Zetia - fatigue and constipation

[gmcanon]

My doctor insists Zetia has no side effects. The patient lit implies the same. After about 5 months on it, I'm becoming convinced that's not true.

I'm 43, male, 138 pounds. I'm a long distance runner in excellent condition (3:29 marathon last fall). I was a runner in high school, took 20+ years off, they started up again last year, dropped 20 pounds, and quickly fell right into the rhythm of the sport.

Then I started Zetia in about 5 months ago - early February - right at the same time I had hernia surgery - so of course cause and effect is cloudy. The hernia surgery of course screwed up my bowels, but that's superficial surgery - no reason why they wouldn't return to normal. They haven't - I've had constipation problems ever since.

Worse is the nagging latent fatigue. Before starting Zetia (and before the surgery) I was in my best shape in 20 years. I was running again 10 days after surgery. But about a month later my strength while running seemed to start to decline. This seems more like drug build-up time vs. surgical recover, which would decline over time.

My doctor, whom I'm about to dump, switched me from Zocor to Pravachol but insisted on keeping the Zetia. Some nagging muscular issues cleared up, but not the fatigue. He insists the human body wasn't intended to run marathons. Bullshit. For those of you who remember the Greek story, Phidipides didn't die from the marathon. He died from the 200+ miles he'd run earlier that same WEEK.

Don't get me wrong - I still train at mid (sometimes low) 7-minute pace, and am approaching my first 100-mile month in a while - I'm still in great shape. But the miles seem to require a hell of a lot more effort than they did only a few months before. Trouble is, the medical community has no sympathy for someone who's not dying. "You can run? You're fine." No, I'm not fine when I'm not at all convinced I could make marathon distance now, let alone come close to my former time.

This isn't classic fatigue as in, "Oh, I can't walk down the street." But so far as I can tell this is a real change in my condition. There are other things too, all subtle, all hard to put your finger on. Occasional pressure in the head or dizziness. Weird stuff.

Any thoughts on this?

[sos_group_owner]

Hi "gmcanon",

Re: My doctor insists Zetia has no side effects.
Well, your doctor is lying to you OR he hasn't read the 15 page DPI (Drug
Package Insert) that the majority of patients don't get to see. There is an
abbreviated version for patients, but the one below is for physicians.

[url]http://www.zetia.com/zetia/shared/documents/zetia_pi.pdf[/url]

Check out Dr Graveline's "Statin Alternative":
http://www.spacedoc.net/statin_alternatives.htm
They don't lower cholesterol, combined they reduce "inflammation".
The type that causes heart attacks and strokes.

My husband was a runner also. Treadmill test lead to a heart cath that
lead to quad bypass and 8 years of statins. He now has persistent
memory loss, aches and pains and can hardly play golf, much less run.

Fran

[Darrell]

I took Zocor first and developed muscle and fatigue problems after I had taken it for many months. After I had quit Zocor for awhile and made some recovery, my doc put me on Zetia and the problems came back with a vengeance in just a few days. No side effects? You need a new doctor!