Simvastatin 80 mg, 75 year old, mental-memory issues

[berk]

Not sure if this is the right place to ask about this for my father, but thought I'd try.

Stats -
1995 (age 59) - went on Zocor 10 mg, initial chol 285-315 for past 3 years, LDL:HDL, 4 to 1 ratio.

95-98 - 215 total chol, LDL:HDL, 2.5 to 1 (10mg zocor)

98-99 - Did Atkins diet, lost 30 lbs, but total chol went to 230-245, LDL: HDL, 3 to 1... [b]Zocor upped to 40mg in 99 (age 63)[/b]

2000-2005 - 210-230 total chol, LDL:HDL 2.5 to 1 ratio

2005 New doctor, last 2 total chol 215-220, 2.5-1 LDL:HDL ratio (04-05), NEW DOCTOR... upped Zocor (generic?) from 40mg to 80mg (age 69).

2006 -[b] Noticed mental slowness in work (I work with my dad), was concerned he might have suffered a mild stroke b/c the mental change/slowdown was that dramatic, but not the case[/b]. Also had dramatic hearing loss, but won't talk about it... not sure what is cause and thought that might be leading to his mental sluggishness.
170 total chol, 2 to 1 LDL:HDL ratio

2007 - Prostate Cancer, Radiation to treat, still have mental fog and slow down, but walked thru every step with him and explained options several times... seemed to be "with it" in understanding everying. (stats for chol are the same)

2008-2011 - total Chol 158-172, 2 to 1 ratio LDL:HDL (like 98LDL:48HDL) Still on 80 mg Simvastatin (age 72-75)

2012 - stats on chol still same, but in doing work we've done for 10 years, significant difference in understanding, confusion, had to take control and tell him what we needed to do vs. 10 years ago he'd direct what we needed to do. Sometime there is a glazed look like I'm here but not registering what you are saying unless you repeat 3 times, not just in work but life... things he could repeat off the cuff he struggles with like locations and roads. Definite change in cognitive function that doesn't seem to be age related.

Other factors in the last 3-5 years we've brushed under the rug... changed "reaction" to things... more frustrated/angered (not his motif), hearing loss is about the same for the last 7 years (could this be related to upping statins to 80mg?)... loss came on fast and furious, but has stayed about the same for the last 7 years. Sometimes there is just a dazed look until you repeat once or twice.

FINALLY got him to decide to try going off Statins. REALIZED he's on 80mg of Zocor generic (simvastatin), so tapering him off... here's our plan for the next 3 weeks... after getting of statins totally, we'll keep the supplements below.

7 days -
Reduce Simvastatin from 80mg to 40mg each day
D-3 (previously took)
Centrum MultiVitamin (Senior Men - previously took)
Baby Asprin -new
2000mg Nordic Naturals Ultimate Omega - new
CoQ10-400mg - new

Next 14 days -
Simvastatin 40mg EVERY OTHER DAY
D-3 (previously took)
Centrum MultiVitamin (Senior Men - previously took)
Baby Asprin -new
2000mg Nordic Naturals Ultimate Omega - new
CoQ10-400mg - new

What do you think about the tapering off schedule? What do you think about the symptoms? I know L-carnitine is the other supplement to get him on ASAP, but was doing the most I could to just try to get him off the Statins. Any other suggestions? His MAJOR issue is memory confusion, fogginess, forgetfulness, moodiness - beyond just normal aging, and he did have some muscle issues early, but is mostly fine with those now.

[David Staup]

That looks like a good start....

on the CoQ10 ...ubiquinol is the form most usefull for us.

[lars999]

Agree -- good start. Second use of Ubiquinol instead of cheaper CoQ10 (ubiquinon). I can provide explanation and some background, should you ask.

I went through a similar downward progression and then, two years ago, found Dr. Duane Graveline's writings on Lipitor and other statins, and quit cold (only on 10 mg daily). After about 5 years on Lipitor my cholesterol had gone down from usual 250-300 to 150 and I was almost a basket case, especially physically. Withing two weeks my physical stamina for low-effort things (like driving a car on Interstates and using cruise control) was up about 6-fold and various other things were improving a lot. Major improvement in first year and it is still ongoing.

Yes, my cholesterol went back up -- to where it should be!! Hang cholesterol quacks!! -- and I started getting independent measurements of health of my arteries. First data was from ultrasonic sounding of my carotid arteries -- they were so clean of plaque that there was absolutely no indication of plaque -- age 71 and after a lifetime of "high cholesterol" and "bad LD/HD ratios and amounts (damn cholesterol quacks and greedy drug companies!!). Then I convinced a cardiologist to order a study of major arteries in my legs -- again NO detectable plague, no impaired blood flow. Next test was a treadmill stress test to detect any problems with my heart -- only problems were small, common in old men and NO clogged arteries. Cardiologist congratulated me on my recovery from Lipitor, to which I responded "Thank you but my recover is not even half way to pre Lipitor levels.

I too have very bad hearing, probably mostly inherited and from very high noise environments. Cannot determine if Lipitor helped make it worse. Such bad hearing alone can make one function dumbly, simply because one often does not understand, even simplest spoken language or hear sounds others do. Hearing aids do help in hearing sounds BUT, for me they seldom increase my understanding of spoke language because it is not just volume that is damaged, sounds of words are also badly distored. BAD!!!

Best wishes!!
Lars