High Cholesterol Support Group

High cholesterol is the presence of high levels of cholesterol in the blood. It is not a disease but a metabolic derangement that can be secondary to many diseases and can contribute to many forms of disease, most notably cardiovascular disease. If you have high cholesterol, join the community to find support and share your experience.

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crazyhazeynut 11/12/2014

My family doctor put me on Atorvastatin (Lipitor) a few month ago and I was not real happy about that considering the dangers of statins. Last Friday he added Tricor. I looked up drug interactions and found you usually should not take them together.
http://www.drugs.com/drug-interacti...
Now I am scared to death. I want to call doctor later and see if he will switch the Tricor for Lovaza. I know he would not be happy about me questioning him or asking for something else but I am terrified of the present combination. I am afraid to call him.I have anxiety and ptsd.

sptrout 11/12/2014

I cannot comment on the mixing of these two drugs, but Lipitor alone is enough to scare the crap out of me. Statins, especially Lipitor, has been linked to a truck load of serious and sometimes deadly side effects, including ALS. Below is a link to a great site with tons of great reading material about statins and cholesterol in general. The site is maintained (and writes many articles) by Dr. Duane Graveline M.D., retired family doctor, former NASA astronaut, and Shuttle/ ISS Flight Doctor.

http://www.spacedoc.com/

You may also want to pick up a book called the Great Cholesterol Myth, by Dr's Jonny Bowden, Ph.D. & Stephen Sinatra.

http://www.amazon.com/Great-Cholesterol-Myth-Disease--Statin-Free-ebook/dp/B009PKIPOE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415807441&sr=8-1&keywords=the+great+cholesterol+myth

crazyhazeynut 11/12/2014

Thanks sptrout

PixieW 01/31/2015

I haven't been around in a while and I don't know what you decided to do, but my late FIL was on both drugs and he wound up in the hospital with a bout of pancreatitis. The ER dr. said it was his personal opinion that my FIL was on too many meds.

Reed31 07/19/2015

I'm so sorry to hear about all your issues with things. It's aggravating when doctors do things that are concerning. Worse still, sometimes they have a hard time admitting their mistakes.

In my opinion, homocysteines matter more than cholesterol: http://www.chiro.org/nutrition/FULL/Kilmer_McCully_MD.shtml

A test you may want to have is to have your folate and B12 levels checked and also see if your have the MTHFR gene mutation. You mentioned high cholesterol and anxiety - both indications that you may have this common mutation. The treatment for it is super simple and cheap - avoid folic acid and take a special type of methalized folate. If you have the mutation and start on the folate (vitamin B6), it may eliminate your anxiety and help protect you against depression, IBS, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other issues.

The statins concern me.

Your doctor may refuse to test you for the MTHFR gene mutation as it's just now starting to be recognized as a concern in terms of heart disease by the Mayo Clinic. If he refuses, you can get the test done for $99 from 23andme - but you may still want the folate and B12 tested.

As for working with doctors, here my 2 cents for what it's worth...

You are the expert on your body. The doctor is an expert in his field.
You are in a partnership with them. You work together. You get to be in charge of your body and say what you are willing to do or not do.

If your doctor won't work with you, find another one or work with an alternative doctor. A naturapath, a homeopathic doctor, an acupuncturist, etc.

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