Who takes statins? Which ones?

[BUM]

All my life I've avoided doctors. Last time I spent a night in the hospital was at birth. Prior to ER I went for a checkup. Weight was a bit high. BP and blood work was on the high end of normal.

Now the doc is calling me to come in wants me on statins and water pills. I figure that if I drop the 10 - 15 lbs. That should do it. DW says take the pills.

BUM

 

[Michael]

I lost weight, and went on an all vegetarian diet. Didn't do it. Some people's livers just produce too much cholesterol. Listen to your doctor. After you lose the weight, your blood tests will show if your cholesterol drops too low on the statins. Your doctor will take you off of them if that happens.

 

[Mr._johngalt]

My chloresterol is quite high and my BP is also high edge of normal
range. I don't want to start statins and I have a good excuse as
my liver function is way funky. Diet and exercise helped, but
what helped the most was the "wab diet", which I refer to a
modified "South Beach/Atkins". Avoid sugar, no fruit juices,
potatos, bread, rice or pasta. Dropped my total from 301 to 247 in 6 weeks. Now, 247 is still quite high, so I had a heart scan. Came back
100% dead solid perfect (and you thought I didn't have a heart)
I am not at all overweight and watch that closely also. It was
suggested that I start statins and then they would monitor my liver function closely. I also was prescribed "WelChol" which is not a statin but works in the digestive system. It was real expensive
so I didn't start that either. Soooooooo, I am continuing on the
"Wab diet", watching my weight and doing some walking.
That's about it. That heart scan took some of the pressure off.

JG

 

[gratefuled]

For cholesterol-reducing supplements without resorting to prescription drugs I suggest plant sterols. Available over-the-counter, inexpensive, and found by the FDA to have a "significant" effect on cholesterol levels.

http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/ANSWERS/ANS01033.html

In a year I've dropped my cholesterol thirty points or so by taking plant sterols, exercising, and eating a low-fat diet.

Ed

 

[johnlw]

I would suggest that you read up as much as you can about statins.

Search the web for all the info you can find before making a decision.

Cholesterol is one indicator for potential heart problems, however, there are many other factors to consider. Family history, weight, smoking, etc.

When I spoke to my doctor he said that some people with high cholesterol form plaque and others don't.

John

 

[JohnP]

DW has family tendency to high blood pressure and high cholesterol.  Facts: Age 64, non-smoker, wt 135#  ht 5' 9" exercizes 3 times/wk and still had high bp and cho.  Dr put her on Zocor 40mg and cho went from 300 to under 200 and bp from over 155/? to 125/?.  

Zocor works for her.

BTW - Plant sterols suggestion from gratefuled sound interesting; I am already taking beta sitosterol (a plant sterol, 750 mg/day) that fixed my 'slow urine' problem but havent seen a reduction in cholesterol from it in two years use.

JohnP

 

[Dawg52]

If you do have to take a drug, ask your doc about Lovastatin. It's a generic for Mevacor and does the job for me. Much cheaper than most and my health insurance co-pay for generics is $5. Without insurance the cost is about $38 for a months supply. Good luck!

 

[Eagle43]

My doctor recommended flax seed because I started Lipitor and bad liver tests resulted. I can't tell you if flax works, but I should know as soon as the blood tests come in (about a week). I have sucked down flax seed in cereal, yogurt, and oatmeal, even salad. My usual cholestrol reading between 200-220. On Lipitor it dropped to 172 or so. Satins work if your liver can tolerate them.

 

[Mr._johngalt]

  Satins work if your liver can tolerate them.

My liver can barely tolerate what I do to it now
Please let us know if the flax seed works.

JG

 

[Mr._johngalt]

Speaking of health issues.......don't you just love it when you
suspect terminal blee-bli-bloatus and the person setting appointments says, " We might squeeze you in sometime in November." ?? More than once I told them "That's nice but I might be dead by then!" And, if you do get in they make you wait for the
test results. Why, the stress alone could kill you. Arghhhhhhhhhh!

JG

 

[Mr._johngalt]

If you do have to take a drug, ask your doc about Lovastatin. It's a generic for Mevacor and does the job for me. Much cheaper than most and my health insurance co-pay for generics is $5. Without insurance the cost is about $38 for a months supply. Good luck!

Yeah, I was gonna take the Welchol until I found out it was $150 a
month (generic). The Doc said it might lower my total 15 points.
Not worth it.

JG

 

[grumpy]

I have been taking Lipitor for about 4 years. My cholesterol was 247 and now is around 185. This is the only Rx I have ever taken that did exactly what it was supposed to do with no noticable side effects. I have good Rx coverage from my federal health insurance ($35 for 90 day supply) so cost is not an issue. I get my liver function tested twice a year; so far, no problems.

Grumpy

 

[Mr._johngalt]

I would suggest that you read up as much as you can about statins.

Search the web for all the info you can find before making a decision.

Cholesterol is one indicator for potential heart problems, however, there are many other factors to consider. Family history, weight, smoking, etc.

When I spoke to my doctor he said that some people with high cholesterol form plaque and others don't.

John

Hope I am not tempting the fates (doubt it......they have hit me pretty
hard already)  

One thing that made  me a bit more blase' about this issue was that
I could not recall a single person on either side of my family who ever
had a heart attack or stroke.  Not one.  There were a few that met
an early demise.  Something else got 'em.

JG

 

[Mr._johngalt]

My doctor recommended flax seed because I started Lipitor and bad liver tests resulted.  I can't tell you if flax works, but I should know as soon as the blood tests come in (about a week).  I have sucked down flax seed in cereal, yogurt, and oatmeal, even salad.  My usual cholestrol reading between 200-220. On Lipitor it dropped to 172 or so.  Satins work if your liver can tolerate them.

And another thing

A friend suggested "red rice yeast" and got me all enthused as you don't
need a prescription. Claimed it worked well. I checked it out and it seems
that can cause liver trouble too. My liver doesn't need any more problems.
I'll bet they wouldn't even use it in the organ donor program. I know
I would send it back

JG

 

[laurence]

Plus I think the FDA is trying to ban red rice yeast.

 

[Dawg52]

My doctor recommended flax seed because I started Lipitor and bad liver tests resulted.  I can't tell you if flax works, but I should know as soon as the blood tests come in (about a week).  I have sucked down flax seed in cereal, yogurt, and oatmeal, even salad.  My usual cholestrol reading between 200-220. On Lipitor it dropped to 172 or so.  Satins work if your liver can tolerate them.

Please do give us your test results when they come back. I would love to use something natural if it works.

 

[ascenzm]

eagle43 wrote

My doctor recommended flax seed because I started Lipitor and bad liver tests resulted.  I can't tell you if flax works, but I should know as soon as the blood tests come in (about a week).  I have sucked down flax seed in cereal, yogurt, and oatmeal, even salad.

Make sure that you grind that flax seed  in order to reap the benefits that are claimed by ingesting flax seed.

http://www.healingdaily.com/detoxification-diet/flaxseed.htm

If you prefer to use ground flaxseeds, just add 1 or 2 tablespoons of to an 8-ounce glass of water and mix. Flaxseeds have a pleasant, nutty flavor and taste good sprinkled on salads, cooked vegetables, or cereals.

I recommend you grind the seeds (or buy ground flaxseed) because whole seeds simply pass through the body. Grinding the seeds just before using them best preserves flavor and nutrition, but pre-ground seeds are more convenient. Keep them refrigerated. There are no nutritional differences between brown and yellow seeds.

I place a tablespoon of ground flax seed on my breakfast cereal and mix a tablespoon of ground flax seed with my lunch time yogurt.

 

[unclemick]

The New Orleans solution is lots of garlic and onion. Doubt if it works for anything - but I've gotten use to it after thirty years.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Gee John, if Grumpy hadnt interrupted you, you'd have had almost the entire thread dedicated to ponderous musings.

My dad discovered something interesting. His doc kept telling him he had high BP and he wanted to put him on medication. So my dad got his own BP machine and noticed that it wasnt high at all. Next time at the doctors, high again. So he took his own machine with him to the hospital, and it was high with his machine.

Turns out his BP was only high when he went to the doctor. Showing his log of daily BP to the doc, the doc said "oh, then nevermind!".

Moral of the story is, sometimes you dont have to take medications that have side effects that are almost as bad or worse than what they're 'solving'.

 

[haha]

I place a tablespoon of ground flax seed on my breakfast cereal and mix a tablespoon of ground flax seed with my lunch time yogurt.

Has this regimen affected your blood chemistry readings?

Ha

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

All that exercise from grinding flax seeds...it must help.

 

[wabmester]

All my life I've avoided doctors. Last time I spent a night in the hospital was at birth. Prior to ER I went for a checkup. Weight was a bit high. BP and blood work was on the high end of normal.

Now the doc is calling me to come in wants me on statins and water pills. I figure that if I drop the 10 - 15 lbs. That should do it. DW says take the pills.

BUM

Well, generally your doc will dispense better medical advice than an ER board, but it's your call

Can you give us a breakdown of your numbers?    Some docs are still under the misconception that a high total cholesterol count is bad.    John Galt is a perfect example where that is not the case.    He has a high total count, but his HDL is very high, and he has no family history of CHD.    Those last two factors are strong *contra* indicators of CHD.

If you also have high triglycerides, I would recommend you look into low-carb diets.    There is a direct correlation between high TriG, high LDL, and carb intake.    Look up "metabolic syndrome" if your numbers indicate high TriG and high LDL.

 

[laurence]

I have hi triglicerides, so much so that it's wieghted value pushed my total cholesterol numbers up from 170 (what it would be if tris were at teh top of the normal range) to 245! Since that test I've dropped 50 lbs. and cut the sugar/booze intake, need to get retested.

 

[ascenzm]

Grand Banks said

My dad discovered something interesting.  His doc kept telling him he had high BP and he wanted to put him on medication.  So my dad got his own BP machine and noticed that it wasnt high at all.  Next time at the doctors, high again.  So he took his own machine with him to the hospital, and it was high with his machine.

Turns out his BP was only high when he went to the doctor.  Showing his log of daily BP to the doc, the doc said "oh, then nevermind!".

IIRC, the phenomena that you described is called "white coat hypertension".  Your father's decision to purchase his own blood pressure monitor was a wise decision.

Mike

 

[Sparky]

Listen, most statins are safe (drug rep here).

The most safe are Zocor and Zetia (Zetia does not go through the liver) and the combo - Vytorin.

Next is Lipitor.

Coming up last is Crestor, which causes lots of liver problems.