s the quality of the particles and not the count that matters. Many people with HDL counts as high as yours have HDL-3 particles that are very small and not as effective when binding to LDL.
If it were me I would give pravastatin a chance, but if I had the same side effects and I could not live with them, I would try something like Zetia. You could also add a fenofibrate like Tricor to lower your TGLs as well, very safe and no side effects.
My doctor has me on 30mg of Coreg (time release) that I take once in the morning. My fatigue has increased and my libido has dropped to zero. I have also gained 30 pounds since my quintuple CABG back in September 2007. I am also on Zocor, Aspirin and Niaspam. Can Coreg cause any of these symptoms?
Also, my HDL has not improved since my surgery. I'm stuck in the high 20's. I feel a lack of motivation and rarely exercise. I'm worried about the HDL.
My understanding is that the statins with the greatest LDL reducing effect are Crestor, Lipitor, Zocor, and Pravachol, in that order. I don’t mention Leschol and Mevacor since they appear to be rarely used since recently due to the aforementioned being more powerful. Do we have any available solid data on the effects of the various individual statins other than LDL reduction? For example, do we know which ones raise HDL the most? What about effects on particle size or Lp(a), etc.
However I have had a hard time controlling my LDL level. I reacted to Lipitor and have had some luck with zetia but now I am using red yeast rice which had kept my levels around 100 when I was clean in my diet, which is hard to do in Mx. I am 56 and in very good shape with a body fat of about 17%. I just had a lipid panel done and here are my numbers: HDL 113, LDL 131, Trg 36. My HDLs have always been very high, but never this high. I don't smoke, my BP runs 115/70 on average.
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 am really troubled by my doctor's lack of concern.
t exercise regularly (the HDL number suggests you do not) start a regular exercise program. This may push the HDL higher (yes, and maybe the total, but it is often accompanied with a lowering of LDL, another improvement) and it may also lower the Trig.
While all your numbers are in the good range and if you are not on a statin drug, they are unusually good in my experience. Still you ask "how to improve" and so I gave you one way.
Remember, your statin has a half life of about 14 hours which means after 14 hours you have eliminated half of the medication. You will then eliminate half of the remaining have after the next 14 hours and so on and so on.
I am an overweight 42 year old with LDL under 100, tri under 130 and HDL at 40. I have lost 35 pounds excercising with about 60 more to go. I started running about a month ago and currently going to gym 5-6 days a week with 6 days cardion and three days weight training.On the treadmill I normally do 10 min warmup and then 30 sec running and 30 sec walking for 20 minutes then a 5 minute cool down.
now on the 25mg coreg, 30mg lisinopril, 325 asprin, 75 plavix, 40 lipitor and 5 zetia. Supplements are 100 mg co-q10 bid, 2500 fish oil bid, HDL RX 2 tabs BID, vitamin E 400mg daily,
My question is why does it seem my ejection fraction is getting worse since heart attack on 8/7/2010? This progression is getting me worried that there is a blockage in artery to heart thus damage to the heart muscle is continuing.
My total cholesterol is 225! Says it should be less than 180! AGH! The triglycerides and HDL (good cholesterol) are good.
Umm, could this be causing my palpitations? Or what? I'm so surprised at these numbers - I am a vegetarian and am only 34. I exercise a lot and eat a lot of soy.
One thing I'm wondering is...the lady that made the appt for me told me to not eat anything after midnight the night before I had my blood taken for these tests.
I did a lot of research after doing cholestrol tests finding my hdl was 28. I read the clinical trial of HDL RX done by scripps institute and gave it a try. it raised my hdl #'s from 28 to 36. Now I also take Niaspan 2000mg and HDL is at 44, my highest ever. My LDL is 57. I have never eaten fast food but was a smoker till 2006. That was biggest mistake. My mayo cardiologist thinks my root problem is the low HDL.
Ever since I started taking Zetia and Fenofibrate together as recommended by my DR, I have put on pounds, am more bloated around the belly,a nd have persistent chest pains. I noticed this has occurred ever since I have been on cholesterol lowering meds, but is more noticeable in the past year with the new combination of drugs. I mentioned this to my DR and he said I need the drugs because of my High Cholesterol. What do you think?
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.
High cholesterol runs in my family so even with diet and exercise my numbers are still a little high. I started getting heart palpitations a few years ago and after a lot of testing was told they were harmless PVC's/PAC's. Well, I stoped taking my Tricor and Zocor for a few months and my heart palps were gone. The problem is that my cholesterol numbers went back up. I started back on the statins and low and behold the palps returned.
AST on upper end of normal at 40. The doctor said to stop the Lipitor...but stay on the Zetia...... and retest in 1-1/2 weeks which he did this past Sept. 30th. His ALP came down to normal at 91, his ALT stayed the same at 79, his AST stayed relatively the same at 42, but his GGTP went quite high at 240. The doctor's office called and told him to come in next week.
I’m a active 68 yr. old women, that has tried 3 different statins. Everyone gave me muscle problems. Then my GP put me on Zetia. Said it would be different. After two months on it, it was worst than the statins. Woke up one morning, couldn’t close my hand. My fingers were so swollen and my both thumb joints would not bend. When I tried to bend them they clicked and was very painful.
I finally went to a specialist in Baltimore who read my history which showed all the meds I was taking and he noticed that I was taking Zetia and told me that he believed Zetia caused chronic coughing in some people; so he looked it up on his computer and sure enough, that was one of the warnings. I stopped the Zetia and the coughing disappeared completely within a couple of weeks. The point here is that medicines, while helping one problem, frequently can cause another.
You are on one of the more powerful statins so you can ask your doctor about Vytorin which is simple Simvastatin and Zetia which works both in the liver and in the digestive tract. Simvastatin is usually better tolerated than Lipitor. It would help to know what your LDL and HDL levels are as well, we could possibly give you a better answer.
I just got off of zetia and welchol. I could not take statins. I tried them all. Used to take Niaspan and fenofibrate but they took me off cause both cause problems in some and had not 'reduced the incidence of cardiac events'. I think they have concluded that neither do Zetia, except when used with a statin, so it is the statin doing the work. I also think Welchol has been shown to not reduce cardiac events too. not sure. I am on Repatha. Third bi weekly shot.
A HDL is identical to a LDL, the only difference is the marker. Both HDL and LDL have fat in them, and HDL could be converted into a LDL by changing its marker. This is the beauty of lipids. Even sex hormones are in proteins and have markers, it's a highly used system. A HDL molecule simply has the right shape/key to chemically lock on to an LDL and chemically alter the marker on the LDL, then they seperate.
You need to understand the role HDL plays. HDL binds with LDL to remove it from your blood and keep it from accumulating in your arteries. You have a low LDL numbers so you don't need as much HDL, but 29 is too low. I would look at increasing the amount of exercise you're doing and ask your doctor about supplements.
Good luck!
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