When myalgia make you feel old: adverse effect of a statin drug.....

When I went for my blood test again on 3rd Nov, I was totally shocked when my lipid profile was really bad!! My total cholesterol was up to 5.8 mmol/l, my LDL ( the bad cholesterol) was up to 3.45 ,and my HDL (the good guy) dropped dangerously to 0.8! My triglycerides (TGs) was up again to 3.4!! It was shocking as I had been taking Lipantril, a drug containing fenofibrate to reduce my TGs. To make matters worse, my fasting blood sugar was up to a scary 7.3, and my uric acid was a high 466 micromol/l !!

Oh dear, it must be Wong's barbecued kambing that had caused the all-time high bad levels in my blood serum!!! Anyway I have to admit I had been very naughty the whole month of Syawal!! So many Hari Raya open-houses every weekend, and I have this gluttony to taste every delicious mouth-watering rendang at every invitation, he he.

I realised that I have pre-diabetic syndrome, or Syndrome X, as some doctors called it, for the past 2 years! It seemed that whatever that I have done to overcome this problem has failed. So the doctor decided to give me a statin drug, as she said she had prescibed the drug to many of her patient as the result was good, in the sense that it managed to reduce the total cholesterol, raise the HDL and lower the LDL. I was more than willing as I have done my homework and read about positive results of statin drugs in the web.

My next blood test was on the 7th Dec. It seemed that station does work! My TGs dropped to 2.45mmol/l, my total cholesterol was down to a normal 4.8, my LDL was also down to less than 2.0, however, statin also cause my HDL to drop to a 0.7!

It was in my second month on statin that I began to feel pain in my legs, which did not disappear with massages, nor with painkillers like diclofenac (Voltaren) or muscle relaxants. The pain seared from my calfs right up to my thighs, and it can last the whole day. I had to take bedrest a lot, a good thing this happened in December, and I had taken a lot of leave, without interfering much with my work. Many mornings,I felt so out of energy, that it was so difficult to get out of bed for the Suboh prayers. I realised that I must be having myalgia, muscular pain, and fatigue as a result of taking the statin drug. I urine had also changed from a light yellowish tincture to a darker brownish colour. Are my muscles cells exploding??

I have been reading a couple of books on wellnesss and natural health, and I have also studied many websites concerning cholesterol and statin drugs. After 6 weeks taking statin, I made my decision to stop taking the drug. At first I was quite worried to make a sudden stop without the doctor's advise due to fear of sudden withdrawal effect. However, as I had taken statin for only 6 weeks, I had decided to stop, and besides, I can't bear the muscular pain in mu legs and at the back of my neck.

..... to be continued.

Raya Feast at Fat Cat Studio, Damansara Perdana

It was a belated Hari Raya feast last Friday night, 23rd of October (one week after end of Syawal!!) starting at 9 pm,but as sumptuous as it could be, with Wong's barbecued Kambing being the main gastonomical attraction, everyone loved the raya dinner. It seemed that we Malaysians never stopped eating during the month long Hari Raya (to such an extend that we continue with our voracious appetite even after Syawal's end!! ha ha). However, it was a wonderful night where I was glad to be able to meet 25 of my old (literally) school mates from MCKK. We called ourselves the thoroughbred (72-76), as we were the first batch of bright intelligent kids to be accepted to join Form 1 in 1972 in the prestigious Malay College Kuala Kangsar.

....( to be continued)

melankholia...

I guess there are things a man doesn't tell others...
they just haunt him inside...
this is a dark night in my life...
i cannot sleep...frustrated...sad...
has your heart ever hurt so much you thought it was gonna explode?

and right now i am feeling a pain in the pit of my stomach
and right now i am feeling a pain all over my heart
i was not made for this;
love is for the strong and stupid
i am careless and naive...and misunderstood
a deadly combination.

there is no prize
just nights of lost sleep
just dreams of what could've been
sometimes i am spread too thin
trying to make everyone happy is not easy
especially when no one tries to put a smile on my face
just nights of lost sleep...

In my hallucination
I saw my beautiful flower garden.
In my vertigo, in my dizziness
In my drunken haze
Whirling and dancing like a spinning wheel
And I was the spirit of love
Now I am sober
There is only the hangover
And the memory of love
And only the sorrow

ILI: My personal experience- Part 5; Keys to Survival

From my observation of the sufferings of my children, I have understood and recognized the symptoms of serious ILI rather well. The symptoms could be any of the following combinations;

• body aches followed by very high fever (39-40 degrees) for 3 days which became milder and continue for another 2-3 days, no runny nose or blocked nose, dry "bison" cough and severe sore throat and malaise till 8th day.
• severe agonising back ache with very high fever for 3 days, became less severe for another 2-3 days, mild sore throat, no runny nose, dry "bison" cough, malaise.
• tired body, very high fever for 3 days, and became milder for 4-5 days, no runny nose, severe headache, dry "bison" cough .

These I knew are symptoms of H1N1. Perhaps my whole family had had H1N1 ! Only not proven so because I didnt do the lab test. The test for H1N1 at private institutions are eye-boggling too damn expensive!! I asked a private clinic and I was given a hefty RM170 tag !! A private hospital in Shah Alam charged a ridiculous RM220!! What are these medical professionals doing? Making money out of people's sufferings?

I am glad I have practised the followings as soon as my children had fever and cough.

1. Take organic multi-vitamin, multi-mineral supplement.
2. Take extra 500 mg of organic Vitamin C supplement which naturally contain bioflavonoids. To be taken 3x /day. Thats a total of 1500 mg of Vitamin C plus phytonutrients.
3. Take 2 tablets of freeze-dried garlic supplement with added veges such as parsley which also contain phytonutrients.
4. Eat a lot green apples, as apples are alkalizing and rich in pyhtonutrients. I believe eating oranges will be equally beneficial.
5. Eat alkalizing foods. Taking chicken soup with watercress or broccoli is a good alkalizing broth. Try it.
6. Eat a lot of greens, like salads or ulam kampung.
7. As all this happened in the month of Ramadhan, I had supplicated to God for his mercy on my children, and family.

Preventive measures

Being in the middle of a pandemic should make us more careful and make positive important decisions to save ourselves and our family from this scourge. Besides cleaning our hands with antiseptic soap, as advocated by the authority, I strongly believe that strengthening our inner biological terrain is a positive step towards prevention from this pandemic. We should assert ourselves to boost up our immune system, and at the same time, ensure to make effort to make our blood and body more alkaline at cellular level.

A MCOBA doctor wrote that, H1N1, like other Influenza A viruses, only infects the upper respiratory tracts and proliferates there. The only portals of entry are the nostrils and mouth/ throat. In a global pandemic of this nature, it's almost impossible not coming into contact with H1N1 in spite of all precautions. Contact with H1N1 is not the problem but proliferation is. While you are still healthy and not showing any symptoms of H1N1 infection, in order to prevent proliferation, aggravation of symptoms and development of secondary infections, some very simple steps -

Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (or any well-known mouth-wash). H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation. Gargling with salt water has the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected one.

Similar to above, clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt water. Blowing the nose hard once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton buds dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population.

Allahu a'lam.....

25 years in service-Majlis Jasamu di kenang.....

On 1st October 2009, I had attended a 'Majlis Jasamu di kenang' at Dewab Sri Budiman, a event to show gratitude to "otai-otai" UiTM who had served with dedication for 25 years, 30 years and till gas ran-out. It was a simple event ,well organised, and as it is still Raya month, we are served with nice lodeh and nasi empit with really delicious rendang and daging serunding. Then came the speech time started with our Tan Sri VC with his usual brand of humor. He talked about many of us now not so very handsome, now with greying hair, and also those who had surpassed menopause era. Then Tan Sri Dr Wan, the Pengerusi Lembaga Pengarah, also began to give his speech. He had praise our VC who had worked so hard to uplift UiTM to what it si now, he talked about the otai who had achieved impressive explicit knowledges, but also had acquired tacit knowledges, or implicit knowledges. This is wise words, as I truly agree with him. The deep understanding and acquistion of knowledges unpublished comes through years of intellectual experiences, and wisdom through aging intelligently.
Not failingly, he also had some wits under his sleeves. He talked about listening very carefully to Tan Sri VC's speech ,and he thought he heard "MEN-NO-PAUSE". That was charming of him. I guess men will always be men, we will always be cheeky, even at very old age...... he he.

Anyway, as a token of good faith, we were given a couple of Bonia watches, His and Hers. I guess it was nice to receive a free gift. Although I wish that they had given me the diamond studded gold watch as depicted on the Bonia paper bag which came with the gift... he he.

ILI: My personal experience;Part 4-Alliin and alkalizing foods

I have also given my children garlic supplements. I believed that garlic is a potent immune system stimulant and a natural antibiotic. Garlic contains an amino acid derivative 'alliin'. When the effect of alliin is observed on blood cells, a noted increase in the engulfing capacity of phagocyting cells is seen.
When garlic is crushed or damaged, the enzyme alliinase converts alliin to allicin. Thus it is important to choose a supplement which still contain alliin, and this can happen only if the garlic is freeze-dried before pulverised and made into pills. Garlic oil or pearls may be good for your heart but it may not have anti-bacterial or anti-viral properties.
Allicin itself has powerful anti bacterial and anti -fungal properties.
Garlic not only has anti-fungal, anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties, but also has more than 70 sulfur-containing compounds that help the body make other immune-stimulating compounds such as cysteine and glutathione.

Garlic is also an alkalizing food. Our body is alkaline by design and acid by function. Maintaining proper alkalinity is essential for life, health, and vitality. Simply put - an imbalance of alkalinity creates a condition favorable to the growth of bacteria, yeast, viruses and other unwanted organisms. All leading biochemists and medical physiologists have recognized pH (or the acid-alkaline balance) as the most important aspect of a balanced and healthy body. They have long known that the maintenance of an alkaline pH in our tissues and cells is critical to cellular health.
All the cells (billions of them) that make up the human body are slightly alkaline, and must maintain alkalinity in order to function and remain healthy and alive. However their cellular activity creates acid and this acid is what gives the cell energy and function. As each alkaline cell performs its task, it secretes metabolic wastes, and these end products of cellular metabolism are acid in nature.
An acidic, anaerobic (lacking oxygen) body environment encourages the breeding of fungus, mold, bacteria, and viruses. One way to keep our body's biological terrain at a healthy alkaline environment is eating alkalizing foods including lots of green foods.

Many of us must have received an email about a student who had suffered from H1N1 but was not given any appropriate treatment for a week in a hospital, he was nearing death, until he was taken home and an Ustaz recommended him to eat 6 apples a day! He recovered a few days later.
I have also bought a lot of green apples for my children too. Perhaps green apples are more alkaline than ripe red apples, definitely it is in the list of alkalizing foods that we should consume! Apples are not only alkalizing, but each apple contains some 15 mg of Vitamin C, and a whole load of rich phytochemicals! However, make sure you consume everything, skin and all, except the seeds, as the phytonutrients are rich at the rind and pits.
I am glad that I have decided to change the diet of my family many months ago, after attending a 2-day wellness workshop under the patronage of open university. Thus I have groomed my family to love eating green foods, such as lettuces, delicious crispy romaine salads, and not forgetting our own "salads", our ulam kampung. My children may be weird as they even love eating the bitter pegaga with dinner!! These ulams are packed with perhaps 100s of phytonutrients!!

ILI: My personal experience- Part 3:Boosting immunity

I have given my children natural organic multi-vitamin and multi-mineral supplement as well as extra doses of Vitamin C. Vitamin C has well been known to boost up the immune system. When the word "vitamin" is mentioned, people would be thinking "pill". The more educated modern people would probably think " US RDA" ( now, its RDI, US Reference Daily Intake) . The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has formulated recommended consumption levels for vitamins called recommended daily allowances (RDA). But we must understand that these allowances do not account for the amount needed to maintain maximum health, rather than 'borderline' health, only the amount needed to prevent deficiency diseases such as beri-beri, rickets or scurvy.
Larger doses of vitamins can help our body work better. Holistic medicine practitioners and wellness experts talk about ODA instead of RDA. Optimum Daily Allowances are the amounts of micronutrients needed to achieve optimal and vibrant good health. For example, the RDA for Vitamin C is a mere 60 mg, well, enough to prevent scurvy, however, ODA requires you to consume more than 2000 mg. To boost up your immune system ,you must take at least 1500 mg per day.
The immune system is a complex and amazing body system that protects us from bacteria, viruses, toxins, and other dangerous pathogens (germs). Holistic medicine recognizes that illness is not caused by viruses and bacteria, but rather by weakened immune systems. For example, all medical practitioners agreed that cancer is a disease which resulted from the immune system that has gone terribly wrong.
Viamin C is one of the top immune boosters available. Vitamin C increases the production of infection-fighting white blood cells and antibodies and increases levels of interferon, the antibody that coats cell surfaces, preventing the entry of viruses.
However, when you choose a multi-vitamin supplement, you must choose a supplement which is made from natural sources.
Studies have shown that protein-bonded vitamins, as found in natural whole food supplements, are absorbed, utilized, and retained in the tissues better than supplements that are not protein-bonded. Chemical derived or synthetic vitamins are not protein-bonded.
Man-made synthetic ascorbic acid are manufactured in the lab, and many of this cheap local products also contain artificial colourings and flavors.

I have chosen a Vitamin C supplement which also contain fruit and vegetable extracts that are rich in phytonutrients such as bioflavonoids. The bioflavonoids are helpful in the absorption of vitamin C and protect the multifunctional vitamin C molecule from oxidation, thereby improving and prolonging its functioning. Flavonoids have been referred to as "nature's biological response modifiers" because of strong experimental evidence of their inherent ability to modify the body's reaction to allergens, viruses, and carcinogens. They show anti-allergic, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial and anti-cancer activity.
Bioflavonoids function synergistically with Vitamin C in regard to maintaining healthy capillaries, to help form collagen in connective tissue, to help heal wounds, and to support a healthy immune system. These bioflavonoids increase intracellular Vitamin C levels, thus preventive damages to the cell by viruses.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri

Jika ....

ada langkah yang mengguris hati,

ada tingkah laku yang membekas luka,

ada lisan yang tak terjaga,

ada janji yang tak tertunai,

ada hati yang berperangsangka

serta ucapan berbunga dusta,

mohon dibukakan pintu kemaafan.....

Salam Aidil Fitri, maaf dazhir batin.......

ILI: My personal experience- Part 2:Organic Supplements

The next day, my Form Three son, Hasan, complained that he had chills the whole night before I woke him up for sahur. A couple of hours later his body temperature began to rise rapidly. He was having similar ILI. On Friday, three other sons of mine began to have fever. Habibi , my 13 year-old son, complained of having body aches all-over for the past 3 days, and finally was down with similar high fever. My third son, Dzil, 22, who is in his first semester doing his first degree, began to complain of excruciating pain in the back, which he said later, he had never experienced such a terrible back ache. I had to go to office first, and when I came back at 11 am to bring them to a clinic, Umair also complained of feeling feverish. Umair is my second son who is now in his final year pursuing his first degree in UiTM. Now all my 6 sons was having ILI, but I will just take care of them myself. My house was then full of sick boys who coughed deep and dry, sporadically and sometimes together, filling the house with deafening brazen noise like the long deep trumpeting snort of American white buffaloes or leucistic bisons.
Although I worry about the recovery of my sons, I have high hopes and believe that if I can assist my children to boost up their immune system, I can save them from aggravating towards dangerous deterioration.
Actually I was not sure who actually brought this A-virus to my family. Perhaps it was my elder daughter. About a week earlier, both my daughters, Maryam,20, and Fatimah, 17, were down with flu. They had high fever, headaches, and were coughing quite badly. Besides taking them to a clinic for medicines, I had told them to take Vitamin C and Garlic. With disciplined consumption of the organic supplements, both my daughters recovered quickly in 3 days.

Spectacle of Death....

Last Friday, 11th Sept., I came home from the terawih prayers and while resting in the TV room, watched Al-Hidayah. The Ustaz were discussing about Death, and the signs before death comes, at it was a very good tazkirah for me. However the discussion on tv reminded me of my visit to the graveyard one day after my father-in-law died. My father-in-law, or Bak, as we called him, died in hospital a few days after he fell from a slippery rambutan tree after a rainy day, to pick some rambutan fruits for his grandchildren. Bak had placed a lot of large rough stones under the tree to prevent erosion as the tree grew on a 15 degree slope next to the house. He had suffered from fractured spine and skull.
We all went to the graveyard on his burial day, but I went to his grave the next day alone to give him last respect and read the Yaasin again, and perform more supplications. When I laid the tikar and began to sit, suddenly my hand was bitten by an ant ,or was it an arachnid?? It was rather large for an ant, but it had a large rounded abdomen, and the bite was very painful ,and the bitten area was on fire. The poison must have been really strong. I didnt kill the creature but just threw it away, and nursed my hand till it felt better. I continued to read my Yaasin and made doa, and I left soon after. The graveyard was a small hilly area in Batu 3, Shah Alam, and we had to climb up a flight of white concrete stairs on the slope that rises immediately beside the roadside. As I climbed down the stairs, I was horrified to see several large black scorpions in the dry drain that ran right under the last step of the concrete stairs.
It had transcended on me after watching Al-Hidayah that night, that; what I had experienced and saw was a special reminder from Allah azza wa Jalla.....
Could the fiery poisonous spider-ant, and the large black scorpions the creatures that will taunt and sting the dead within the realms of the Barzakh....??

ILI: My personal experience- Part 1

In the second and third week of Ramadan, 6 of my children were down with ILI (influenza-like illness). Perhaps it is H1N1 as all the major symptoms were there. It started last Sunday, 30th August when my eldest son, Imran, 25, who shuttles daily to KL where he works, with his motorbike, was seen very quiet and spent the whole day sleeping. I only knew he was having high fever and body aches the next day when Habibi, my 13 year-old son told me about him. He was coughing profusely, and the buffooning noise of his dry cough was very deafening.
Three days later, on Tuesday night, my 8-year old son, Abdurrahman, or Tommy as we used to call him, complained of being very tired, and later at bed time, his body temperature begin to rise rapidly. His forehead and his entire body was on fire, and that made me very worried. He complained of having a bad headache and became very restless. I gave him a couple of paracetamol and my wife coaxed him to sleep. The next morning he was so weak, he could hardly walk. I had to carry him to the car and brought him to a clinic and the doctor routinely gave the usual concoction for flu; painkillers for fever, antihistamine for runny nose or cold, expectorant for cough and antibiotics. I was worried about Tommy as he is only 8, and his immune system is not well developed yet. Tommy as my youngest son is very close to me, and I love him dearly. He is vey naughty and mischievous whenever I’m around. My wife said if I were away, whether coming late from work or away outstation for a few days, Tommy would behave like what a good boy should be, he would do his school homework, no mischieves, and come to bed with her quietly to sleep. However as soon as I arrive home, he would get excited, and begin to do a lot of naughty mischievous things, sometimes annoying and sometimes rather cheeky and obscene. Perhaps just to attract my attention and to play with me. I would just play along and chase him across my 2-house home until he just gave up,... or I gave up, panting and out of breath...

Patience ....

The person who is patient will always keep his cool. He will maintain equanimity and equipoise, remaining always even-tempered and within balanced composure. Patience reins in your temper as it has immense strength. Whenever you are angry, you should divert your temper and convert it into useful thoughts. Calmness should be supported by orderliness and fortitude to reap maximum benefit.

Whats a blog??

Perhaps visitors must have heard the term blog very often but just didnt know or couldnt be bothered to know the origin of the word blog... wikipedia explains....
A blog (a contraction of the term weblog) is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order.
The personal blog, an ongoing diary or commentary by an individual, is the traditional, most common blog. Personal bloggers usually take pride in their blog posts, even if their blog is never read by anyone but them. Blogs often become more than a way to just communicate; they become a way to reflect on life or works of art. Blogging can have a sentimental quality. Few personal blogs rise to fame and the mainstream, but some personal blogs quickly garner an extensive following.
A blog gives you your own voice on the web. It's a place to collect and share things that you find interesting— whether it's your political commentary, a personal diary, or links to web sites you want to remember.

Tornado girl...

Last week’s episode of Ugly Betty also has a truly valuable lesson. Those who follow this series know very well that Betty Suarez is a remarkable girl, she may be simple, but she is intelligent, hard working, always care for others, and most important of all Ugly Betty is Beautiful Inside.
In last week’s episode, Betty was accused for taking advantage of a tornado that had plundered somewhere in America to sell off Mode. Well, unfortunately, this happened because the front cover of Mode magazine was designed with the tornado motif. So she was dubbed the Tornado Girl, and everyone saw her as an irreverent opportunist.
The company was having monetary problems and ways must be found to boost up sales and save the company, and so Daniel and the scheming Wilhemina ( the ever beautiful Vanessa Williams) decided to go on with printing of Mode magazine, and put the blame on poor Betty.
When she learnt later that it was her boss Daniel Meade who had obscurely ordered the printing of Mode with the tornado front cover in anticipation of boosting sales, she was dismalled that it was her own boss who had put her to blame for the odious printing.
However, she was a girl of full esteem, and she met up with Daniel and said, “I am your assistant, but I do not want to be an assistant forever. The only thing I have is my reputation, and thanks to you, I don’t have it anymore.” (well, something like that).
This made Daniel uneasy , and his guilt made him confess in a press-conference that it was his fault after all……
There is valuable lesson in this story for employers or executives who are sincerely looking for ethical managerial enlightenment. If they are sincere.

The curse of the unicorn...

My children love to watch Merlin on Tv. So evey Sunday nite they will be eager waiting for the show to be on air. Its not really my favourite show , but I have nothing to do, so I usually join them to watch, after all, they are my family. In last week’s show, Arthur Pendragon , (the young King Arthur) had killed a most beautiful mythical creature, the Unicorn, in a hunting trip, and had sawn off the spiraled horn, and represented it to the king, his father.
Things went bad to worst almost immediately after, when all edible crops went dry and died, and water pumped from the Camelot’s water pumps turned to sand.
Then Anhora, the keeper of the unicorn, appeared telling Arthur that he is responsible for the dread over Camelot, and only Arthur can uplift the curse. He will be tested. Ha passed the first test due to his compassion over a man who had stolen food for his 3 hungry children, isk isk isk!!
However , in his search with Merlin for Anhora in the wood, he met the same man who snorted at Arthur. The sly thief threw derogatory sarcasms at Arthur ,and soon a duel came with swashbuckling fight. Immediately after Arthur slashed his sword at the thief, Anhora appeared and rebuked,” Do you kill a man simply because he had hurt your pride?”
Obviously Arthur failed his second test, and all grains kept in the castle went bad.
There is valuable lesson in this story for employers or executives who are sincerely looking for ethical managerial enlightenment. If they are sincere.
p.s. my favourite show is Ugly Betty…..

Senarai Barangan Haram oleh Mahasiswa April2009

Apabila saya baca senarai ini... saya pun rasa 'sceptical". History always repeats itself.... byk kali kita terima senarai haram dari mahasiswa....Bukan kah Jakim dah buat ujian dan uruskan perkara halal- haram? Jakim dah halalkan KFC dan MC D, dan byk lain2 produk dalam senarai.
Apabila kita sibuk dgn senarai yg di cipta mahasiswa, kita menuduh bahawa Jakim tidak buat keje dgn baik, atau makan rasuah, atau pemalas, melepaskan batok di tangga....
Kita kena lah haram kan babi,... dan juga buang sifat babi , dgn tidak menerima kebenaran senarai haram itu sehingga ada bukti yang kukuh mengatakan barangan2 itu benar2 HARAM.....we must have a critical mind and always be sceptical....

The quiet race

We are indeed living in a Malay World, where words don’t come easy, where dissatisfactions are swallowed but remain undigested in the stomach of fellow Malay men and women, although the pain of indigestion leaks out through the pores in the form of soft small group ‘let-go’ conversations and gossips, like the acrid wind that leaks out of the arse. Isnt UiTM the place where the best of the intellectual Malays exist, where we should profess verbal supremacy in expressions?