Anybody want to be my, be my beta?

[ritaxis]

So The Drummer Boy is reaching draft status. I'm closing in on the last chapters. I took some time off to revise the earlier chapters and I've made notes for some further revisions, but I'm feeling ready to hear what other people have to say about it. It's long enough, and I'm close enough to the end, that I am pretty confident that by the time you're ready for the last chapters, they'll be written.

If you're interested, comment or message me, and I'll send you the link to the folder.

In other news, I've suspended taking simvastatin in a desperate measure to stop my legs hurting and this seems to have worked in a limited fashion, so an important task when I get back is to figure out how to get back on some other kind of statin regime (either reduced dose or a different type), because the statistics in favor of statin use are really quite conclusive. As to the limitation -- the really quite severe and puzzling muscle pains I was having since my arrival in Prague have just about disappeared -- but now I am having actual knee pain, as in obviously the arthritis. I can't catch a break. I have, however, at least according to Hana's bathroom scale, lost almost six kilos, which would please me more if it hadn't been in less than a month. I am not certain of this, naturally, as the scale weighs very heavy compared to the doctor's scale back home, in fact it just now says that I weigh a bit less than when I left. I do know I have lost some weight though as my clothes are hanging off me, which is disconcerting. anyway, the point is, or was back there before I got sidetracked about weight, that my leg pain is clearly multifactorial, and I've been identifying and dealing with one factor at a time. I identified fascitis and muscle spasm, and physical therapy dealt with that (I still do exercises and self-massage for that). I identified arthritis, and put that on hold as the muscle stuff seemed to keep the pain at bay and I lost any method of paying for surgery. Then the pain came back and I seem to have identified this other thing with the statin and also to have crossed some new threshold with the arthritis.

The one thing I know about the pain is that I need exercise and rest, more of one or the other depending on the day.

It is enormously hot here in Prague -- like record breaking some days. Combined with the arthritis acting up I am glad I did a lot of my sightseeing and research already because I can't do so much of it right now.

Comments

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

Some years ago, the doctor put me on Simvastatin because she was concerned about my cholesterol levels. I reacted very badly to it, though it took me a few weeks to realise because mental effects were not listed in the information leaflets that come with the tablets.

I found myself wanting to scream at students if they made the slightest mistake and driving home, I was having suicidal thoughts. Eventually I discovered that statins can effect the level of cholesterol in the brain, where it is actually performing a vital function. I stopped taking them, the symptoms immediately stopped and I have refused point blank to go back on them. Better the risk of heart disease than the certainty of turning into a homicidal maniac.

At the time, I could find no research to support my personal experience, but it seems that though rare, my experience is not unique. Having said that, I also know people who take statins perfectly happily with no adverse side effects and it seems to be a case of genetic differences altering the way the drug is metabolised and the effects it has on the body.

[del-c.livejournal.com]

I complained about simvastatin and my GP changed me to something else that didn't leave me with so much muscle fatigue in the morning (it's constant fatigue I came to you about, if you're going to use that as an excuse to nag me about my cholesterol, at least don't put me on something that makes it worse). I have no particular complaints about the new statin.

[ritaxis.livejournal.com]

I have symptoms like that from prednisone. When I first had them the doctor was surprised and kind of didn't believe me and bullied me into taking a different form, By the time I had had prednisone in three different forms over the hears and had free-floating rage with every one of them, it had become a known side effect and I never had to deal with a disbelieving doctor again.

[ritaxis.livejournal.com]

That's probably what's going to happen to me, I think -- a different statin. I myself have been less than eager to believe that the statin was involved with my leg pain because the fascitis and the arthritis were so prominent and obvious causes. But I already know from my history of dealing with my cough that functional problems like that can be very multifactorial.