The People's Pharmacy® with Joe and Terry Graedon

Thank you for the service you provide to those of us who've experienced "forced" usage of statins and other drugs by MDs. I've tried three different cholesterol-lowering drugs and had terrible side effects.

While on Lipitor, my knees hurt so bad I could hardly get up and down the stairs of my townhouse, and I'm used to doing so 20 times per day!! I now have a physician who realizes my sensitivity to medications and is very careful of what he prescribes for me.

I sincerely believe that the pharmaceutical industry has offered so many incentives and has totally brainwashed busy doctors into believing their medications are the "miracles" of this century. I read an article some time ago alluding to the fact that the pharm. industry was "medicalizing" the aging process by creating all of these drugs.

The fact that the severe side effects of the statin drugs have to be "learned" by the victims rather than the physicians is an absolute travesty. It's not only the statins, but the supposed "bone-building" drugs as well that can cause major problems for people. When jaw-clenching began while I took FOSAMAX for a short time, I conducted my own research and learned I needed to stop immediately! Thank you, again.

I took Lexapro for 4 days and suffered a terrible reaction. I was extremely agitated, and was sweating profusely from my toes to the top of my head. I was nauseous, had diarrhea, was shaky and unable to sleep. Fortunately, when I called my Dr. he told me to stop taking Lexapro immediately. The symptoms were gone within 24 hours.

I have taken Actos for my diabetes for a number of years. It was great for my blood sugar numbers, but one night I had to rush to urgent care for breathing problems. The Dr. said it was the fluid buildup due to the Actos and stop taking it. I have been diagnosed with congestive heart failure. My cardiologist also told me to stop taking it. I have had no problems since.

i am on lisinopril for blood pressure. Been on it for about 6 months. I have been getting red small blotches on my feet. They are worse at the end of the day than in the morning. Is this a side effect from lisinopril?

It is ridiculous that physicians would not suspect statins to be the cause of muscle pain. Cerivastatin (Baycol) was taken off the market because it was associated with rhabdomyolysis, a serious and potentially fatal condition. They even say on the commercials, "Muscle pain is serious side effect and you should not continue to take Lipitor." It is scary that you cannot trust your physician with something that seems so common...

Stopping hiccups: when I was in the hospital for emergency surgery, I started getting hiccups. I asked the nurse how I could stop them. He said to fill my mouth with water and either lay down or put my head back and allow the water to trickle slowly down my throat. It worked great.

I had a sinus infection a few weeks ago, and the doctor gave me Levaquin 500mg. I took it for 2 days, and my back felt like it was on fire with my spinal column in constant pain.

The doctor called and told me to stop, which I had. Then the doctor gave me a shot of steroid, and antihistamines for 7 days. This finally relieved the pain...

I have tried all the statins, except the ones that are on the market in the past ten yrs. Yet my family doctor gives me samples of the new products every time I visit and I tell him I am going to trash them, but his suggestion is these won't cause muscle pain, and I take the folder and show him that the first thing is muscle pain.

He seems to get perturbed that I research the junk pills he is trying to peddle, I often ask how many Rx, he has to write before he gets another trip to France. That really gets his goat, but the perks that the companies give doctors now are all under the counter, such as it was when I was a rep in the health and beauty aid business. It's too bad that they don't do any research, just push the pills.

TV commercials should be banned just as cigarettes are. Americans take too much medicine. Basically the side effects are much worse than the illness.

I wanted to share with you my sister's experience with Lipitor. She is 81. Some time ago her doctor prescribed Lipitor for cholestoral control. Soon after, it seems, she began to lose her balance and fell several times, eventually breaking her ankle. She is now confined exclusively to a wheelchair. The closeness of her initial taking Lipitor and her consequent loss of walking is worrisome.

I just started taking Amlodipine Besylate as my doctor wants my blood pressure lower. I have managed to get it down to 138-140's with exercise and eating right, but he wants it lower and gave me a RX for the above.
It has been only a week, and I wake up at night itching badly everywhere. I don't see a rash, but the itching is really weird and it is worse at night, as probably in the daytime, I get distracted, though it is still there. Does anyone else have that symptom?? It started after I was taking this med. I am really tired!! and worried...

I started taking 25mg of metoprolol (on half of one pill per day) for prevention of migraines in February 2007. In July 2007 I noticed that I was losing a lot more hair than usual. By the end of August 2007 I was really, really worried about the visible thinning of my hair. I went off the metoprolol at the beginning of September 2007 since I found on the prescription pamphlet and my doctor indicated that one of the side effects of beta blockers, such as metoprolol, is hair loss (the prescription pamphlet indicates "reversible hair loss"). I'm hoping in another few weeks to stop losing so much hair and even begin to regrow hair (my fingers are crossed tight).

I am 63 and have very high cholesterol, as do my siblings. One of my sisters took a prescribed statin for a year and wasn't told by her doctor to come in for frequent blood checks. At the end of the year her liver tests were abnormal and they still are 3 years later. My doctor keeps prescribing statins for me, but I will not take them.

I have also been diagnosed with osteoporosis and took Actonel for about two years. I started having daily stomach aches and had several episodes of uncontrollable diarrhea. When I told my doctor I'd stopped taking the Actonel and why, she seemed angry and told me I'd be a lot sicker when I got fractures.

It bothers me a lot because I watched what happened to my mom with osteoporosis but truly I can't make myself take something that makes me feel miserable and reluctant to leave the house.

I am a very healthy woman, I exercise every day and eat really healthy. But I know it won't last many more years. And I've come to the conclusion that I'm better off to stay away from the medical profession as long as I can.

The United States and New Zealand are the only countries that have drug commercials on TV. Soon New Zealand is going to cut that out. Why should the drug industry push drugs on the public via their commercials? Would it not make more sense if they spent the money on more and decent research? The public has to write to their representatives, although we know, sadly, that the drug companies have very strong lobbies & that they support our politicians, but we have to keep trying.

I have just returned from Mayo Clinic. I found that I have allergic interstitial nephritis which caused kidney failure. It was a direct result of my being on long term xifaxan for possible small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. Has this happened to anyone else? S

I took a megadose of Levaquin for 9 days (750 mg per day) for a sinus infection. Cleared the infection, but the resulting side effect left me with incredible pain and swollen tendons above and below both knees and in one sholder.

I have taken anti-inflammatories, pain pills, have wrapped and elevated and am in my 5th month of this reaction. Finally, after 4 months the pain is BEGINNING to subside. It has changed my life.

The first doc I went to when the symptoms developed told me to keep taking "that antibiotic" in case it was an infection he couldn't find. Eventually another MD friend found the info and let me know it was a "rare" side effect of the the Levaquin--and all Quinolones. Research on the internet reveals it is not quite so rare as they would prefer I believe.

There seems to be no easy solution other than time... Many articles that I read indicated that sterioids would make it worse.

LIPITOR: I experienced extreme weakness (not pain) in my legs while on Lipitor. It wasn't terribly noticeable until I realized one day that I couldn't stand up from a squatting position. I increased my workouts to try to "correct" the weakness--didn't work. I went off of Lipitor, and after about 6 weeks, I pretty much had the strength back in my legs.

ACTONEL: I also went off of Actonel (osteoporosis) after breaking a collar bone (the fracture wasn't because of the osteoporosis; I fell very hard--it would have fractured a teenager's collarbone): the fracture wouldn't heal--my primary care doc said to discontinue Actonel temporarily as it stops bone remodeling which is necessary for bones to re-knit (the osteo specialist I was seeing for the fracture didn't know that--I'll never go back to him!). After that healed, I went back on Actonel for 2 doses, both times experiencing deep bone pain. Freaked me away from pretty much any drugs. I take calcium, b vitamins, magnesium and Vit D and am hoping for the best with the osteo.

By the way, after adding the magnesium, I stopped having leg and foot cramps and a host of other aches, and felt better than I have in years. I take 250 mg twice a day. I don't know if it's helping the osteo or not. It's a worrisome condition, and I wish I had a better option to deal with it.

I have severe allergies and had been on Allegra for about a year. The contract I work on changed company ownership and our insurance got messed up for about 2 weeks, during which time I couldn't get my prescription for Allegra. Like some kind of miracle, my muscle fatigue and general lethargy went away after I was off Allegra for about 4 days.

Once our insurance got straightened out, I bought my prescription of Allegra (still not associating the muscle problems with the drug). I started taking it again. By day 2 I was once again in constant fatigue and muscle tiredness. Only THEN did it dawn on me what was causing it. Stopped taking the Allegra and just changed over to an occassional OTC generic Claritin. The Claritin causes some sinus pain but it is still better than the entire body fatigue from the Allegra.

My husband is now legally blind in his right eye and has a 30% sight loss in his left eye because of a medication called amiodarone. This medicine was give to him for A-fib (irregular heartbeat). We were never told this was a side effect. He was on this medication for several months--and lost his sight in 4 days after the initial problem. This has been verified by Duke Eye Center.

His optic nerve has been destroyed and he will never regain his eyesight. Please let other people know about this horrible side effect. I hope this never happens to another person. There were other options available to us but the doctor insisted he take this medicine.

My husband stopped taking the medicine when he started to lose his sight. The doctor told him not to stop. But if he had not done so he would have lost sight in both eyes.

The drug companies in this country should be ashamed of what they are doing to people for profit. Please let others know. It is too late for my husband but maybe not for others. If you need more info about amiodarone go on the web to any amiodarone sight and you will see the awful side effects.

Vinegar will cure hiccups immediately. You only have to ingest a shot glass of it and hiccups are gone. My great-grandmother taught me this remedy when I was a kid. I've given this remedy to many people over the years and have never seen it fail. Also I have never run in to anyone who had ever heard of this remedy.

My eye doctor prescribed Restasis for my dry eyes. I wasn't given samples, so mailed in the prescription to our pharmacy. I received six boxes of packaged Restasis drops, enough for several months.

I used the drops for two days, and woke up at 3:00AM with severe itching in my hands and legs. I had to get up.

I went on line on my PC, and checked for side effects. My itching was listed under rare side effects. I called the doctor in the morning, and he said to never use the drops again. I threw away over $200.00 worth of Restasis. No one wanted them!

My question was, why couldn't I have tried samples before ending up with several months worth of eye drops?

I was diagnosed with sub-acute (viral) thyroiditis last summer. After being hyperthyroid for 2 months, I became severely hypothyroid and started on Synthroid. I then developed terrible joint and muscle pain. This lasted 8 months. I stopped the medication after becoming hyperthyroid again and when I stopped taking the Synthroid, the pain stopped. I realized that the medication had been the cause of my symptoms. I had been on both the generic and brand Synthroid. My endocrinologist said that it is rare, but some individuals are allergic to the fillers or the dye in the Synthroid. After putting me on Synthroid 50 mcg tablets brand only (the only dose that does not have dye), my symptoms completely subsided. Finally I am pain free after nearly 8 months of agony. It may be rare, but physicians need to be made aware of this problem. I saw several physicians and I don't feel that they took me seriously.

In Dec. '06, I was prescribed cephalexin following surgery. After several days, I started having massive nosebleeds (emergency room three times and hospitalized two of those times).

In June '07 I was prescribed cefadroxil. I started having nosebleeds on day six. In July '07 I was prescribed levofloxacin and had no nosebleed problems. In August '07 I was prescribed cefadroxil again and nosebleeds started on day six.

At this point it was finally agreed that I should not use any of the cephalosporins family. All this was a result of a staph infection picked up following the Dec. '06 surgery, but that's another story.

I took lisinopryl for 6 wks and developed such a cough that I could not talk without uncontrollable coughing. I was up half the night coughing till I was exhausted. I went back to the doctor thinking I had a seasonal allergy cough, but she immediately said it was due to the lisinopryl and gave me another medicine. It has taken more than 6 wks to have that cough mostly gone. Several people I mentioned it to also cited cough with their blood pressure medicine, but none so bad as I'd suffered.

Please tell the person in today's column with the coughing problem that it likely IS being caused by the lisinopril. I went through the same thing -- xrays, TB testing, all of it. I finally suggested to my doctor that it was the drug. She promptly changed it, the cough was gone in 10 days, and I could finally sleep again. If the doctor won't change the drug, then he/she needs to change doctors!

I started taking lisinopril about 18 months ago, and I very soon developed a cough. It was extremely uncomfortable and occured with varying frequency: when I was driving, when I was asleep, when I was just sitting and reading--anytime at all.

I tried sucking hard candies and they worked to a certain extent, but they took time to do so. One day I was coughing and unable to stop, but I had no candies around to help. However, I did have a pocket pack of Listerine Cool Mint Breath Strips in my pocket. I put one strip on my tongue, let it dissolve, and the cough was gone. The next time the cough started, I used another strip and it immediately worked again. I kept packets of breath strips in my car, in my pocket and on my night table. I thought I'd try another flavor and bought some citrus flavor strips. They were no good at all. So I was back with the cool mint and, after a few weeks, I wasn't coughing as often or as much.

The frequency continued to decline, and now I use a strip maybe once or twice a month to stop a cough. The cool mint is pretty pungent and I wonder if it is acting as a counter-irritant. Anyway, the Listerine breath strip worked for me, perhaps it might help others.

I took Zocor for 3 and 1/2 weeks and developed neuropathy, joint pain, extreme fatigue. I went to at least 4 dr's and none of them said it could be the Zocor. The cardiologist who prescribed it said it was a coincidence that I developed these symptoms and told me to go back on it as these were not side effects of Zocor.

Until yesterday I have been taking either Lipitor or Crestor and Zetia for 5 years. My body aches all over, I experience muscle spasms, tingling, numbness and swelling in my calves and ankles, bottoms of feet are tender and Achilles tendons hurt so bad I can barely walk. I actually thought I must have a terminal illness because no one can feel this way and not be dying. If I found I have permanent damage to my nerves and Achilles I will be seeking legal counsel to try to get these drugs off the market. My doctor never once suggested that my poor health could be related to these killer drugs even though I have been having pain since I have been on them.

My daughter took Effexor for about a year for depression. (She had previously tried Lexapro without success.) While Effexor helped with the symptoms, she began being increasingly troubled by fatigue, weakness, faintness, low blood pressure, low body temperature, low pulse rate (even when exercising). Despite seeing her doctor more than once for these symptoms, and having the school nurse suggest she be tested for mono (negative), blood tests came back normal for thyroid and other components. The doctor did not associate the symptoms with Effexor, but they improved markedly when she discontinued the medication.

Also, she had significant withdrawal symptoms from Effexor, which have been noted elsewhere in literature and anecdotal reports. (We didn't learn of these until after she was using the medication.) She forgot her medication on an overnight trip and was almost incapacitated with fatigue, nausea, headache, irritability, etc. When she chose to go off the medication, the doctor gave her a regimen of gradual dosage reduction (as also cautioned by the pharmacist) that lasted a month or so, but she still experienced the same withdrawal symptoms over that month, just slightly less intense, and for another month or so when she was totally off the medication. She had a few instances of the shooting electrical sensations noted by others, but fortunately this was not frequent or persistent. Be careful with this drug! It was sheer willpower that got her off it, as she decided she didn't want to be that controlled by or dependent on any substance, so she put up with about 3 months of misery. Otherwise she would have been like friends who tried and failed repeatedly to get off antidepressants such as Prozac.

I've wanted to write about my experience with Zoloft for awhile now. It was prescribed to me after I complained to my gynecologist of feeling in great despair. He recommended Zoloft because he heard positive things about it. He was assured by the manufacturer that it had few side effects, and it was known to help women going through hormonal changes. I trusted him, because in the past he wouldn't recommend anything unless it had been out for a few years.

The effect of the drug did take away my feeling of despair. It also caused my sense of humor to diminish, and caused constant forgetfulness. I thought it was ok, because I needed to care for my family and had little time for myself. After six years my husband convinced me to get off Zoloft. I also became concerned about whether or not my GYN should manage this drug for me.

I bought a pill cutter and started to reduce the medication very slowly. My brain retaliated. I became extremely dizzy to the point of being bedridden. I thought I would not be able to withstand the withdrawal symptoms. Then I remembered having similar vertigo while on a cruise ship. Although the Zoloft vertigo was much worse than the sea sickness, the Travel Aide accupressure wristbands worked!

I'm now Zoloft-free and discovering caffeine to be the main culprit to my feeling of hopelessness.

I started on Chantix to quit smoking. I noticed I became very depressed even though I am taking an antidepressant which was working well. I started having horrible vivid dreams that were unlike anything I had ever experienced. I could not even distinguish between the dreams and reality they were so weird.