Cholesterol Medicine

[splash5]

My doctor is wanting me to start on a cholesterol drug called Lovastatin. Does anyone have any experience with these drugs. Frankly I'm a little concerned about the side effects. I got him to grant me another 3 months to try to lower my cholesterol with diet, etc. I am almost at the deadline and not sure that my number will have gone down.

Any eating advice that I should follow? I'm thinking of asking to talk to a Nutritionist about food choices.

 

[shortbun]

Statins make my hand, face and legs twitch. It's not pleasant. I've cut out red meat, started eating oatmeal nearly daily and I take fish oil plus two baby aspirin everyday. If my cholesterol goes up again, I'll have to find more solutions. The twitching I got was bad.

 

[Loden]

I have taken Lovastatin for several years and gave had no side effects. My cholesterol has gone down while on it. I exercise regularly and try to watch what I eat. Good luck

 

[rflorek]

I have a good friend who exercises daily & eats the healhiest diet I know & he still had ridiculously high cholesterol. He is on meds because it's the only way he can control it. It may take a while to find one that works for you - sometimes diet & exercise aren't enough.

Good luck

 

[dreams91]

I have a good friend who exercises daily & eats the healhiest diet I know & he still had ridiculously high cholesterol. He is on meds because it's the only way he can control it. It may take a while to find one that works for you - sometimes diet & exercise aren't enough.

Good luck

Yep this is me! I'm on zetia, not a statin. I has probs with two statins. Good luck

 

[scootch]

I started on tricor and fish oil for high triglycerides and it helped some. Was reading guidepost magazine and there was an ad for Mega Red krill oil. The fish oil wasn't completely agreeing with me, so I started the Mega Red twice a day(recommended once a day). My numbers went CRAZY.... turned perfect in all areas. The dr was stunned. So now I just take one a day and my numbers are still in check. They do have a new extra strength one. Rite aid has it buy1get1free alot.... My brothers all started it and although they didn't have quite as dramatic results, they all three saw improvement. My one brother is a family practice MD and now tells all his patients to try it.


Some people(esp those with family history) can do all the right foods and exercise and still need meds. So don't beat yourself up if you can't get it under control with diet and exercise alone.

 

[mickeyplanner08]

I've taken lovastatin at the highest 40mg dose for at least the last 10 years. Started soon after DS was born. I have had zero problems with it. My mom got leg cramps with the statins, but it hasn't bothered me at all.

Couple things-don't drink grapefruit juice or eat grapefruit while taking it-grapefruit can increase the med's activity and cause things to go wonky.

Check your local stores and see if your dosage is on a 90 day generic list. The 40mg is only available through CVS, but I pay $11.99 for a 3 month supply.

Good luck!

 

[ceecee]

Zetia is a non-statin, did nothing for me. I can't take statins now due to a muscle disease, before when I took Lipitor and it went way down.

 

[LilyWDW]

Newer studies have shown that dietary cholesterol has little impact on your blood cholesterol. How is your LDL? HDL? Tri? Ratio?

 

[lsg1]

My doctor suggested that I take 2000mg of non flush niacin, 2000mg vitamin d3 and 2000mg fish oil.

 

[paladin]

I have been on a different drug for years - it's not this one, but it is a statin and I have never had any side affects.

 

[bumbershoot]

I'm thinking of asking to talk to a Nutritionist about food choices.

I think that's a good idea, and it's too bad the doctor didn't send you to one at the beginning of all this!

 

[Gina]

Statins are the bane of my existence. But as a pp said, dietary cholesterol has very little bearing on your cholesterol numbers -- genetics is by far the biggest trigger. And it seems that either you have terrible side effects from any statins, or not at all -- I've never heard of anyone falling in the middle of that. Guess which side I'm on.

So many muscle issues, back pain, muscle weakness... I feel 90 years old sometimes. But I had a heart attack last year at 45 from a clogged artery, because I didn't know my cholesterol was so high and didn't know it ran in the family. It was a wake up call, so now I just deal with the statins, unfortunately!! I just wish there was one that didn't seem to cause more problems than it solved.

 

[ajh88]

I agree with all the PP's. Dietary changes that help to promote healthy cholesterol levels are fruits, veggies, and whole grains - oatmeal, brown rice, whole wheat grains, etc. I take a fish oil capsule every day as my triglycerides were slightly elevated at my last checkup - my LDL and HDL levels were great.

If you really need a statin for an elevated LDL level, I would lean towards pravastatin over lovastatin. Of the statins, pravastatin has a lower incidence of muscle problems (not none, but fewer) as compared to lovastatin. Pravastatin is inexpensive and, IMHO, is a good place to start. And despite the bad rap that statins receive, go into it knowing that overall, the percentage of people who stop using statins due to adverse reactions is less than 5% (and is less for pravastatin than lovastatin).

The advice of niacin, fish oil, etc. is all good - but those drugs don't address elevated LDL levels as well as statins do. You could consider a red yeast rice supplement as it contains a low level of a naturally occurring statin. However, keep in mind that you should not take both red yeast rice and a statin together, as that WILL increase your risk of muscle problems. Also, because there is a small amount of statin in red yeast rice, it does carry with it the risk, albeit slight, of statin-like side effects.

Best of luck in getting those levels down!