Medication side effects

About stroke
1

My wife had a major stroke just 2 weeks ago, treated by thrombolysis drugs and a thrombolectomy op and discharged home within 3 days with relatively minor issues speech and hand weakness.

Prescribed Atorvastin 75mg (Statin) Aspirin 150mg and Clopidogrel 75mg (Anticoagulent). On top of existing blood pressure and heartburn gastric medication.

2 weeks into treatment her presumeably side effect symptoms are worsening. These include:

  1. Feeling cold all the times, even if room temp high.
  2. Feeling tired all the time
  3. Painful achy ‘jumping’ legs. Previous restless leg syndrome but much worse.
  4. Night ‘panic attacks’ high pulse and BP.

Can others relate to this and in particular the experience with Atorvastin/statins and Clopidogrel? Very new to this and reading up on other post but any comments welcome.

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Hi @DavidG11, I’m sorry to hear about your wife’s stroke. This is a difficult time for both of you. I’m on Atorvastatin and Clopidogrel but thankfully haven’t had any side effects. Most of the symptoms that you describe could be a result of the stroke itself. Despite being discharged home she still has a long period of healing and recovery ahead of her, and fatigue and feeling cold are symptoms that you’ll often see mentioned here. I was very tired for months after my TIA. The mental and emotional strain of having a stroke is often overlooked as well, and the rapid heartbeat and night panics could be related to that. Once again, I was still having early morning palpitations months after the event, though they seem to have gone now that my mind is in a better place.

It would still be worth discussing the symptoms with your wife’s doctor, though, as it can be hard to get the combination of meds right. You’ll get lots of good advice here, you’re among people who have faced the challenges and learned from the experience.

Best wishes to both of you.

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Hi @DavidG11 sorry to hear about your wife’s situation. I had a stroke in 2018, clot at the back of my head, I got put on Astorvastin & Clopidogrel, suffered the first 3 symptoms and still do now, although now I’ve learnt to live with it all better. At first it was hard and frustrating, I went from working 7 days a week long hours each day to nothing, the fatigue has got better with time and I now take notice more of my body’s indications that I’m over doing things and have a rest. I still get the pains in my legs, but the doctors just seem to pass over this and have always stated it has nothing to do with the stroke or medication, but I never had it before the stroke and then I did not take any medication.
It took me about 6-7 months to finally accept that my life was going to change a bit, initially it was a massive change as for the first 2 weeks I couldn’t lift my feet from the floor and shuffled everywhere, luckily for me I have slowly adjusted and back to a near normal life.

As @harimanjaro has said, discuss it with your doctors and keep updating them..

All the best to both of you and a speedy recovery

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Both @harimanjaro and @dazc have spoken wisely and from personal experience, others will soon follow to share their experiences.

I am a carer and so speak from observations and experiences of the person I care for. My advice is to always check the information that comes with the medication and this includes:

  • what it is for/what it does
  • when to take it/when not to take it
  • side effects - very important to note this
  • medications / foods that the medication might clash with
  • how long to take it for.

It is likely you will get some excellent feedback here and there may be similarities and differences based on the experiences of the individuals who respond. For me, the key thing is to be aware we as individuals will all likely react differently to the medications because we all come from different starting points e.g. medical/health history, gender, age etc. For this reason, I always advocate that we must listen to what our body is telling us and act accordingly. Remember also, that medications can be optional and generally, post stroke, the survivors tend to be put on preventative medications e.g. statins, blood thinners etc with a view to preventing further [possible] strokes. It is my observation/analysis that these medications do not guarantee to prevent further stroke and nor will you necessarily get further strokes if you do not take preventative medications.

Having been on this forum, one thing I am seeing is stroke does not respect anyone and anyone can have a stroke including if you have/are super fit and healthy. Knowing what to do can therefore be tricky unless you have clear views on the sort of lifestyle you wish to lead and the sort of risks you are prepared to/able to take.

This response had gone on longer than I had anticipated when I first started to write, but nevertheless, I feel it is something someone may find of interest.

As both @harimanjaro and @dazc have said, it might be a good idea to discuss with your GP/stroke consultant.

Also, you mentioned that your wife may have been given “new”/pioneering medication and that in itself means there might be some unknowns until this treatment has been in use for a while and its true strengths and weaknesses are known.

Wishing you and you wife all the best.

:pray:

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@DavidG11

Dreadful to hear about your wife’s stroke.

I too suffered side effects from 75mg clopidogrel & I had 80mg Atrovastatin.

I now have 75mg clopidogrel & 10mg Rosuvastatin.

Side effects have reduced.

In my experience it was the 80mg Atorvastatin which was the issue.

I have not experienced someone taking clopidogrel & Aspirin, both are blood thinners.

I would question that one.

Good luck and remember it’s a very slow recovery, :purple_heart::folded_hands::purple_heart:

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Thank you for your considerate reply and I agree with your observations. I always read the leaflets, but of course they can be quite confusing quoting seemingly opposite side effects that no doubt reflect patients differing reactions. I read them in conjunction with our own experience and observations. I posted this to understand what to expect but also as some symptoms we experience are not reflected in published side effects or information. Furthermore our GPs are a bit dismissive saying it’s possibly caused by the stroke, which may be so. These include feeling of cold all the time, which seems to be widely experienced with anti coagulants but not statins, and worsening restless legs that may be related to statins.

Having got over the euphoria of coming through what looked to me a hopeless situation to relatively limited consequences, we are now coming to terms with the longer term consequences. It is a tough learning curve!

As to the new treatment, my understanding is it is a ‘clot buster’ called Tenecteplase that was given final approval in March. Reports claim will achieve better outcomes for patients and save the NHS time and money. My wife’s experience would support this.

Thank you.
David

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Thank you, that’s most interesting. The aspirin is to be discontinued completely after 4 weeks and I understand is because my wife had a carotid stent. Our feeling is also that it is the high dose Atorvastin, prescribed for one month, that is behind some symptoms but should be continued given the seriousness of the stroke and the treatment given. We have sort advice from the Stroke Team at the Maidstone Hyper Acute Stroke Unit. David

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In my mind, the clot buster that was approved for use as recently as March (a relatively short period of time when compared to “tried and tested” medications) is the bedding down stage. Whatever testing has been done will have been in controlled environments etc. and we don’t know how it will behave in the real world.

I compare it to a new product being released to the market e.g. an iPhone. Before release it will have been tested and once satisfied it is ready for the market, it will be put on the market. With any new product there are teething problems which are only ever found when the product is used as intended. As such, anyone who buys the product first, will experience these teething products and the vendor will do their best to make sure the new owners are happy by fining the issues etc. Once bedded down the product reaches mature status and becomes stable. It is my observation that those take up the product are “enthusiasts/risk takers” whereas those who wait for the product to mature will be “cautious/risk averse”. These are choices we make and we all have our own views on this.

Going back to your wife and the Tenecteplase clot buster, I am sure it is perfectly fine and I hope if there may be any concerns, this might have been explained to you before the drug was administered. I am thinking that if you are one of the first to be given the drug, the consultant would have explained that this is a new product and any potential side effects it may have and also maybe, given you a choice as to whether you would want to be one of the first to try it or whether you would prefer the existing clot buster that has been long established and in current use.

@DavidG11 , please rest assured, it is not my intention to “scare monger”, rather I am just thinking out loud about I would feel if I was in your/your wife’s shoes and was being offered the opportunity to trial a new drug.

I am sure I would be delighted to be given the opportunity given the suggested benefits, but I would very much want to remain alert and monitor any changes to my health, reactions/side effects etc. and get them addressed asap. So I would not want to wait for things to deteriorate before contacting the consultant/GP to make sure they are aware and if necessary take any action. You are now effectively being the benchmark.

Wrt the high dosage, a month can be a very long time and if there are concerns the high dosage being the cause of the symptoms, ask about getting the dosage reduced.

Finally, as always we are all very different, we all react and recover in our own ways and we must all do what is right for us. This we do by listening to what our body is telling us.

Just to reiterate, I am only sharing with you my thoughts which are based on our experience and it is not my advice as such, but you are more than welcome to consider anything I say and do with the information as you wish.

Wishing your wife a speedy recovery and for you both to have a happy and healthy life.

:pray:

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9

After my stroke I feel cold all the time. An affect of the stroke & blood thinners combined I think. It can sometimes be difficult to regulate temperature after a stroke & it may take time for that to settle.

The statins could be causing the leg issues so that is worth discussing with the gp. A lower dose might be better or a different statin completely.

Feeling tired is very common after a stroke. Likely fatigue and your wife will need plenty of rest. The brain is still healing and gets tired quickly at this stage.

I would also get the night oanuc attacks, high pulse & bp checked out.

Best wishes

Ann

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10

Well, first of all, I feel very sorry to hear about your wife’s stroke. Well, here I can suggest some things that can little bit helpful to you.

  1. Recovering from these type of major strokes is a big deal, but after this people often increases medicines which can be overwhelming.
  2. Not every kind of symptom in the diary and before taking any kind of medicine consult with neurologist.
  3. Also ensure she is getting hydrated properly.
  4. Don’t take stress.

Thanks

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11

Thank you for your thoughtful reply. We are realising that there is a long road, or is it roller coaster, ahead. The medications are a concern as the stroke disrupted ongoing treatment of hypertension and has to be fully reviewed which is taking time to do and adapt to. The stroke treatment on top takes some getting used to too. As to item 4) that’s a challenge for me!

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It’s quite tricky to separate medication side-effects and stroke symptoms. I would say two weeks after stroke, fatigue is a stroke related symptom, from my own perspective I had muscle spasms in my legs and have trouble regulating my body temperature but these, for me, seemed to be stroke related, however, I can say that I reacted adversely to Atorvastin and switched to another statin which I now take only 5mg. It’s a bit trial and error with meds. Clopidogrel, for me personally, doesn’t have side-effects that I am overtly aware of apart from easy bruising and bleeding. I kept up the anti-platelet medication because the first year post stroke is a high risk period and some say that one is not out of the woods until five years post stroke but having said that, a recent MRI showed I have some hardening of the small blood vessels in my brain, a recent aging related development and not uncommon, Clopidogrel might be useful for me if these arteries potentially might clog. So, I am sticking with it. Cholesterol can be managed and tested, so coming off statins or lowering the dose is doable I would think, unless that high cholesterol is due to a genetic disorder.

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@gulshan903 just popping by to say hi & welcome to the community.

Some great advice in your post. Hope to hear more from you soon.

Ann

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Thanks for the warm welcome.

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Hello @gulshan903 - welcome to the community and thank you for sharing your tips.

Please continue to share your experiences and knowledge with us :slight_smile:

Namaste|

:pray:

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Thanks. Your thoughts very much mirror ours. We have been told that Clopidogrel is for life, the statins will be reviewed and aspirin stopped. The fatigue is most likely the stroke but could be changes in BP drugs some of which lower the pulse. It does seem an iteration process to get to the right balance.

1 Like