Cholesterol meds

Any of y'all take anything for cholesterol ? My numbers are tri
was 223 , LDL was 121 , HDL was 52. I have been on a statin
since 2009 starting with Crestor I took it a few years my levels
was good but my joints hurt after I had been on it a few years
. Now the Doc has me on Tricor 145. and Pravastatin 10 . But
my levels he says are still high and wants to put me on a
higher dose of the Pravastatin. What are some of the things
y'all do to lower your levels. It's not like I eat everything that is
bad for me . I think it is family history.

I take Pravachol 40 MG it lowers mine quite a bit but I still had a heart attack in Feb.
Walt

Mine was 650 the first time I had attack. I take a simvastatin 20mg a night and is now about 130

Vytorin does a good job for me. Ron Mn

Same thing Simvastatin 20 mg a night. Started as Zocor, but is generic now through VA.

My mom took zocor and zetia, both did a great job. Her levels were in the 280s when she had stints put in 15 years ago. Actually reversed most of the blockages. She went from 40-50 pct blockage to less than 10 pct. But, it came at a high cost. Dizziness, disorientation, balance effects, dementia. Cardiologist pulled her off them after he last heart cath this past summer. Said shes 86 and has low levels of blockage and low cholesterol (in the 130s) so there really wasnt any need to have the effects on her quality of life. He said odds are it wont be an issue for at least 10 years.

Changes are unbelieveable. She can walk with a cane as opposed to barely able to move with a walker and her mind is as sharp as it was 10 years ago.

Pros and cons, pros and cons...

Lipitor. Seems to work good for me. Matter of fact it works so good, I get it for free.
My problem is I don't watch my diet.

Simvastatin 40 MG. Jim

Most docs won't tell you but you should take CoQ10 if you're on statins to help the joint pain. Seems the statins stop the body from producing it.

Yep. Simvastatin. seems to work for me.

I had to stop lipitor, joints hurt to much.

I know this sounds unreal but my trigs was 1300 last time tested, good chlo. bad low,bad chlo. way to high. Take crestor and tricore both. Trigs. down some, have been of the chart 2500 plus, have been like this for years, had myself checked out back in the summer, Dr. said everything was wide open as a lot gate, no blockage nowhere. Thank the good lord!!

Took Lipitor, Crestor, and Simivastatin at different times for several years. Went to an endocrinologist for some other medical things and he recommended eating almonds a couple of times a day, six or eight at a time. Cholesterol came down and am now completely off medication for cholesterol. It worked for me, may not work for others. Merry Christmas.

Had my first heart attack 11 years ago and got a stent in the RCA. Went on the low cholestrol diet including non fat milk, no ice cream, no burgers etc. Second heart attack in February 2012. Cholestrol was just slightly above recommended level according to the lipid test 30 days before the attack. Had total blockage in the left coronary artery. Another stent. Cholestrol is not the only factor in heart attacks. Inflamation is involved. I watch my diet and avoid fats, limit the trigs and exercize. I"m 76 yoa. I take the 81 mg aspirin, CoQ10, Centrum Silver, 10 mg Zocor, 2.5 mg Lisinopril and lethicin. I"m going to live to be 100 if I don"t die next week.

Bob (in sunny Arizona)

Crestor for 7 years now. Not on anything until I had a double bypass @ 47, Had 2 in the widow maker. 54 now, LDL depending on the time of year, late spring 90-95, now around 70 ,Got to be honest a lot of pain in my joints, not sure where to go.

I have been on Lipitor since 1999. I also eat a bowl of oats every morning for breakfast.

I take fenofibrate. Was on it then was switched to statin with niacin-lots of flushing. After what I thought was memory loss was switched back to fibrate. Dr added Lovaza to lower tri's, it worked. there is some discussion as to statins affecting memeory besides the joint pain.

Doc wanted to put me on triglyceride med and my wife on cholesterol med. She said no, give us 6 months and retest.

She cut out all fried foods, no added salt, no whole eggs, no red meat, limited bread (whole grain) and potatoes, no canned or processed food, limited sweets.

We eat lots of fruit and vegetables, grilled fish, grilled skinless chicken, even some fake meat... Hey, it's not bad in stuff like tacos, pasta dishes, etc.

Our numbers are great now. She lost 88 lbs, I lost 20, and wasn't even trying. The secret is "lifestyle" change, not diets and exercise programs that are impossible to do long term.

Been put on and taken off too many meds since 1st heart attack May 2013 (& 2nd one 3 weeks later) I dont know whats what any more. I do know cardioligist(sp?) told me cholesterol was good numbers. Turned 53 on a friday and attack on saturday.

I am on 2000mg Niaspan and one little vytorin. I believe niether one is a statin. My numbers are total chol. 137 , Tri 152 , HDL 43 , LDL64 and VLDL 30 . This is what our heart specialist prescribed. They need to test for the type of cells your blood is made up of but the niaspan ( pure niacin) is the one that works by attaching to the Chol molecules to make them into larger rounded molecules so they will be filtered out instead of piling up and sticking in arteries. You have to start out at 500mg for 3 weeks then to 1000 and then to 1500 and finally 2000 as you will react with hot flashes otherwise. Baby aspirin before taking at night aleviates it. Works for me and heart Dr says his blood is same as mine and only thing that will work is Niaspan as he also takes it. Google it for info. RB

Almost everything I've tried for cholesterol, my body rejects, so right now nothing. But now I take
1 325 mg aspirin and 9 mg warfirin 3 times daily.
When I have blood draws, I should go off like a volcano. BUT they almost have squeeze the blood out.

I am 54 don't even know what my number is what I have learned is that your brain is made of fat and since the use of cholesterol drugs Alzheimers has tripled maybe its just a coincidence maybe not

Mine was real high and I cut way back on red meat and meat of all types and cut back on things like processed cheese,feel better now and no need for the drugs.

I eat almonds almost every day and take Red Yeast Rice, two capsules a day plus a fish oil capsule. I was 201 last physical. He told me to watch the cheese and bacon--rarely eat bacon. Potato chips are my weakness.

Larry

The wifes a nurse and form what she tells me Statins can be harmful to you health, but of course so is high cholesterol. Anywho I started taking RED YEAST RICE and it lowered mine form 250 down to 220 just like that. Im using it plus adding fish oil and garlic to see how much that helps. My Doctor told me red yeast rice is like a natural statin and told me to keep using it since he wasn't a fan of the commercial high power statins. Of course, diet and exercise is my next step to get it down even lower.

John T

family history dictates the readings. my body won't tolerate any of them. last heart attack 14yrs ago.

Mtractor,
Many years ago a nurse told me you need to become your own doctor. At the time I didn't know what she meant. You need to listen to what your body is telling you. Find out what works and what doesn't.

I've used Rx drugs. I have all the side effects, bleeding, liver, kidney, joint pain. I can't figure out why the FDA approves meds that will kill you, yet they tell Dr's they can't prescribe herbal, vitamins, supplements. Well I recently went to my local Pharmacists. He was very helpful. I take a wide range of over the counter supplements like Fish, Flax, Borage, Lecithin, Niacin, Bio-flex, garlic, CLA(sunflower oil). Recently saw a heart Dr after a heat stroke. He ran all kinds of tests, heart is good. In Feb, I'll turn 65. Most of my family, at 65, died from heart related issues.

Go visit your Pharmacists.

All have a Merry Christmas

George

Wife has had several heart attacks and has 7 stents. Cannot take statin drugs due to the side effects. Everybody I know refuse the statins due to the side effects. On local guy had been taking a statin for approx. 15 years. Got to feeling a little worse every year. Quit taking the statin and he said he felt like a new man. Felt better than he had for year's. May not be the case with everyone, but from what I have seen statins are not that great, at least for the consumer. Big money maker for the drug companies.

Avoid docs and meds make them a last resort. Natural is the way to go avoid processed foods and oils. Google lard sometime it's a lot better for you than veggie oil it's natural fat and your body knows what to do with it. Processed stuff your body cannot recognize gets stored cause your body does not know how to deal with it.

The cholesterol meds I was on 10 years ago caused me several problems, one of which was bad constipation. Had to have surgery to fix that if you get my drift! Came home from that and threw all of those away. Started taking apple cider vinegar for it and within a month my levels were normal!

The VA Doctor put me on 2000mg a day, of NIASPAN,
which is time released Niacin. It worked for me,
but also lowered blood pressure, so I had to cut
back to 1000 mg. blood pressure is now 120/53,
somewhat low, I think !

My doctor told me that my triglycerides were the highest he had ever seen (off the scale!!!) and my cholesterol was around 700. He put me on Lipitor and for the last 20 years or so, my triglycerides are under 200 and my cholesterol is around 150. I seem to tolerate Lipitor just fine and the results speak for themselves.

Some years ago, they did extensive heart tests on me, and I was told that I had zero buildup in my coronary arteries, even with those incredible readings of blood fats.

I tried going vegetarian and eating extremely low fat to try to lower my levels before I got on Lipitor. In the 6 months I was doing that, my levels only went down a few points, and I didn"t cheat at all. I did lose a little weight, but was hungry all the time. I also tried using heavy doses of Niacin for a while, but they made me feel like the skin of my head was about 4 sizes too small for my skull--Niacin made me feel awful. It was just not worth it to do that every night, and then sleep poorly.

But Lipitor seemed to work fine for me. My wife tried Lipitor for a while, but had lots of pain in her joints. And I have heard other people say they had bad experiences using it. I sure am glad it works OK for me, with no real side effects.

There is some disagreement among physicians about how important cholesterol readings are, and how those readings relate to coronary artery disease. The cardiologist I saw said his readings had always been high, but like me, his arteries looked just fine.

But since my readings were so sky-high, I thought it was worth it to try to get them down closer to average. The other methods I tried were not very successful and were fairly unpleasant. Lipitor is easy and not very expensive, and since it has had the desired effects for me without any known problems, I decided I would continue to use it, probably for the rest of my life.

I suggest you try doing what your doctor says, and if it does not work well, maybe he will try something else. We are all different and what works for one person might not work well at all for another. I hope this helps. Good luck!

Those statins will kill you! GET OFF THAT CRAP!! I have been on insulin for 35 years and doctors have tried me on most of that. I have all the side effects from aching muscles, acting like a zombie with no brains, and other problems. I now run around 250 and my doctor accepts it, as I will NEVER take that stuff again. Merk just wants to sell drugs!