You can ask him to have you try Lipitor (generic) and there is now a generic Niaspan. I know because my husband is on it. You should try to change your diet to no oil and more plant based less meat or no meat and whole grains. You actually will get enough protein. No cheese because that has loads of fat. That will help with the cholesterol, blood pressure and weight. If you don't want to that is ok. I have a website you can read or a book www.drmcdougall.
I am presently taking Zetia every other day. I also take Omega 3/6, vitamin A,E. With Zetia interfere with the absorption of the benefits of these supplements and if so what can I do to get the full benefit of Zetia and the supplements, if anything.
Ar there any other supplements that should be avoided while taking Zetia?
Many thanks.
There are all kinds of statins out there, as ed said, you have to find out which one you tolerate. I have been on them for many years as I was unable to lower my LDL with diet and exercise alone. They have worked well and I have had no side effects, but everyone is different. Most of these can be replaced by the generic Simvastatin. It's cheap and is the basis of many of the meds out there.
The current clinical practice is to discontinue statin when the liver enzymes have increased to more than three times the upper limit of normal. Although zetia on its own does not generally cause liver enzyme abnormalities, it might potentiate the enzyme abnormalities, when coadministered with a statin.
Generally, when that happens, physicians would generally withdraw the statin or both medications, depending on the extent of enzyme elevation.
Only blockage I have is my right carotid artery is partially blocked. I am 51 years old my brother had a massive heart attack at 34 and died both my mother and father had several heart attacks that eventually took their lives. I have an Older brother who had 2 heart attacks and 3 strokes he is in poor health.
Statins work in the liver and every commercial I have seen advises not to take if you have liver problems. Zetia works in the intestines.
Was the Zetia working?
If my memory serves me correctly, MikeS is taking statins and he had a TP. He is far more knowledgeable on the subject than I am and hopefully he will see this post and give his input.
Zetia is part of a class of drugs called cholesterol absorption inhibitors.
I have been having some highCholesterol level for 3 years now. I was on medication in and out as I develop side effects to the statin drugs. I was on Lipitor, then on Pravachol and lastly on Crestor. None of them had problems loweting the Choesterol levels, but muscle and joint pain even with Vit D and Co Q10 as prescribed my physician. However, I came off crestor yesterday as I started feeling Dizzy. I am normally a "healthy", active energetic person.
I am 48 year old female, have had high cholestrol for which I have been on Zetia & Tricor for several years, now is almost normal. I had a bad reaction to the statins- ended up in the hospital with very high liver enzymes. Recently, I have been getting very lightheaded and experiencing pain in my upper arms. My doctor refered me to a cardiologist who performed the heart ultrasound and the holter which came back normal.
If you are looking for alternative methods to try, benecol chews (you can get them on amazon) work to inhibit cholesterol from forming. I was using plant sterols, and they brought my cholesterol from 245 to 205 with an ldl of 131. However, my endocrinologist was at a lipids conference, and they said that for menopausal and post menopausal women (don't know if you are there yet), plant STANOLS are better. They lowered my ldl to 109 after 3 months, and I am going to be tested again.
'I've battled high cholesterol for a number of years and can't find the right medicine...Lipitor caused severe muscle weakness, Zetia caused all kind of digestive problems and Pravachol zapped my energy...my count actually went up 30 points while taking WelChol! My doctor is telling me that I have no other choices of medicine to lower my count (total 285, HDL 106 VLDL 21, LDL 188, Triglycerids 106.) My sister is having the same problem so I guess this problem is a family thing.
I have been on provastatin for a couple of years and have noticed very sore stiff muscles (expecially at night). My doctor has changed my medication to Crestor which I was told to first take one a week for a couple of weeks, then (2) pills a week for 6 weeks then he will order another blood test. How long does it take after I go off the first medication before I should be able to tell if it is the medicine causing my muscle soreness?
I certainly noticed a huge difference in Effexor and the generic form. When I was withdrawing I did have to go onto the generic as it comes in tablet form which I could then cut up.
Hope you can get the real Effexor, and I am glad you are feeling so much better on it. It would be nice if you could get your meds free too.
Take care.
Oh yes- forgot to add I am on only name brand synthyroid and cytomel. My endo will not write prescription for generics, says they vary too much - just as you experienced.
Thank you.
Statin medicine changes, electrocardiogram. While I have dealt mainly with 3 Drs. (Cardiologist, Rheumatologist, Interninst), all with no answer, but medicine change and blood tests. My next step is to request a test that can determine where the muscle damage is. (Recently found out this is possible).
How are you? Glomerular filtration rate or its approximation of the creatinine clearance are measured whenever renal disease is suspected or careful dosing of nephrotoxic drugs is required. The normal ranges of GFR, adjusted for body surface area for males is 70 ± 14 mL/min/m2 (56-84) . Risk factors for kidney disease include diabetes, high blood pressure, family history and older age.
Take care and keep us posted.
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