i have very high cholesterol. i took lipitor for about a year (many years ago now), developed muscle pain, persistent weight gain and brain fuzziness. the doctor insisted lipitor had no bad side effects, but i quit taking it, and while my cholesterol skyrocketed again, the side effects went away. then the news came out that *sometimes* muscle pain could be serious symptom, and oh yeah, that liver damage thing. a couple of years ago my (former) nurse practitioner screamed at me, up in my face, because despite my risk factors i refused to take medication for it again.
now they're- gee whiz! - saying that statins have a risk for all the symptoms i developed (plus death), as well as the more common liver damage, AND that there is really no evidence whatsoever that lipitor reduces heart-related deaths in women (it does seem to help men.)
i'm glad we have modern medicine. life is unimaginably different for developed countries today because of advances made by great researchers and developers. and yet with the huge push to make drugs profitable, i just don't trust anything until it's been out and thoroughly tested for YEARS, and tested by truly unbiased research which is less and less likely to be found. i sure as hell don't trust the bought-and-paid for FDA.
how much faith do you put in your doctors? does it make a difference if it's you, your husband or your kids who are involved?
khairete
S.
i completely agree with all of you who stress that there are risks with everything. taking no meds is risky. addressing the issue with diet, exercise and natural supplements is risky. and so are prescription meds. the scary thing about prescription meds is well-addressed by some of you who address the issues of too-little research and obfusticated results. when the side effects are far more dire and dangerous than the original condition, and those side effects are under-reported and swept under the carpet, millions of people can be bamboozled into risking their health even as they are trying hard to be responsible.
being our own advocates and doing, as much as we can, our own research, is our only option.
being informed about both the condition itself and the information on pharmaceutical cures is key. and if a drug is new, let the buyer beware. for many- even most- the risks of high cholesterol, which are very real and serious, warrant intervention with drugs. but for some of us who do weigh the options carefully, managing our health in a more natural fashion with less dramatic results but less risk of dangerous side effects is the responsible choice.
donna, condescending much?
khairete
S.
I have faith in my cardiologist! Do you have heart disease? Get a nuclear stress test-you can have high cholesterol and no occlusions-There are people living in Italy with counts as high as 300-400 and have no heart disease! Take care!
http://www.cardiocarellc.com/doctors_staff/doctors/Kanovsky
I put a great deal of faith in my doctor. He took me off statins when this news came out 2-3 years ago. He talks with me about my medical conditions and makes sense to me.
He also took me off HRT when the news first came out about the danger associated with it's use. He explained that in some cases it's important to continue taking certain hormones but I was well past menopause and didn't need to take the risk.
For all medications, there is some risk. The tricky part is weighing the risks against the benefits. I trust my doctor to come up with the right answer.
I do use the HRT patch & have since my hysterectomy about 10 yrs ago. I have no issues and never have.
Other than that, we don't take any regular RX drugs. Look at the major advertising every night on prime tv time and on weekend sports. Someone is making $$$. The " fine print" that is described routinely is scary. I prefer to take matters in my own hands.
We steer from any RX if possible other than a rare antibiotic use. Fortunately we are healthy and don't need routine Rx.
You have to weigh the pros and cons of taking the RX and I personally don't think FDA is looking out for the consumer.
Half of my family is in medicine.
NONE of them trust anything until it's been out for 10-30 years.
The first decade a medicine is out it's still in it's testing phase. In the US we have very very SMALL (and short) human trials (following years and years of animal trials). One a medicine comes out, THAT'S when we find out how it really works. And we don't find that out for a solid 10 years. At 5 years we've got a good idea how it usually works, but the 10 year mark is when we know, absolutely, what all the various side effects are.
ALSO what a medication is best for.
The way drug companies work is this: The have a best selling ________. So they don't develop more of that for some time... years and years (antidepressants, blood pressure, etc.). They have no desire to compete against themselves. At the 10 year (ish) mark we solidly know what a medication is really best for. Which is why one may be prescribed something "off label" for a condition. Because the med that works BEST was actually designed for something else. It is INCREDIBLY RARE for a drug company to spend the 10's of millions to 100's of millions to 'relabel' a med (the heart medication Viagra... for example... is no longer labeled as a heart medication!)
All research scientists, healthcare professionals (or at least the ones who paid attention in school), and health or science student KNOW that the first 10 years is Phase TWO Human Trials.
Good healthcare professionals take note of all their patients' side effects and send that information out to the medical community. Eventually they all get compiled into the PDR.
Oh.... The 30 year mark? That's when we know the long term effect of a medication.
______
My doctor is absolutely superb. I had to go through 9 or so new primary care providers in order to find him. I have total trust in him. In no small part because as a superb doctor he farms out any area he is not expert in AND is linked in with a network of other superb doctors and surgeons. Birds of a feather.
Side effects happen in a small percentage of people. Sometimes you need to try different medications until you find the right one.
EVERYTHING has risks - it all comes down to the benefits out weighing the risk.
I hope you have found something to control your cholesterol because statins are not all the bad some make them out to be.
Everything comes with a risk. Life is a risk. I have to take a drug for my thyroid. I tried the generic and it didn't work for me. Does that mean I will stop taking the medicine? NO! I find one that does work for me. Each body is different in how it interacts with meds.
My mom was in an experimental test study for Alzheimers. Without that, you don't get the new drugs. You can't have one without the other.
My Dr is wonderful. She doesn't want you on meds unless you absolutely have to. Have you tried Red Yeast Rice or some other form of cholesterol reducing herb? My dad's cholesterol was over 200 and he took Red Yeast Rice for 6 months and it went down to 170. Mine is 268 but I was breast feeding and my Dr said for me to wait to get it retested at least until 6 weeks after breast feeding. I'm waiting to get it tested until its summer. I'm more active then and tend to watch more of what I eat. I would suggest a new Dr. Ask around your community and see where other people go.
I have less and less faith the older I get.
Did you hear the story that came out last week about the fact that Anti-depressants don't really work..no more so than a placebo?! They said that in actuality the FDA only requires drug companies to provide 2 studies/trials that show that a medicine works more than it doesn't and they disregard ALL the other trials that show that a drug does NOT work! That means a drug company can test a pill on 20 or more groups of people and if it shows 18x that it is NOT effective they disregard that information and the FDA is satisfied with the 2 studies/trials that show that a medicine works? How the HELL is that even morally right?! Unbelievable!
A few years ago my doctor wanted to put me on statins for cholesterol. I said absolutely not. I started excercising, adding lots of fiber to my diet, cutting out anything with white flour, watching my fat intake and taking fish oil tablets. My doctor was amazed that in a year my cholesterol was completely normal. I had my husband do the same and he took it a step further and added a teaspoon of cinnamon to his diet and has had amazing results. I am a nurse so I tend to question my doctors more. I don't hesitate to dump them if they aren't listening. I am currently having bp problems and the only one that has taken me seriously is my OB. When I was 23 I had a health scare that could have been lessened If my doc had only taken the time. So now I am really questioning them.
Unfortunately, that is very old news. Doctors often do not report these things when a patient tells them it is happening to them.
Make sure you take coenzyme Q 10 as statins deplete that and put you at further risk for heart disease.
I can top this story and what I think about the doctors I have had in the past if you look at my past posts.
I don't put a lot of faith in certain Doctors and not in everything they tell me. I switched my primary Dr. because the one we had never listened and always wanted to just give you a drug instead of finding out the cause of the symptoms. I use to believe everything they said until I joined Arbonne. Now I question and check out everything from the foods I eat to the products we use on our hair, skin and body. They have tried and tried to get me to take different meds for different things and I say I am going to get that lowered with my supplements from Arbonne, they don't like it always but it is my health and my body and I have the right to choose what I do and don't take or use. Omega 3's are great for helping with cholesterol and also for arthritis and other related issues.
I don't trust medication even if I trust my doctor. I've had too many reactions to things and don't want chemicals in my body unless I'm dying and only then. I do take an allergy pill, Zyrtec and only take half. Other than that I have my high cholesterol and guess I'll keep it but may try the metamucil mentioned on here by MusicMakingMama.
When it comes to the medical world you really are your own best advocate, you need to be knowledgeable about your diagnosis and the medications that you take. With so many specialist these days - The MD only look at and treat the part of the body that is related to their specialty forgetting that the treatment may affect another part of the body. You really have to be carefull that you are not prescribed something from one doctor that has an interaction with something you have been prescribed by another doctor. Also many medications have interactions with vitamins and other supplements. I agree that it is difficult to trust the FDA we are told what they want us to know and many clinical trials are done by the drug company that wants to manufacture/sell the drug so the results may be swayed in their direction
Truthfullt, Siz, with every passing year, and with every episode of illness in my family, I trust medicine and doctors less and less.
I remember it starting when I went to the doc for something--can't remember now what it was and was told "We could do abc. Or try xyz. Then there's always lmnop. Which do you prefer?" Wha? huh? Um...that's why I'm HERE. To get expert advice from "someone that knows!"
My mom has been going through some weird symptoms/side effects/etc for about 4 mos now and all they do is test after test, add medicines to treat side effects from the newly added meds, etc. I'm like "Stop the insanity! Go back to what you were originally taking with NO ill effect!!!"
How about a CAUSE, not throwing meds at the symptoms?
Hi S.,
The "natural" community has known for years that statins were deadly". I personally knew someone that died of liver failure from his lipitor. The "news" that has come out is simply not new.
To answer your question, I have very little faith in the medical community. I was a sickly kid and did everything I was told and only got sicker. When I got in my 40s I took things upon myself to research because I couldn't live another day sick and I got better. The doctors still preach the same sermon and I watch others get sicker as well. Medicines were originally natural compounds that were discovered and tweeked. Now they are simply synthetic chemicals that mask symptoms so we can't really treat the illness. Like you said, the FDA is bought and paid for. Even the noble doctors that are left have been in the industry so long it's hard for them to see the forest for the trees.
God bless!
M.
PS You can go to a Naturopath and talk to them about a liver detox. If you're still alive, almost anything can be reversed if the body is not bombarded with synthetics that mess with our natural body chemistry!
Hi, S. T.
Have you thought about enrolling in Overeaters Anonymous in your area?
Go to your local health food store and see ways to help you lower your cholestrol.
Do you know what the risks are for high cholestrol?
Good luck.
D.
Like when doctors never tell you that Naproxyn and Ibruprofen are the same type of drug until after your daughter stops breathing in the pool. I have said "she cant' take Motrin" since she was 2. I had a pharmacist talk to me about NSAIDS, aspirin, and supha drugs, seems they are all related. This was only after the incident.
I got an OH really? From the doctor's office and a "No we don't test for drug allergies, it's just a trial and error. "
Trial and error, if you have a side effect come tell us and we'll give you something else.
When talking to my pharmacist, she was very interested in what happened to my daughter and helped me figure out what was really going on. Her heart started beating too fast and she couldn't breathe. Her airway did not close up.
I have very little faith in doctors anymore.
Updated
Like when doctors never tell you that Naproxyn and Ibruprofen are the same type of drug until after your daughter stops breathing in the pool. I have said "she cant' take Motrin" since she was 2. I had a pharmacist talk to me about NSAIDS, aspirin, and supha drugs, seems they are all related. This was only after the incident.
I got an OH really? From the doctor's office and a "No we don't test for drug allergies, it's just a trial and error. "
Trial and error, if you have a side effect come tell us and we'll give you something else.
When talking to my pharmacist, she was very interested in what happened to my daughter and helped me figure out what was really going on. Her heart started beating too fast and she couldn't breathe. Her airway did not close up.
I have very little faith in doctors anymore.
the thing you have to ask yourself when a doctor pushes one drug over another, is how much money is this doctor making to push this one drug over another. think about it, with all the advances we have supposedly made, the best thing for joint pain is ..asprin, come on! we can cure malaria, but not the common cold ?? get real. start asking questions.. if you notice you sneeze around your cat, get rid of the cat, dont pay the doctor for allergy shots. i have low blood pressure, do i take meds for it.. no, afraid not.look into herbal remedies, you dont have to a born again hippie to appreciate not paying your doctor $200 for a visit and lap work
K. h.
