I have normal LDL cholesterol but low HDL, as low as 26. With diet and exercise, I can get my HDL to the mid-30s, which is not great. Lipitor lowered my LDL below 80, but sadly my HDL didn't budge.
After being on Lipitor for a couple of months, I woke up one morning and had no idea what day of the week it was or that the company picnic was the day before. At work, I could not make simple postings of dollar amounts from hard copy to electronic spreadsheet (I would forget the amounts).
At a meeting, I could not remember names, and later at home, I kept asking my wife the same question, as I could not remember her answer. She took me to a doctor, who thought I had a mini-stroke. Ultrasound, brain scans and all other tests were normal, so no stroke.
I mentioned Lipitor, but the doctor dismissed it ("no way"). At the end of the evaluation, I was diagnosed with transient global amnesia.
Not wanting to be a vegetable for the rest of my life, I stopped taking Lipitor. I now take Niaspan (prescription niacin), and my HDL has improved to 43. My LDL is 80, and my memory is better than ever. I hope this story helps others.
We received a startlingly similar story from Dr. Duane Graveline, a retired astronaut and family physician, in 2001. He, too, was taking Lipitor when he had a scary experience with transient global amnesia (TGA).
Subsequently, we heard from others who also experienced TGA or other kinds of memory problems while taking statin-type cholesterol-lowering drugs. Anyone who would like to hear Graveline's story and learn more about this complication and other ways to control cholesterol may be interested in a CD of a radio interview we conducted with him and several other experts. To order a CD of this one-hour conversation on "The Dark Side of Statins," please send $16 to: People's Pharmacy (CD-523), P.O. Box 52027, Durham, NC 27717-2027. It also is available at peoplespharmacy.com.
Many years ago, I had a boyfriend who had terrible foot odor, maybe from wearing steel-toe boots. I'd read that lemon juice could help relieve the odor, so he tried it.
He cut a lemon in half and rubbed it on his feet. The results were amazing! It really helped get rid of the odor, and it made his skin feel good as well.
We've not heard of this approach to smelly feet. Don't try this if the skin is cracked, or the lemon juice will sting!
