What is your take on OTC cholesterol reducing drugs? i.e., Cholest-Off by Nature Made, etc.? Do you think they help, hinder, or do nothing to reduce cholesterol levels?

Cholest-off contains plant stanols & sterols which have been shown to lower cholesterol. There are other foods that have been fortified with plant sterols and stanols for the precise purpose of lowering cholesterol - the ones I can think of right now are orange juice and bread spreads.

I take Cholest-off as a supplement. I also take a statin drug and follow a low-fat diet. My TC has dropped 30% with this combination and although I attribute most of the decrease to the statin drug, I can't really know for sure how much the cholest-off helps.

It will not hurt you so if your budget allows, go ahead and try it.

Keep in mind that plant sterols and stanols only block dietary cholesterol, not the cholesterol your body makes out of saturated fats.

I take a similar product, EP® Phytosterols, but I usually do so only before I eat eggs or shrimp, my two big weaknesses as far as dietary cholesterol. And with the phytosterols, I feel I can have those foods in far greater quantity than I would dare otherwise.

The main OTC product I take for my cholesterol, however, is Endur-acin, an OTC sustained release niacin. I was unable to get my cholesterol down enough with dietary changes alone, but by taking 750 mg. niacin daily in a divided dose, I've got it down to TC 190, LDL 101, HDL 72 and trigs 87. Just before starting on the niacin my figures were TC 247, LDL 158, HDL 62, and trigs 133. And the niacin is costing me less than five dollars a month, a far cry from what a statin would cost. Keep in mind, though, that it is just as important to check with your doctor and to have regular liver enzyme tests on an OTC niacin as on a prescription statin.

My doctor was initally quite hesitant about me taking an OTC niacin, but after she saw the blood test results, she asked me where I was ordering them so she could recommend them to other patients! I've had virtually no change in my liver enzymes, which was her big concern. It is possible that there are individual differences in that, though, so each person needs to be evaluated for that.