Cholesterol meds and liver disease

[kron]

Have any of you here also taken cholesterol meds while battling a drinking problem?

I do not have a diagnosis if any liver disease and I no longer drink but did drink esxcessively for years . My cholesterol is high. I really think it’s possible that I hurt my liver from past behavior, it’s just not apparent yet.

My previous cholesterol meds not only caused terrible muscle pains, including the liver area, but abnormal liver function tests. The tests returned to normal when I stopped the med.

Now my doctor is strongly urging a new med because of my cholesterol. I want to try it but I’m nervous about the impact in my liver.

[Garyvh]

My prescription of Simvastatin was suspended until my Liver Function Tests improved (actually still not taking them even though LFTS have improved)

Is there anything you can adjust in your diet and activity levels that might improve things?

[valisha]

hi i been told by someone . only recently. if u have high cholesterol. chewing 2 leafs of bayleaf.. im morning before breakfast ..

[valisha in reply to valisha]

reduce your levels

[Hidden]

I'm not well read on statins & liver disease, but I'd do my homework before trying another statin if I'd had problems with previous meds. If you've had bad side effects from a previous statin, the likelihood of problems with an alternate statin is high.

Statin drug's claim to fame is that they have been shown to prolong life in a substantial percentage of those who have already had a cardiac event.

For those without a cardiac history (or family members with heart trouble), the evidence is much thinner. Around 2 in 100 might expect a longer life with statins.

Personally, if I had parents who developed heart disease at a relatively early age, I'd be tempted to keep trying to find an acceptable med.

If I had problems with previous statins, & no heart disease to speak of in my family history, I'd be tempted to punt on trying the new med. I'm not a doctor & this is just my humble opinion.

[kron in reply to Hidden]

My family history of heart disease is complicated. My mother lived to age 98, had very high cholesterol, smoked and yet never had any heart condition. My father, on the other hand, had a heart attack in his late 60s , had more as the years went on, and died at age 81 of heart disease.

But his sister lived to 100. As far as I know she had no heart disease. While she never exercised, she watched her diet and rarely indulged in fatty foods. She also put a shot of blackberry liquor in her coffee several times a week...but no more than that. She might also have a glass of red wine for special occasions, perhaps 10 times a year..

So I’m torn.

[Hidden in reply to kron]

Interesting the women had no heart disease despite high cholesterol, but the men did. Here's a curve ball for you... The "Iron Hypothesis" of heart disease.

Jerome L Sullivan (MD/PhD) first proposed the iron hypothesis back in 1981 as a way to explain why heart disease is so much more common in males than females.

roguehealthandfitness.com/j...

Lots of debate since then and the issue is still not resolved.

webmd.com/heart-disease/new...

I'm a believer & have donated blood to lower my iron. Perhaps there's more than one way to reduce cardiac risk?

[Hidden]

Here's a humorous look at the statin issue...

youtu.be/GqdzJLOQM2I(Not working as expected?)

The Lipitor Paradox!

[kurtymac]

I would check out MDJunction and reach out to mommamac. Her husband drank and was on Statins. Which he then ended up with cirrhosis. You're probably far from there but she always swore the cholesterol medications we're the straw that broke the Camel's back. Also, livertox is a great website, you can research the medication and see what effect it has on the liver.

[kron in reply to kurtymac]

I did check my medication, Livalo, on Liver Tox. It is noted to be only minimally processed through the loan ver. Some more info : “Since marketing of pitavastatin, however, the sponsor has received reports of jaundice, hepatitis and hepatic failure including fatal cases. There has been only a single published report of liver injury due to pitavastatin, so that the clinical signature of hepatic injury associated with its use has not been defined. On the other hand, the other statins have all been implicated in cases of clinically apparent acute liver injury that typically arise after 1 to 6 months of therapy with either a cholestatic or hepatocellular pattern of serum enzyme elevations. Rash, fever and eosinophilia are uncommon, but some cases have been marked by autoimmune features including autoantibodies, chronic hepatitis on liver biopsy and a clinical response to corticosteroid therapy. This pattern has yet to be shown to apply to pitavastatin

[kinsella123]

Funny enough ,I'm on colestrerol tablets and having liver test abnormal results i did look it up and maybe there is a similarity ,been on them 6 months and started getting abnormal liver results around the same time .....got me thinking now

[Febeli57]

Hey kron sonwhatsvthe Follow up did you take statins I took simvastatin and I think it made my liver disease start liver enzymes went through the roof in the 3 month I took it

[kron in reply to Febeli57]

Yes, Livalo but only every 3rd day and only 1/ 2 a pill . It’s making a difference although not as much as my doctor would like.

. I still have borderline abnormal liver tests but nothing like any other cholesterol meds. I had some pain the other day that had me nervous about out possible pancreatitis but it did fade away after a couple of days. I think it was simply some intestional spasms or something minor.