In my forties, my
cholesterol levels climbed dramatically. Lipitor entered my life with extremely
successful results for almost ten years. Then, we gradually shifted into a
negative relationship. Mornings found me hobbling on my feet as I walked across
what felt like gravel. Eventually, my legs ached like I’d run a marathon.
During a visit with my sister, she witnessed my morning muscular performance
and warned that she’d had a similar response to her statin. I called my doctor,
stopped Lipitor, and began to cycle through every statin on the market. Each
one caused the muscle aches. Some did it after a few months while others hit me
like a semi-truck within a few doses. Each year, the latest PA tried different
medications on the market. Non-statin drugs barely impacted my cholesterol levels.
Eventually, it was decided we’d wait for a new generation of drugs to try. Of
course, insurance never covered any of them. Who can afford to pay $500-$1,000
a month? I would laugh, and laugh, and laugh whenever the pharmacist quoted the
prices.
About midway during
my fifties, one of the PA’s asked me about my energy levels. Was I tired a lot?
I wept tears as I laughed at that question. What teacher isn’t tired? She added
another test to my annual bloodwork, and it turned out my thyroid needed
nudging. Levothyroxine entered my life at that point and worked perfectly for
me.
When I changed
doctors last December, and he saw my high cholesterol levels, he insisted I go
onto a statin immediately. I told him about how I’d taken Lipitor for years
before having side effects, recounted all of the other statins and cholesterol
reducing drugs I’d tried with the muscle side effects. He simply said, “Statins
can cause muscle damage in people with an underactive thyroid. Your thyroid
problem is why you started having side effects to the Lipitor years ago. Now
that it’s taken care of, you should be able to go back onto a statin.”
Statins reentered my
life with a low dosage of Crestor, the statin that I’d responded to in the past
within three doses. No aches. No walking on gravel. When my cholesterol levels
dropped, but not enough, my doctor upped the dosage. I’ve been on this level
now for six months with absolutely no problem at all. Yesterday’s bloodwork
will tell me how well this amount is working to drop my levels, but I’m
optimistic for improvement.
I wonder about who
find themselves suddenly having side effects to a drug that worked for years.
My hypothyroidism triggered the muscle pains with the statins. Fixing that
problem, hopefully, will allow me get a handle on another medical issue that I’d
given up on.
Copyright 2023 Elizabeth Abrams Chapman
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