pdlamb

I haven't had any problems with low dose atorvastatin (Lipitor). But from what I've been told, there's 4-5 other statins available, and most people who need one can find a particular statin and dose that doesn't cause them problems.


OT: isn't it funny that the strongest statin is also the cheapest, now that Lipitor is off patent?

Biker395 

My doc said they were "optional" for me, and I decided to give them a try.

Within about 3 weeks, I had a strange stiffness in my right elbow. It was really odd, and something I have never experienced before. Went off the statins briefly, and it disappeared.

Went back on them, and started having some pretty serious knee pain. Then my hip. All places I either had no pain earlier or almost none. I stopped the statins again, and that all disappeared.

I'll bring up the notion of using a different statin the next time I speak to my doc, but for now, I'm just eating more natural statins (cashews, almonds, kidney beans).

I can tell you this ... since they were optional for me anyway, if those side effects cannot be managed with a different statin (not a fan of taking a drug to counter the side effects of another drug), I'm staying off the statins until they are no longer "optional."

I read somewhere that side effects were rare. Well ...

John E

Exercise is beneficial, but you cannot fully compensate for a bad diet, i.e., one with too little fiber, too many animal products, too much refined sugar and flour, etc. Your genes play a big role also, but you can always make the best of the hand you are dealt.

DaveQ24

I think genetics is a major component. My mother was extremely thin her entire life, ate a very healthy diet close to vegetarian, not much red meat, and fought very high blood pressure and very high cholesterol starting in the 1980's, when the first cholesterol drug was some kind of gritty granule which the patient put into a liquid and swallowed. She had 3 heart attacks, the first at 82, with stents done each time. One of my sisters has this same body type and fights cholesterol issues. What makes me feel it's strongly genetic is that I have two nieces, both rail-thin, who both are now in their 40s, but were both diagnosed with high blood pressure and high cholesterol in their 20s, sometimes cholesterol #'s running over 400, IIRC. At the time of diagnosis, neither ate poorly, one was vegan/organic, both exercised.

I inherited the body type of my father's lineage - propensity to put on weight. While I exercise now and eat better (but still not great, unfortunately), there were times I lived on junk food, weighed 60 lbs too much - and have always had decent BP and excellent, extremely low cholesterol numbers.

akoubik

Glad you are alive. That is a big scare. My trainer once told me long time ago "you can't out-excercise bad diet"

pdlamb

Re: you can't out-run a bad diet. Probably true. I didn't think I was on a particularly BAD diet, but now I know just how much different a really GOOD diet is. (Having said that, when I hit my weight goal, I'm still going to enjoy one chocolate covered, cream filled Krispy Kreme doughnut - my first in many months!)


Re: genetics. Agree. The best we can do is play the game with what we've got, although it's usually possible to load the dice with some forethought and effort. As I noted earlier, I can't change my three fixed risks (age, sex, and family history), but I'm sure going to try to change the risk factors I can change!

Jon T

I'm 62. Was diagnosed with DVT 4 years ago. I take 7.5 mg of Warfarin daily. Back in the saddle only 2 months after a 20 year hiatis. Momma worries every time I go out. I tell her I'll be fine. Maybe I need to stop trying to be another Eddie Mercxx. My dad dropped dead of cardiac failure at 65.
Jon

david58

Blessed with a blockage on the right side, and a low statin dose. I finally had to reconcile the fact that I am not 30 any more, but more like twice that. I don't push as hard, shoot, I used to ride 80 miles on a Saturday morning just as a regular thing - as my doc said, that wasn't for fitness, but for bragging (he was an olympic distance runner). Took a while, but I came to understand. Tomorrow should be 16 miles, same on Saturday. All about perspective. More hiking now, not as obsessive about the cycling. My wife now encourages me to ride, instead of being tired out by my obsessive approach to riding.

Life is best in moderation.

Ball Bearing

Exactly. It dismays me when I hear people say that their particular disease is due to bad genes and that it was inevitable. I have watched all of my relatives and birth family die and live a debilitated existence from disease and I am the outlier - I have escaped the family curse (so far at 64) of cancer, CVD, heart disease and arthritis. I also am the only vegan in the family and I have followed my diet since 1973; first as a vegetarian and for the last couple of decades as a vegan.

If I do die of heart disease it won't be because I didn't do everything in my power to avoid developing it. I am also medication free.

MikeOK

Moderation is one thing I could never get a handle on.

wvridgerider

Thanks, after reading your experience I need to change. 55 too much weight and have the attitude you had. Thanks time to evaluate everything.

pdlamb

May your closest experience to all that be reading about it from the poor dumb schmuck who had it happen to him!

memebag

I like moderation, but only in moderation.

doctor j

Thanks for posting your story. My weight is creeping up slowly, and it's from being lazy about my diet.

Tommy1955

Enjoyed reading this thread. I'm 62 and ride around 100 miles a week now. I'm on blood pressure medicine which has that under control. My doctor started me on Lovastatin for Cholesterol a little over a month ago and last week I broke out in itchy rashes on mainly my right leg and ankle, a little on my left leg and both wrists. His nurse told me to stop taking it and I set up another appointment to see what we can do and maybe change the medicine. Lovastatin did however drop my cholesterol level quite a bit after 4 weeks when he did another blood test. I see the doctor August 1 and I'll see what happens. This thread hits home.

Ball Bearing

"The Last Heart Attack - A Groundbreaking CNN Report by Dr. Sanjay Gupt"