What I am on: (So to speak)

Regarding the Lipitor: [update 31 Jan 2013]

After a short time. a medical advisor queried my behaviour regarding awareness and comprehension and suggested a possible reaction to the statin. A trial period seemed to support this possibility. A groin pain also caused thoughts of a connection but that has not been confirmed.

The MD suggested a different brand of statin but I have been scared off.

My cardiologist has recommended continuation of a small dose but, again I have now read so much medically valid information that I am prepared to gamble my well-being on reliance on excercise, diet and daily intake of pomegranate juice. Plenty of apples and watermelon also. On the other hand I tend to be slack with this regime. Only the pomegranate juice is religiously adhered to.

I am hoping to obtain another CT Angiogram to assess my current arterial blockage status.

 Details:

Aspirin, (acetylsalicylic acid), 100mg, Enteric coated.

Purpose: Designed to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients with known cardiovascular or cerebrovascular disease.

Anti-coagulent and blood-thinning properties.

Enteric coating prevents the aspirin from being released in the stomach. Instead it releases into the blood-stream gradually, lower in the intestines.

Dose: 1 tablet daily, preferably same time each day.  (?Safe dose 75mg).

Known Side-Effects:  Normally affects stomach ?walls, but enteric coating presumably counters this.

Reported dangers include:  “Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) is a synthesized version of a compound originally discovered in willow bark. One of the more common dangerous side effects of the regular use of aspirin is intestinal bleeding. Other side effects include ulcers, kidney dysfunction, and stroke. ”   Read more:- https://tgrule.com/2012/03/28/beware-dangerous-new-advice-to-use-daily-aspirin-to-prevent-cancer/, also see below.

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Lipitor: (Atorvastatin)   40mg tablets

Purpose: To lower cholesterol levels.

(What is Cholesterol?:  refer separate page.)

What is atorvastatin (Lipitor)?

Reference: http://www.emedicinehealth.com/drug-atorvastatin/article_em.htm

Atorvastatin is a cholesterol-lowering medication that blocks the production of cholesterol (a type of fat) in the body.

Atorvastatin reduces low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and total cholesterol in the blood. Lowering your cholesterol can help prevent heart disease and hardening of the arteries, conditions that can lead to heart attack, stroke, and vascular disease.

Atorvastatin is used to treat high cholesterol. Atorvastatin is also used to lower the risk of stroke, heart attack, or other heart complications in people with coronary heart disease or type 2 diabetes.

Atorvastatin may also be used for other purposes not listed in this medication guide.

Get emergency medical help if you have any of these signs of an allergic reaction:  hives; difficulty breathing; swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat.

Stop using atorvastatin and call your doctor at once if you have any of these serious side effects:

• muscle pain, tenderness, or weakness with fever or flu symptoms; or
• nausea, stomach pain, low fever, loss of appetite, dark urine, clay-colored stools, jaundice (yellowing of the skin or eyes).

Less serious side effects may include:

• mild nausea or stomach pain, stomach upset, heartburn;
• constipation, bloating, gas;
• stuffy nose; or
• itching, skin rash; or
• headache.

This is not a complete list of side effects and others may occur. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.

What is the most important information I should know about atorvastatin (Lipitor)?

In rare cases, atorvastatin can cause a condition that results in the breakdown of skeletal muscle tissue. This condition can lead to kidney failure. Call your doctor at once if you have unexplained muscle pain or tenderness, muscle weakness, fever or flu symptoms, and dark colored urine.

This medication can cause birth defects in an unborn baby. Do not use if you are pregnant.  Use an effective form of birth control, and tell your doctor if you become pregnant during treatment.

Do not take atorvastatin if you are pregnant or breast-feeding, or if you have liver disease.

Before taking atorvastatin, tell your doctor if you have diabetes, underactive thyroid, kidney disease, a muscle disorder, or a history of liver disease.

Avoid eating foods that are high in fat or cholesterol. Atorvastatin will not be as effective in lowering your cholesterol if you do not follow a cholesterol-lowering diet plan.

Avoid drinking alcohol while taking atorvastatin. Alcohol can raise triglyceride levels, and may also damage your liver while you are taking atorvastatin.

There are many other drugs that can interact with atorvastatin. Tell your doctor about all the prescription and over-the-counter medications you use. This includes vitamins, minerals, herbal products, and drugs prescribed by other doctors. Do not start using a new medication without telling your doctor.

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Brilinta

What is BRILINTA?

BRILINTA is a type of prescription antiplatelet medication for people who have had a recent heart attack or severe chest pain that happened because their heart wasn’t getting enough oxygen and who are being treated with medicines or procedures to open blocked arteries in the heart. BRILINTA is used with aspirin to stop platelets from sticking together and forming a blood clot that could block blood flow to the heart and cause another, possibly fatal, heart attack. Platelets are small cells in the blood that help with normal blood clotting.

Take BRILINTA and aspirin exactly as instructed by your doctor: BRILINTA twice a day, plus one 81-mg aspirin tablet once a day. You should not take a dose of aspirin higher than 100 mg each day because it can affect how well BRILINTA works. Tell your doctor about any medicines you are taking that contain aspirin. Do not take any new medicines that contain aspirin.

Side-effects and/or dangers.

BRILINTA can cause serious side effects, including bleeding and shortness of breath. Call your doctor if you have new or unexpected shortness of breath or any side effect that bothers you or that does not go away. Your doctor can decide what treatment is needed.

BRILINTA (and similar drugs) can cause bleeding that can be serious and sometimes lead to death. Instances of serious bleeding, such as internal bleeding, may require blood transfusions or surgery. While you take BRILINTA, you may bruise and bleed more easily and be more likely to have nosebleeds. Bleeding will also take longer than usual to stop.

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Coversyl

Initially supplied as ‘Perindopril Argenine’, apparently now no longer available.

Doctor’s prescription  introduced “Idaprex”, ‘Perindopril erbumine’ (commenced 8th May).

2 mg
Each white, round, film-coated, biconvex tablet contains perindopril erbumine 2 mg. Nonmedicinal ingredients: hydrophobic colloidal silica, lactose monohydrate, magnesium stearate, and microcrystalline cellulose.

Was assured by doctor as correct alternative.

How does it work?

Coversyl arginine tablets contain the active ingredient perindopril, which is a type of medicine called an ACE inhibitor. (NB. Perindoril is also available without a brand name, ie as the generic medicine.)

ACE inhibitors work by blocking the action of a compound in the body called angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE). Normally ACE produces another compound called angiotensin II, as part of the body’s natural control of blood pressure. Angiotensin II causes blood vessels to constrict and narrow, which increases the pressure within the blood vessels.

As perindopril blocks the action of ACE, it reduces the production of angiotensin II. This means that the blood vessels are allowed to relax and widen. The overall effect of this is a drop in blood pressure, hence perindopril can be used to lower high blood pressure.

The reduced pressure within the blood vessels means that the heart doesn’t have to work as hard to pump the blood around the body. This means that ACE inhibitors can be used to improve the symptoms of heart failure, where the heart is not pumping as efficiently, and to improve survival following a heart attack.

It is recommended that Coversyl arginine tablets are taken in the morning before breakfast.

What is it used for?

• Heart   failure.
• High blood pressure   (hypertension).
• Reducing the risk of further   heart attacks in people with stable coronary heart   disease who have had a heart attack or heart bypass surgery.

Warning!

• Some people may experience dizziness caused by low blood   pressure in the first few days of taking this medicine and in particular the   first dose. For this reason, the first dose should preferably be taken at   bedtime. Your doctor may want you to take the first dose of this medicine under   medical supervision in hospital if you are aged over 70 years, have low blood   pressure, low levels of fluids or salt in your blood (eg due to dehydration),   severe or unstable heart failure, kidney problems, or are taking high doses of   diuretic medicines, multiple diuretic medicines, or certain other medicines   that dilate your blood vessels.
• If you feel dizzy during treatment this can be relieved by   lying down until the symptoms pass. If affected you should avoid performing   potentially hazardous tasks such as driving or operating machinary. If you   frequently feel dizzy you should let your doctor know, as your dose may need   reducing.
• Alcohol may enhance the blood pressure lowering effect of this   medicine, which can increase dizziness and may increase the risk of fainting.
• ACE inhibitors can sometimes cause an allergic reaction called   angioedema.  Stop taking this   medicine and consult your doctor immediately if you experience difficulty   breathing or swallowing, or swelling of your face, lips, tongue, throat, hands,   feet or ankles while taking this medicine. This type of allergic reaction has been reported more frequently in people of Afro-Caribbean origin.
• Your   blood pressure, kidney function and the amount of   potassium in your blood should be regularly monitored while you are taking this   medicine.

Use with caution in

• Elderly people.
• Decreased liver function.
• Decreased kidney function.
• Narrowing of the arteries that supply blood to the kidneys   (renal artery stenosis).
• High blood pressure caused by compression or blockage of the   arteries that carry blood to the kidneys (renovascular   hypertension).
• People with low fluid volume or salt levels in the body, eg due   to diuretic therapy, low-sodium diet, diarrhoea or vomiting.
• People taking other medicines for high blood pressure,   particularly diuretics (see end of factsheet).
• People with   hardening of the arteries (athersclerosis) in the heart   (cardiovascular disease), brain (cerebrovascular disease) or legs (peripheral   vascular disease).
• Narrowing of the main artery of the body (aortic   stenosis).
• Heart valve disease (mitral valve stenosis).
• Heart disease characterised by thickening of the internal heart   muscle and a blockage inside the heart (hypertrophic obstructive   cardiomyopathy).
• Diseases affecting connective tissue, eg scleroderma, systemic   lupus erythematosus or rheumatoid arthritis (collagen vascular diseases).
• Diabetes.
• People with   kidney failure requiring a certain type of haemodialysis   (high-flux membrane).
• People undergoing therapy to decrease allergy to bee or wasp   stings (desensitisation).
• People receiving therapy to remove certain types of fat from   the blood using a machine (LDL apheresis).

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Minax

Generic Name: Metoprolol tartrate Product Name: Minax

Minax is used for:

• High blood pressure
• Angina
• Tachyarrhythmias
• Heart Attack
• Prevention of migraine

  Action of Minax:

• Atenolol, a type of beta-1-selective-beta-Blocker, competitively blocks beta- adrenoceptors in the heart, peripheral vasculature, bronchi, pancreas, uterus, kidney, brain and liver.
• The antihypertensive effect works by reducing cardiac output without reflex increase in peripheral vascular resistance; CNS effect and reduced renin secretionmay also contribute.
• The antianginal effect is due to reductionin left ventricular work and oxygen use, resulting from decrease in heart rate and contractility.
• The antiarrhythmic properties are due to antisympathetic effects: depression ofsinus node function and atrio-ventricular conduction and prolongation of atrial refractory periods.
• Atenolol, a beta-1-selective blocker, has ahigher affinity for beta-1 receptors in the heart with less effect on beta-2 receptorsin bronchi and peripheral vasculature.

Dose advice of Minax: Hypertension:

• Oral: initially 50-100mg once daily for 1 Week; maintenance 50-100mg once or twice daily.Angina:
• Oral: initially 25-50mg twice daily; maintenance 50-100mg 2-3 times daily
• Tachyarrhythmias:
• Oral: 50-100mg 2-3 times dailyIV:
• 5mg (1mg/minute), repeated at 5 Minute intervals up to a maximum of 20mgMyocardial infarction:
• Initially, IV 5mg at 5 minute intervals to a total of 15mg, then 25-50mg orally every 6 hours for 48 hours.
• Maintenance, oral 50- 100mg twice daily.Prevention of migraine
• Oral: 50-75mg twice daily.
• Schedule of Minax:S4

Common side effects of Minax:

• Nausea
• Diarrhoea
• Bronchospasm
• Dyspnoea
• Cold extremities
• Exacerbation of Raynaud’s syndrome
• Bradycardia
• Hypotension
• Heart failure
• Heart block
• Fatigue
• Dizziness
• Abnormal vision
• Decreased concentration
• Hallucinations
• Insomnia
• Nightmares
• Depression
• Altered glucose and lipid metabolism

Uncommon side effects of Minax:

• Rash
• Exacerbation of psoriasis
• Impotence
• muscle cramp
• Acute urinary retention
• Nasal congestion
• Hypersensitivity reaction
• Thrombocytopenic purpura
• Liver function abnormality
• Alopecia
• Cardiac arrest
• Hepatic injury

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Published problems and criticisms of prescribed medicines: 

Aspirin:  (blood thinning agent)

https://tgrule.com/2012/03/28/beware-dangerous-new-advice-to-use-daily-aspirin-to-prevent-cancer/

The catch is that there really is no safe dose of aspirin.

Learn more, read the complete article: http://www.naturalnews.com/035369_aspirin_prevent_cancer_side_effects.html#ixzz1qPGftcKx

Related articles

• Beware dangerous new advice to use daily aspirin to prevent cancer (blogginghounds.wordpress.com)
• Routine aspirin ‘may cause harm’  (http://cancer.healthylifestylereview.)

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Statins:    (cholesterol reducing drug)

http://stopped_our_statins.webs.com/

Reference: http://health.lifegoesstrong.com/article/do-you-take-statins :

“There’s a good chance that you have been diagnosed with “high” cholesterol, or that you will be soon—between 30 and 40% of American adults have LDL cholesterol of 130 or higher, and women usually experience a spike after menopause. And when that diagnosis comes, most doctors will pull out a prescription pad to get you started taking one of the cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins. In general, the medical community seems to love these drugs. One doctor I interviewed called statins “the wonder drugs of the 21^st century” because they “save millions of people’s lives.”  And the most authoritative health organizations around, including the American Heart Association, have endorsed them.

However, a small but impassioned segment of the medical community believes that statins don’t help cardiovascular health at all, and that they may do more harm than good. You can find a lengthy, well-articulated summary of the argument against statins in this article in Experience Life magazine—do take a look at it if you’re on statins or thinking about starting them. The upshot of the article is that high LDL cholesterol isn’t the cause of heart disease but simply a marker of the inflammation that is the true cause most illness, cardiovascular and otherwise. The piece quotes one doctor as saying:

To take a cholesterol-lowering drug is like seeing the red oil light in your car go on and smashing it with a hammer.”

In other words, using drugs to force cholesterol lower won’t improve heart health and might worsen it if your lower LDL numbers lead you to indulge in more inflammation-causing foods and slack off on exercise. Plus, the side effects of statins can be serious: Diabetes, muscle pain, and memory loss to name a few.

Okay, I have to emphasize that the anti-statin argument is controversial stuff, but that said, none of the sources quoted in the piece could be considered fringe—we’re talking MDs and PhDs, no acupuncturists or Reiki healers in the bunch. And even if these statin-doubting doctors are dead wrong about their core idea, and high cholesterol is the cause of heart disease, and that lowering it by any means is a good thing, questions still remain about whether statins should be as broadly prescribed as they are. This article in Time examines evidence that statins don’t prevent heart attacks in otherwise healthy people (and are only beneficial to those who already have true heart disease), that they’re less useful to women than they are to men, and that women suffer more severe side effects.”

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Coversyl 

The Coversyl switch   (Ref   http://www.baum.com.au/~jiri/ae/blog/01160136920 )

Why?

Well, apparently the patent on the old medicine was running out in a couple of months. By changing the formulation, the pharmaceutical company gets another 15 years. Evergreening, this is apparently called. There is an official benefit to the new formulation, but it’s phrased so contingently (‘potentially … longer expiry date’) that it would seem to be limited if it exists at all.

So here’s mum being forced onto a new medicine for no reason better than corporate greed.

Of course, the whole system of medicine patents suffers from one logical flaw: developing new medicines is important, but hardly the only area of medical research. How are the other areas financed? Either they are financed well enough, in which case the same mechanism can be used to finance development of new medicines; or they are not financed well, which is a real problem that needs to be solved urgently. In neither case are medicine patents of any real use to society.

2 February 2007, 3:13 UTC comment by Sue Hi – I am a patient using this drug too.  I wondered if your Mum was having any adverse affects?  I am also on the 10mg.  I am having headaches since the changeover.  Interesting and very plausible view you have put forward also.   Regards, Sue.

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20 April 2007, 20:15 UTC comment by Kay Hi, I had been on Coversyl 8mg for a few years with no ill effects. However, after switching to the Coversyl 10 mg, my Liver enzyme results went through the roof. I am not talking a little, I am talking of readings that were elevated of more that 100-200 above  what they had been. After investigating to see what was causing it, there was a direct correaltion between when switching to the Coversyl 10mg and the elevation in readings. The reverse happened when I was changed off the Coversyl 10mg. It was discovered I was sensitive to the changed active ingredient ‘Arginine’. So much for being told the 10 mg was exactly the same as the 8mg!!!!

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27 July 2007, 8:05 UTC comment by JT Are you all aware that Arginine is inactive? It cant actually cause anything and is excreted unchanged? The TGA is very strict and demanded the toughest guidlines before the drug came out. I got switched from 8mg to 10mg and if you look closly the only think that has changed is the packet, also the generic is out so wheres the evergreening oh and the company is a foundation and now donates 100% of its turnover to charities and communities and also research. In case your wondering i work for a GP and get to read all the boring papers left bheind.

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27 July 2007, 9:11 UTCcomment by sabik @JT: I find that very hard to believe.

Firstly, the question isn’t about Arginine, but about the difference between the two salts of Perindopril, Perindopril Erbumine and Perindopril Arginine. Salts generally have very different properties to their constituents.

Secondly, Arginine itself a semi-essential nutrient. Quite far from being excreted unchanged.

Thirdly, I find your characterisation of Servier inaccurate.

Finally, your poor orthography combined with a plaintive appeal to dubious authority isn’t doing anything to aid your credibility.

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22 October 2007, 14:27 UTC comment by Aching I was switched to the new formulation and suffered facial flushing, going bright red within several hours of taking the 5mg tablet each morning and having to cool my face with water to ease it. I put in an adverse reaction report to the TGA in Aust. Arginine is a vasodilator, not an inactive substance. I am in my early 50’s but I experienced constant shoulder myalgia and calf muscle cramps on the original Coversyl and now on the new formulation I currently have acute inflammatory arthritis of the hands, hips, knees and feet for which I am being tested and treated. I intend to change to the original formulation as soon as I can obtain it or will probably cease Coversyl.

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13 December 2007, 11:46 UTC comment by maureen I have submitted an adverse reaction report to ADRAC and to Servier over the reformulated Coversyl. My 90yo mother experienced extreme and disabling vertigo every day she was on the new 5mg formulation. I insisted she be changed back to a generic with the 4mg erbumine salt: the vertigo gradually faded away, over a period of 5 days before she was completely free of any dizziness and woke up “feeling normal.” Subsequently she has had no vertigo except for one day when she missed taking her tablet (I found it on the floor next day). About a month later she saw a specialist who decided to swap her to Atacand so the experiment will not be repeated, but watch out and let us know if dizziness is a result, and hip fractures as a  result of the vertigo would be likely. Her GP initially thought this was just another symptom of old age. All ingredients are of significance, not just those the company claims to be the therapeutic ones.

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21 February 2008, 10:36 UTCcomment by Aching I have stopped the reformulated Coversyl, changing to Perindo which is now available. It has the same formulation as the original Coversyl: perindopril erbumine, not perindopril arginine. I heard from the pharmacist that Perindo was now available, but requires a replacement prescription. After a year of constant pain, within 4 days the severe myalgia stopped. And I’m not stiff and sore when I wake in the morning now. If anyone else is being crippled by muscle pain while on Coversyl, it may be a side effect.

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17 March 2008, 10:11 UTCcomment by pain I was swithched from 5mg coversyl to 10mg and I have experienced abdominal pain since {2 months} My doctor is running tests and disreguards that it could be a side effect. Though it is a big co-incidence. Any comments?

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14 May 2008, 2:27 UTCcomment by paul I have not taken the ‘new’ (arginine) formulation of Coversyl as I have a backlog of filled scripts (some are now of the ‘new ‘formulation), but the latest supplies, in response to a script. for Coversyl, have been changed by my pharmacist to GenRx Perindopril-4ml. perindopril erbumine. Just luck I suppose, or a wide awake pharmacist!!

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17 August 2008, 5:32 UTCcomment by lance I am 76Years of age and my doctor put me on coversyl-10 about 5 months ago, I now have a heart that is intermittent and up until coversyl had a very strong heart. I feel like I have been put through the wringer and I am about to give it the flick and go on alternative medicine. I think that the Pharmaceuticals Suck.

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25 October 2008, 6:03 UTCcomment by xmrjeep I had been on the original Coversyl for 4 years. After one prescription I started to suffer muscle pain in my upper thighs, an inspection of the box revealed I had been prescribed generic Perindopril not the original,a very clever copy of the old box was the culprit. I changed back immediatley and the problem disappeared. Since then I was given the new Arginine salt, within a month the side effects returned and are getting worse in addition I am experiencing muscle pain at the back of my neck.  I am being changed to an entirely different ACE inhibitor despite the fact my GP believes they are the same product. I have been conned for the convenience of the drug companies!

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15 November 2008, 0:04 UTCcomment by Chris i have been on coversyl 5 mg to control kidney function (bergers disease) but have since switched to 10 mg Arginine due decreasing kidney function resulting from hypertension. i also had a few side effects constant dry cough and nausea and sudden severe cramping in the thighs and calves, believed that this was something that i would have to live with. id like to hear from younger people, i am 29, who have the same problem and what sort of results they have had from using this drug.

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25 November 2008, 13:14 UTCcomment by Hendrik My GP prescribed Conversyl 10mg recently. I have suffered from severe maylgia over the last two weeks, to such an extent that I have been unable to sleep for a few nights. My doctor told me today to staop taking the tablets. Hopefully the pain will go away soon.

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9 January 2009, 3:54 UTCcomment by KChin My nephrologist put me on 2mg Coversyl daily for the last 6 years to protect my kidneys since I have micro hematuria, but I do not have hypertension.  I have now developed Oral Lichen Planus.  I wonder if Coversly is the cause of this problem.

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23 April 2009, 3:15 UTCcomment by Tyna My mother is 82 and has been on coversyl for many years.  Having recently moved to an aged care facility, the visiting doctor prescribed GX Perindopril/Indapamide instead.  She has suffered swollen, painful feet for the first time in her life.  It was just luck that I realised the two were linked.  It really peeves me that the change was done due to a cheaper generic version of the original.  Surely there is no need to do this, especially when the government subsidises the correct medication anyway.  Just another area where the elderly are disrespected in my view.  She was not even given a choice. Getting old sucks, as I can see it…. Thanks for everyones comments on this site, it made me realise that I wasnt just imagining the link.

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27 April 2009, 1:38 UTCcomment by kirsten I have been on Coverysl 5mg  the Perindopril Arginine one for about 1 year and am having increasing neck, shoulder pain, and it feels like it is slowly moving down my back.  Does this sound familiar to anyone? NOt that Ive had arthritis before , but I imagine this might be how it feels.  If you change medication do the pains go Away?

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