Cholesterol - again

[DasyB]

Has anyone been told they need injections to lower cholesterol? This is on top of 80mg Atorvastatin and Ezetimebe. I'm11 months post OHS and a single bypass. My last blood test was December 22 - before I started the Ezetimebe. It showed total serum 4.5, Non HDL3.1 and LDL 2.6. From that they have decided that my 'bad cholesterol' is too high.

The pharmacist just today told me my next, annual test will be next December, cholesterol monitoring is annual, ezetimebe doesn't make much difference and I should have injections anyway. I have no idea about what injections - what drug they are proposing, what dosage and how often (I suspect it won't be semaglutide :-). )

The thing is, I have been having a lot of niggles/side effects ( insomnia, fatique, skin rash, forgetfulness, confusion, dizziness, feeling the cold, low blood pressure), from my current drug cocktail and no luck at all in speaking to my GP about them all, so am now very reluctant to have injections. They are not monitoring my responses as it is, who knows....the ezetimebe may be working, or my good diet may be working.... or my exercise regime... I have asked for a blood test asap but not sure I will get it, but if I get more side effects with injections I'll be stuck with them, and no GP to do anything about them. Sorry for blithering on but I'm a bit scared by all this and there doesn't seem to be much on the internet about it.

Anyone???

[Sootyismycat]

Dear Dasy

My GP surgery is 4partners. But they have a person dedicated to reviewing medications. Then there are chemists shops where I can get an appointment with the pharmacist to discuss my medications.

Then there is an annual review with scans at the hospital cardiology department. This year the annual scan was not with a consultant, but there was a nurse in charge who had time to advise on all the routine stuff. You must be due for your annual cardiology appointment. I am three years post OHS and never got the annual reviews, until now.

The medics are trying their best to drag the NHS on to a better path and here in rural Essex it is beginning to work.

I got the Edwards Resilia but in April 2000 it did not have the facility for a later TAVi. However it’s expected life span is much much longer than ten years. I paid for my op as the NHS was closed by the covid epidemic. The cost is huge, in my case it was£43,000. And worst bit was no one could tell me in advance the whole private costs. But it saved my life.

I have a lot of tiredness etc but it’s not due to heart issues, more to do with the previous stroke and general ageing. I do blame the endless medications, but I am wrong doing this. It is my medical problems not the tablets.

Did you get your Edwards Resilia in the end ?

Best wishes

Sooty

[VelvetSky]

I think it’s time you made a written complaint to the surgery about not receiving appropriate care.

[Sb1171]

If you have had a previous heart attack/stroke and statins and ezetimibe have not got your cholesterol low enough you may be eligible for inclisiran which is an injection every 6 months. The only side effects I think have been recorded relate to soreness at the injection site, but it is very new. I can’t take statins so have inclisiran and ezetimibe which has worked for me and I have no side effects. I would say though, that despite also being told ezetimibe wouldnt do much, it did make quite a difference. Not enough and I still needed the inclisiran, but with numbers like yours I would want to see what the ezetimibe does before deciding.

[Desktop54]

Hi, my husband who lives with HF has/had high cholesterol. He tried all of the tablets prescribed by the doctor but suffered side effects from them all. He was then offered a twice a year injection. I think this is quite expensive for the NHS so is not offered unless you have tried the alternatives first. Anyway, he is very happy with it, no side effects and one less tablet to take. He says it does sting when it goes in (it goes in the stomach) but that passes after about 10 minutes. Now his cholesterol is under control so all is good.

[Deejay62]

I’ve just been put on ezetimide 10mg and I’m not so sure now. I went on nhs website and it mentions a caution when taking warfarin. It wasn’t mentioned when I was put on it and I didn’t think to remind him I’m on warfarin. I have contacted anticoagulant clinic and left a message for them to contact me. He also mentioned rosuvastatin before changing to ezetimide.

I hope they sort it out for you. It seems we take a chance with every medication we take. . All the best.

[Billyparrot]

Hi. I take ezetemibe and i have repatha injections every 2 weeks as i could'nt tolerate statins, my cholesteral before i had the injections was 6.5 total now it is 3.0 and my bad cholesteral is 1.5 the only side effect i get from it is a runny nose but i can put up with that as the results are so good.

[DasyB]

I've already got a constantly dripping nose so that's interesting - thanks Will see what they say when they get round to doing anything.