LOPID VERSUS STATIN DRUGS

[JIM]

[quote]
ABOUT 11 OR 12 YEARS AGO I STARTED TAKING LOPID. IT LOWERED MY TRIG. FROM 450 TO 100 AND MY TOTAL CHOLESTERAL FROM 240 TO 190. EVERY SINGLE YEARLY TEST FOR LIVER PROBLEMS WERE NEGATIVE. MY CHOLESTERAL, TRIG, LDL AND HDL WERE WITHIN NORMAL LIMITS. THERE IN LIES THE SECRET TO THE NEW USE OF STATIN DRUGS.
ALL OF A SUDDEN THE DRUG COMPANIES WERE NO LONGER MAKING ANY MONEY ON DRUGS LIKE LOPID BECAUSE OF THE GENERICS. SO SOMEWAY THE NEW NORMAL LIMITS WERE CHANGED. LUCKY FOR THE DRUG MAKERS. IT WAS THE SAME TIME THAT THE NEW STATIN DRUGS WERE COMING OUT. HOW CONVENIENT. DID THE MEDICAL COMMUNITY CHANGE THESE LIMITS OR DID THE DRUG PUSHING COMPANIES CHANGE THEM. GOOD QUESTIN EH?
WHEN I CHANGED DOCTORS ABOUT A YEAR AGO THRU NO FAULT OF MINE, I WAS PUT ON LIPITOR 20 MG BY MY NEW DOCTOR. THE NEW TESTING SHOWED IT DID LOWER MY CHOLESTEROL TO 165. BUT THE TRIG AND LDL WERE HIGHER. NOT GOOD NEWS TO ME.
SO I HAD TO CHANGE DOCTORS AGAIN AND THIS TIME MY NEW DOCTOR SWITCHED ME TO LIPITOR 40 MG. AND THEN THE PROBLEMS BEGAN. I STARTED HAVING TICKLING IN THE BOTTOM OF MY FEET, I DEVELOPED A BAD RASH ALL OVER MY BODY AND I FELT AWFUL. I WAS ALWAYS TIRED AND IRRITABLE.
I WAS THEN GIVEN NIASPAN TO SEE IF IT WOULD HELP THE LIPITOR. THIS WAS THE WORST MEDICANE I HAVE EVER HAD. IT STUNK RIGHT THRU MY SKIN AND IT MADE BE DROWSY.
I WAS TAKEN OFF.
THE LIPITOR 40 MG TEST AFTER ONE MONTH SHOWED THAT IT LOWERED MY TOTAL CHOLESTEROL TO 132, THE LOWEST IT HAS EVER BEEN. BUT MY TRIG WERE UP TO OVER 100 . MY HDL WAS AWFULLY LOW AND MY LDL WAS NOT GOOD EITHER. SO I FIGURE WHY SHOULD I BE TAKING LIPITOR AT ALL.
I DECIDED THAT I WAS GOING BACK TO LOPID BUT I WOULD LET MY DOCTOR MAKE THAT DECISION FIRST AND LO AND BEHOLD HE DID PUT ME BACK ON LOPID.
IT IS A SHAME THAT I HAD TO START TAKING LOPID AGAIN BECAUSE I AM SURE THE DRUG PUSHING COMPANIES WILL GO BROKE. HA HA.
EVERY NIGHT WHEN I TURN ON THE TV I SEE AN AD FOR SOME KIND OF NEW DRUG ABOUT EVERY 10 MINUTES. IT IS ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE TO ME THAT THESE NEW DRUGS ARE BEING PUSHED ON US BY THE DRUG COMPANIES AND ARE OK'D BY OUR FDA.
I WOULD TRUST THE FDA ABOUT AS FAR AS I WOULD POLITICIANS AND ATTORNEYS AND THAT IS NOT FAR.
THIS COUNTRY IS BECOMING A PILL POPPING NATION, WHETHER IT IS LEGAL OR NOT.
I THINK THAT THE DOCTORS ARE CAUGHT UP IN THIS PUSH FOR THESE NEW MEDICATIONS. THEY ARE PURSUED BY THE DRUG PUSHING COMPANIES CONSTANTLY.
THE OTHER DAY WHEN I WENT TO SEE MY DOCTOR THERE WERE MORE DRUG PUSHING REPS IN THE WAITING ROOM THAN THERE WERE PATIENTS. I AM NOT KIDDING.
THERE WERE 3 PATIANTS WAITING TO BE SEEN AND 5 DRUG REPS WAITING.
I AM CONVICED THAT THE DOCTORS SIMPLY DO NOT WHAT THESE MEDICATIONS CAN DO TO YOU. THEY SIMPLY RELY ON THE DRUG COMPANIES FOR GUIDANCE.
GOD HELP US ALL.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME.[/quote][/b]

[dwhitbeck]

I started taking Lopid about 10 or 12 years ago also for triglycerides and cholesterol. Cholesterol was about 235-240 but I don't know what the triglycerides were. After a few years the cholesterol had not dropped much so the doctor prescribed 20 mg of Pravachol also. I soon started having joint pain in my hands and then about 4 years ago my toes started getting numb. 2 years ago I experienced dark urine and stopped taking both drugs. I told my doctor about that and he said to stop taking them for a while and then go back on 600 mg of Lopid and 20 mg of Pravachol. I didn't do that but after my last physical he prescribed 300 mg of Lopid and 40 mg of Pravachol. I started taking the drugs and soonI started experiencing burning and shooting pains in my feet . One day I had 2 episodes of weakness in my right arm and a feeling sort of like bubbles running up and down my arm. I quit taking both drugs and have been off them since March, 06. I still have numbness in my feet and toes but it has not gotten any worse and may be just very slightly better. I am taking 400 mg of CoQ10 every day and hoping that the numbness will lessen. I am not totally sure that all my symptoms were from the drugs but there certainly seems to be circumstantial evidence. Also I don't know if my symptoms were from the combination of drugs or either one alone so now I am afraid to take either of them
I am noticing now that there are TV ads for drugs to treat the symptoms of nerve pain. I wonder if they really know something that they are not telling us.
By the way I currently don't have health insurance, I found out that the Lipid is about $15 for a month's supply of 600 mg tablets but the Pravachol is about $160 for a month's supply of 40 mg tablets.

[sos_group_owner]

Hi "dwhitbeck",

Lopid most likely did not cause your adverse effects. Statins are known to cause muscle/joint - pain/stiffness and pain/tingling in the extremities (peripheral neuropathy). When you had dark urine did your doctor order a CK or CPK blood test to check for muscle damage?

Dark urine is one of the hallmark sign that muscle damage is occurring and if you continue to take a statin drug, rhabdomyolysis can result. Rhabdomyolysis is the breakdown of muscle fibers resulting in the release of muscle fiber contents into the circulation. Some of these are toxic to the kidney and frequently result in kidney damage.

If elevated triglycerides are your only risk factor, the majority of the time they can be controlled by diet. The white foods are the promary cause for high trig's. Sugar (biggest offender), flour, bread, rice, potato. Replace with whole grains: spelt or sprouted grain bread, brown/wild rice, sweet potato, spelt or buckwheat flour. Stevia is the healthiest sweetener.

If restricting the white foods doesn't lower your triglycerides enough, cinnamon, available in 500 mg capsule, will help to lower trig's and also controls blood sugar levels.

Fran