by bucho » Thu May 28, 2009 4:58 pm
Biologist, glad to see you're still around these parts! I've been away for awhile, simply because the statin damage problems have settled down quite a bit.
Interesting, though, to re-read my past posts. I can barely remember writing most of them (and some of them not at all!). But they all ring true to my experience.
I am now "clean" for 4 years and the recovery, which has been excruciatingly slow, is now like a new "lease on life." It's as if I was plunged into a nightmare, or more precisely a living hell, for a span of years. I'm reminded of all the horrors reading my past posts, which now also make clear how much recovery I've experienced. What remains now is numb fingers at night, a smattering of exercise intolerance that I can ignore for the most part, and an alcohol intolerance that can upset my heart rhythm if I indulge in more than a couple glasses of wine. The tinnitis in nearly gone. I can work out with 3x the weights that used to cause me injury. I sleep well with the help of a nightly lunesta.
Saw a doctor about the numb fingers (sometimes burning sensations too, waking me up at night in either case). He diagnosed carpal tunnel (via nerve conduction tests) and suggested surgery. I declined. Instead I've devised some "wrist crunch" exercises that seem to be helping. My theory is that the problem is muscle and tendon degeneration, so maybe I can regenerate the tissues through exercise rather than letting someone apply a scalpel.
Also found a new family doctor but he worried about my cholesterol and was being very persistent about getting me back on a statin or other cholesterol lowering regime. He's history. I'll never take another statin. I can just imagine the return of the nightmare, full force, within days if I did.