| | Heart Medication & side effects
I realize that this may be an unusual question given that this isn't a really "commonplace" situation.
I had a heart transplant in October, 2001. Why? Long story short, I had Hodgkin's lymphoma (cancer) 10 years earlier and the radiation treatment I received basically fried my heart (I also lost a hip to avascular necrosis from high doses of Prednisone during treatment).
I am currently on quite the regiment of drugs including Norvasc, Diovan, Lipitor, and Gemfibrozil.
Ever since my transplant, I've had a nasty cough. At times, I've lost my breath coughing so hard and ended up dry-heaving or throwing up. Is this due to Diovan/Norvasc or Cellcept (one of anti-rejection drugs)?
Also, my doctor had me on Lipitor for cholesterol. My cholesterol was fine prior to transplant, but skyrocketed the 3 months I was in the hospital. They had me on 20mg of Lipitor but then said my cholesterol was too LOW (?). They lowered the Lipitor but added the Gemfibrozil because my triglycerides were too high.
Doesn't the liver take triglycerides and turn them into cholesterol? If my triglycerides were high, but my cholesterol was low, then wouldn't that suggest that the liver wasn't converting them? Why not lower the Lipitor FIRST and then check the triglycerides. In school and college, they always taught that the scientific way to do things was to change only ONE variable at a time (I'm an engineer). Could I be needlessly taking the Gemfibrozil? My doctors, while they DO provide me with a lot of info, still dance around a lot of questions I ask. They just say "well, you seem to be doing fine with this combo."
Well, I also suffer from severe muscle cramps at night, too, which I understand is a major side effect of cholesterol medication.
I know I'm going to be on medication for as long as I live, but can I be OVER-medicated? Could they be lengthening my life with anti-rejection drugs but shortening it with all the others?