Also, tell your doctor if you have aches and pains - ones caused by statins are pretty discernable, at least mine were. My Dr said yes, probably a reaction to that particular brand of statin or type of statin. I don’t know the diff between Lipitor and Pravastatin but immediately the pain was gone and I’ve been on it ever since. So don’t quit and never do it again, as the doc and they should prescribe you another brand/type. Some people go through multiples before finding the right fit.
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And I have liked reading the suggestions to ask siblings and the personal stories of side effects. I think it’s important to learn about them as I have several different doctors prescribing drugs and I don’t think they all do a good job of worrying about what another doctor is prescribing. The pharmacist might let me know about interactions, but not about the aches and pains and what to do about it. Also, with a THIRD insurance company in three years, and all wanting me to use their mail order plans, I want all the info I can get to self advocate.
A few years ago when I got the new PCP, and I was just coming off surgeries and cancer treatments, I asked to go to an endocrinologist and PCP said no, that was her job. I didn’t push back but wish I had. I then just started researching on my own and, although taking her advice, doing what I wanted with medication (cutting most in half). Not so sure the endocrinologist wouldn’t have put me on MORE drugs, since drugs are their business.
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Red yeast rice is fermented with a specific type of fungus which produces something chemically identical to lovastatin. So she was basically taking a statin drug in a different form.
Another fungal source of something chemically identical to lovastatin is oyster mushrooms.
Even if unfavorable genetics means that you cannot avoid the need for drugs for cholesterol issues, T2 diabetes, hypertension, etc., healthy diet and exercise could matter in allowing you to use lower doses or fewer drugs (and therefore less risk of unwanted effects) than with unhealthy diet and lack of exercise. From what I have seen of relatives, less healthy diet and exercise seems to match up with heavier prescription medication needs.
Does the PCP do a good job at checking your various prescriptions for drug interaction problems or other polypharmacy issues? That seems to be one of the jobs a PCP should be doing for a patient who may be seeing various specialists who may prescribe drugs without knowing what other physicians are doing with the patient.
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In my opinion, no. When I complained about dizziness and feeling tired, she specifically said it wasn’t the Jardiance, couldn’t be the issue. Jardiance states that one of the side effects is dizziness (even on the commercials) and she said it wasn’t. Hmm, I won that one and said I wasn’t going to take it anymore and guess what, I’m not as dizzy anymore. She wanted me to go on a beta blocker and when I researched it, dizziness was also a side effect and also that once you went on it it was hard to go off. I don’t like that the first course of action is always drugs.
But it is other things like I take XXX drugs (from PCP) but then I had to go to the hand surgeon and no one (but me) seems concerned that they are going to do a treatment with a steroid, or I go to the retinal specialist and get another medicine and while it is short term, what if there is a reaction? Those docs take the list of the drugs I’m taking, but I feel they all just brush it off as no big deal, don’t worry about interactions. I asked the hand surgeon what the side effects could be and he said ‘it could make your A1C spike’ but if I hadn’t asked, he wouldn’t have mentioned it (and I would have freaked out the next morning).
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Seems like you may need to find a different PCP who is aware of the problems that polypharmacy can cause and takes a more active role in managing and coordinating prescriptions from various specialists.
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Thought about it but I think they are all the same. They do the basics and send you to a specialist for everything else. The Hand specialist did the treatment the same day, not really giving a chance to discuss it again with PCP. Need help with an ache? Send you to PT. Eye exam with follow up? Send in the chart notes.
I did like it better when I went to a medical complex where all the docs were under the same group, but they don’t take my insurance.
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Let’s get back on track. As I mentioned earlier, the medical provider bashing is not helpful to this group - not trying to diminish your opinions.
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I am curious if people who are taking statins have high cholesterol, high LDL or low HDL?
My total cholesterol is slightly high (and I have heard that that measure is not as useful as it once was thought to be), my HDL is excellent, but my LDL has crept up (can’t recall the exact number off hand)
I have no family history (although both parents eventually started taking statins) and I have very low BP. My calcium score is 0, so my doc feels okay not starting statins for me yet.
I am more concerned about my A1C which is creeping up. My dad was T1D which I think adds to that, since I eat pretty well.
Also for those who point to limiting red meats etc, IMHO limiting refined carbs is just as much or more a factor in heart disease. Carbs cause inflammation and inflammation causes heart disease. That is something I need to work on (I love me some good bread or an after dinner cookie or three).
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Total cholesterol is HDL + LDL + 20% of the triglycerides number. Very high HDL can skew the total cholesterol number upwards, so a doctor may not consider this a red flag.
Online you can find various Cholesterol Calculators for some ballpark ideas. Of course none of the results would be as useful as your own doctor’s assessment of your particular situation.
Example - Cholesterol Ratio Calculator | Cholesterol Levels
(oops that one only give ratios, not rating)
Another one - Cardiac Risk Calculator
(it rates me as Low risk, matching my pcp’s view of my high total Cholesterol… which is skewed by high HDL; still I’d like to lower my LDL which was higher than usual last year)
It’s kind of wherever your Dr wants it to be.
My Dr wanted my LDL really low (or so I thought) - it was below 100 which showed okay on my lipid results but she wanted it below 70 (it is 72) due to father’s heart attacks and death at 59. My HDL was very high and has gone down some with the cholesterol med and is now at 82 I think which is still good so overall total is very good now. Triglycerides and Glucose right in the middle of where they say they should be. My RA Dr agrees with my PCP (Internal Med) and says those are great numbers, keep them there.
My husband was put on cholesterol medicine due to low HDL, I have no idea if it’s working or not, he hasn’t told me and I haven’t asked since that is all the medicine he takes.
I have excellent BP, normal weight, lots of exercise, no red meat, high fiber diet. My “good” cholesterol was good, but all other numbers were bad. My total cholesterol was way over 300 most of my adult life, as was my dad’s and my siblings’. My other numbers were equally awful.
I’m working on my carb addiction and it is really hard – like quitting cigarettes, hard. (Not that I ever smoked)
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Talking to a friend today whose husband’s doc ‘suggested’ he take an enzyme with his statin but she couldn’t remember the name. “CoQ10” I say.
We learn so much on CC!
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This is what happened to my husband. It was quite dramatic. His doctor discontinued the statin, and since then he has been rather ineffectually trying to control cholesterol with diet. Heart disease doesn’t seem to run in his family at all, fortunately … so we hope for the best.
My cholesterol was well over 300 for years but my good cholesterol has always been high (my grandmother had high cholesterol). Last year I started on a small dose (10 mg) of Rosuvostatin every other day and my levels are now in the good range. A few weeks ago I developed phantosmia (phantom smells that never abate) which is overwhelming and a common side effect for women over 60 in particular- who knew?! I am going to stop the statin for 1 month and see if it improves and then retest. Has anyone else had this issue?
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Not from taking statins, but I was hallucinating smells for a several weeks about 8 years ago and got sent to neurologist to be evaluated for temporal lobe epilepsy.
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My internist has been saying for some time that if I don’t get my cholesterol numbers lower, we will have to start me on a statin “soon,” as I get older. My blood pressure is low (it used to be 90/58 or so and now sometimes is 100/60ish).
Neither of my folks had a heart attack or stroke and both lived to their 90s. I don’t believe they were taking any statins either. I will ask my sibs if any of them are taking statins and which ones are working for them. I tend to have side effects from medications, even some that are never mentioned in clinical trials, so I’m a bit nervous when I add or change medications. I’m already on several medications for my allergies and breathing. I do have “type 2 inflammation,” as measured by my 500+ blood eosinophil levels.
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