I saw my doctor today and he wanted me to take stantins. My cholesterol is 330. I told him that all my male relatives generally lived to 70 then drank themselves to death, without drugs thank you.
Given a choice between a nice quick heart attack and cancer, I'll take the heart attack.
Maybe she'll agree to let you try a tiny dose of zocor. I think they still make that in 5 mg doses.
For me, without zocor I'd be long gone I think. My grandmother died at 51 of her third major stroke. (I was not quite 3) My family is not known for great blood vessels etc.
Regular exersize will take it down too. I exercised and dieted so that I lost 12 pounds that at the time I really didn't need to lose and the numbers still didn't move....so I took the zocor...numbers were better than perfect. Do your best, and see what happens. By the way, the bowl of oatmeal thing every morning is really true - - it does help lower cholesterol.
I know a lady never sick a day in her life in her late 80's who had a disabled child still livng at home , lots of stress and work all of her life so she took the medicine and ended with a "rare side effect" total loss of muscle control permanent damage so NOW she has the elderly disabled kid the 94 year old hubby and cant move her legs.
it was from the medicine they gave her for high cholesteral.
great man I tell ya she is one angry old lady.
my enitre family is on the stuff I refuse also I was border line and he isisted Im looked at the dr. straight in the eye and told him give me six months and also refused.
It went down some and I aint worried it is not at a alarming rate. frankly I do not care if it was. I get my breast X rayed I do the normal stuff but I am not going to put a drug in my body that is just plain weird.
I guess you always have to chose what is right for you but from what I see from my hyper always sick catch everything family sickly and whining constantly meds do not help and more than half the time the suffer worse from the side effects.
I do not want to live till im in my mid eighties.
. just me but really how many of those ages really do and live the manner they would like? I wont Im poor and no hope in sight. work then die . simple.
I think this whole cholesteral crap is a scam.
Im not a dr. but Ive heard enough horror stories from taking the meds to beat the thouught of taking anything for whatever that is suppose to do to ya.
good luck I am just writing to say I agree with ya. do what is best for you.
Yeah, Ex....definitely don't do what a trained doctor says....come to greasespot to get all the medical advise you need!
I had the same concerns when my doc prescribed Vytorin....but I take a a low dose (actually 1/2 a pill to make the cost lower) and I have had no side effects.
Personally I've been on some statin or other (I think it's Lipitor) for about a year now. I haven't grown a third arm or gone blind - yet. I've heard nothing but good about them really(statins). Have you been spending too much time with the organic granola crowd? Funny how we keep living better, longer in this country but there's always more doom, death and despair with the "alternative" folks when the subject of modern medicine comes up.
In my current state of mind I don't much give a $*@! if I die tomorrow, but if I did, Lipitor would be the last thing I'd worry about...
Gee, Ex-sorry about the scare! And I'm glad you brought it to us...you're enough of a vet around here to separate advice given into acceptable or not....
For what it's worth, I stick with the oatmeal, and it has helped. I cut my smoking to less than a pack (not just for that but other things). I drink a lot of OJ now. And I surf for info but take it with a grain of salt. I hate doctors but they at least know (or should know) the basics.
Im not a dr. but Ive heard enough horror stories from taking the meds to beat the thouught of taking anything for whatever that is suppose to do to ya.
I agree with Pond. Meds should ALWAYS be the *Last Resort*.
You can do so much on your own, and no side effects.
Give it a try -- at least for the few months you are thinking of. :)
now i have high cholesterol. my doctor called me today. she says it could be due to menopause, lack of exercise, eating wrong, genetics, etc. etc. whatever (i know, smoking, which i'm going to start working on, so please spare me)
but she wants me to take lipitor
i read up on it and it scared the crapola out of me
i'm not taking it
i'm going to give myself three months to lower it myself
i'm so freaked out
Yeah, I found out that I had all that fun, middle-aged stuff a few months ago - high cholesterol, high blood
pressure. Runs in my family. And so do heart attacks and strokes (my grandfather whom I never met, more or less became a vegetable for the remainder of his life; my great grandmother had a heart attack at home and experienced one of those weird out-of-body experiences). So I take lisinprol for my blood pressure every day and (less frequently - maybe every two or three days) "lovastatin" for the grease flowing through the bloodstream.
Excy, until you do achieve that certain, ultimate "right-eating" Nirvana by climbing to the top of the organic food pyramid and all that other idealistic happy horsecrap (yeah yeah yeah, such as I oft hear from my older, flakey, hypochondriac "organic health nut" sister, who ironically complains more about what is and isn't transpiring in her body than any other person I know - don't be a fool - take the blood pressure meds prescribed and see how it goes.
My mother has been taking 'em for years and though a bit frail at 82, she's still kickin' and sharp as a tack.
But it's doubtful she would be without the meds, considering the health history of my weird family tree.
Cholesterol is not innocent though reading the cholesterol myth links may give you that impression. The statins have proven to lower mortality though the reasons aren't entirely related to lowering cholesterol. For some information I think is useful click HERE! Its a little dry. :(
My mother-in-law has one eye and a glass one as she lost it in a childhood accident.
Anyway, a side effect was cataracts. With one eye it was a dangerous risk. I sent here some cholestro Low (spelling) by Futerbiotucs but she was afrais her doctor might get mad. She did not take it, but stuck with Lipitor and now she is having trouble seeing -- so the Doctor pulled her off of it. DUH!
My husband had a heart attack several years ago, he has 4 stents. He's been on lipitor, norvasc and diabetes drugs for years and has had none of the adverse side effects. He has regular heart check ups and is doing great now! In fact, except for the stents and the history, his cardiologist said he wouldn't have known he had a heart attack at one time.
He also watches his diet, excercises and has lost alot of weight.
Honestly, I think if he blew it all off, he'd be dead by now.
I think some (not all) doctors are too quick to write a prescription. I had some blood drawn in the middle of the day once at a doctor's office. My cholesterol was 203 at that time. The doctor instantly said I should get Lipitor. I said no.
If I had a regular blood test done after fasting for at least 12 hours and had a cholesterol level over 250, maybe I would take meds but not until I did some things myself like:
1) healthier diet and exercise
2) eat oatmeal for breakfast every day(the real stuff, not instant or 1 minute oats)
I would try that for at least 2 months and then see what happened. Then I would only consider meds if my cholesterol was still over 250.
By the way, I think Smart Balance is good. I got hubby off of butter by replacing it with Smart Balance. He doesn't miss butter. It's supposed to be healthier. I don't use the light kind. The regular kind is made from non-hydrogenated oils and has some healthy oils like olive oil in it.
forgive me, maybe you will understand but the fear in my heart would kill me if I took drugs for high cholesteral.
kidding .
I do think they take more notice of the side effects now than they did just a few short years ago.
who ever died of a cholesteral problem ya know? I smoke to but no high blood pressure mostly cause I just stay *%^#*ed off. ( oops have to edit I will write 'angry instead of the pictures. lol )
yeah they hear my family health history and pull out the pad of paper like it is the dam stock market.
funny they never ask how much they drank or what kind of stress they had.
I believe in the mind body connection more everyday myself.
My doc put me on Lipitor and I took it for about 3 days or so and my muscles hurt me so bad I could barely get out of bed. It also made me so tired I could barely function. When I called my doctor his nurse called me back and told me to continue taking it for at least 2 weeks and the symptoms should go away. Well, do I look like I've got a S written on my forehead???? I quit taking it.
And besides that cholesterol is not the enemy. Cholesterol is trying to repair damage. When the real problem gets too bad the cholesterol overproduces and then it is a problem. But, my point being - cholesterol is a symptom of another bigger problem and they don't address the bigger problem, they just try to lower the cholesterol.
The body is absolutely fascinating in the ways it tries to heal and repair itself. And "man" is absolutely fascinating that they can never address the real health problem but instead try to do away with the symptom that is trying to do the repairs and alert us that something is wrong.
Sometimes I think doctors would be better off to surf the net and find out the information there! I'm not against doctors (although I sound like it) but I think if you don't take responsibility for your own life and put your life in their hands they will kill you. They should be a PART of a person's health care plan but doctors are NOT the be all and end all of staying healthy and alive. IMHO!!!
Med school is more about memorizing what chemical med goes with what disease, illness and symptom than about really helping the body heal. Pharmaceutical meds and their side effects are scary.
This aging crap sucks, doesn't it? At least coming here where others have many of the same or similar problems provides emotional relief.
I have no suggestion for what you 'should' or 'should not' do concerning the meds...because I'm not your doctor. I do, however, have a suggestion for something to think about while wading through this health stuff...
Remember the 'mindset' twi taught to us concerning health issues. Remember that so many of us are in this health situation because of the crapoloa twi taught to us concerning 'believing' to the point of ignoring sound medical advice.
IMO, any suggestion of taking medicine, having surgery, doing something besides 'believing' triggers an automatic fear reaction.
Just something to think about...to possibly help you sort through what you're feeling.
Disclaimer: I am a semi-informed health consumer, not a health professional. Take anything I say with a grain of salt.
From what I understand, the biggest problem with those statin drugs is that they can, in some cases, cause some liver problems.
Follows is some information from the physician information on the drug. You can, and should, read the entire handout here: http://www.pfizer.com/pfizer/download/uspi_lipitor.pdf. Then list your specific questions, based on FACT, and ask your doctor about them. If your doctor is at all competent, he/she will seriously discuss the information with you, if you've taken the time to actually read responsible information about the medication and have well considered questions about it.
CONTRAINDICATIONS
Active liver disease or unexplained persistent elevations of serum transaminases. Hypersensitivity to any component of this medication.
Pregnancy and Lactation
Atherosclerosis is a chronic process and discontinuation of lipid-lowering drugs during pregnancy should have little impact on the outcome of long-term therapy of primary hypercholesterolemia. Cholesterol and other products of cholesterol biosynthesis are essential components for fetal development (including synthesis of steroids and cell membranes). Since HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors decrease cholesterol synthesis and possibly the synthesis of other biologically active substances derived from cholesterol,
they may cause fetal harm when administered to pregnant women. Therefore, HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors are contraindicated during pregnancy and in nursing mothers.
ATORVASTATIN SHOULD BE ADMINISTERED TO WOMEN OF CHILDBEARING AGE ONLY WHEN SUCH PATIENTS ARE HIGHLY UNLIKELY TO CONCEIVE AND HAVE BEEN INFORMED OF THE POTENTIAL HAZARDS.
If the patient becomes pregnant while taking this drug, therapy should be discontinued and the patient apprised of the potential hazard to the fetus.
WARNINGS
Liver Dysfunction
HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, like some other lipid-lowering therapies, have been associated with biochemical abnormalities of liver function. Persistent elevations (>3 times the upper limit of normal [uLN] occurring on 2 or more occasions) in serum transaminases occurred in 0.7% of patients who received atorvastatin in clinical trials. The incidence of these abnormalities was 0.2%, 0.2%, 0.6%, and 2.3% for 10, 20, 40, and 80 mg, respectively.
One patient in clinical trials developed jaundice. Increases in liver function tests (LFT) in other patients were not associated with jaundice or other clinical signs or symptoms. Upon dose reduction, drug interruption, or discontinuation, transaminase levels returned to or near pretreatment levels without sequelae. Eighteen of 30 patients with persistent LFT elevations continued treatment with a reduced dose of atorvastatin.
It is recommended that liver function tests be performed prior to and at 12 weeks following both the initiation of therapy and any elevation of dose, and periodically (eg, semiannually) thereafter. Liver enzyme changes generally occur in the first 3 months of treatment with atorvastatin. Patients who develop increased transaminase levels should be monitored until the abnormalities resolve. Should an increase in ALT or
AST of >3 times ULN persist, reduction of dose or withdrawal of atorvastatin is recommended.
Atorvastatin should be used with caution in patients who consume substantial quantities of alcohol and/or have a history of liver disease. Active liver disease or unexplained persistent transaminase elevations are contraindications to the use of atorvastatin (see CONTRAINDICATIONS).
Skeletal Muscle
Rare cases of rhabdomyolysis with acute renal failure secondary to myoglobinuria have been reported with atorvastatin and with other drugs in this class.
Uncomplicated myalgia has been reported in atorvastatin-treated patients (see ADVERSE REACTIONS). Myopathy, defined as muscle aches or muscle weakness in conjunction with increases in creatine phosphokinase (CPK) values >10 times ULN, should be considered in any patient with diffuse myalgias, muscle tenderness or weakness, and/or marked elevation of CPK. Patients should be advised to report promptly unexplained muscle pain, tenderness or weakness, particularly if accompanied by malaise or fever. Atorvastatin therapy should be discontinued if markedly elevated CPK levels occur or myopathy is diagnosed or suspected.
The risk of myopathy during treatment with drugs in this class is increased with concurrent administration of cyclosporine, fibric acid derivatives, erythromycin, niacin, or azole antifungals. Physicians considering combined therapy with atorvastatin and fibric acid derivatives, erythromycin, immunosuppressive drugs, azole antifungals, or lipid-lowering doses of niacin should carefully weigh the potential benefits and risks and should carefully monitor patients for any signs or symptoms of muscle pain, tenderness, or weakness, particularly during the initial months of therapy and during any periods of upward dosage titration of either drug. Periodic creatine phosphokinase (CPK) determinations may be considered in such situations, but there is no assurance that such monitoring will prevent the occurrence of severe myopathy.
Atorvastatin therapy should be temporarily withheld or discontinued in any patient with an acute, serious condition suggestive of a myopathy or having a risk factor predisposing to the development of renal failure secondary to rhabdomyolysis (eg, severe acute infection, hypotension, major surgery, trauma, severe metabolic, endocrine and electrolyte disorders, and uncontrolled seizures).
PRECAUTIONS
General
Before instituting therapy with atorvastatin, an attempt should be made to control hypercholesterolemia with appropriate diet, exercise, and weight reduction in obese patients, and to treat other underlying medical problems (see INDICATIONS AND USAGE).
Please note the above precaution: the "official" information says that you should first try diet, exercise, and weight reduction before taking Lipitor. Then if you have any underlying medical problems that could contribute to elevated chloresterol, those problems should be treated. The implication is that if, after doing these things, you still have elevated chloresterol, it would be time to treat it with the statin drug.
I know that a lot of doctors want to go with Lipitor first before doing the other things, but that's not what the manufacturer recommends. Keep that in mind.
There are a total of 24 pages in the physician's information on that drug. You should read and (probably) print out all 24 pages.
Disclaimer: I am a semi-informed health consumer, not a health professional. Take anything I say with a grain of salt.
One other thing I'll add, and this part is strictly my opinion (hopefully informed by fact). Yes, there are some pretty serious side effects to the drug, as you can see from the extract of the insert I provided in my previous post. However, if you look at the incidence of those side effects, you can see that they are relatively infrequent. In addition, they are fairly readily detectable.
If you do go on Lipitor, you also need to make sure to get the liver function tests done before, as you start on the drug, and regularly for the rest of your life. A liver function test can detect if you are getting some damage as a result of the drug. The MOST important thing I can tell you is: Don't ever, ever neglect getting your liver monitoring done if you go on it. If you start showing signs of liver malfunction, the blood work will detect it before any major damage is done. If you wait until showing some symptom (e.g., jaundice), it will be too late. Keep getting the blood work!!!
And yet another bit of commentary: I think a lot of MD's out there are nothing better than pill-pushers. Rather than trying to treat the underlying condition, they will immediately try to medicate. Lipitor is a classic example of this. The drug company itself says for MD's to first try diet, habit, and weight modification. Then look at possible underlying conditions. Only if all other routes fail should they put a person on Lipitor. I think that a lot of doctors just go straight for the drug solution. And I think that is a mistake. Me, personally, if I had a doctor like that, I would start looking for a different MD.
Again, I am a semi-informed health consumer, not a health professional. Take anything I say with a grain of salt.
Has your doctor referred you to a nutricionist/dietician? If not I would ask for such a referral. If you are disciplined enough to follow a dieticians recommendations, in combination with exercise, reduced or eliminated caffeen and alcohol intake, you may very well succeed at lowering your cholesterol without medication.
However, if you can't, then depending on how high your cholesterol levels are, particularly your triglycerides, you should give serious consideration to the medication.
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Jim
What a frigging coincidence.
I saw my doctor today and he wanted me to take stantins. My cholesterol is 330. I told him that all my male relatives generally lived to 70 then drank themselves to death, without drugs thank you.
Given a choice between a nice quick heart attack and cancer, I'll take the heart attack.
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Radar OReilly
Exxie,
Google, CHOLESTORAL MYTHS.........then google, "lipitor, thief of memory."
Those to sites will explain alot of things to you.
ror
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krys
Maybe she'll agree to let you try a tiny dose of zocor. I think they still make that in 5 mg doses.
For me, without zocor I'd be long gone I think. My grandmother died at 51 of her third major stroke. (I was not quite 3) My family is not known for great blood vessels etc.
Regular exersize will take it down too. I exercised and dieted so that I lost 12 pounds that at the time I really didn't need to lose and the numbers still didn't move....so I took the zocor...numbers were better than perfect. Do your best, and see what happens. By the way, the bowl of oatmeal thing every morning is really true - - it does help lower cholesterol.
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dmiller
Yup. That's what the guys at the house have everyday, Krys.
('ceptin Loren -- his breakfast is always coffee, and a cigar!) :unsure:
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pond
my opinion is DO NOT do it.
I do not want you to have a stroke .
look at the side effects you got that right!
I know a lady never sick a day in her life in her late 80's who had a disabled child still livng at home , lots of stress and work all of her life so she took the medicine and ended with a "rare side effect" total loss of muscle control permanent damage so NOW she has the elderly disabled kid the 94 year old hubby and cant move her legs.
it was from the medicine they gave her for high cholesteral.
great man I tell ya she is one angry old lady.
my enitre family is on the stuff I refuse also I was border line and he isisted Im looked at the dr. straight in the eye and told him give me six months and also refused.
It went down some and I aint worried it is not at a alarming rate. frankly I do not care if it was. I get my breast X rayed I do the normal stuff but I am not going to put a drug in my body that is just plain weird.
I guess you always have to chose what is right for you but from what I see from my hyper always sick catch everything family sickly and whining constantly meds do not help and more than half the time the suffer worse from the side effects.
I do not want to live till im in my mid eighties.
. just me but really how many of those ages really do and live the manner they would like? I wont Im poor and no hope in sight. work then die . simple.
I think this whole cholesteral crap is a scam.
Im not a dr. but Ive heard enough horror stories from taking the meds to beat the thouught of taking anything for whatever that is suppose to do to ya.
good luck I am just writing to say I agree with ya. do what is best for you.
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karmicdebt
Yeah, Ex....definitely don't do what a trained doctor says....come to greasespot to get all the medical advise you need!
I had the same concerns when my doc prescribed Vytorin....but I take a a low dose (actually 1/2 a pill to make the cost lower) and I have had no side effects.
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satori001
Smart Balance. It's not bad.
Just wait though, somebody's gonna say it's made of asbestos and old tires.
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George Aar
Yeah,
What Kharmic said.
Personally I've been on some statin or other (I think it's Lipitor) for about a year now. I haven't grown a third arm or gone blind - yet. I've heard nothing but good about them really(statins). Have you been spending too much time with the organic granola crowd? Funny how we keep living better, longer in this country but there's always more doom, death and despair with the "alternative" folks when the subject of modern medicine comes up.
In my current state of mind I don't much give a $*@! if I die tomorrow, but if I did, Lipitor would be the last thing I'd worry about...
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topoftheworld
Gee, Ex-sorry about the scare! And I'm glad you brought it to us...you're enough of a vet around here to separate advice given into acceptable or not....
For what it's worth, I stick with the oatmeal, and it has helped. I cut my smoking to less than a pack (not just for that but other things). I drink a lot of OJ now. And I surf for info but take it with a grain of salt. I hate doctors but they at least know (or should know) the basics.
Saying a little prayer.......
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dmiller
I agree with Pond. Meds should ALWAYS be the *Last Resort*.
You can do so much on your own, and no side effects.
Give it a try -- at least for the few months you are thinking of. :)
David
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TheInvisibleDan
Yeah, I found out that I had all that fun, middle-aged stuff a few months ago - high cholesterol, high blood
pressure. Runs in my family. And so do heart attacks and strokes (my grandfather whom I never met, more or less became a vegetable for the remainder of his life; my great grandmother had a heart attack at home and experienced one of those weird out-of-body experiences). So I take lisinprol for my blood pressure every day and (less frequently - maybe every two or three days) "lovastatin" for the grease flowing through the bloodstream.
Excy, until you do achieve that certain, ultimate "right-eating" Nirvana by climbing to the top of the organic food pyramid and all that other idealistic happy horsecrap (yeah yeah yeah, such as I oft hear from my older, flakey, hypochondriac "organic health nut" sister, who ironically complains more about what is and isn't transpiring in her body than any other person I know - don't be a fool - take the blood pressure meds prescribed and see how it goes.
My mother has been taking 'em for years and though a bit frail at 82, she's still kickin' and sharp as a tack.
But it's doubtful she would be without the meds, considering the health history of my weird family tree.
Danny
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coolchef1248 @adelphia.net
this really works for some people,it made my mom's meds go away
drink soy milk
sounds silly but it can work
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Sudo
Cholesterol is not innocent though reading the cholesterol myth links may give you that impression. The statins have proven to lower mortality though the reasons aren't entirely related to lowering cholesterol. For some information I think is useful click HERE! Its a little dry. :(
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Dot Matrix
EX
My mother-in-law has one eye and a glass one as she lost it in a childhood accident.
Anyway, a side effect was cataracts. With one eye it was a dangerous risk. I sent here some cholestro Low (spelling) by Futerbiotucs but she was afrais her doctor might get mad. She did not take it, but stuck with Lipitor and now she is having trouble seeing -- so the Doctor pulled her off of it. DUH!
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Bramble
My husband had a heart attack several years ago, he has 4 stents. He's been on lipitor, norvasc and diabetes drugs for years and has had none of the adverse side effects. He has regular heart check ups and is doing great now! In fact, except for the stents and the history, his cardiologist said he wouldn't have known he had a heart attack at one time.
He also watches his diet, excercises and has lost alot of weight.
Honestly, I think if he blew it all off, he'd be dead by now.
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Nottawayfer
I think some (not all) doctors are too quick to write a prescription. I had some blood drawn in the middle of the day once at a doctor's office. My cholesterol was 203 at that time. The doctor instantly said I should get Lipitor. I said no.
If I had a regular blood test done after fasting for at least 12 hours and had a cholesterol level over 250, maybe I would take meds but not until I did some things myself like:
1) healthier diet and exercise
2) eat oatmeal for breakfast every day(the real stuff, not instant or 1 minute oats)
I would try that for at least 2 months and then see what happened. Then I would only consider meds if my cholesterol was still over 250.
By the way, I think Smart Balance is good. I got hubby off of butter by replacing it with Smart Balance. He doesn't miss butter. It's supposed to be healthier. I don't use the light kind. The regular kind is made from non-hydrogenated oils and has some healthy oils like olive oil in it.
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pond
forgive me, maybe you will understand but the fear in my heart would kill me if I took drugs for high cholesteral.
kidding .
I do think they take more notice of the side effects now than they did just a few short years ago.
who ever died of a cholesteral problem ya know? I smoke to but no high blood pressure mostly cause I just stay *%^#*ed off. ( oops have to edit I will write 'angry instead of the pictures. lol )
yeah they hear my family health history and pull out the pad of paper like it is the dam stock market.
funny they never ask how much they drank or what kind of stress they had.
I believe in the mind body connection more everyday myself.
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Edi
My doc put me on Lipitor and I took it for about 3 days or so and my muscles hurt me so bad I could barely get out of bed. It also made me so tired I could barely function. When I called my doctor his nurse called me back and told me to continue taking it for at least 2 weeks and the symptoms should go away. Well, do I look like I've got a S written on my forehead???? I quit taking it.
And besides that cholesterol is not the enemy. Cholesterol is trying to repair damage. When the real problem gets too bad the cholesterol overproduces and then it is a problem. But, my point being - cholesterol is a symptom of another bigger problem and they don't address the bigger problem, they just try to lower the cholesterol.
The body is absolutely fascinating in the ways it tries to heal and repair itself. And "man" is absolutely fascinating that they can never address the real health problem but instead try to do away with the symptom that is trying to do the repairs and alert us that something is wrong.
Sometimes I think doctors would be better off to surf the net and find out the information there! I'm not against doctors (although I sound like it) but I think if you don't take responsibility for your own life and put your life in their hands they will kill you. They should be a PART of a person's health care plan but doctors are NOT the be all and end all of staying healthy and alive. IMHO!!!
Med school is more about memorizing what chemical med goes with what disease, illness and symptom than about really helping the body heal. Pharmaceutical meds and their side effects are scary.
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CoolWaters
{{{{{ExC}}}}}
This aging crap sucks, doesn't it? At least coming here where others have many of the same or similar problems provides emotional relief.
I have no suggestion for what you 'should' or 'should not' do concerning the meds...because I'm not your doctor. I do, however, have a suggestion for something to think about while wading through this health stuff...
Remember the 'mindset' twi taught to us concerning health issues. Remember that so many of us are in this health situation because of the crapoloa twi taught to us concerning 'believing' to the point of ignoring sound medical advice.
IMO, any suggestion of taking medicine, having surgery, doing something besides 'believing' triggers an automatic fear reaction.
Just something to think about...to possibly help you sort through what you're feeling.
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markomalley
Disclaimer: I am a semi-informed health consumer, not a health professional. Take anything I say with a grain of salt.
From what I understand, the biggest problem with those statin drugs is that they can, in some cases, cause some liver problems.
Follows is some information from the physician information on the drug. You can, and should, read the entire handout here: http://www.pfizer.com/pfizer/download/uspi_lipitor.pdf. Then list your specific questions, based on FACT, and ask your doctor about them. If your doctor is at all competent, he/she will seriously discuss the information with you, if you've taken the time to actually read responsible information about the medication and have well considered questions about it.
CONTRAINDICATIONS
Active liver disease or unexplained persistent elevations of serum transaminases. Hypersensitivity to any component of this medication.
Pregnancy and Lactation
Atherosclerosis is a chronic process and discontinuation of lipid-lowering drugs during pregnancy should have little impact on the outcome of long-term therapy of primary hypercholesterolemia. Cholesterol and other products of cholesterol biosynthesis are essential components for fetal development (including synthesis of steroids and cell membranes). Since HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors decrease cholesterol synthesis and possibly the synthesis of other biologically active substances derived from cholesterol,
they may cause fetal harm when administered to pregnant women. Therefore, HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors are contraindicated during pregnancy and in nursing mothers.
ATORVASTATIN SHOULD BE ADMINISTERED TO WOMEN OF CHILDBEARING AGE ONLY WHEN SUCH PATIENTS ARE HIGHLY UNLIKELY TO CONCEIVE AND HAVE BEEN INFORMED OF THE POTENTIAL HAZARDS.
If the patient becomes pregnant while taking this drug, therapy should be discontinued and the patient apprised of the potential hazard to the fetus.
WARNINGS
Liver Dysfunction
HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, like some other lipid-lowering therapies, have been associated with biochemical abnormalities of liver function. Persistent elevations (>3 times the upper limit of normal [uLN] occurring on 2 or more occasions) in serum transaminases occurred in 0.7% of patients who received atorvastatin in clinical trials. The incidence of these abnormalities was 0.2%, 0.2%, 0.6%, and 2.3% for 10, 20, 40, and 80 mg, respectively.
One patient in clinical trials developed jaundice. Increases in liver function tests (LFT) in other patients were not associated with jaundice or other clinical signs or symptoms. Upon dose reduction, drug interruption, or discontinuation, transaminase levels returned to or near pretreatment levels without sequelae. Eighteen of 30 patients with persistent LFT elevations continued treatment with a reduced dose of atorvastatin.
It is recommended that liver function tests be performed prior to and at 12 weeks following both the initiation of therapy and any elevation of dose, and periodically (eg, semiannually) thereafter. Liver enzyme changes generally occur in the first 3 months of treatment with atorvastatin. Patients who develop increased transaminase levels should be monitored until the abnormalities resolve. Should an increase in ALT or
AST of >3 times ULN persist, reduction of dose or withdrawal of atorvastatin is recommended.
Atorvastatin should be used with caution in patients who consume substantial quantities of alcohol and/or have a history of liver disease. Active liver disease or unexplained persistent transaminase elevations are contraindications to the use of atorvastatin (see CONTRAINDICATIONS).
Skeletal Muscle
Rare cases of rhabdomyolysis with acute renal failure secondary to myoglobinuria have been reported with atorvastatin and with other drugs in this class.
Uncomplicated myalgia has been reported in atorvastatin-treated patients (see ADVERSE REACTIONS). Myopathy, defined as muscle aches or muscle weakness in conjunction with increases in creatine phosphokinase (CPK) values >10 times ULN, should be considered in any patient with diffuse myalgias, muscle tenderness or weakness, and/or marked elevation of CPK. Patients should be advised to report promptly unexplained muscle pain, tenderness or weakness, particularly if accompanied by malaise or fever. Atorvastatin therapy should be discontinued if markedly elevated CPK levels occur or myopathy is diagnosed or suspected.
The risk of myopathy during treatment with drugs in this class is increased with concurrent administration of cyclosporine, fibric acid derivatives, erythromycin, niacin, or azole antifungals. Physicians considering combined therapy with atorvastatin and fibric acid derivatives, erythromycin, immunosuppressive drugs, azole antifungals, or lipid-lowering doses of niacin should carefully weigh the potential benefits and risks and should carefully monitor patients for any signs or symptoms of muscle pain, tenderness, or weakness, particularly during the initial months of therapy and during any periods of upward dosage titration of either drug. Periodic creatine phosphokinase (CPK) determinations may be considered in such situations, but there is no assurance that such monitoring will prevent the occurrence of severe myopathy.
Atorvastatin therapy should be temporarily withheld or discontinued in any patient with an acute, serious condition suggestive of a myopathy or having a risk factor predisposing to the development of renal failure secondary to rhabdomyolysis (eg, severe acute infection, hypotension, major surgery, trauma, severe metabolic, endocrine and electrolyte disorders, and uncontrolled seizures).
PRECAUTIONS
General
Before instituting therapy with atorvastatin, an attempt should be made to control hypercholesterolemia with appropriate diet, exercise, and weight reduction in obese patients, and to treat other underlying medical problems (see INDICATIONS AND USAGE).
Please note the above precaution: the "official" information says that you should first try diet, exercise, and weight reduction before taking Lipitor. Then if you have any underlying medical problems that could contribute to elevated chloresterol, those problems should be treated. The implication is that if, after doing these things, you still have elevated chloresterol, it would be time to treat it with the statin drug.
I know that a lot of doctors want to go with Lipitor first before doing the other things, but that's not what the manufacturer recommends. Keep that in mind.
There are a total of 24 pages in the physician's information on that drug. You should read and (probably) print out all 24 pages.
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markomalley
Disclaimer: I am a semi-informed health consumer, not a health professional. Take anything I say with a grain of salt.
One other thing I'll add, and this part is strictly my opinion (hopefully informed by fact). Yes, there are some pretty serious side effects to the drug, as you can see from the extract of the insert I provided in my previous post. However, if you look at the incidence of those side effects, you can see that they are relatively infrequent. In addition, they are fairly readily detectable.
If you do go on Lipitor, you also need to make sure to get the liver function tests done before, as you start on the drug, and regularly for the rest of your life. A liver function test can detect if you are getting some damage as a result of the drug. The MOST important thing I can tell you is: Don't ever, ever neglect getting your liver monitoring done if you go on it. If you start showing signs of liver malfunction, the blood work will detect it before any major damage is done. If you wait until showing some symptom (e.g., jaundice), it will be too late. Keep getting the blood work!!!
And yet another bit of commentary: I think a lot of MD's out there are nothing better than pill-pushers. Rather than trying to treat the underlying condition, they will immediately try to medicate. Lipitor is a classic example of this. The drug company itself says for MD's to first try diet, habit, and weight modification. Then look at possible underlying conditions. Only if all other routes fail should they put a person on Lipitor. I think that a lot of doctors just go straight for the drug solution. And I think that is a mistake. Me, personally, if I had a doctor like that, I would start looking for a different MD.
Again, I am a semi-informed health consumer, not a health professional. Take anything I say with a grain of salt.
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Abigail
Has your doctor referred you to a nutricionist/dietician? If not I would ask for such a referral. If you are disciplined enough to follow a dieticians recommendations, in combination with exercise, reduced or eliminated caffeen and alcohol intake, you may very well succeed at lowering your cholesterol without medication.
However, if you can't, then depending on how high your cholesterol levels are, particularly your triglycerides, you should give serious consideration to the medication.
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excathedra
thank you all for your helpful responses. i'll let you know how it goes
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