Every pill causes and illness
My legs ache. It started right after I started ‘statin’,
over 5 years ago, to control cholesterol. I took it on the advice of an experienced
doctor, as a preventive measure because I was over 65, had high BP, borderline
high cholesterol and a family history of heart problems.
I told my doctor about the ache in my legs. It is most
unusual, as it hurts on the side of the leg; I could walk long distance without
any difficulty and it hurts only at rest especially before going to bed. The
doctor gave me tips to manage the pain but did not mention about the side
effects of the drug I am taking. I trusted the doctor as he is from a very
reputed hospital. I continued to take statin for nearly a year and soaked my
feet in warm water or took a pain reliever every night.
The year I went to Australia and did the base walk of Ayres
Rock with my son, I also read a book in the public library on The Great Cholesterol
Myth. It was so shocking. It clearly said weakness and muscle wasting are the
most common side effects of statin drugs and that the effect is not reversible.
I stopped taking the drug. I felt I would rather have heart attack and die and
not live with pain every day.
But the weakness and the pain in my leg persisted, some
nights it was more severe. I did regular brisk walking to strengthen my leg
muscle and at night rubbed eucalyptus oil when I couldn’t go to sleep because
of the pain. Over time I felt it was getting from bad to worst. In addition to
that I also had restless leg syndrome.
I consulted doctors
casually about it but did not take any steps to explore why I have the pain, as
I could walk a distance of 5 – 10 km, or climb 700 – 800 steps without any
difficulty. That is good considering my age. I did the Ayres Rock base walk, hiked
7 km up the Kottamalai hills and climbed another 300 steps to go to
Venugopalaswamy temple in Padavedu, climbed 1200 steps to go to the Narasimha
temple at Sholingar. Now in Coimbatore, when the weather is pleasant, at the drop
of a hat, I go to the Anuvavi or Marudhamalai Murugan temples climbing 500
steps.
Couple of months ago when I registered to attend a 10-day
Vipasana programme, I was worried as to how I would do the meditation sitting
for 10 – 12 hours as I could neither sit
cross legged for long or sit on the chair with my legs down.
I thought, may be, I will go and have a check up in a major
hospital to find out the cause – it could be due to varicose veins or a
defective valve in the blood vessel. Of course, I was told, the first thing to
do is to have a scan done. The thought of the procedure put me off.
Just then we had a visitor to the Home who talked about an
acupuncture treatment he is going through to treat his diabetes and that small
aches and pains can easily be treated by this therapy. I was impressed.
On an impulse, I went with him to see this specialist Uma
Maheshwari. I told her when my pain started. Of course she knew it could only
be due to some medicine I have had. The motto on the wall said ‘There is no
pill for every ill but there is an ill for every pill’. She did not examine my
leg, check the place where I have the pain or touch it to feel. She told me not
to have coffee, tea and milk or white sugar, not to do brisk walking, but to
walk leisurely for a short time. She held my right hand and touched the tips of
my fingers very gently for a few seconds and also held my wrist as if to check
my pulse for a few seconds and said I would be alright. She did not do any
acupuncture or pressure, as I had expected. I was sceptical. But I followed her
instructions.
I had stopped taking coffee or tea on a regular basis since I
had the Ayurvedic de-tox treatment in December but hot milk is my comfort
drink. Yet I fully stopped drinking milk and with that the little sugar I was
having too. Not going for morning walk and for my morning milk at 6 a.m., allowed
me more time to exercise. Within two days I felt my legs aren’t so restless and
didn’t hurt much. For good measure I
went for another sitting with the Doc before leaving for Vipasana.
But sitting for long period wasn’t that easy. The first
couple of days during meditation my legs hurt so much to sit continuously.
Every 20 minutes or so, I would shift, change position and massage my legs. It
was very painful. Every hour we were allowed get up to stretch our legs. I
would walk for 5 minutes. By the 5th or 6th day the pain
was not so severe. I was able to go through the entire programme.
I went to thank Uma for her service. She wanted me to
continue with the treatment and said I should gradually stop taking any pill, first
stop taking any vitamin supplement and then even BP medicine and thyroxin. Since
I do eat nutritious food with plenty of fruits and vegetable, I could stop
taking vitamins. This month I did not buy any. But I am not yet very sure I could
stop the medicines. I plan to take them on alternate days and then try to
reduce the dosage. I would do it very cautiously.
Last night when I was chatting with my daughter-in-law she
said she has restless leg syndrome. I said I have it too, but then I it dawned
on me that I do not have it anymore.
