Yeah,
I refused to take the statins when I heard about the side effects. I did the Res-Q 1250 fish oil and red yeast rice combination, and my triglycerides went from 405 to 145 in about 3 months. Then I made the mistake of stopping the treatment, since I thought the issue was dealt with. Then came the afib, and tris back up to 185. So back on the Res-Q products (1250, red yeast rice, and niacin). Back to 147. But I think it is like afib...once it is an issue, you have to keep on top of it. Best of luck on your decision. Is is difficult to say no to the Doc...sometimes you just need to do what is necessary. I tried the naturopathic route instead of the metoprolol and flecanide, and that didn't work at all! So I had to go on those drugs (pre-ablation).

Bill

Probably it would be best to eat an anti-inflammatory diet, cut out all processed foods/alcohol/smoking, get 30 minutes of exercise most days, sleep enough, lose weight, no sugar... all that stuff.

After getting my coronary calcium score, it occurred to me that no matter what my cholesterol level, where I stand concerning coronary calcium really is the bottom line. My cholesterol was 152 and always was, but I heard that many people with low cholesterol and good HDL levels still have high calcium scores and therefore higher amounts of plaque.

So if you know your score, it would probably affect your decision to take a statin or get serious about doing the other things. Otherwise, you are just relying on your doctor's intuition.


petey

As soon as I hear the name Crestor, I think about that idiot guy running around in orange clothes... stupid!

thanks guys - I just dont feel peace about taking it - I still have a full bottle of Zetia that I havent touched beacuse it says it can make me dizzy. - I told him I would try that but he insisted on Crestor. I dont think it will really help me anyway,. I cant take Niacin because it interacts with coumadin - the red yeast rice has the same side affects as the statins - the muscle stuff -

Bill - how long did it take to get your tri down with the red yeast rice?

Petey
he said I have some plaque - from the catherizaiont- not enough to take any action - but I still think the new info on inflammation is accurate. Also he thinks its heredity but neither one of my parents had high cholesterol or triglycerides. I am overweight and trying to lose wiht WW and have cut out sugar etc - exercise is hard right now becuase I have to have knee surgery but I do other exrecises. 6 months before I go to him again!

Pamdidi,
My last blood test was August of 2013..that is when I was told to either deal with all my blood issues or expect something bad to happen..so September 2013 I went back to the fish oil, red yeast rice and niacin. The niacin I didn't know about, but was recommended by a fellow sufferer (of high tris, not afib, thank God for my friend's sake!). My last blood test was about 2 weeks ago, and the tris were down from 187 to 147. But in that time I have also exercised 60-120 minutes per day, but with no weight loss. So it can be the exercise, or the supplements, or both. I have always heard to take the fish oil and red yeast rice in combination...but if it hurts you cuz of the Coumadin, obviously that is not possible to do. Perhaps there is a nearby healthfood store where they could recommend a naturopathic way to bring down your tris without the red yeast rice or niacin. Stick with that exercise, it doesn't hurt! As you have seen here I cannot do the stuff that Petey, Paul, Snowshoe, or UltraTodd do...but I think anything helps. I probably forgot a few of the exercise names..seems like EVERYONE on this site is climbing mountains, running marathons, or leaping tall buildings in a single bound! God bless you all!

Bill

This got my attention because I take Coumadin and have taken for many years (and still take) massive amounts of B complex which include nearly 200 mg of niacin. So, I did a couple of Googles on Niacin and Coumadin interactions and came up with NADA! If someone can post a pointer to anything that indicates a relationship between these two, could you please post it. Thanks

I take 2.000 mgs of niacin and am on Coumadin. The only problem
I have been have in my last 2 labs my insulin was high. And niacin
is said to raise insulin. So I have to talk to Doc about that. My A1C
is perfect .That's a sugar marker as well.

Interaction Risks

By itself, warfarin can trigger severe bleeding problems that can threaten your life or result in death. Apart from potential interactions with other medications or supplements, people using this drug must monitor themselves for any signs or symptoms of bleeding-related problems. When used simultaneously with warfarin, niacin can potentially intensify this medication's anti-clotting effects, in addition to increasing your risks for bleeding-related side effects. If you take warfarin or any other blood-thinning medication, don't take niacin in any form without getting prior consent from your doctor.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/461748-interactions-with-niacin-warfarin/

petey

thanks Petey - I knew I saw an article about the niacin. I guess if you were taking it when first started coumadin, they would monitor it and decide the amt of coumadin with the niacin, but I have been on two long to start going once a week again. lol

My INR is stable and has been since about the 3rd month of taking it.
The niacin I have been on for 8 years, way before I started Coumadin.
So far so good. Also when I added MK7 my INR seems to be come even more
stable not varying much at all.

But we are all different and I let my Doc know when I change anything.

This is very timely. I took a high dose of statins for about 10 years. That after previously having taken and stopped due to soreness in my arms when trying to move objects at work. I also had shoulder pains. My current cardiologist got me to go back to them after my bouts of AFib, and due to my quad by pass also 10 years ago. He convinced me to take very small doses of 5 mg. every other day and then up to 5 days a week of that small amount. However after several years I started to become so tired and unable to function that I suspected something was wrong. I walk daily for a half hour and where that used to be something I almost enjoyed, I got to where the tiredness and soreness in my legs left me dragging my self around my walking space. Also during the past say six months I have had increasingly strong pounding in my chest when trying to sleep at night. I was told it might be the mitro valve I have that is problematic, but not at the moment so much as to have it fixed. I finally realized that it must be the statins again causing me so many issues. I quit taking the pills, weaning off them over several weeks. With in a week or so I almost felt like a new person, I had some pep and interest in life again..My muscles are still somewhat sore but it seems to be fading. After a short time I noticed that when i laid down to sleep or after exercise or other activites that pounding hear t beat was not showing up.. Its been about a month now and no sign of the palpitations at all. That has been areal blessing. I don 't dread laying down now or worry about why its doing it. I checked the internet and discovered that as people get older the Statins can indeed be the cause of the Palpitations. I also became pre diabetic over the period I took them. When I cut back or stopped there was a noticeable drop in my glucose levels.. The doctor has something else in mind to take to protect my arteries as he feels I need, but I am leery of anything remotely like Statins.

My doctor put me on statins in Jan 2011. I took myself off them in Jan 2012 after reading an article on the potential side effects. Within a short time after going on the statins, I began feeling pain in my achilles. I put it off to overdoing it on running. By the summer of 2011 I wasn't running at all and the achilles kept getting worse. Eventually it got bad enough that I was in as much pain after walking or hiking as I can stand, 9 on a scale of 10 if 10 is the level where you pass out (I've done that from pain so I know what 10 is like). After going off the statins, my achilles pain gradually eased up so that by the summer of 2013 I was able to start jogging again without pain. I blame the pain I had on the statins. It's too coincidental. I'll take my chances with the high cholesterol. Both my parents had it. I'll just watch the diet and keep running and hiking to stay as healthy as i can.

As for the doctor's advice, I've had enough bad advice from doctors to know that I am going to be in charge of what I'm going to allow. Besides the statins I was told I had "that virus that's going around" when I had pulmonary embolisms. I was told that the pain in my lungs was in my abdomen. I refused cardioversion for afib from the ER doctor and he didn't take it very well. He ignored me for two hours before releasing me without talking to me again. I was told that I had to take morphine for pain when I had pleurisy or the doctor wouldn't treat me. I've had doctors tell me that coffee is a diuretic and that I should stick to water (water has the same diuretic qualities as coffee). There's more, but I think you get the idea.

In general, I don't know much about medicine so I try to keep up with what I need to know for my body. If I don't like what I'm being told, I question it. If I still don't like it, I look it up. If I find that I need to do what's recommended by the doctor, I will. But too many times I've found that if I don't like what the doctor tells me, it's wrong for me.

I hope you find what's best for you.

Todd

I'm following this statins conversation closely. I have never had high cholesterol, and had not taken statins. My diet was good, and I exercised regularly. After I had the stroke on 12/31/2013, the Dr. put me on 80 mg Lipitor daily. This is a huge amount. I complained, but also read the research. The research shows an large reduction in occurrence of the second stroke when the victim is placed on 80 mg of Lipitor. Since the incidence of a second stroke shortly after the first is very high, I went along. This is now the accepted post-stroke protocol. If a doctor doesn't follow the protocol, I guess they are open to lawsuits I got an agreement to go to 40 mg after the first six months. I'll decide what to do once at 40 mg. Fortunately the only side effect I seem to have is flatulence (lucky me).
Please note, that none of the research I read points to a target cholesterol level. Also note that the research was paid for by Pfizer, the developer of Lipitor.

new statin guidelines were issued last Nov and it is estimated that 13 million more americans will be eligible for statins. The new guidelines look at more than cholesterol numbers and there is a calculator that you can use to see your risks and recommendations

I have never taken statins but decided to use the calculator. My numbers which are pretty steady throughout the years are
total cholesterol 147
hdl 79
bp 108
no smoking, diabetes, hypertension

the calculator recommends a moderate intensity statin.

Instead of taking a statin I think I will just buy some stock in cholesterol companies as my therapy.

opsyn