My Question About Cholesterol/statin Drugs

It is so funny you should write about this. This morning, on the way from bringing the kids to school, on Mississippi Public Radio they had a dr. talking about cholesterol in general.

Someone called in and asked about the statin drugs and reactions. She said them by themselves are fine and there has never been a death or liver failure just taking them alone but with other medication, that is how you get into trouble.

She said some antibiotics and some other kind of drug I can’t remember can cause problems.

Go to the Public Radio site and see if you can access the discussion. I don’t know if it would be the national public radio site or the Mississippi.

Good luck,
Lori

It is so funny you should write about this. This morning, on the way from bringing the kids to school, on Mississippi Public Radio they had a dr. talking about cholesterol in general.

Someone called in and asked about the statin drugs and reactions. She said them by themselves are fine and there has never been a death or liver failure just taking them alone but with other medication, that is how you get into trouble.

She said some antibiotics and some other kind of drug I can’t remember can cause problems.

Go to the Public Radio site and see if you can access the discussion. I don’t know if it would be the national public radio site or the Mississippi.

Good luck,
Lori

Liz,
Here are a couple of links, one on Vytorin and one on statins and nerve damage.

[url]http://health.yahoo.com/topic/cholesterol/medications/drug/healthwise/d05348a1#d05348a1-sideeffects[/url]

[url]http://www.neurology.org/cgi/content/abstract/58/9/1333[/url]

Statins have been known to cause permanent muscle damage — that’s why the commercials tell you to call your doctor if you experience unexplained muscle pain or weakness. My neuro does not recommend that people with neuropathies/myopathies take statins. For one thing, if you’re weak or experiencing other neuromuscular symptoms, it would be hard to tell what’s causing it. Actually, she doesn’t recommend any of the cholesterol-lowering drugs for folks like us, even the newer “non-statin” ones.

I think your family doctor is giving you good advice — get off the statins and see if you feel better. You may have developed CIDP before the statins, but they may be harming you now. Also, if you haven’t had blood drawn lately, you should have it tested for abnormal levels of liver and/or muscle enzymes.

Personally, I’d rather risk having high cholesterol (which I do) than take the stuff the drug co’s are pushing. :p There is no proven link between high cholesterol and heart attack — it’s considered a risk factor, not a cause. Plenty of people with low cholesterol have heart attacks and vice versa. There also is no data on the long-term effects of cholesterol-lowering drugs since they’re relatively new.

Hope the information on the websites helps! Take care,
Caryn

I also have problems with Cholesterol. I took all the modern meds and got sick. I read about Red Yeast Rice. it is all natural and you can buy it natural in an oriental store or get the 600 meds capsules from your drugstore.Red Yeast rice is the foundation for all the so call great meds (Zocore) My Doctor has put his patients on this as he said Zocore and all the other stuff does more damage than good.
I am taking 1800 a day and my cholesterol went from 263 down to 197.After my triple bi/pass they had me on Lipitor and as soon as I got home I trashed it. Some drug companys are trying to trash Red Rice as it is hurting their business. If you are on Zocore or another wonder drug and switch to Red yeast Rice go off you other med for at least 5 days before switching. ask your doctor about it and please go on line and read about it (Steve)

I found a blood test from back in 2000 where my choesterol was 300. At that time it was never even mentioned as being high. After coming down with CIDP I had another done a few years ago with my cholesterol then in the 360s; but my GP of 8 years (who knew me as a well person & also went through my entire illness with me), told me he would not put me on a statin. But then he left…

My new GP as of last fall gave me another blood profile & with my cholesterol being so high put me on 20 mg a day of Lipitor. After just 8 weeks it went down to 186, I haven’t had it checked since Feb. When I thought maybe my legs were weaker this summer than last (hard to tell, really), he said to go off of it for a few weeks & see if I noticed a change. I did & couldn’t tell any difference, so I went back on. Should I just let my cholesterol be high?

Liz,
THe last time I had my bood work done, my cholesterol was 204. My HDL (good one) was 90!!! If this number is 59+, it is good. My ratio of good to bad was great. This was the year my mom died and I was eating lots of comfort foods like Haagen Dazs. I attribute this to my B vitamins and other supplements. Naicin is good to lower cholesterol as well as chromium picolinate, garlic, vitamin C. I did not go out of my way to do this and was surprised when the results were this good. There are many other supplements that do this. I am amazed when doctors recommend an unnatural pharmaceutical to solve this problem when there are so many other alternatives. I am proof that it works. Let me know if I can be of any help.