F
flutterbee
Guest
My cholesterol is a little high. I'm not concerned, but my doctor is because of my heart disease. My cholesterol was only a little high when I had the heart attack, so in my case I really think that the inflammation was the biggest risk factor and not my cholesterol. Especially with the studies in recent years that link inflammatory conditions with coronary artery disease.
Anyway.....
A few months ago, she doubled my statin. I have to go this week for a fasting cholesterol test to see where it is. I know it's not going to have changed much. How do I know? Because I don't take it regularly. But, I have good reason. At 40mg, the statin made me feel bad. At 80mg it makes me feel terrible. The muscle weakness, fatigue, fogginess, nausea.....I have enough of that on my own, I don't need help. It's a marked difference the day after I take my statin.
I emailed my doctor and pointed these things out and asked her if I could take Coenzyme Q10, Hawthorn Berry (both of which are good for the heart and Hawthorn Berry is really good and the studies show it is beneficial at lowering LDL cholesterol), plus Omega-3's. She said that I have to be on a statin. She said I could take those things in conjuction with the statin, but that I have to be on a statin no matter what. I have to be on a statin even if my cholesterol is ok. She did say she could switch me to Crestor which isn't very promising with the reports on (word I can't spell that is muscle breakdown), muscle weakness and even kidney disease. She said Crestor has less side effects with muscle pain/weakness and fatigue. What I found suggests otherwise, but it's all media reports. All statins carry that risk. Thing is, the one I'm on is already one that is supposed to have less of these risks and I still experience - not the muscle cell death that we know of.
So....if I tell my doctor that I'm not going to take a statin, I'm worried that she's going to get upset and not want to treat me - which I can't have with everything going on. So, I'm really thinking that I'm just not going to tell her that I'm not taking the statin (although I will give Crestor a try and see), try the other stuff and see if it works.
It's a quality of life issue for me. I don't want to take something that makes me feel miserable. Period. Even if it is, theoretically, a life prolonging drug, if that's the way you're going to feel, why bother? It makes my muscles so weak that I feel like my legs aren't going to hold me up and I have to have help getting out of a chair. That's with one dose.
I don't know. Maybe I'll talk to her about it in that way - quality of life. It's not like I'm not looking for alternatives and I have researched it a lot.
I guess I was kind of surprise she said no..that I have to take a statin no matter what. She's usually really good at listening to me because she knows I'm sensitive to medications. I don't have the faith in statins that she does. For me personally, the benefits don't outweigh the side effects. Plus, I just don't see them as the miracle drug that everyone else does. And she knows that I stop medications that end up with an upside down benefit/side effect ratio. Steroids, are one example. AD's that she wanted me to try. There are others.
Just getting my thoughts out. Rambling....seem to be doing that lately.
Anyway.....
A few months ago, she doubled my statin. I have to go this week for a fasting cholesterol test to see where it is. I know it's not going to have changed much. How do I know? Because I don't take it regularly. But, I have good reason. At 40mg, the statin made me feel bad. At 80mg it makes me feel terrible. The muscle weakness, fatigue, fogginess, nausea.....I have enough of that on my own, I don't need help. It's a marked difference the day after I take my statin.
I emailed my doctor and pointed these things out and asked her if I could take Coenzyme Q10, Hawthorn Berry (both of which are good for the heart and Hawthorn Berry is really good and the studies show it is beneficial at lowering LDL cholesterol), plus Omega-3's. She said that I have to be on a statin. She said I could take those things in conjuction with the statin, but that I have to be on a statin no matter what. I have to be on a statin even if my cholesterol is ok. She did say she could switch me to Crestor which isn't very promising with the reports on (word I can't spell that is muscle breakdown), muscle weakness and even kidney disease. She said Crestor has less side effects with muscle pain/weakness and fatigue. What I found suggests otherwise, but it's all media reports. All statins carry that risk. Thing is, the one I'm on is already one that is supposed to have less of these risks and I still experience - not the muscle cell death that we know of.
So....if I tell my doctor that I'm not going to take a statin, I'm worried that she's going to get upset and not want to treat me - which I can't have with everything going on. So, I'm really thinking that I'm just not going to tell her that I'm not taking the statin (although I will give Crestor a try and see), try the other stuff and see if it works.
It's a quality of life issue for me. I don't want to take something that makes me feel miserable. Period. Even if it is, theoretically, a life prolonging drug, if that's the way you're going to feel, why bother? It makes my muscles so weak that I feel like my legs aren't going to hold me up and I have to have help getting out of a chair. That's with one dose.
I don't know. Maybe I'll talk to her about it in that way - quality of life. It's not like I'm not looking for alternatives and I have researched it a lot.
I guess I was kind of surprise she said no..that I have to take a statin no matter what. She's usually really good at listening to me because she knows I'm sensitive to medications. I don't have the faith in statins that she does. For me personally, the benefits don't outweigh the side effects. Plus, I just don't see them as the miracle drug that everyone else does. And she knows that I stop medications that end up with an upside down benefit/side effect ratio. Steroids, are one example. AD's that she wanted me to try. There are others.
Just getting my thoughts out. Rambling....seem to be doing that lately.