I just got the results of my cholesterol test back and they were not all that great. I am a 31 yr. old male that exercises 5 days a week. My father is on Lipitor and said it has done wonders. Now for my results:
Total: 227
LDL: 151
HDL: 38
Am I in bad shape? The Dr. is putting me on Lipitor. The one thing that I am worried about is my Liver. I have a pain in the lower right hand side underneath my ribs and to the right side between my ribs and hip. I took the liver function test (at the same time as my cholesterol test) and he said that the test came back normal. It still does bother me at times. What should I do? I need to reduce my cholesterol, but at the same time, I do not want to destroy my liver. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hi..Your numbers to me aren't all that bad. You could stand to get your HDL up. What were your trigs. and do you have any other risk factors like diabetes, high BP etc.??

Do you think you could get the numbers better with a different diet & supplements? I see where you work out quite abit, so maybe if you look into taking suppliments, if you don't already, and changeing a few things you eat you could avoid Lipitor. Yes, it does do great for the numbers, but with most folks, the side effects realy stink. Could you tell us your basic diet and then maybe someone can stear you in a different direction? Good luck and keep us posted. JJ

I agree with JJ. Your numbers are not that bad but if we knew what you ate, it would help. Maybe just changing your diet may be all you need to do, and I'd sure try it that way first. I'd be leary, too, if I had any potential liver problems. Sometimes our doctors just poo-poo our concerns. Mine did.

I'm no expert, but I'm just giving you my opinion. Others will give you more info than I can.

Be blessed~

Bobbi

Johnson,
Your numbers aren't too bad. One thing you can do to bring your total down is to cut out carbohydrates like pasta, potatoes, sugar and alcohol, particularly beer. This will lower your triglycerides. Make sure you eat enough protein. You can eat meats, trim the fats and this will help lower your cholesterol because your liver will get the message that it doesn't have to make an overabundance. Most of the cholesterol in those results is from what your body manufactures. Eating a low fat/high carb diet is very counter productive to this end since insulin stimulation then triggers cholesterol production.
I know I am going all over the map here, but I need to leave soon.
We eat a balanced diet rich in meats, protein, eggs, butter, cheese, non-starchy veggies and salads.
I also take red yeast rice, along with NAC, selenium, vitamins (B, C, E, D), calcium, flax seed oil, and coenzyme Q10. The red yeast rice is an over the counter "herbal" remedy that is essentially a low dose, natural form of Mevachor, another statin drug like Lipitor.
I had a panel about a month ago that was a TC of 409. A couple of days later another test was done and it came out as a TC of 299. I've been on the red yeast rice for three weeks and my TC is 239. I have no side effects and I don't need an Rx for it.
What would I do in your shoes? I'd tell the doc I want to try and lower the numbers with diet before trying the Lipitor. What the heck? The high numbers are only a red flag. You could have high cholesterol from having had a really high sugar couple of weeks or days prior to the test. High cholesterol doesn't mean you are going to have a heart attack right away. If you have a lot of plaque in your arteries, then you should worry. At your age, you are probably okay for now. This is really more of a wake up call to make some dietary changes that can heal your body now before it gets to be a problem. And why make your liver dependent on the drug at such an early age when I truly believe you can correct the trends through diet?
You might need to learn how to cook if you don't already. Shop around the perimeter of the grocery store. Meats, fish, produce, dairy. The middle aisles are the processed foods and BAD! http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/eek.gif
Cut out as much of the simple carbs. Try to increase your protein. Remember that you need to read labels...there is sugar in just about everything nowadays! Most "low-fat" prepared foods are really high in calories and hidden sugars.
Read "The Schwarzbein Principle" by Diana Schwarzbein, MD, an endocrinologist in Santa Barbara. It makes total sense to me and my husband.
You will be fine. It's a good thing to know this trend now, while you are young. But I think the Lipitor is a drastic measure at this juncture.
Best of luck and please, keep us posted.
http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/wink.gif
Nel

Hi Mr. Johnson,
You are not he worst by any means. TC is ok, LDL's too high by about 50 to 60, and your HDL's are low by about 10. Women have higher HDL's than men by about 10 points on average. I think its because they're so squeezable and sweet. (My lecherous earthly self is showing...down bob down). (Even at 68 I'm bad). What are your triglycerides. JJ has pretty well put down my sentiments. Diet has a lot to do with this. Get away from the lowfat attitude and polyunsaturated oils. Olive oils, grape seed oils, flax seed oils, or unprocessed oils only. Stay away from the fries and fast food places. Eat steaks and fish, the latter is better. These will raise your HDL's. Your triglycerides are just as important as your LDL's and VLDL's, so get the numbers...Lippy does little good on these. Lower your intake of breads, pastries, or other items made with bleached flours. Go to Mendosa.com and download the glycemic index...read and learn.
I know its for diabetics, but it serves the hyperlippo's like us. What is your dad's Lippy dosage, and how long has he been on it? What were his numbers before and what after? Read thru these posts and get a feel of what you face in the future. Ask him if he feels tired, aches, forgetful, ill tempered, blurry eyed...and be certain he's telling you teh truth. Before you go on Lippy, (should you decide to do so), get a CPK test done by your doc to establish a reference level. Then if you develop aches, recheck this. I just read a short article that stated that mortality figures do not change when taking statins. Although people with CVD show lesser new episodes, they tend to die of cancer or other problems..I don't know if I really put much stock in it but I'll be looking for verification. God bless and take care of you...Oldguy

Thank you for all your responses. I thought my diet was pretty good. In the morning, I just drink about 32oz. of OJ, nothing else. At lunch, I will have a salad and turkey sandwich (most days), other days I will go to Boston Market for my Chicken and 3 sides (corn, green beans, mash potatoes) and for dinner, it is kind of a crap shoot. My wife does not cook that well, in fact, I am the one that recommends cooking for us. I usually have some kind of meat, rice and veggie. I really don't snack that much anymore. I also thought that the excercise's that I was doing was helping quite a bit, I guess not.

I will try to find out what my Tri. were. Also, my Dad had cholesterol in the high 200's and he started taking Lipitor and 2 month later he is below 200. He told me that he has not had any side effects and if anything, he has felt a lot better.

Is there any kind of food that will raise my HDL levels? How are sardines? I heard that they had the good cholesterol. I am also going to try that red yeast rice and see how that works. Anymore suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your help.

Also, I was wondering why everyone is such an anti-lipitor fan? I am neither endorsing or discrediting the drug, I would just like to know why everyone on this board seems to hate it and the drug company that makes it. I know it has done wonders for my dads cholesterol. All the side effects that I have seen on this board I mentioned to him, and he has not had a one. Please explain to me why you hate it?

To answer your question about why some of us, "hate" lipitor, you should take some time to browse through all of the topics and posts here. This is some pretty interesting reading. My own story is down the list and I am not going to re-tell it here.

Just suffice to say that I was pretty badly damaged by only 10 mg of the stuff and will never take be a fan of this stuff. Several people here have stories about what this drug did to us. Long story short, the effects for a few people out there can be horribly devastating. When it comes to cholesterol medications, my attitude is "Once bitten, twice shy."

The worst part, though, is that many of these stories could have had much happier endings if the doctors prescribing this stuff would just be more cautious and NOT overdose their patients right out of the box.

If you choose to take a statin drug for your cholesterol levels, lipitor is totally an inappropriate drug. Your numbers would be served very nicely by one of the less potent statins like mevacor or pravachol, which are much less likely to cause side effects. Lipitor is an extremely strong statin and should be reserved only for those needing drastic reductions.

Do yourself a favor and make your doctor justify why you should be taking a medication for a problem that may possibly be addressed simply by adjusting your diet. No medication is entirely safe, and lipitor is especially pernicious because of it's potency.

Good luck to you, and please do your best to be as informed about what you decide to do as possible.

Dave

Your dad is one of the lucky ones, as is my girlfriend, who has very little side effects, but like Dave said, the majority of us have had some major problems.

I realise the drs. want to get those numbers down, as we want them down too, but like anything, start slow and work up. Instead, too many want results overnight, and too many bodies can't handle it, and it has caused many of us both physical and mental harm. Take a few moments when U can and read some of the posts, believe me, we are not imagining these things. There are way too many of us who don't even know each other, except for here, and we all have or have had a loved one or friend go threw hell. Do talk with your dr. before taking any chances with statins, especially Lipitor. God Bless! JJ

I had probs with Zocor. Muscle aches and I believe big memory loss. My mom takes Lipitor and has no probs. But as is stated above, the people that have problems with statins usually have big problems.
Check RXboard.com.. Look under Lipitor and you will see a lot of unhappy campers there.
I would only suggest an alternative before going on statins just because of the risk factor that comes with these drugs.
If you can't cut you cholesterol down naturally, then you have to do something...right?
But naturally should be your first attempt according to your Cholesterol profile... good luck...

Hi!

I agree with every single word in the replies to your message. I'm a former Lipitor user who had severe side effects from 10mg of Lipitor (blood sugar problems, hypertension, muscle pains, severe deep bone pain in the hips, etc etc etc. If you decide to take this drug (or any other statin drug), I'd suggest---with your doctor's permission--also taking 100 to 150mg of CoEnzyme Q10 (Vitamin Q) along with Milk Thistle. Lipitor depletes the body of COQ10, and the lack of COQ10 can lead to heart failure and other problems. Milk Thistle is purported to protect the Liver. Both can be found in most stores in the vitamin section, but be sure you purchase a good name brand.
Have you considered Niacin or Niaspan? Niacin is a B vitamin which, when taken in high doses UNDER A DOCTOR'S SUPERVISION might also help lower your cholesterol.
Caly

About 6 month ago when I found out my cholesterol was over 210, I started to exercise and eat oatmeal 3 times a day. I have heard that oatmeal will reduce cholesterol, well it hasn't. I do take Milk Thisle (spelling) along with an anti-anxiety pill from a previous event. This is day 2 of taking Lipitor. When did the effects first come into play with those that have taken it? I would like to know so that I can look out for any of these signs. Thanks for all your replies.

U are taking the Lipitor now? Well I was fine the first 3 weeks, except for very quick trips to the '"Powder Room" as soon as i was up in the a.m. After my second refill is when all hell broke lose and man, I totally fell apart.

Not only aches and pains, no appetite and weight lose of 13 lbs. in less than three weeks, but nervousness, weird dreams, terrible sweating in my sleep, and BP went from my 58 yrs. of very normal to 180 over 102. Now I am on BP meds, so hopeing after this junk gets out of my system I might get BP back to normal without meds. I wish you luck, but if you start to feel weird, get off and call the dr. Doubt if he/she will ever admit to it being Lipitor, as mine certainly wouldn't, but don't let them mess around with your body, as it is a long recovery for most. Take care, and good luck!

Keep us posted! http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/wave.gif JJ

I took Lipitor for almost 2 years. The symptoms creep up on you, and I didn't realize for a long time that it was the Lipitor. Suddenly I had blood sugar variations and my (former) doctor thought I had diabetes. I didn't. It was the Lipitor. In talking with others on Lipitor I heard that they also started having blood sugar problems along with weight gain and a 'spare tire', just as I did. Then my blood pressure skyrocketed. Oh, I had other symptoms too...such as muscle cramps and aches and deep bone pain. Memory loss I ascribed to my bypass surgery, not to the Lipitor. Lots of little symptoms that could be (and often were) written off as symptoms of something else.
But after my bp rose to dangerous levels and couldn't be controlled even with medication, I went off the Lipitor. Within two weeks my bp returned to normal (with meds). About one month later, I decided to start Lipitor again and after only 2 days (two tiny pills!) my blood pressure was once again elevated and uncontrolled even with meds. I immediately discontinued the Lipitor and about 1 week later my bp was back to normal levels.
Lipitor can cause so many different symptoms. Some people have had vision problems or hearing problems. Liver failure, kidney failure, neuropathy, and on and on and on. The symptoms, as I said, might be vague at first or they might be severe. Just please watch yourself carefully while on Lipitor or any other statin drug. It took me a long time to finally figure out what was causing all my health problems. I'm happy to say that since I've discontinued Lipitor I'm a lot better. No more deep bone pain, very little muscle pain, blood pressure and glucose are back to normal, etc. I now take Niaspan.
Don't become a hypochondriac, but be very careful while on this drug.
Caly

I will give a weekly report on how the Lipitor is effecting my body. I will also let you know what other drugs (perscription) that I am putting into my body. By the way, I have been reading up on the Coenzyme Q10 and it sounds like a pretty good suppliment.
The drugs that I am currently taking are:
clonazepam .5mg for anxiety
Prevacid for stomach
Lipitor 10mg
Milk Thisthle suppliment
Coenzyme Q10 50mg


[This message has been edited by Johnson110 (edited 06-29-2001).]

May I suggest that you cut way down on the OJ. You might as well be drinking pure sugar with a little vitamin c in it. If you want a healthier breakfast, try eating a piece of fruit and a couple slices of Ezekial bread toasted, with a tad bit of butter if need be. Eek! I said butter! Yes, margarine is worse for you than butter. I like sugarless apple butter. Beware of some of the aliases they put sugar under in those jams, like high fructose corn syrup (which has a higher glycemic index than white sugar) or cane juice.
I eat eggs for breakfast! But never with a any carbs. Maybe some bacon with them. (I don't mix protein and fats with grains and simple carbs.)
Goodness, I sound so militant...I'm not really.
Try and substitute the rice, pasta or potatoes with a salad. It really is easier than you might think. You will get enough carbs, I promise.
Caffiene also spike your insulin, so if you can gradually wean yourself off of it by, perhaps, slowly replacing the coffee you use with decaf. We did this about four months ago and in about a month we were drinking only decaf. If you switch too fast, you can get bad headaches.
And yes, get the coenzyme Q10, softgels. The softgels are the best. But don't use the red yeast rice unless you are NOT taking the Lipitor. It could put too much of a statin in your system. One or the other, not together.
And stay away from grapefruits/juice when taking a statin or red yeast rice. It also creates an OD condition.
Keep us posted, Johnson110.
http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif
Nel

Gosh Nel, You're really with it. http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/grad.gif

http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/wow.gif Thanks, Oldguy...I appreciate it!

Nel

Well I have been on Lipitor now for close to a month. In DC they offered a free screening of blood pressure, cholesterol and Body mass. I am happy to report since I have taken Lipitor my numbers:
Total cholesterol: 188
LDL: 125
HDL: 39
TC/HDL ratio: 4.8
Triglycerides: 122

To this date, I have experienced no side effects from Lipitor. I will keep you updated if I do, but the numbers just keep getting better for me. I do realize that I need to work on my TC/HDL ratio numbers.

I agree with most people on the board that with diet you can get your numbers low enough most of the time. However, some of us can't. I am a 33 year old female athlete and have been on BOTH lipitor and tricor for three years now and have had no problems with taking them. Three years ago I almost died from pancreatitus (SP?) because my trig's were 1200. Now they are 110. My cholosterol was over 300 and now is in the 100's with a great ratio. In addition, I was/am fit and a vegetarian! Sometimes it's in the genes... So don't go crazy if you have to take meds to assist you. It may save your life. Just don't be in a hurry to reach into the med cabinet.

At your age you should try to use diet and excercise to lower cholesterol. Why is your doctor so fast to start you on the meds? You don't want to have to depend on the meds unless you have to. Try to use them only as a last resort.

Is there any kind of food that will raise my HDL levels? How are sardines? I heard that they had the good cholesterol. I am also going to try that red yeast rice and see how that works. Anymore suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your help.[/B]

I talked a little about my diet change...I used to have a total chol of 270 in 1997. My cholesterol ran about 200 while taking tricor (mainly to lower triglycerides back down to 155).

My last 9 months of quarterly lipid panels consist of total cholesterol readings of 96, 100, and 94.

So what changed besides dropping 55 lbs: Mainly my diet. I no longer eat red meats or cheeses, I eat chicken twice a week at dinner, fish 2-3 times and vegetarian the remainder of the nights. Each month I have one special item, such as pork tenderoin. I also reward myself each week and go out to eat on Friday nights.

What will help your profile: If you can handle the fats, then monounsaturated fats primarily, followed by polyunsaturated fats. I try to maximize those, in that order, and keep my saturated fats way down.

One of the best sources of mono and poly versus saturated fats is soy. I really have taken a liking to soy cheeses and veggie strips made from soy protein. We also drink soy milk for breakfast now. (My wife's cholesterol is around 120, but her HDL is much better than mine). Nuts in general are a great source, and I eat a few handfuls of nuts daily, dispersed throughout the day. The other key is moderation. I no longer enjoy the 8 oz slabs of meat. The most I eat per meal will be 4 oz of any meat, and usually thats fish. The only thing to be careful of is making sure you do get enough protein. I will supplement my lunch with tuna (the 3 oz packets). There you get 90 cal, 1 g fat, 0 saturated,0 g carbs, and 19 gp protein. There are books on how to lower your cholesterol, and what I describe above is part of the equation. I found it to be the key to helping me bring the cholesterol down from the 115 range to sub 100. I did manage a 115 cholesterol on a very low fat diet (where I avoided all fats). Avoiding all fats is not the answer...its more an equation of moderation and balance.