What's new
What's new

Way OT : Lipitor, Atorvastatins Opinions?

daryl bane

Titanium
Joined
Mar 12, 2002
Location
East Texas
This group seems to be a wellspring of knowledge of this sort, hence me asking for opinions. My Dr. has prescribed this and I don't seem to have any side effects, but just wondering what other experiences have been and thoughts. Thanks.
 
Had a few TIA's (mini strokes) a year ago and discovered I had a "near occlusive" right carotid, they put me on 80 mg right away (max dose). Surgery cleaned out the artery and now I go for annual testing.

My cholesterol was never high and we eat low fat but my genes trump all that. I'm now on 40 mg and my numbers are lower than low which makes my Dr. very happy.

No side effects what so ever in my case but apparently if you get muscle cramps it can be serious.

Can you lower your cholesterol with diet and exercise rather than just throwing pills at it?

Mediterranean diet for heart health - Mayo Clinic
 
Best bet is to read the drug information that came with your prescription and is also available online. Concentrate on the common and serious ones and see if anything crops up.

I was given a precautionary prescription years ago. Found it messed with my muscles, causing tightening and strains in any sports activity. For me, cutting back to the lowest does available seemed the best balance in bringing cholesterol down while still maintaining the sort of vigorous activity that may do as much or more to improve cardiovascular health.

Where your balance is -- no one here knows. Watch for symptoms and work with your Doc to figure out what's best for you?
 
I started with Zocor years ago and experienced some mild muscle/joint pain, which I attributed to aging.

My Dr. switched to Lipitor and the aches disappeared... a much improved experience.

Both drugs were very effective in controlling my cholesterol levels.

Mike
 
If the doctor is monitoring your liver functions closely that is good if not that is bad


If you want to be sick, see a doctor

If you want to die, go to a hospital

You are what you eat
 
...............

Can you lower your cholesterol with diet and exercise rather than just throwing pills at it?

Ding, ding, ding. We have the winner!!

All of the statin drugs made me fell like hell. Unfortunately genetics was not on my side and finally got 5 bypasses.

After surgery, finally got serious about my eating habits. Stopped eating any meat except for salmon (and that in limited quantities), stopped eating eggs, minimized fat intake of all types (learn to read the nutrition labels), eat soy-based protein powder, greatly reduced sugar intake (no more sodas, cookies, pie, ice cream, etc.)

Results were lost 15 lbs so I now weigh about 5 lbs over what I weighed when I was on the high school track team, and cholesterol is around 170 versus 210-220 pre-surgery.

You don't need the drugs if you are capable of making the serious changes to your eating habits, which most people aren't.

Steve
 
It's certainly ok to get info from folks here, and on the interweb, but for heaven's sake make a list of your conclusions and/or questions and run them by your doc.

I started with red rice yeast, a natural product that contains the same active ingredient (lovastatin) as Mevacor, I had some leg cramps and some muscle issues. Switched to Pravachol, which has about the best safety profile of all of the statins. Leg cramps got better, but still had some issues, so I don't take statins. Wish I could - I might last longer.

Get anecdotal info here and elsewhere on the interweb, and then form some tentative conclusions and questions, and confirm conclusions and ask questions of your Doc. It's why they go to school and do residencies for years and years.
 
Ding, ding, ding. We have the winner!!

All of the statin drugs made me fell like hell. Unfortunately genetics was not on my side and finally got 5 bypasses.

After surgery, finally got serious about my eating habits. Stopped eating any meat except for salmon (and that in limited quantities), stopped eating eggs, minimized fat intake of all types (learn to read the nutrition labels), eat soy-based protein powder, greatly reduced sugar intake (no more sodas, cookies, pie, ice cream, etc.)

Results were lost 15 lbs so I now weigh about 5 lbs over what I weighed when I was on the high school track team, and cholesterol is around 170 versus 210-220 pre-surgery.

You don't need the drugs if you are capable of making the serious changes to your eating habits, which most people aren't.

Steve

Steve,
Giving advice like that is really bad..... you are not a doctor. It is a statistical fact that the very best cholesterol reduction is about 10% from a special diet. Most of your measured cholesterol is created by your own body and your diet is only a mild contributor. There can be a number of causes of high cholesterol including genetics and stress. When I speak of stress, I'm talking about continuous non-dissipating stress, not the normal fright and flight type, which is short in duration and quite normal. As an example, I had a very acute case of very high cholesterol well over 400. I dieted very strictly for four months. It fell all the way to 375. Shortly after that my wife found a boyfriend and left me. Within a month my cholesterol dropped to 220. I never remarried, but to drop it lower, I went on to statins and Lipitor was just one of them. They all worked well and 20mg a day kept me stable at about 170. I am now on 40mg because of a recent stent. I am now well below 120.

So, in summary, statins are good, but shit canning your wife will extend your life at least 10 years.
 
Steve,
Giving advice like that is really bad..... you are not a doctor. It is a statistical fact that the very best cholesterol reduction is about 10% from a special diet. Most of your measured cholesterol is created by your own body and your diet is only a mild contributor. There can be a number of causes of high cholesterol including genetics and stress. When I speak of stress, I'm talking about continuous non-dissipating stress, not the normal fright and flight type, which is short in duration and quite normal. As an example, I had a very acute case of very high cholesterol well over 400. I dieted very strictly for four months. It fell all the way to 375. Shortly after that my wife found a boyfriend and left me. Within a month my cholesterol dropped to 220. I never remarried, but to drop it lower, I went on to statins and Lipitor was just one of them. They all worked well and 20mg a day kept me stable at about 170. I am now on 40mg because of a recent stent. I am now well below 120.

So, in summary, statins are good, but shit canning your wife will extend your life at least 10 years.

Ha, I don't know anything about anti-cholesterol drugs, but if I didn't have my wife of many years, I'd be homeless and living in a cardboard crate down by the Sacramento River. She taught me to save money and keep my damn mouth shut. LOL.

By the way, I have low cholesterol readings and my blood pressure last night was 116 over 63.....:)
 
You need to do your research, like what’s cholesterol, what’s it’s for, why it’s in the bloodstream, there are mechanisms at work, what are they, arterial plaques are a symptom not a disease, what is it.
Calcium deposition occurs we know, vit k2, copper, etc.
My only advice read, read, then do it some more.
Diet is the key
(3 heart attacks, 12 stents and a stroke, ignorance was killing me, since taking over myself, no problems)
Drug companies make treatments not cures, no money in cures
Mark
 
Steve,
Giving advice like that is really bad..... you are not a doctor. It is a statistical fact that the very best cholesterol reduction is about 10% from a special diet. Most of your measured cholesterol is created by your own body and your diet is only a mild contributor. ....................

Well, since I got a 20+% reduction from diet change, obviously the information you've posted is completely wrong. Diet change can have a very measurable change, as long as the person is willing to make the substantial number of sacrifices necessary, per numerous cardiologists. Those who don't get much change are those who believe that "all things in moderation" and refuse to make major changes in their diet.

Yes, most cholesterol problems start with genetics, something that I pointed out in my post.

BTW - per most mental health professionals, those in a decent marriage far much better than those who are not.

Steve
 
I went through several statins with various side effects. I landed on one called Livalo. No side effects and great blood numbers. It's expensive (generic not available in the US unless you mail order from India). Luckily, my insurance covers it.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
 
Doctors here in Canuckistan (first rate BTW, it's just getting access to them that sux) put more emphasis on LDL (bad cholesterol) reduction than anything.

For atherosclerotic patients they want the LDL below 2 mmol/L (77 mg/dl), the lower the better. Mine ran between 2.5 - 3.0, not bad but with careful diet, exercise and statins it's down to 1.17 (45 mg/dl) and my total cholesterol is 2.77 (107 mg/dl).
 
If you take statins then eating grapefruit is contraindicated. So when I am in Mexico, where the grapefruit are unbelievable, I just don't take them.

metalmagpie
 
A blood draw indicated one of the cholesterols in me was not where the doctor wanted it.

He put me on Atorvastatin.

I didn't know there were any side effects... and if there are, I didn't know I was having any :).

I figured if something didn't feel right, it was just me. I'm almost 62.
 
Try CoQ10... I take 200mg at night with Lipitor and 100mg in the morning. No more leg cramps.

Out of curiosity, where do you find such large doses of CoQ10? I recently did a world-wide source of tablets in the dose size you are using and found nothing near 100mg. I think the largest dose in a single tablet was only 20mg.
 








 
Back
Top