Cholesterol medications and reflux-anyone on meds prior to dx?

Bobs1wife
Bobs1wife Member Posts: 150
edited November 2011 in Esophageal Cancer #1
Just a thought............My husband was diagnosed with esophageal cancer and has had an an esophagectomy. I think we are all shocked at the time of diagnosis and then later are doing a lot of thinking about causes, etc. I, myself, have been diagnosed with silent reflux after waking up with a sore throat and hoarse voice for a couple of years. About the same time this started happening I had been put on Simvastatin (Zocor) to lower cholesterol, but never thought about it being correlated until now. These meds go by many different names and a known side effect is heartburn. Just wondering how many here were on cholesterol medications prior to diagnosis? Did this aggravate the reflux? Or those who were dx, but never had any known reflux, were they on cholesterol lowering medications? Look forward to hearing about each of you in this regard. Linda.

Comments

  • paul61
    paul61 Member Posts: 1,392 Member
    #2
    I was taking lipitor
    Linda,

    I was taking lipitor for cholesterol. I had reflux most of my adult life though so I am not sure I can blame the medication.

    Paul Adams,
    McCormick, South Carolina
  • jgwright
    jgwright Member Posts: 242
    #3
    paul61 said:

    I was taking lipitor
    Linda,

    I was taking lipitor for cholesterol. I had reflux most of my adult life though so I am not sure I can blame the medication.

    Paul Adams,
    McCormick, South Carolina

    Lipitor and Fenofibrate
    Although not at the same time. Yeah... I had triglycerides up in the 800s. Ugly bad. Cholesterol at about 220. Although I had "sour stomach" from being self employed, I never really had reflux.

    Don't know WHAT my level is now. But I've been on one or the other for a couple of years.

    --Jerry
  • lilrusty
    lilrusty Member Posts: 49
    #4
    jgwright said:

    Lipitor and Fenofibrate
    Although not at the same time. Yeah... I had triglycerides up in the 800s. Ugly bad. Cholesterol at about 220. Although I had "sour stomach" from being self employed, I never really had reflux.

    Don't know WHAT my level is now. But I've been on one or the other for a couple of years.

    --Jerry

    Cholesterol
    Hi Linda,
    My husband was on Lipitor for about 8 months caused body aches, so they switched him to Crestor. He's been on Crestor for about 3 years. He started having heart burn in March 2011, then diagnosised with EC stage 4 in August.
    Peace & Love
    Chrissy
  • bingbing2009
    bingbing2009 Member Posts: 177
    #5
    Add me to the list!
    I was on Lipitor for several years before being diagnosed with EC. Before Lipitor, I was on other cholesterol drugs, but I can't remember their names.

    Melinda
  • Gatoraid
    Gatoraid Member Posts: 66
    #6
    Very Interesting
    I was on lipitor but then switched to simivistatin for the lower co-pay about 4 years ago. I have had a hiatus hernia since I was 20 which I have thought was the main reason for the cancer, but you never know.
  • Bobs1wife
    Bobs1wife Member Posts: 150
    #7
    Cholesterol meds prior to dx
    I forgot to mention in my first post that Bob had also been on Simvastatin prior to his diagnosis. The doctors themselves say they don't know what is causing all of this EC currently, and why the sudden upsurge in new diagnosis. I remember reading of a study of soda being suspect, but didn't prove to be risk in the studies that were done. Thanks for your posts. We'll hope for more. Right now it looks like we are at 100% for being on cholesterol meds. It seems strange to me that neither my GI doctor, or Internal Medicine ever mentioned heartburn as a side effect when it is clearly listed as one. It is also advised that Simvastatin be taken at night for best effect!
  • GerryS
    GerryS Member Posts: 227 Member
    #8
    Ditto, Paul
    Linda, I too was and still am on lipitor. I do not think that is the culprit but I don't what might be other than long history of acid reflux. Happy Thanksgiving to you, Bob and family.

    Gerry
  • Joel C
    Joel C Member Posts: 174
    #9
    GerryS said:

    Ditto, Paul
    Linda, I too was and still am on lipitor. I do not think that is the culprit but I don't what might be other than long history of acid reflux. Happy Thanksgiving to you, Bob and family.

    Gerry

    I’m another one
    I’ve been on Simvastatin for around four years. I was originally prescribed Zocor then my insurance insisted I receive the generic Simvastatin. I never suffered from acid reflux or had any of the risk factors for EC. Very interesting post Linda, it makes you wonder.
    Joel
  • AngieD
    AngieD Member Posts: 493
    #10
    Gatoraid said:

    Very Interesting
    I was on lipitor but then switched to simivistatin for the lower co-pay about 4 years ago. I have had a hiatus hernia since I was 20 which I have thought was the main reason for the cancer, but you never know.

    Same here
    My husband was on Lipitor for about 10 years (and still is) before being diagnosed with EC.
    Angie
  • jgwright
    jgwright Member Posts: 242
    #11
    Being careful here...
    A quote from Wikipedia...
    "Correlation does not imply causation" (related to "ignoring a common cause" and questionable cause) is a phrase used in science and statistics to emphasize that correlation between two variables does not automatically imply that one causes the other (though correlation is necessary for linear causation in the absence of any third and countervailing causative variable, and can indicate possible causes or areas for further investigation; in other words, correlation can be a hint).

    It IS curious, however, and should be brought to researcher's attention.

    --Jerry
  • JReed
    JReed Member Posts: 428
    #12
    Cholesterol Meds
    Don has been on some form of cholesterol meds since 1996.
  • Ericalynn
    Ericalynn Member Posts: 200
    #13
    John Too
    John was put on Zocor when it first came on the market. John is 6' tall and always weighed 160-165 LBS. Did not eat high fat foods and could not control cholesterol with diet alone, so he was put on Zocor and switched to Simvastatin (generic) when it came out.
    For years John complained about low back and hip pain he even had ESI done twice (for back pain). One day he read the insert for Simvastatin and the back, hip muscle pain was a possible side effect. He discussed with his Primary Care physician and they decided to take him off Simvastatin. He started vitamins, red rice yeast and exercise program. His cholesterol is excellent and when he went off the meds the pain in his back and hips went away.
    Erica

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