Experimenting With Drugs

I’ve been experimenting with drugs for a few years now having been prescribed statins to control my cholesterol level since 2012. I’ve also had to stop or take breaks for several weeks because I experienced muscle pains when I take the medications. There are more and more reports of this happening to other people too.

 The first statin prescribed to me was Atorvastatin (Lipitor) 40 mg. daily. It worked very well because my total cholesterol level went from 229 to 139 in a couple of months.  I took it for a few more months then started to get thigh injuries when I went running. I thought it was because my thigh muscles were compensating for my ankle tendon injuries, but apparently I was mistaken. I reported this to my doctor who stopped the medications, but in a few months, my cholesterol level started to climb back up. Without notifying my doctor, I started splitting the pill in half (20 mg.) and took them every other day. This was enough to keep my cholesterol level in check but the muscle pain resumed. I further reduced the dose to 10 mg. three times a week which still controlled my cholesterol at about 179 and at the same time kept the muscle pains to a minimum as long as I didn’t push the pace when I was running. By this time, I already told my doctor what I was doing.

After changing jobs and medical insurance companies, I told my new doctor about the muscle pains, so she switched me to Pravastatin (Pravachol) 20 mg. daily. The pain intensified again so the doctor discontinued it. She prescribed fish oil instead: Omega 3-6-9 complex, 1 capsule twice a day. I took it for a year and when my cholesterol level was checked, it had risen to its highest level ever to 255. So the fish oil didn’t work and in addition, I was eating a lot of cheese and German sausages at that time.

The doctor then prescribed Rosuvastatin (Crestor) 20 mg. daily and my cholesterol level did a correction and went down to 179 after only 3 months. However, the muscle pains started again so the doctor discontinued the Crestor and said I can never take statins again because of the side effects.

I took a six week break from the Crestor and without notifying my doctor, I started splitting the 20 mg. pill and took 10 mg. three times a week. This seemed to keep the muscle pain under control so I kept on taking them. I still have a bunch of pills that are going to last me at least a year.

After my recent job loss, I had to buy my own insurance through Obamacare and found a new doctor. I told him what I did and he hasn’t changed anything so far. After having blood tests done, my cholesterol level has gone down to 156. Of course, not eating German sausages and drastic cut down on cheese helped. As long as the muscle pain stays at a minimum or non-existent, I think I shall continue with my self-prescribed treatment plan. I’ve also switched to brisk walking instead of running.

I know I’m only mentioning total cholesterol, but my HDL/LDL ratio has always been good regardless of what my total cholesterol is and my triglycerides has never been an issue.

Why Haven’t I Been Job Hunting Yet?

Well……a few reasons. For the past 8 months or so, we’ve been waiting for word when the hospital will close. Finally a couple of weeks ago we found out that our last day will be on July 3, 2018. A few of my coworkers have found new jobs, while some are still hunting. As for me, I applied for a position of records clerk earlier this year which I thought was in one of Long Beach Memorial Medical Center’s units, but which turned out to be the OB/GYN clinic! It was only when I set up an appointment for an interview when I found out about it. But I went to the interview anyway and despite communicating well with the Nurse Manager and a couple of the Medical Assistants, I didn’t get a call back. I guess I wasn’t a good fit for them. If I was hired, it would have meant getting up so early in the morning again and going to work 5 days a week. Somehow my body doesn’t function well during day shifts anymore after having worked nights for more than 30 years. So in a way, it’s good I wasn’t hired.

That was the only job I applied for and right now my strategy is to wait until the company kicks us out on July 3^rd, then look at my options. California now has a 4.2% unemployment rate which means there are a lot of jobs available. So why haven’t I applied for anything yet? If I applied now and got accepted by another company, they may require me to start as soon as possible. After all no company in their right mind would be so accommodating and wait till July 3^rd when they need someone who can start right away.

There are a few reasons and incentives for waiting to find another job. If I stay till July 3^rd, the hospital will pay us an extra 20% for all hours worked since last November, and we will get severance pay equal to one week’s pay for every year of employment in the hospital, which for me would be 3 years. Besides, I have also accumulated more than 330 hours of vacation time. With that, I should be able to survive for a couple of months.

My main concern is losing medical and dental insurance coverage which come with a full time job. When I got laid off 4 years ago, at least I qualified for Medicaid under the newly started Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), because I met the income guidelines. That meant that I didn’t earn more than $16,000 that year. This year the income guidelines say that I cannot earn more than $16,395 (which is 138% of the federal poverty level) so I can qualify for Medicaid. With all the incentives and vacation time I’m accruing from my current job, I don’t foresee myself qualifying for Medicaid.

So my only option is to buy my own medical and dental insurance from Covered California, which is the government entity administering Obamacare in California. I’ll have to do that while job hunting after July 3^rd. On July 3^rd, it would be 3 years and 11 months before I qualify for Medicare.

Another downside is that I can’t plan for any vacations this year and most likely, I’ll deal with that before applying for any job.

The main strategy now is not to get fired before the hospital closes. In the meantime, I’ve been practicing saying “Welcome to McDonald’s, may I take your order?”

A Short Stack That Didn't Involve Pancakes

Marcy Home Gym MKM-81030

          Last Christmas, I received a gift card for Dick’s Sporting Goods from my Uncle and Aunt, and since then, I’ve been checking the store’s website for any good deals. I first eyed a packable down jacket which was the exact amount on the gift card, but having so many jackets already, I didn’t order it.

          Lately, due to my age, I’ve been feeling that my free weights (barbells and dumbbells) are no longer safe if I were to try lifting the maximum weight I was capable of. So I checked out any weight machines on sale at Dick’s Sporting Goods and my first choice wasn’t available but my second choice pretty much included what I needed for a full body workout. Prior to this I had one machine left which I bought about 5 years ago for safety purposes but only had one function – the bench press, and it occupied a lot of space for just one function. It was called the Valor Fitness BF-47 Independent Bench Press. I had to disassemble this machine and left all the steel parts in the trash bin for the recyclers to go through and sell.

Valor Fitness BF-47 Independent bench press

          The machine I found at Dick’s Sporting Goods was the Marcy 100 lb. Single Stack Home Gym MKM-81030. The price was affordable after the $50 reduction from the gift card. I ordered it online and opted for delivery to the room of my choice which included one flight of stairs, plus assembly by a technician. The machine had too many parts for me to assemble myself and I didn’t care to use my brain too much to figure out which part, screw, or pulley goes where. When I finally clicked on the checkout button, to my utter surprise, the cost of delivery and assembly was more than the machine itself! Well, I figured this was going to be my last major purchase before I get laid off from work and I might as well buy it while I was still earning a paycheck. Besides, I figured this was the last weight machine I’m ever going to buy and should last me into my old(er) age.

          So the delivery was scheduled and it actually arrived a couple of hours early (I was given a four hour window from noon to 4 p.m. but it was delivered by 11 a.m.). Next, I had to call the store to schedule the assembly. After a couple of calls, we were able to schedule it, however on the day the technician was supposed to show up, he ran into some delays and we had to reschedule for another day. That day came and the technician called me and said he had finished his previous assignment early and that he can come in early to assemble the machine. Unfortunately, I was in a training class at work at that time and I gave him my ETA for when I can get home. He arrived a few minutes after I got home and proceeded to unpack the machine and laid out all the parts on the floor. I left him to it, not wanting to interfere with things I didn’t know about.

Set up and assembly by technician

           It took him about 4 hours to finish which was longer than he expected because the pulley system was complicated. If I even tried to assemble the machine myself, I probably would have given up and called an expert anyway.

          The technician left and I tried out a few functions of the machine. Everything seemed to be in working order except the top weight on the weight stack was hanging about 5 inches from the rest of them. I didn’t pay too much attention to it thinking it was probably the way it should be.

          A couple of days later, I did a full body workout and tried to lift the maximum weight for every exercise. It was then while doing the latissimus pull down and I inserted the pin on the weight stack 2^nd to the last plate when I discovered that the middle bar where the pin was inserted didn’t go all the way down to the last 2 plates. If it were pancakes, it was a short stack. I looked the machine over and everything seemed to be okay other than one of the cables appeared to be about 5 inches short, the same distance the mentioned earlier about the top weight on the weight stack. Hmm, was this a factory defect, or did they pack the wrong size cable? It would have to wait until the next day because it was after hours for the company that manufactured the home gym.

Short cable for the weight stack?

          The next day, I called the toll free number for Impex Fitness, which manufactures a lot of exercise machines for different companies (the label may say Marcy or Gold's but it's made by Impex) and explained the situation, then asked the representative if this was a known issue with the machine. She said it wasn’t and asked me to email her a picture of the machine from the side. I had already previously taken pictures and sent them to her. A few minutes later, she sent me 3 pictures showing that the technician had assembled the machine incorrectly. I compared the pictures to the machine itself and it showed that one of the pulley attachments was facing backward instead of forward. I analyzed the set up to see if I can make the adjustment myself but decided I didn’t have the proper tools.

Pulley assembly should have been facing forward

          I called the company who assembled the machine and a couple of days later, the technician came by. It didn’t take him 10 minutes to make the adjustment and while he was still there, I tested the machine. Sure enough the weight plate that was hanging 5 inches was now flush against the rest of the weight plates. I was able to insert the pin on the weight stack all the way to the last plate. Not that I’ll be able to lift the whole thing, mind you.

          Next, I downloaded an exercise chart specifically for the machine from the internet (I was surprised that none came with the machine). So far the exercises I’ve been doing on the machine have been: chest press (straight and inclined), chest flies, lat pull down, biceps curls, seated military press (this one wasn’t on the chart so I made it up by sitting on the floor and using the low pulley, triceps push downs, upright rows, and leg extensions. There are a couple of other exercises available for the legs and hips but they require a strap to be attached to the ankle, which I don’t care to bother with.

Marcy Home Gym Exercise Chart

          So now I’m operating on a full stack. I have a whole bunch of weight plates for barbells which I will no longer be using. Would anybody care to buy them from me? I could use the money since I’m going to be unemployed soon.