Has anyone out there stopped Lipitor and used vitaminC instead with good results? I have done this and had good results although I need to do more blood tests to confirm.

Just curious as to what blood tests you would have done to confirm good results of using vitamin C instead of a statin?

I had a blood test for LDL / HDL / Triglycerides levels done after being off lipitor for aver 6 months. I am getting another one shortly to confirm my findings.

Do you feel like it was the C? Are you supplementing with anything else such as niacin, policosanol, CoQ10, etc?

Without Vitamin C your arteries would weaken and rupture. We tend to under estimate the value of Vitamin C but without it, your blood vessels could not function properly. In fact, Vitamin C is way more important than newcomer supplements like policosanol.

JL: I'm curious. Do you know how Policosanol works to reduce Cholesterol? What the internal mechanism is?

Regards,

Brooks

I take Vitamin C 2 x's a day along with my other supplements.

cjbrooksjc:
I don't know much about policosanol except that it lowers LDL cholesterol. If that is what it is for, then like statins, it fails to treat the underlying cause of why cholesterol is high in the first place.

As for Vitamin C, it strengthens the weakened arteries and helps keep them from getting inflamed since inflamed arteries will increase cholesterol production as the body's way of repairing the wound.

Jl: Actually, I was wondering if Policosanol employed red yeast rice. Lowering LDL is not necessarily a bad thing since it is small, dense LDL that embeds in the inflamed artery wall causing blockages:

" The most pronounced lipoprotein abnormalities in patients with early-onset coronary heart disease are high plasma triacylglycerol and low HDL cholesterol, with lesser elevations of LDL cholesterol. But the LDL particles in these individuals are somewhat smaller and more dense than in those with a more favorable lipoprotein profile. The relative contribution of the individual lipoprotein abnormalities that constitute the ALP to the increased risk of atherosclerotic vascular disease is unclear; however, plausible arguments for the atherogenicity of small, dense LDL particles, particularly an increased susceptibility to oxidative modification as compared with larger, more buoyant LDL particles, have heightened interest in this component of the ALP.

Predominance of small, dense LDL particles, which is commonly determined by gradient gel electrophoresis of apolipoprotein B–containing lipoproteins, is called LDL-subclass pattern B, whereas predominance of larger LDL particles is called pattern A. Small, dense LDL particles can be produced by the action of hepatic lipase on larger LDL species that are triacylglycerol enriched "

**http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/71/6/1390

It would seem then that a focus on decreasing tirglycerides in the blood would reduce the amount of small, dense LDL and help lessen the number of, or the seriousness of, artery wall lesions.

I knew about the benefits of vit C, and as for the increase of cholesterol, it is a natural event as we grow older and may be simply, in many cases, the body's way of protecting itself. I've tried to google PCos to see if there is any complete operating explanation available, but have found nothing concrete as yet.

Best,

Brooks

JL Re: my earlier response - ALP is a Lipoprotein Profile.

Brooks