I take a total of 14 different medecines every day a total of 31 pills and capsules , of which 19 are are in the morning, 4 at lunch time and 8 at night.
I also use every day a GTN spray for my angina attacks and Oramorph, which is oral morphine taken as needed for what they call breakthrough pain and lastly two different skin creams.
A statin is included in these.
I am being medically managed, no more surgery practicable, pacemakers will be of no benefit.
It is only the combination of these medicines which keeps me alive.
Even with all these my heart is only 20% effective and works somewhat randomly.
As I like being alive I’m not bothered about side effects and there are some,
Same as me except on my fathers side. After both my father and brother died quite young from heart attacks I got a check up from my doctor. He put me on statins right away. That was around 30 years ago. Thanks to statins I am still fairly fit at 88 years old.
My dad was the same and the meds kept him alive for years with heart failure & diabetes. He used to joke about how he was kept running artificially like a machine by all the tablets they prescribed.
It makes so much sense if it’s keeping you alive. It’s when they talk about prescribing statins as a preventative measure to everyone over 50 that alarm bells ring for me.
This topic has been around now for years and of course has been in the news this week. Once I supported the big Statin myth, but now with lifes events I am on a small dose of 10mg.
However Statins pale into insignificance in my opinion to the latest drug they want me to take, adding that I have refused even to stay alive. So please, folk, take a look and tell me if you would take them,
My mum has been on bisopralol & rivaroxaban for AF for years now with no side effects (other than the risk of bleeds for minor injury). Perhaps they give Amioradone to those who are younger and more active?
You should have treatment otherwise your quality of life goes right down and isn’t there a risk of stroke? I would say that’s a life saving medication but sympathise with side effects.
Annie, Amiodarone is a last resort medication. I take near max Bisoprolol and seem ok, but it is known to have downsides. Amiodarone appears to be the med from hell.
Thank you for your response Swimfeeder. It seems we have some differences of opinion on some things, but I assume that is not a problem. Alas, for many years I have thought NICE has not been fit for purpose, and my experience of many elements of the medical profession is perhaps worse, just puppets for the pharmaceutical companies and job preservation. Years promoting Thalidomide, Benzodiazepines and now the endless saga of Statins, for starters. The internet contains very extensive material regarding the problems associated with Amiodarone. including the fact that it has been withdrawn from use twice and reinstated. I believe that the volume in print is there for a reason.
My problem is short runs from a rogue PC palpitation, which stops my pacemaker from working correctly at such times, fitted following a heart stop. The strange thing is, I have never suffered pain, breathlessness, or ever been dizzy in my life. Just a very low night pulse at nights before the event, which left me banging my head against the wall with the GPs and Outpatients.
An ultra distance runner for over 40 years my resting heartrate was always in the low 40’s but in 2021 even I was surprised and concerned about 35 bpm…
There were other events. As soon as I turned out for my usual morning run wearing a heart rate monitor my heart suddenly shot up to 200 bpm.
I sought the help of a cardiologist who told me in no uncertain terms to stop running immediately.
As time went by even walking would occasionally trigger Tachycardia so a MRI was done and found my heart was only 38% efficient…A pacemaker/defibrillator was inserted and Bisoprolol was prescribed. Although I still run, I can only manage short bursts of one or two minutes before the legs turn to rubber and I gasp for breath.
35 is danger territory, I was always low, not a distance runner like you OGF, but a lot of stamina, I operated on 44, not 35, which is amazingly fit, Olympic Athlete standard.
The problem in todays world is that all the nurses have a small laptop, take your readings, put them in the machine and it gives them a score and if you do not fall within what they consider to be normal your fate is sealed no matter that you tell them you are fine and please can you go home.The legs suddenly stopping moving is something I have, buch much worse than you.
It is called Intermittent Claudication, common with heart failure.
That is low OGF, unless you are Superman , mine for three nights in question was lower, and I felt crap. Had contacted the Doc twice regarding my ticker via the phone and was told that there was nothing wrong with me and to stop upsetting my wife and to go out and do some gardening. Then went twice to outpatients the second time with my brothers wife who is a nurse on the heart floor and they said the same. Next day was a nightmare, bank holiday and I got up to find my wife crying downstairs saying she could not take anymore of it. Worse she was also getting very severe chest pains. I was lost what to do as I had exhausted all medical options for help, but after a while I phoned for an ambulance for both of us, telling them that I was having severe dizzy spells, while having none. They came out and I told them I was sick of being fobbed off and being ridiculed over the problem. They did a ECG and the guy was horrified and assured me that nobody will ridicule after they read it and he did two more. The worst part at that time was that they took me in but would not take my wife, who was suffering, as she was not booked in. Still, just as well they took me, as while feeling ok, my heart stopped after which all hell broke out, I hallucinated and caused total mayhem. But that is another story.hard to believe.
It certainly was Annie, hence the need to try and keep doing something.
I just have to find things that I can still do like waking, cycling and just a splash of running…(the pun was intended considering the amount of rain we’ve had just lately)
This months rain…4¼" or 110 mm
Yes Swim, that’s what they told me that 35% or below and I would be classed as disabled.
A resting heartrate in the mid to low 40’s suggests that you were indeed very fit Swim, most runners I know experienced similar readings (if they could keep up with me they did)
I also read about that too Swim, that going for a checkup would normally mean panic by the medical people once they studied the stats, they don’t make allowances for the fit people of this world…Still don’t…
I went to see my doctor with back trouble in the late eighties when I was 40…He suggested that I was getting older and should slow down and not run quite so many miles in future…
Following that visit I broke my personal bests for Half Marathon, Marathon, Lyke Wake Race (42 miles) and Bullock Smithy (56 miles)…
That’s terrible treatment by the NHS Davey and I’m glad that you were eventually diagnosed correctly and received the help you needed.
Over the last 20 years or so I have had many stays in hospital mostly for 5 days receiving stents and recovering from heart attacks (3) and I must say, once you are in hospital on the coronary wards I have received the best possible treatment and care from the very professional teams staffing those wards…You just have to get past the knobs down stairs.
PS:- I don’t include the paramedics and ambulance people when I said ‘Knobs’… They have always been brilliant too…
Same here Foxy, I’ve been through the “upstairs and downstairs” saga - no, I’ve never watched this -, and there’s a huge difference definitely. Our ambulance and paramedics are brilliant, it’s just the Casualty department that is a total mess, short-staffed and inefficient.
They have always been brilliant too…
-, and there’s a huge difference definitely. 
