So this happened.
Essentially this is the generic Lipitor
- “Livalo (pitavastatin) belongs to a group of medicines called HMG CoA reductase inhibitors, or "statins." Livalo reduces levels of "bad" cholesterol (low-density lipoprotein, or LDL) and triglycerides in the blood, while increasing levels of "good" cholesterol (high-density lipoprotein, or HDL).
- Livalo is used to treat high cholesterol in adults. Lowering your cholesterol may help prevent heart disease and hardening of the arteries, conditions that can lead to heart attack, stroke, and vascular disease.”
And with it the last remnants of my youth have drifted away like a silk scarf in the wind.
I had not been to the doctor in a bit, (yeah I know- typical male), and being told I had high cholesterol was a bit of a surprise. I am not a terrible eater but alas I do have my foibles and get way too little exercise.
In fact I was more paranoid that I would be facing a more terrible prospect of colon cancer. I am not generally paranoid about my health but as it had been much too long between checkups I envisioned some serious malfunctions being present inside me. We have all heard the stories of a person discovering that they have only months to live after a long overdue checkup. Indeed I have been feeling off lately with an upset stomach (and bathroom issues to boot) and restless sleep. In general my sleep is a delft imitation a rock- and after my last bout with insomnia I was on a heightened sense of alert.
Somewhere I read (if it is on the Internet then it’s true, no?) that these could be symptoms related to prostrate cancer and so the seed was planted. Yet I did not move on getting this checked out sooner. Why? More on the whole prostate exam thing in another post, I am still gauging my emotions.
To be honest, I was too damn busy. This and part of me knew that a certain amount of unreasonable paranoia had crept into my brain. Being a skeptic at heart I wrangle with what feelings of intuition are culturally fed poppy cock and what is simple attentiveness to my own body and surroundings. Like many I work long hours at a job, wolfing down my lunch at my desk, then a couple of more on personal projects after the kids have settled into bed and the wife is watching her reality shows. Most of this sitting down.
I used to exercise all the time. Heck when we lived in Manhattan and Park Slope my transportation more often than not consisted of my well worn in-line skates. If it was above 40 degrees- I was on my skates making time on the streets of NYC. Then we moved to the suburbs. The Ramones line come to mind
“Nothing to do and no where to go”
Good grief people - I may have a nice backyard (small as it is) but there really is nothing to do here that does not require a membership or ten minutes in the car (more sitting) minimum to get there. To be honest I was a bit discouraged by the lack of outdoor social activity but I had a saving grace:
When I worked as the manager of technical support at Crestron Electronics my job required that I be on my feet, prowling the floor for techs in need or anything that would delay the call queue. This meant hours standing and wearing a path in the carpet as I moved from one cubicle cluster to another. Then I was given a real desk job writing copy and building social communities and my arteries never looked back.
My doctor states that there are no side effects for me to to worried about. Now this makes me worried about my doctor. Really Doc! - no side effects... wait what? You do realize that this is a Statin don’t you?! No joke the warnings include:
In rare cases, Livalo can cause a condition that results in the breakdown of skeletal muscle tissue, leading to kidney failure. Call your doctor right away if you have unexplained muscle pain, tenderness, or weakness especially if you also have fever, unusual tiredness, and dark colored urine.
- Avoid drinking alcohol. It can raise triglyceride levels and may increase your risk of liver damage (Emphasis mine )
‘Avoid Alcohol’ ! Hell people, despite what Dr. Keith Ablow says I am an AV guy, beer, whiskey and gin are mama’s milk.
This has me more determined than ever to work toward getting off these meds. I have three months to accomplish the task and bring by bad level to under 130. (i am at 140 now).
I have begun to find that I am closer in age to my dad than I have ever been before. How’d that happen?
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