RickRick

I take Crestor 10 mg with no side effects. (10 mg Lipitor and 40 mg Pravachol gave me occasional thigh aches, though nothing too bad).

My recent 2-month results on Crestor were generally excellent, but one thing has me a little puzzled and a little concerned. Namely, a decrease in HDL, the "good" cholesterol. Studies by Crestor's manufacturer claim that, on average, it *raises* HDL to a significant amount (I believe it was about 10%, but don't quote me on that figure).

But...my new HDL results were my lowest in years.

I used to have an HDL of about 45 until I lost (and have kept off) 40 pounds five years ago, and since then the HDL has ranged from 56-66 both on and off of meds (I believe the 66 was when I was on Lipitor).

My doctor isn't too concerned since 50 is still pretty good, but I liked consistently seeing the higher readings. Doc thinks that for most people Crestor is a safe, effective, low-side-effect drug -- though with less of a track record than Lipitor. But he also says that contrary to the studies, he has seen other patients' HDL's go down on it, too.

Now, I *have* had some changes in diet in the months preceding the test (probably not good ones despite maintaining my weight), as well as supplement changes (temporarily eliminated calcium and magnesium for reasons I won't go into here). And sometimes one can have a temporary atypical lab result or a temporary atypical med reaction, so the HDL might go right back up.

So I'm going to monitor the trend, but in the meantine I would be very interested in hearing others' HDL trends with Crestor. Thanks in advance.