A man has been left unable to walk after taking meds for high cholesterol causing him to develop a rare muscle-weakening condition, he claims.
Mark Freeman, who hails from Wales, began popping the medication four years ago and had no issues until he started to struggled to get up in the morning time.
He experienced fevers, muscle aches and a heightened temperature at night and, over nine months, no longer had his ability to walk, had to leave his job and now has to use a wheelchair, The Mirror reported.
READ MORE: Met Eireann forecast shows exact date temperatures in Ireland will hit 20C but there’s a catch
Mark has since been told by medical professionals that he has necrotizing myopathy - which is a rare autoimmune disease that creates chronic inflammation of the muscles and weakness.
A plasma exchange is a possible method of helping his symptoms doctors say - where the liquid part of his blood is removed and exchanged. He is currently not fit enough for the procedure.
In warning, Mark said: “I get miserable and very upset that I can’t stand or walk.
"I struggle with moving around in a wheelchair, being at everyone else's schedule and needing carers to go to the toilet. I’m very upset about my life and what has happened, I’ve lost my job and my career - I was a food technologist and I loved it."
Mark said he now "feels stuck."
"There is a lot of information that suggests that statins are safe and muscle aches while on statins are not caused by statins. My story is the exact opposite and is proof that it can happen and when a reaction does happen it can be life changing," he claims.
Fevers, muscle aches and temperatures at night began for the 47-year-old in April 2020.
Symptoms worsened until he could no longer get out of bed.
His GP ran some diagnostics and discovered Mark had high levels of creatine kinase (CK) - an enzyme which is released by the muscles into the blood stream when the muscle is damaged.
Levels of 40 – 320 units per litre are ordinary for men – but Mark’s readings showed 12,000 units per litre, he said.
He was brought to hospital where he received a MRI scan and told to quit his statins.
A biopsy showed Mark had the HMGCR antibody, confirming his diagnosis as 'necrotizing inflammatory myopathy.'
He went to Charing Cross Hospital for seven weeks and took immunosuppressive drugs before being sent to a muscle rehabilitation unit in a different hospital.
Mark said: “It’s had a tremendous impact - it’s broken me as a man. I’ve found it hard to come to terms with the fact I can't walk or stand again, and it’s hit me in the middle of life at 46.
READ NEXT:
- A look inside RTE’s Caitriona Perry’s marriage to husband and new role in America
- Dunnes Stores urgently recalls item bought by over 6,000 people this year
- RTE Late Late Show host latest as Ryan Tubridy replacement now ‘looks a Shoo-in’
- Gerry Hutch became prison chef and had handmade sign as source reveals what was on the menu
- Lip reader reveals lonely Prince Harry's comments to guests as he arrived at King's Coronation
Get news updates direct to your inbox by signing up to our daily newsletter here
