Statin effects

[Dennis Ryan]

The letter below was my first contact with the doctor and describes my experience and problems I have that I pretty much blame on cholesterol drugs.Getting my G.P. and cardiologist to agree is like asking them to sit in an electric chair for a few minutes.My fatigue,unexplained muscle pain and the like seem to get a bit worse every year. I'm basically told I'm either depressed,suffering from anxiety(who wouldn't from feeling this way) or just stressed out. I'm seeing an endocrinologist in a week because I'm getting nothing from anyone else.
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I read with extreme interest your articles regarding the use of statin drugs. I had a heart attack at the age of 44(I'm now 55),was in good shape,played sports but occasionally smoked. Turned out my cholesterol level was 388 and sure enough along came statins. I was put on Pravachol which didn't do enough,then Lipitor. Had better success with that but a couple years ago my then doctor said my liver enzymes were up slightly but he wasn't concerned. I was. My cardiologist switched me to Crestor, 20mg,along with 10mg of Zetia and this combo has dramatically lowered my numbers.ldl of 79, hdl of 45 and total of 137. Triglycerides are 98.

This is all great except for the fact I have never been the same person since starting these drugs. I get pain and fatigue for no apparent reason, energy level is way down and I just feel lousy most of the time. I was also put on 50mg of Lopressor after the heart attack as a "maintenance procedure" but never had and still don't have high blood pressure(110/70).This drug caused me to faint and produced anxiety symptoms. Stopped taking it 8 yrs ago.

My doctors blame all this on anxiety and depression and refuse to acknowledge that the drugs I take are contributing to this. I've tried to tell them that I get feeling bad and then anxious, not the other way around but they don't listen. I'm 5'7'', 145lbs, still look good for my age but have a poor quality of life in general. Had to quit my job last year due to this and will have a difficult time getting back to work since there are days that I just can't function from feeling this way.

I'm between a rock and a hard place since I don't know of anything else that can keep my cholesterol levels this low because it seems that if I don't take them I won't last real long. Its my belief that these drugs are slowly killing me.

Sorry to be so long in my letter but that's the story in a nutshell.

[Brian C.]

"I'm between a rock and a hard place since I don't know of anything else that can keep my cholesterol levels this low because it seems that if I don't take them I won't last real long. Its my belief that these drugs are slowly killing me. "

Stop right there Dennis! In spite of numerous studies, NOBODY has established meaningful correlation between cholesterol level and heart disease. The infamous Ancel Keys study of the late Forties DID show that correlation - but only because he suppressed the observations he had obtained in his World-wide survey that didn't fit the hypothesis.

It is not the QUANTITY of cholesterol that matters but the QUALITY - and poor quality (oxydization) is a symptom, not a cause. The killer is inflammation of the lining of the cardiac arteries and the protective effect of statins is ENTIRELY due to their ant-inflammatory action. Unfortunately this benign effect comes at a terrible cost since low-cholesterol and concomitant lowering of other essential ingredients of our body chemistry inevitably degrades our bodies (premature ageing) and incapacitates.

My father died of a coronary thrombosis at the age of 49 and I developed blocked coronary arteries in my early 40s. I was diagnosed with familial hypercholesterolaemia and spent nearly two decades on statins and in terror. Thanks to the work of Dr Graveline, Dr Ravnskov, Dr Langsjoen and a few others I now understand more than the vast majority of medics about our condition. My GP agreed with me when I told him he and his colleagues were being treated like mushrooms, i.e. kept in the dark and fed horse manure. He also volunteered that his senior colleagues undergo sustained "grooming" at the hands of the pharmaceutical companies.

At least as far as the management of chronic conditions are concerned, the practice of medicine is more marketing-based than science-based.

Read all you can on spacedoc.net, have a look at forum contributor xrn's website at talkingstatins.com. Read Dr Malcolm Kendrick's book "The Great Cholesterol Con". Seek to understand and manage your health better than any doctor can. Then you will be better able to withstand the baleful influence of the present corrupted system of cardiac health management in our society.

Brian.

[cjbrooksjc]

Dennis. Brian is right. We know more that the average medical practitioner. Google 'homocysteine levels' and 'dense LDL' to get a look at the real contributing culprits of atherosclerosis and heart disease. TOTAL CHOLESTEROL doesn't meat SH## unless these two measurements can be viewed and voiced by you and your physician. If you feel you must manage this sistuation,; in addition to fish oil, Krill oil, Vitamin C, there are plant sterols and other products (NOT CONTAINING RED YEAST RICE EXTRACT) that help you manage cholesterol levels. B6, B12, Folic Acid also help you avoid cardio incidents. Your body NEEDS more cholesterol as it ages, and studies prove that a very low level LEADS to, not prevents cardiovascular incidents. Get informed and get better.

Best,

Brooks

p.s. welcome to the forum.

[cjbrooksjc]

Dennis: You should know that Austrailan Aborigines, who have some of the lowest cholesterol levels in the world have one of the HIGHEST levels of CV incident, while the Swedes, who have one of the highest cholesterol levels in the world have one of the LOWEST levels of CV incident. Read all you can on the subject. Also there are many 'You Tube' shorts you can watch - just search under 'CHOLESTEROL' and 'STATINS'.

Question Authority!


Brooks