Vytorin does a remarkable job of reducing your Cholesterol, much better than Zocor (Simvastatin) alone. However, Zetia doesn't seem to add anything to the picture as far as preventing heart disease is concened. But read this about Zocor:
-"Zocor Users Not Warned of Risks:
The FDA's June 2011 safety alert is the most serious of many warnings regarding Zocor and associated risks of myopathy and rhabdomyolysis. Zocor manufacturer Merck & Co.
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.
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. This will help lower your overall number but will not impact your LDL which is you main issue. You really need to get that under 130 with no other risk factors.
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.
Fat-soluble statins like Lipitor and Zocor cause more damage than water soluble statins like Pravachol and Crestor. Hence the latter should be tried at lower dose. Possibility of hypothyroidism and diabetes should be ruled out as the presence of either disease can complicate the muscle pain. Please discuss these points with your treating physician. It is difficult to comment beyond this at this stage.
Hope this helps. Please let me know if there is any thing else and do keep me posted.
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.
Vytorin is a combination, I believe, of Zocor and Zetia. Zocor should help with the cholesterol already there. If not, Lipitor has studies showing that Lipitor at 40mg can help reduce cholesterol on heart valves and in arteries. If it reduces cholesterol there, it may reduce cholesterol on the heart muscle. Cholesterol builds in the arteries, valves and muscle of the heart. In order for cholesterol to stick, there has to be a sticking spot.
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.
Has anyone read how horrific the side effects really are to some of these statins and realized that either they or their loved ones had these very symtoms and becames seriously ill to the point that they ended up in ICU not knowing who they were, where they were, in so much pain they could not bear to be touched and had regressed to near infancy before anyone figured out that it was zocor or lipitor or another statin they were on that was causing these bizarre illnessess ?
Hi again,
Regarding vytorin, it is a combo of zetia and zocor. There was a study that said that although the Vytorin will lower the cholesterol, it didn't have good effects to prevent heart attacks. Howeverk, Crestor was shown to reduce plaque and had better results in clinical studies. Also, with the Niaspan, it is known to raise HDL level but HDL is not necessarily protective as they thought. But that study may be skewed because it was done on all cardiac patients.
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.
You need to speak with your doctor for clarification. Zocor and Crestor are both used to reduce LDL cholesterol and triglycercides not raise HDL levels. Also ask your doctor for an A1c [hemoglobin A1c] test to see how well you are controlling your glucose levels and whether your lifestyle has made you a candidate for diabetes.
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.
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.
I'm 63 years old, 6'2", 186 lbs. I exercise vigourousy 5 to 6 days a week and am careful with my diet.
My cholesterol before the supplements was 205 to 220. It wasn't resopnding to diet and exercise, that's when my doctor put me on Zocor. My cholesterol came down to 136 but I had terrible side effects. Someone told me about The 8 Week Cholesterol Cure book, thought I'd give it a try.
In the ZOCOR Survival Study, the number of patients with more than one liver enzyme level elevation to greater than 3 times the normal upper limit was no different between the ZOCOR and placebo groups. Only 8 patients on ZOCOR and 5 on placebo discontinued therapy due to elevated liver enzyme levels. Patients were started on 20 mg of ZOCOR, and one third had their dose raised to 40 mg.
My father has been having the same problem of muscle loss while taking zocor. He has been very fit his whole life and was a marathon swimmer - and at 84 years old he still exercises regularly. However, he finds his doctors are very UNsympathetic to his complaint that the cholesterol lowering medications are stripping his muscles away.
I've been on Zocor for the last 4 1/2 yrs and never had any sleep problems, but everybody is different. Tell your doctor about it and see what he says/thinks should be done.
Has anyone had problems with statins (in particular Zocor) causing an exacerbation of ocular and nasal allergy symptoms? I started Zocor 6 weeks ago, and after the first week, my eye allergy symptoms (conjunctivitis, scleritis, eyes watering, etc) got much worse. By the end of last week, my eyes were tearing to the point that tears were running down my face most of the day, and my vision was blurring. I had also developed constant sniffles. None of my allergy meds gave any relief.
Augmentin and Zocor have been known to be potentially hepatotoxic. Tylenol is safe, if it is taken as directed (less than 4,000 mg/daily). I imagine that those 3 drugs taken together can increase the potential for damage to the liver.
Have you talked with your doctor about possibly substituting another lipid lowering drug...and getting off the Zocor? Are you still taking Augmentin?
Remember to be careful about your tylenol intake...
I currently take 150mg of Zocor per day. Recently i have developed a cough, which I can deal with but when I cough I get pain shooting though my head. It takes a few minutes to go away and then things are find. Should I be worried.
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