As some of you may know, I recently was diagnosed with Mitral Valve Prolapse and was started on a beta-blockers in an attempt to slow and regulate my heart beat. 

The first two days on the meds went well.  I was keeping an eye out for side effects and really didn't notice any. 

The third morning I got up and was in more pain than usual.  Mornings aren't the best time for me pain-wise, I'm usually hobbling along the hallway like a 80 year old.  That morning though...it was worse.  I'd done some yoga the day before and had incorporated new moves into it, so I put my achiness down to that.  I took my medications as usual and went about my day.

I woke up that night in pain.  Every joint I had, from my toes to my shoulders, hurt.  I got up, and was almost in tears because it hurt so bad.  I took some pain meds and went back to bed, trying to figure out what the hell I did to warrant such pain.

When I woke up that morning, it was worse.  Walking hurt.  Picking up a cup made me cry out.  Every single joint was literally agony. Staying still and not moving those joints didn't provide much relief: I hurt all over.  Literally.

I couldn't figure out what the hell I had done, what the hell was wrong with me.  I wasn't feverish, I didn't feel like I had the flu, I hadn't worked out excessivly...there was no reason for the pain.

As I was about to take my morning meds, I looked down at the pills in my hand and saw the beta blocker - and a light went on in my head.  Could it be that that was the cause?  Surely not, I had read over the information the pharmacy had given me and joint pain wasn't a side effect.  I decided to get on the 'net and go see if I could fins anything about it.

Sure enough, there it was.  Joint pain is a rare but serious side effect of beta blockers.  People who experience it are advised to contact their doctors immediately.

So, I called the cardiologist, and when I spoke to his nurse she put me right through to him - that's never happened before.  Usually it takes a few hours if not days for them to call back.  Anyway, he said that yeah, it sounded like the meds were doing it and that I should stop taking them.  He said the pain would go away in a couple of days and in the meantime I should use the pain meds I already had so I could tolerate it.

It took 3 days before I felt better.  3 days of constant throbbing, relentless pain.  The meds took the edge off, but just under the surface of the opiate blanket was a pain that would not quit.  I've been told that I was miserable company for the duration of those 3 days, and I agree.  Pain makes me short tempered and bitchy; I'm sure I wasn't nice to be around.

So, now I'm on a calcium channel blocker.  I warily agreed to take it after scouring the internet for information on the side effects.  It listed temporary muscle pain as one of them, and guess what?  I'm hurting today.  It's not as bad as before, but it's tiresome.  I'm hoping that it will get better, but if it's not gone by mid week, I'm calling the doctor again.

I'm going to be more careful about researching thoroughly the medications I'm prescribed before I take them.  I'm not going to take the pharmacist's print out as gospel truth anymore, before any medication passes my lips I'm going to spend an hour or so reading about the side effects and contrandications.  I'm going to be very well informed about what to expect and what to watch for so I don't spend 2 days in discomfort before I figure out what's going on.

I don't want a repeat experience.