Monday, November 29, 2021

Side Effects

Harry reached the age at which his blood cholesterol level was no longer manageable through diet alone. He hated taking pills, their expense, remembering to take them, refilling hassles and the feeling that his survival was dependent upon Western medicine and frequent visits with the doctor. But his elevated readings were consistent and trending upward. Well established research shows that taking a statin greatly reduces the chances of death by stroke or heart attack. Was one little pill really that much of an inconvenience? He called the pharmacy.

 

Meeting up with his old friend Pete over lunch generally devolved into conversations about aches and pains.

 

            “Did you hear about Tom?” asked Harry

            “Is it true, he dropped dead playing golf?” said Pete.

            “A heart attack. No family history. His cholesterol was really high. Guess he should have taken a statin. I just started.”

            “Oh man, you have to be careful with those. I wound up in the hospital, so messed up I couldn’t think straight. All of a sudden, I had dementia caused by my statin. I was really tired, had leg cramps, usually at night, that woke me up, digestive problems and…”

            “Wait, back up, leg cramps?”

            “Yeah, I went on a different medication and now I’m ok, but you have to take CoQ10 to prevent the cramping.”

            “I wish my doctor had mentioned that.”

 

On the way home from lunch, Harry stopped at a Walgreens and picked up some CoQ10. His night time leg cramps vanished within a few days. Lunch with a friend had proved more useful than a visit to the doctor.

 

Use of C0Q10 may cause headaches and dizziness, insomnia, fatigue, skin itching or rashes, irritability or agitation.

 

Within a week or so Harry noticed an increase in his energy level, almost to the point of feeling jittery. 



To read the rest of this story and more than fifty others, please consider buying "Natural Selections," at Amazon.com.


😎


If you like fiction and you're in the mood for over 50 short stories, please consider buying "Natural Selections," at Amazon.com.


Or if you'd prefer seventy non-fiction stories inspired by a town in Illinois, please consider buying Park Ridge Memories also on Amazon. Click on the image below.