doctor right away because of a couple of reasons. First, the symptoms were gradual enough that I didn’t register them as “symptoms.” Second, once I identified the issues as symptoms of the medication, I thought my body was just adapting to the new medication and that it would eventually go away. The last reason is that I hadn’t fully listened to my wife who was saying things like — “you need to call the doctor,” “you should call the doctor,” and “why don’t you call the doctor already?” I mean, how am I supposed to hear a clear message when she talks about things with such cryptic language? I’m not a mind-reader.
So I contacted the doctor. The first thing she said was to come off the Lipitor. I said OK.
It’s now been three days of not taking the Lipitor and the pain, chills, and insomnia are still present. I’m hoping the medication works its way out of my system soon. I emailed the doctor to get some insight into how long this could take.
I’m not sure what the true lesson is here. On one hand, some medications are required for your body to work well when your body is broken. On the other hand, some medications work against your body more than they help it. How do you make the judgment call of which ones to take? How do you know that answer without experimentation? I don’t claim to know the answers to these questions, but I know the future is going to require a lot of wisdom.