is 40mg of Lipitor too high to start with? - High Cholesterol Message Board

missree · 08-13-2006, 07:35 AM

hello everyone.. I am a 60 yr old female, 5ft, and 200lbs. I recently had a chemical stress yest done, and showed that my heart was fine right now,but it also showed that I had "mild fixed perfusion defects in the anteroapical walls of the left ventricle, indicating mild anteroapical wall infarct without significant areas of ischemia"..I was told that was an indication that I had a "silent heart attack", with no damage to my heart.
I went for blood work and did a "Lipid Panel", it showed that my cholesterol was 325,triglycerides was 270, and my LDL was 220..I was put on Lipitor 40 mg,isn't that too high to start someone with? shouldn't they start you on a low dose than adjust it higher? I started 3 days ago.
I have an underactive thyroid,I take 88mcg of synthroid,I'm on lasix,20mg, and that's it..I don't really excersise, but now trying to watch what I eat.
I have read a lot on side effects from Lipitor,and I already have enough pain from lower back problems,and heel pain from heel spurs.

gardeninggal · 08-13-2006, 01:11 PM

Missree, your right you should start at a lower dose how else are you to know if the lower dose would have been enough, you can always go up. Never take more of this stuff then needed and not at all if there is still another way to get your cholesterol lower. My husband had cholesterol readings over 300 and 10 mg of Lipitor was enough to bring it down. Your weight may be a contributing factor and you may want to work on getting your thyroid right and weight may come down which would make all your readings come down. Watch your consumption of soy because it inhibits the thyroid medication. Start a walking program, one of the best exercises there is. One of the best tips is to go back and read a lot of these posts because many people have found good ways to lower cholesterol and still retain their health.

missree · 08-13-2006, 03:43 PM

hi gardeninggal, thanks for your input..yes I do know my weight has a lot to do with it, I have been on thyroid meds for 7 yrs now,and my weight is still the same. I don't like soy,so I don't have it..right now I can't walk very far, I get out of breath to easily,and my heels hurt too much.
I go to a Clinic, I don't have health insurance, and I think that makes a big difference how you get treated..I hardly get to see a "DR", most of the time I see a Nurse Practioner... I didn't think anything at the time about the dosage, or I would have said something....yes I will keep reading these posts,they are very informative.

BioAdoptMom3 · 08-13-2006, 08:47 PM

I think its too high too. My cholesterol dropped from 287 to 197 in only six weeks on 5 mg. of lipitor. The lowest dose they make is 10 and my doctor told me to cut it in half. It continues to work well. Good luck!

Nancy

NHone · 08-13-2006, 10:01 PM

Have you ever had your T3 tested? ALso how about intracellular magnesium?