Lowering My Cholesterol

I took myself off the last lot of cholsterol lowering drugs that my doctor prescribed - and felt a lot better after a couple of weeks. After a couple of months I mentioned it to my GP -  a month ago - who said to try another one Crestor. Now - unlike my usual self - I didn’t google it or look up any info on it - I just took it for a month. Last week I started noticing I was feeling more tired than usual and my back started aching again. I also felt the need to urinate more than usual . I decided it may be the Crestor - and I stopped taking it 3 days ago. Today I looked up some information on Crestor - and found that  there was some controversy about it in 2004.

"A 39-year-old US woman  died of a muscle-destroying condition linked to Crestor, a consumer advocate claimed in Washington. citing 16 cases of serious side effects in urging a ban of the drug.

It won US Food and Drug Administration approval in August 2004 , after a delay because of safety concerns. In studies, Crestor also was linked to some cases of kidney abnormalities not seen with other statins.
The FDA decided to approve Crestor, saying it appeared to be slightly more potent than other statins and thus may be important for some patients.

To lower the risk of side effects, FDA recommended starting doses of 5 mg to 10 mg, and said patients should never exceed 40 mg.

But records from the FDA and health agencies in Canada and Britain show life-threatening side effects occur even at those lower doses, said Dr. Sidney Wolfe of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, in a petition filed with FDA Thursday seeking a ban."

I feel a lot better just after 3 days off the Crestor - back pain almost gone. What do I do now?

After about 10 weeks on the Inegey - which is a combo of a statin and ezetimibe - I have stopped taking them. After a bout of unexplained vomiting and generally feeling unwell , loss of appetite I blamed the Inegy. It could be someting else - but since I started taking them I have been feeling depressed, getting back pain, and also lost interest in sex. I have been off the statin - (simvastatin) and ezetimibe mixture for two weeks now - and feel a lot better. I haven’t told my GP yet - but I know I should soon.  I need to tackle my lifestyle now - more exercise is the main thing I need to be doing. So less blogging too.

I still have doubts about the whole "cholesterol is bad" - after reading several articles. I need to investigate more about the effects of cholesterol - and will try and put any findings on here.

I found an article  from the UK Daily Mail - which basically says that all the hype about cholesterol and statins and heart disease is a load of rubbish - pushed by the drug companies to make more profit. The author has written a book - and seems to know his stuff. He explains how all the theories about diet and cholesterol and heart disease can be disproven . Makes me think about coming off the statins. I have only been on them for 10 weeks - and haven’t noticed any real problems . But I have had more headaches and a runny nose and I was vomiting  yesterday for no apparent reason. I also feel tired all the time. None of these are severe — but maybe it is the statins causing it.

Full article here..

Have we been conned about cholesterol? | the Daily Mail

I am taking a statin in the form of simavistin in a product called Inegy - I found this info on the British Heart  foundation website:

Statins have relatively few side effects, but we need to consider their possible interactions. For some time, we have been aware of the need to ensure that people who take statins should not drink or eat large quantities of grapefruit juice or grapefruit. However, recent evidence suggests that people who take simvastatin should avoid taking grapefruit juice or grapefruit altogether as even small amounts could significantly increase the effect of this particular statin drug. However, if you’re taking another statin, such as atorvastatin, then grapefruit juice (or the grapefruit) can be taken in small quantities.
Committee on safety of medicines (2004): ‘Current problems in phermacovigilance’ Statins and Cytochrome P450 interactions. Vol. 30 Oct. 2004 1-2.

I used to like a drop of grapefruit juice in the morning - but I won’t be drinking it anymore…

I have been prescribed a drug called Inegy by my doctor .

Inegy (In-ej-je) works to reduce your cholesterol in two ways. It reduces the cholesterol absorbed in your digestive tract, as well as the cholesterol your body makes by itself. It contains two ingredients -
Ezetimibe  - which is a cholesterol absorption inhibitor.  These  are a new group of drugs used to lower cholesterol levels.
They work by stopping cholesterol being taken out of the food you eat. The cholesterol can’t get from the food in your gut to your blood.  Ezetimibe localises at the brush border of the small intestine and inhibits the absorption of cholesterol, leading to a decrease in the delivery of intestinal cholesterol to the liver.

Inegy also contains a statin called Simvastatin. Statins are supposed to  reduce the amount of bad LDL cholesterol in your blood.Statins seem to work better than anything else to treat high cholesterol.
In the UK You can buy a low dose (10 mg) of simvastatin over the counter at pharmacies. Its brand name is Zocor Heart-Pro. This type of simvastatin is for people with a moderate risk of having a heart attack or a stroke.

Statins interfere with the liver’s ability to make cholesterol. They do this partly by stopping the work of an enzyme that tells the liver to make more cholesterol. (An enzyme is a substance that assists a chemical reaction in the body.)

Statins reduce the amount of bad (LDL) cholesterol that your liver makes. This causes the level of bad cholesterol in your blood to fall. When this happens the liver thinks your body has a cholesterol shortage, so it takes up more bad cholesterol from your blood. This means there is less bad cholesterol in your blood to clog up blood vessels.