Statins

[Scally-Ho]

Beautiful young maidens are still drawn to me. And I'm not even doing anything. In real life, I am just naturally very charismatic and extremely funny. It can get a bit embarrassing at times.

They are drawn to me too, but at my advanced years, it's more for reassuring advice and occasionally a shoulder to cry upon. My granddaughter's friends are frequent visitors and probably because they feel safe visiting my household.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I tried to make a semi-urgent F2F appointment, with the doc, for late morning, or afternoon, today, or tomorrow - after 45 minutes on hold to get through. It takes me an hour to get there, depending on the buses.

No available appointments today, they were not allowed to schedule the more urgent appointments for next day, so the best they could do was an appointment two weeks from now. I explained, it needed sorting out much sooner than that, so next on the list, was a triage phone call, possibly, possibly - followed by the doctor asking me to go over there for a F2F today. I'm now waiting for the call...

I'm noticing other side-effects, which I hadn't blamed on statins, clearing up such as having a very dry mouth when I wake up, being unable to speak, and to some extent during the day, plus less inclined to muscle cramps - have cleared up.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Message from doctor - please send more information about the emergency...

I took the trouble yesterday evening, to type up, and print out a full A4 page, trying as the very best I could, to describe my symptoms, in readiness of the expectation of an appointment today, so I could just hand it over to the doctor to read in my presence. As no F2F appointment was forthcoming, I emailed a copy to the surgery, asking that they forward it to the triage doc, who was supposed to be ringing. They also have on my record, the report of my discussion with 111, from the early hours of Saturday.

Then I get a request for 'more information'. You just could not make it up. It's farcical.

 

[Scally-Ho]

My doc now comes out to see me and all because the practice's 'social prescriber' somehow got me onto the Patient Transport register for my hospital visits. I have to phone up E-Med to make the arrangements, but it's not too much bother for an efficient and free door-to-door service.

Non-Emergency Patient Transport Services (NEPTS) - EMED Group

EMED Group Non-Emergency Patient Transport Services (NEPTS).

www.emedgroup.co.uk

 

[johnny2007]

Obviously, many things have changed since my days of wenching through the towns and villages. Being a tall chap with a smooth tongue, many a delightful young maiden succumbed to my slick words. I dare say the more direct approach applies these days

Beautiful young maidens are still drawn to me. And I'm not even doing anything. In real life, I am just naturally very charismatic and extremely funny. It can get a bit embarrassing at times.

Where's @Highway Man ???

 

[MNW67]

Where's @Highway Man ???

He's been banished to the Your Projects forum.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

My doc now comes out to see me and all because the practice's 'social prescriber' somehow got me onto the Patient Transport register for my hospital visits. I have to phone up E-Med to make the arrangements, but it's not too much bother for an efficient and free door-to-door service.

Not available here! Actually getting there is not a problem, providing they will agree to later in the day appointments, to give me time to get there. It seems I ring, and then they expect me to be able to turn up for appointments five minutes hence, when I can actually get same day appointments.

I'm on the phone, yet again, in a long queue for 45 minutes, just to remind them I have emailed the details of my problem to them. Still no call from the doc, I assume waiting for the information. What a total farce...

 

[Scally-Ho]

I'm on the phone, yet again, in a long queue for 45 minutes, just to remind them I have emailed the details of my problem to them. Still no call from the doc, I assume waiting for the information. What a total farce...

My surgery now has 'call-back' service operating each weekday morning from 08:45. As soon as I'm connected, I press 4 to speak to somebody and then after a list of options I press star (then hang up) and then someone always rings me back usually within 30mins. I did this earlier at 9am and a clerk phoned me back about 20mins later for my explanation and then my nominated GP phoned me at 11:30 at which time we discussed my problems for about 8 or 9 mins .. a satisfactory result as district nursey will be calling again to take blood for a full spectrum analysis. This will probably result in me being collected by a fully crewed ambulance for a day in the Critical Medicine Unit for yet another bulk iron infusion. My long-term problem is anaemia which in turn deeply affects my breathing. I've had this anaemia/breathing problem since Covid nearly claimed me way back during March 2020. Still, it could be worse and I do try to make the best of what's left of my years

 

[Highway Man]

He's been banished to the Your Projects forum.

Upgraded if you don’t mind.

 

[MNW67]

Upgraded if you don’t mind.

Sorry. I keep forgetting!!

 

[Highway Man]

Sorry. I keep forgetting!!

Reported

 

[Highway Man]

Beautiful young maidens are still drawn to me. And I'm not even doing anything. In real life, I am just naturally very charismatic and extremely funny. It can get a bit embarrassing at times.

I would say welcome to my world. I suspect that you won’t get a fraction of the attention that I get from females of all age groups. I get treat like a piece of meat

 

[MNW67]

I would say welcome to my world. I suspect that you won’t get a fraction of the attention that I get from females of all age groups. I get treat like a piece of meat

That might be true. It is usually much younger women. Sometimes it gets to the point where it feels like I am not allowed to be my natural self, because they are like moths to a flame.

 

[Diver Fred]

Problems are - CKD 5, slight diabetic, they detected I'd had a mild stroke unnoticed by me, in the distant past, and a major oesophagus bleed, a few years ago, which saw me hospitalised. This past year or so, I have multiple times woken suddenly in the night, and hour or so after dropping off, with an over-whelming sense of panic, doom, feeling really poorly, but not being able to quite work in what way I felt ill - not being able to decide whether I wanted to lie down, get up, sit down, lay on the floor, go to the toilet. I have ended up getting up, and going and sitting out in the garden for an hour or two, until the feelings pass, then back to bed. Physically confused, but not mentally confused at all.

Other symptoms, perhaps connected, is my stamina is way down. I can feel just fine sat about doing not very much, if I try to tackle anything needing much effort, I have to do a few minutes, then sit and wait while I recover, before doing another few minutes. Walking, likewise - go 100yards, and need to stop, sit down to recover, then on a bit further.

It has all slowly worsened over the past five years, though I've not bothered the GP, because my symptoms have been so impossible to explain, and the only appointments I get are remote phone appointments.

We are just today, back from two weeks in the tourer caravan. During the two weeks, I had three such 'attacks', the last, just last night...

I was asleep at midnight, woke suddenly at 1:17am feeling absolutely terrible. Got up dressed, took a slow walk in the fresh-air, to the site toilet, felt a little better, went back to bed. I then got back up immediately, feeling even worse. It got to 3am and I decided to have Avril ring 111, and see if between us, we could attempt to explain the weird symptoms. I/we spent an age, just trying to do that, the operator, struggling with his script, but he eventually agreed to put me through to someone qualified.

The someone qualified, was a nurse at the local hospital, but by then I was nearly back to normal, so I was able to have a very long chat with her, about all my medical issues, and the meds I'd been prescribed for them. The day before, I'd come across an FB group, discussing the problems of statins, and one of the posters described having issues, very similar to me, both the waking in the night feeling like they were dying, and the complete lack of stamina, so towards the end of the chat, I mentioned it, and asked if my Atorvastatin, might be to blame for my ills. She said, that in her opinion they ought to be stopped, because they do cause lots of problems, and there are far better, safer drugs, for dealing with cholesterol.

When they started me on drugs, including the atorvastatin, some 7 years ago, I had some terrible reactions, to them. Before that, I had absolutely no problems, no issues. I am now almost convinced, the statins are the cause. 111 have recorded my call, and the details will be forwarded to my GP, so I can now maybe get a F2F, and a proper discussion. What are others opinions of statins?

When I had an over 60's 'MOT' my doctors wanted to put me on Statin's (I've always had high Cholesterol - commented on when I was in my 40's). I asked if I could try and reduce it by diet - they agreed and gave me 12 month's to get it down.
So I cut out Cheese (boo-hoo), a lot of animal protein (not so difficult), reduced my Cream intake (was never very much anyway) and started using Cholesterol reducing spreads and yogurts on cereals (mainly Oats with Oat bran),
After the 12 months I was down to boarderline and now my Cholesterol levels are OK.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

This will probably result in me being collected by a fully crewed ambulance for a day in the Critical Medicine Unit for yet another bulk iron infusion.

I've had that, I arrived struggling, came out, going at full speed