when all cholesterol drugs fail

[aeroguy]

I have a question.

I have tried every statin and had to stop them all due to side effects. Even splitting the pills into fourths and taking them every other day in 5 mg increments of the two weakest statins (pravastatin and lovastatin) brought on numerous side effects. Ditto RYR.

Trilipix, a fibrate, was the worst, as it brought on heart attack symptoms.

I've tried Niaspan ER 500 mg every oterh day for a month, and it has caused insufferable stomach and instestinal distress, not to mention accclerated heartbeats and insomnia.

So the only thing left is Welchol, which my cardiologist is hesitant to prescribe because it can raise trigs, and mine are already high.

Lovaza is expensive as hell, and every time I've tried fish oil capsules, I get horrible constipation.

The resins, from what I hear, can be awful on the digestive system, and even when they don't have side effects, often they do not do their job.

At this webiste, I read the following by Stephen Sinatra:


"What about your total cholesterol? you may be asking. Well, it doesn't mean much unless you have very high cholesterol, with increased risk of stroke, and then it certainly behooves you to bring it down. And you can readily do that with lifestyle modification, weight reduction, and eating a lot of good fiber. I wouldn't recommend a statin drug unless you had evidence of arterial disease and were a male."


I had a heart attack four years ago and needed stents put in two totally blocked arteries. I have been diagnosed with CAD.

I'm a strict vegetarian, walk briskly 45 minutes per day, don't smoke or drink, and am 62.

If there is anyone else here who has tried all the drugs and the lifestyle changes and the no-fat diets and still has high cholesterol and CAD, do you have any suggestions? Thanks.

[Allen1]

Hi there aeroguy,

I wouldn't put too much hope in expecting a drug that can lower cholesterol helping to keep your arteries clear. After a heart attack almost 15 years ago I was soon put on to Zocor (Simvastatin), after at least 8 years of taking it I needed a triple bypass as I had a 100% blockage from the heart attack I mentioned and now two 80% blockages and a 50% one.

The drugs do not guarantee a positive outcome, in fact the harm they have caused, FAR outweigh any benefit that the medical community seem to expect. Both Physically and mentally I am less able than I was before I ever took a Statin and that is putting it very mildly.

As a vegetarian, you are probably not getting any animal fat in your diet, that is a problem as humans are meat eaters too, there was a great post on the forum about this subject a couple of years ago but I can't remember who wrote it.

Realistically you should be taking Omega 3 and probably Co-enzyme Q10 to help with the heart function, Ray Holder and myself found that taking Co-enzyme Q10 seemed to make our heart beats feel less rigid and more relaxed and comfortable. The nearest description of that would be when you are worried and all tensed up, then someone gives you the good news and you relax, the difference is that the stiffness in the heart is a physical problem caused by insufficient Co-enzyme Q10 reaching it via the Statins we took for so long.

The vegetarian part is a lifestyle you like, there is nothing wrong with that but you probably need to take supplements to provide nutrients that would have been provided by additionally eating meat now and then.

The above is a very simplified version of what it should be, but it is a start. I hope you read more on the low, no fat diet silliness that has caused such an epidemic of obesity in the world we live in, all that corn oil etc have done us more harm than anything else apart from the handfuls of drugs we ingest every day.

All the best,
Allen.

[David Staup]

for the CAD I would discuss chelation with a doctor in your area...

I found this one:
Ross Rentea MD

Phone Number:
773-583-7793

Address:
3525 W. Petersen S. 611
Chicago IL 60659


for the high cholesterol I take 6 grams of vit C per day and the B vitamins with folic acid as per the info I provided in another post and I would consider the diet changes toward low carb as per the info I also provided earlier animal fats are essential to good health not an enemy...google the stone age or paleolithic diet...man has evolved with this diet for millions of years!

If you follow the low fat myth back far enough you find Kellog started pushing it way back in the late 1800's (to sell his products) and CVD increased dramatically from 1900 up to about 1960 when flours were enriched (with b vitamins) the incidence did not change AT ALL since the mid 80's when statins and cholesterol lowering were introduced!!!

by the way STAY AWAY from the welchol...5 weeks on that drug led to my disability 7 months later...that was in 2007 and I have not recovered yet!

David

[aeroguy]

David--

Thanks for the MD name and the advice on Welchol.

I have IBS (C), so Welchol would be the last thing I'd want to take. Sorry you had such a bad experience with it. To add insult to injury, that stuff ain't cheap either.

I do take Vitamin C.

[aeroguy]

[quote="Allen1"]Hi there aeroguy,

I wouldn't put too much hope in expecting a drug that can lower cholesterol helping to keep your arteries clear. After a heart attack almost 15 years ago I was soon put on to Zocor (Simvastatin), after at least 8 years of taking it I needed a triple bypass as I had a 100% blockage from the heart attack I mentioned and now two 80% blockages and a 50% one.


Allen--

After eight years of Zocor and still needing a triple bypass, I'd have been beside myself. Especailly if your cholesterol readings during those eight years were normal.

BTW, I take Co Q 10 every day.

Thanks for your detailed response.

[Allen1]

Hi there aeroguy,

its good to see that you do already take Co Q10 every day, its something I never knew about when I was taking Statins. There was also very little information about side effects from Statins when I was taking them and I was getting incapable of understanding anything at all as time went by. I couldn't even do my job due to being unable to identify components and their values which only kept getting worse. I had been doing this type of work for years without a problem and had no idea what was going on, or why I couldn't remember names or what I was talking about and why I was so tired all the time.

People with heart problems are deemed candidates for the protective??? benefit of Statins? as we all hear they have been proved to save thousands of lives ??? (I have to scratch my head and wonder who the hell they are talking about when all that crap is spouted off) It is also type 2 diabetics that are candidates for this stupidity as I recently found out when I met up with a friend and ex work colleague and seen the difference in him.

Although the bad side effects are there to be seen by people and doctors, most of the symptoms you present to a doctor or even a suspicion that it may be a problem due the cholesterol medication or something else you may be prescribed tends to land on deaf ears.

The top and bottom of this is that most symptoms when tests are performed come back negative, the problems you experience are oh so real but without a result confirming things, the doctors tend to think its all in your head. In the meantime while you are taking your statins your cholesterol numbers are within the magic range and you just keep getting sicker.

To be honest, I would rather have enjoyed myself and live a happy life and if push came to shove die of another heart attack than basically be a survivor that struggles to get through most days due to the problems that cholesterol therapy have caused.

Unless you have a serious problem with your cholesterol levels, I would make the most of your life and forget about the magic numbers that make many doctors and drug companies very happy and rich. You have the knowledge which is a lot more than most of us who are affected had, make the most of it and do what you can while you can, life can be bad enough without stressing over numbers.