High Cholesterol Medications???

[sweetana3]

Just want to add that a good friend has apparently been "harmed" by statin use. He has suffered extreme muscle pain and weakness to the point he could grasp anything. Cannot sit in a car as a passender or driver. He has stopped the statin and is working to get back some strength. Feeling a little better each week.

He was a large fit man and now walks around as if 25 years older and has lost a lot of weight.

Doctor ignored any mention of reported side effects. Needless to say, he is getting a different doctor.

[G Grasshopper]

Originally Posted by nurider2002

I have heriditary high cholesterol. Tried to control it by going entirely vegatarian, adding the fish oil, flaxseed supplements, increasing my anerobic exercise routine, daily oatmeal, Nothing worked. Went on simvistatin, numbers came down immediately. However, over the course of a year on simvistatin I experienced increasing body aches, noticed muscle loss (not able to do the same weights at the gym) and generally feeling old and worn out. Stopped the simvistatin and began to feel better within 3 weeks! My doctor is a believer in statins and wants me to try another in a couple of months. She opines that whereas one person can be unable to tolerate one statin, they are often fine with another. That may or may not be true but, I would rather feel good now than live to be 100 so, not sure what I will do. I do believe that some folks (like myself) cannot control cholesterol and triglycerides simply with diet, exercise and supplements. I tried numerous approaches for a few years and nothing worked. But then, none of my parents, aunts or uncles have died of heart disease or stroke and, they are all in their 80s or 90s so, one has to wonder if cholesterol is really as bad as the rep it gets?

You might want to have your thyroid numbers run. At one point I "failed" on 3 statins - meaning that they did not take my cholesterol numbers down. My doctor didn't know at the time, but I believe that failing on two statins is considered to be diagnostic for hypothyroid, or at least called for a good look at this.

[mountainrose]

Everyone in my family died before 60 from heart disease on both sides.
so I was quite alarmed at 40 when my cholesterol started zooming up.

I tried Dr Dean Ornishes low fat and vegetarian diet for ten years and created a whole host of health issues from too low fat, and my cholesterol still kept going up.

Then I tried a normal diet. Didn't go up anymore, but stayed the same high level.

Then ten years ago, I went to a wonderful cardiologist who had me try gluten-free and low carb - almost paleo. I eat only one small non gluten grain serving a day (I am not celiac), either at breakfast or at dinner. The rest is tons of fresh organic veggies from our garden, lots of nuts, seeds, eggs, avocados, and grass fed clean meat or fish and one or two servings of fruit a day - mostly berries from our garden. I also raised my Vitamin D level, but not sure if that affects cholesterol.

Amazing results! I am 62 and now have better than optimal lipids, perfect particle size, low glucose, low CRP, no plaque build up on carotid or abdominal arteries, etc etc.

Everyone's body is so different, what worked for me might not be optimal for another. But keep experimenting and watching your labs closely to see what responses you are getting.

Last edited by mountainrose; Today at 12:10 PM..