Do you ever feel lonely?

Writing this blog has been extremely gratifying and cathartic. It has certainly evolved over time. My biggest intent at first was to inform friends and family of the challenges that my husband and I have faced with his stroke last April. Then I was diagnosed with an auto-immune disorder (finally) after suffering for probably close to 50 years. It has now evolved into a blog not only about challenges, but how to rise to those challenges. I am not, I mean I TRY not to be a whiny person. I have always thought when there was a challenge, you can whine briefly, but then get up off your buns and do something about it. Consequently, I see ourselves trying to face this challenge head on and move on.
It is sort of like closing the barn door after the horse got out, but I am determined to keep the wolves from coming in to get the rest of the team.

I was trying to find a picture of a burger/fries with a side of pills, but no go.

Today, Dr. Oz had a very interesting article about changes one needs to make in their lives after a catastrophic event (in this case a heart attack). The questioner (in the column) was asking about her husband who had had a heart attack and how the cardiologist said he could have anything he wanted to eat, post bypass surgery "in moderation". First off, I think the words "in moderation" mean different things to many people. "In moderation" re: freshly baked chocolate chip peanut butter cookies by cousin J could easily mean a dozen, easy. So for this cardiologist to give them that advice is falling down on the job. Dr Oz and Dr. Roizen agreed. They said "it is not uncommon for us to hear about cardiologists who rely on medications to do the job of protecting patients from another heart attack."

They went on to state that in a recent study of 30,000 people, average age of 66, who had suffered a heart attack/stroke/diabetes and were thought to be getting the best medicine possible found that those who ate a heart-healthy diet cut their cardio-vascular death by 35%, the risk of another heart attack by 14% and the risk of congestive heart failure by 28%. Here's what their diets looked like:

• Lots of fish
• Vegetables
•  Fruits
• whole grains and legumes
• not much saturated fat/dietary cholesterol/sodium

Lifestyle changes of diet and exercise when added to meds and surgery had good results based on these changes. Notice how these changes seem like a broken record? That's because they seem to work.

That said, my dear husband has tried various statins to help control genetically high cholesterol levels. They worked great, until he started getting muscle pain and agony with some and higher liver enzymes with others. Since his stroke, he has been on an older type of statin that was more water-soluble and taking Coq10 for helping possible muscle problems caused by the statin.
The only problem is, he again has gotten so much muscle pain, but in a different manifestation from the other stains he was taking. Before, the pain was unbearable, cramping of legs. it was fairly obvious early on. This time, it didn't manifest itself for about 8 months. It started with a sluggish feeling, like "walking through mud". Foggy brain drain, a feeling of helplessness, tingling of extremities and around his lips plus a dull thudding headache that was constant.

We made multiple trips to the doctor and they kept telling him he had anxiety and it was causing all those problems. Nice. Now you will hear doctors say something like "it's all in your head" and immediately you get your hackles up thinking that means that the pain itself doesn't exist. No, I think they meant that the pain is real, but your head thinking is so strong it forces your body to be sick. Sounds like the sanitized version of "You are a mental case."

Knowing my DH, I never thought for one moment that his issues were caused by his thought processes, but I know it was really eating away at him, causing him to start questioning his own health. The pain he was experiencing also was having a causative effect on his well-being.
"Could this be another stroke coming on? What if this? What if that?"

I watched him feeling worse and worse and felt impotent in helping him. So we started to dig a little into the statin world. (I think that might be a Disney-like place in Mobile, Alabama:

"Welcome to Statin World! Be prepared for the ride of your life!") 
Not to be confused with Staten Island.These are not the same thing.
 What we found out was worrisome. The side effects, the statistics of those taking the drugs versus not taking the drugs, etc. I will not go into all that. (I put in a link at the bottom)
What are statins anyway? This from Wikipedia:
  
'Statins (or HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors) are a class of drugs used to lower cholesterol levels by inhibiting the enzyme HMG-CoA reductase, which plays a central role in the production of cholesterol in the liver. Increased cholesterol levels have been associated with cardiovascular diseases,^[1] and statins are therefore used in the prevention of these diseases. Research has found that statins are most effective for treating cardiovascular disease (CVD) (secondary prevention), with questionable benefit in those without previous CVD, but with elevated cholesterol levels.^[2][3] Statins have rare but severe adverse effects, particularly muscle damage, and some doctors believe they are overprescribed.'

 The magic drug we have been waiting for? Possibly, to some extent, for some patients.
Should they be used in place of good diet and exercise? An emphatic NO!  Overprescribed? Probably. They are a 26 billion dollar industry.
I also don't believe for one second that the muscle problems are rare.

He made the decision to go off of them last Thursday for the pain was worse and worse. Yesterday, he was like a new man! Oh my gosh! It was amazing, like night and day. Two days off the statins and while he wasn't leaping and dancing like Baryshnikov, he was feeling so much better and it seemed like he was back to his old self. His whole attitude and demeanor had changed. He was brighter and more animated than I have seen him in a long time. As in months and months. He even drew up some building plans for a project I want to do. (Isn't that sneaky of me to think of a project for him to build to get him out of his funk?)
We are hoping with the careful diet changes to keep his cholesterol levels good, so we will see what happens. All we know is that the side effects of the drugs have not been worth the benefits they may impart. He will be seeing the stroke doctors this week and we will share with them what he has gone through and go from there.

Anyway, back to the title of the blog. If you have a chronic illness or a condition that has been problematic for you, I ran across a website, courtesy of another blogster with Behcet's. It is a wonderful site that is good for sufferers and caretakers alike. Please go to it and check it out.
http://www.patientslikeme.com/

If you are interested in finding out more about statins here's a nice little site.
http://chriskresser.com/the-truth-about-statin-drugs