Cholesterol lowering meds...what are your thoughts and experiences...OR..if I was a bowler these num

Well...my cholesterol is 270 (total) and it has been high for years...
(6 months of custards and ensure didn't help) and per my doctor if you throw in
a bit of potential radiation induced carotid vessel issues..it is time for treatment.
We know it is not diet, because even when I was 80 plus pounds it was 242 and as you all know, our menu options are sometimes limited to whatever slides down best...

She recommended generic Lipitor (which is still not available) or Simvastatin (which another friend told me was controversial in persons with some cardiac history, which I have to a degree)

Does anyone take any of these (or alternative Cholesterol lowering meds and what has your experience been?

Thanks so much!
Stacey

Comments

  • jtl
    jtl Member Posts: 456
    Cholesterol
    I take Lipitor and it lowered mine from about 240 to 180. At least, if not more important is the ratio of good (HDL) to bad (LDL)cholesterol.
    Regards,
    John
  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    Eat More Fish...
    LOL.....

    Just teasing Stacy, even though you have eaten things to survive during treatment that might be haunting you a little now. It sounds like you are one of the unlucky ones that are predestined through genetics.

    But I'm sure your MD's can find a solution...better living through chemistry.

    Thoughts and Prayers,
    John
  • Hondo
    Hondo Member Posts: 6,636 Member
    Cholesterol
    I never had a problem with that, I am normally somewhere about 105 to 115 but I don’t eat a lot of animal product mostly veggies. A lot of times hi Cholesterol is also something you inhered in your gens from your family roots.

    Hope you get it under control
    Hondo
  • Husker Fan
    Husker Fan Member Posts: 65
    Havn't checked since cancer
    Hi Stacey,

    6 years ago my cholesterol was 245, but for the last few years I have been 125-135. Some of that was Zocor then simistatin, exercise (biking) and eating better. I still love my chips, but now they are baked!

    At the beginning of this cancer thing, I asked my MD what I would do when I couldn't swallow anymore and he said not to worry about the Cholesterol until we got the cancer taken care of. Fortunately I have still been able to swallow pills after the surgeries and radiation.

    You will do great!

    David
  • josh r.
    josh r. Member Posts: 264 Member
    cholesterol/Lipitor
    Hi Stacey,
    I will be NED twenty years as of the 22nd of November, thank you, and have been taking Lipitor of 10 mg per my oncologist for fifteen of those years and I remain around 190 total. I do experience some aches and pains upon awakening and they vanish within thirty seconds of movement which is usual directly to the lieu. I attribute these aches to working three days a week and and playing tennis three other days a week. My doctor says it's because I am sixty-six working on one-hundred. I am hoping he is right. I am not a fanatic about my diet but I am conscience of what I eat with my red wine. As I have stated I am active and will be as long as I can. I wish you all the best Stacey. Josh r.
  • staceya
    staceya Member Posts: 720
    josh r. said:

    cholesterol/Lipitor
    Hi Stacey,
    I will be NED twenty years as of the 22nd of November, thank you, and have been taking Lipitor of 10 mg per my oncologist for fifteen of those years and I remain around 190 total. I do experience some aches and pains upon awakening and they vanish within thirty seconds of movement which is usual directly to the lieu. I attribute these aches to working three days a week and and playing tennis three other days a week. My doctor says it's because I am sixty-six working on one-hundred. I am hoping he is right. I am not a fanatic about my diet but I am conscience of what I eat with my red wine. As I have stated I am active and will be as long as I can. I wish you all the best Stacey. Josh r.

    Thanks everyone!
    Thanks for all of the great responses...John I do love fish.
    Is anyone on Crestor? It was suggested to me yesterday.
    My diet and exercise are pretty good, weight is 105, think meds will have to be the way.
    I am debating about waiting for generic lipitor to be available rather than starting on brand name and then switching. Would like to keep the med switching down to a minimum. Am currently on no meds at all and would really like to keep it that way...but oh well..Glad to see that no one was experiencing any major side effects..

    Stacey
  • D Lewis
    D Lewis Member Posts: 1,581 Member
    staceya said:

    Thanks everyone!
    Thanks for all of the great responses...John I do love fish.
    Is anyone on Crestor? It was suggested to me yesterday.
    My diet and exercise are pretty good, weight is 105, think meds will have to be the way.
    I am debating about waiting for generic lipitor to be available rather than starting on brand name and then switching. Would like to keep the med switching down to a minimum. Am currently on no meds at all and would really like to keep it that way...but oh well..Glad to see that no one was experiencing any major side effects..

    Stacey

    Devils Advocate here...
    Stacey,

    I do believe my bad cholesterol level meets or beats yours, Stacey. My GP put me on Crestor, because he said that Lipitor would not lower the levels enough. I am not currently taking it for a number of reasons. If you read carefully, all the product advertisements for Crestor and Lipitor state:

    "CRESTOR/LIPITOR, along with diet, is clinically proven to reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke, certain kinds of heart surgeries, and chest pain in patients with heart disease or several common risk factors for heart disease. Common risk factors include family history of early heart disease, high blood pressure, age, low HDL ("good") cholesterol, and smoking."

    I don't dispute that these drugs reduce blood cholesterol. I, however, have none (and I mean NONE) of the other risk factors. My weight is good, my body mass index is 20, I don't smoke, mostly don't eat red meat, love my olive oil, my blood pressure is low, my good cholesterol levels are very high, my c-reactive protein is zero, I have no inflammation issues and my cholesterol levels match those of both of my parents. My parents are in their late seventies, and neither suffer from heart issues. They are not currently being treated for high cholesterol either, and some recent research shows that in patients over 65, high cholesterol levels in the absence of other symptoms actually correlates with a longer lifespan.

    So, what to do? I really don't know. All my doctors are insistent that taking the cholesterol meds is something I really really need to do. Mostly because; why have even one symptom when, with the wonders of mondern medicine, I can have none?

    I am not a fan of meds. I kept the meds to a minimum while on treatment. I am concerned now that taking unnecessary medicine is a slippery slope, wherein I will start to get side effects, and end up needing even more and more meds. I also wonder if there are certain yet-unrecognised health and/or longevity benefits from having high cholesterol, absent the other symptoms.

    My ancestry dates back to the earliest settlements in Maine and New Hampshire, and all those folks lived very long lives. Perhaps the high cholesterol conveyed a survival advantage? One old guy, one of the first settlers of Amesbury, MA died at age 95, by falling through the ice on his sawmill pond during an unexpected spring thaw. I plan to last as least that long.

    Deb (still struggling with the question)
  • longtermsurvivor
    longtermsurvivor Member Posts: 1,842 Member
    Lipitor
    is pretty much the gold standard. The generic is supposed to be available this month. I had my first MI at 52. Bad genetics. Pretty much got the double whammy, recurrent cancer and cardiac disease.

    I have a normal total cholesterol, but very low HDL's and high triglicerides, even with my weight at ideal and ona good diet. Through the years I've been on almost all the meds, but in the last couple I finally got things where they need to be (for me).. I take lipitor 10mg, fenofibrate 160mg, and Niacin 2000mg. I also exercise and watch my fat intake. well, when I'm not fighting cancer and swallowing difficulties I do, anyway:)

    My total cholesterol is now 113, HDL's are over 40, and triglicerides are about 170. It is hard to beat adverse genetics, but I'm trying. Oh, the total cholesterol was still too high on just Niacin and fenofibrate. For me too high was 170. I need this number lots lower than that. But then, I'm very high risk.
  • ratface
    ratface Member Posts: 1,337 Member
    D Lewis said:

    Devils Advocate here...
    Stacey,

    I do believe my bad cholesterol level meets or beats yours, Stacey. My GP put me on Crestor, because he said that Lipitor would not lower the levels enough. I am not currently taking it for a number of reasons. If you read carefully, all the product advertisements for Crestor and Lipitor state:

    "CRESTOR/LIPITOR, along with diet, is clinically proven to reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke, certain kinds of heart surgeries, and chest pain in patients with heart disease or several common risk factors for heart disease. Common risk factors include family history of early heart disease, high blood pressure, age, low HDL ("good") cholesterol, and smoking."

    I don't dispute that these drugs reduce blood cholesterol. I, however, have none (and I mean NONE) of the other risk factors. My weight is good, my body mass index is 20, I don't smoke, mostly don't eat red meat, love my olive oil, my blood pressure is low, my good cholesterol levels are very high, my c-reactive protein is zero, I have no inflammation issues and my cholesterol levels match those of both of my parents. My parents are in their late seventies, and neither suffer from heart issues. They are not currently being treated for high cholesterol either, and some recent research shows that in patients over 65, high cholesterol levels in the absence of other symptoms actually correlates with a longer lifespan.

    So, what to do? I really don't know. All my doctors are insistent that taking the cholesterol meds is something I really really need to do. Mostly because; why have even one symptom when, with the wonders of mondern medicine, I can have none?

    I am not a fan of meds. I kept the meds to a minimum while on treatment. I am concerned now that taking unnecessary medicine is a slippery slope, wherein I will start to get side effects, and end up needing even more and more meds. I also wonder if there are certain yet-unrecognised health and/or longevity benefits from having high cholesterol, absent the other symptoms.

    My ancestry dates back to the earliest settlements in Maine and New Hampshire, and all those folks lived very long lives. Perhaps the high cholesterol conveyed a survival advantage? One old guy, one of the first settlers of Amesbury, MA died at age 95, by falling through the ice on his sawmill pond during an unexpected spring thaw. I plan to last as least that long.

    Deb (still struggling with the question)

    Check your Ct scans
    My numbers are good, total is at 160, HDL at 48, triglycerides at 95 and LDL at 95. I take simvistatin daily. I will continue to take my medicine because of my last CT scan which indicated moderate calcification of the coronary artery. From what little I know it appears that almost all of us have this to some degree but it is alarming nonetheless. It becomes available to us as a by product of our constant scanning if your interested. This is comparable to what those places like heart check America provide only that you already have it.
  • buzz99
    buzz99 Member Posts: 404
    Simvastatin
    Both Buzz and I are taking Simvastatin. No problems for either of us and we have greatly reduced numbers on the Lipid Profile. I think it is worthwhile as long as the liver enzymes are monitored. Karen