which statin is good for lowering chol... - Cholesterol Support

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which statin is good for lowering cholesterol

marine profile image
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marine
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Mike262 profile image
Mike262

It largely depends on the individual and how well they tolerate specific statins. Cholesterol appears naturally in the body, but damages/blocks the blood vessels when it reaches high levels of bad cholesterol. You will need to work with your GP to find a statin which lowers your levels without causing you side affects. Personally I reacted very badly to a high dose of Atorvastatin, but was then prescribed Rusavastatin on a graduated dose to allow my metabolism to adjust to it. It may work differently with you so you'll need to try what the Doctor prescribed. Other tips, adjust your diet to reduce or cut out cheese, crisps, pastries, cream etc and include oily fish twice a week and take regular exercise - swimming and cycling are particularly good because they are non-impact. Also you can swim and cycle has hard or as easy as you want consistent with your level of fitness. Good luck.

Krivda profile image
Krivda

In my country doctors prefer to prescribe Crestor.

Mike262 profile image
Mike262

Crestor is a brand name for Rosuvastatin calcium. It has been described by some as the "guerrilla" statin, but I was started on 5mg every other day, then 5mg every day, then 5mg one day and 10mg the next and then up to 10mg every day. This has reduce my TC from 7.8 to 4.7. We tried doing an extra 5mg, but this caused some side affects. Cardiologists now apparently like the level down below 4.

Aliwally profile image
Aliwally

Not sure if it should be gorilla or guerrilla Mike! Both would have the same effect, so I reckon it's interchangeable.

10mg rosuvastatin gave me a terrible cough, so I stopped after a couple of months. I have not heard of anybody else having this side effect.

Mike262 profile image
Mike262

IPad spell correct bah!

Mike262 profile image
Mike262

thefreedictionary.com/guerr...

spats profile image
spats

in short - all or none!! It depends ion why you are needing them.

Yeah but what is the target or are targets out now? The article doesn't say. I started out on 80mg of Lipitor that made me ill, though it cut my cholesterol to dangerously low levels (just over 1.1). I halved the dose to 40, then stopped it altogether for about a month. My levels went up to 7.7 so I went back onto Lipitor but 20mg then 10mg and now have a level of about 4 which is good enough for me.

BTW, I had a heart attack just over a year ago and had two stents fitted. Currently feeling ok.

sandybrown profile image
sandybrown in reply to

Hello,

Are you feeling better after your heart attack? What seconday medication are yuo taking after your heart attack?

Was it total cholesterol at 1.1?, what about the others like HDL,LDL and TGC?

I am sixty seven, and I want to be prepared!

I had both high BG and cholesterol as per blood test two years ago.

Life style change (going to gym every weekend and different food intake) reduced the BG but not the cholesterol. I am on 20mg statin at the moment and my next blood test is at the end of June.

Did they do any other test to explain the the reason for your heart attack?, Or is it high cholesterol caused your heart attack?

I would appreciate any offer of help from you., thanks.

in reply to sandybrown

Much better thank you but it took a long time, adjusting doses and even time of the day to find the right balance. Went through quite a few bad patches tho.

Couldn't tell you offhand what was 'good' and 'bad' cholesterol but the doctor and the specialist seem happy. Essentially, I decided on the dose as I suspect that the docs over-medicate just to be on the safe side (but obviously not the patients). 80 mg of Lipitor messed me right up!

As to other meds, well for a year I was on Clopidogrel (for the stents I think), Ramipril, Bisoprolol (both blood pressure, heart rate), Aspirin (blood thinner), something to counteract the aspirin and of course the statin.

One downside is you feel the cold more, and the texture and flexibility of my skin changed and for quite awhile I bruised very easily, though this seems to have improved.

As to the cause, well aside from smoking most of my life (which has no bearing on my cholesterol but definitely on my heart!). I've always had a healthy diet, I'm not over weight but about five years ago I discovered that I had an underactive thyroid and apparently it's the second most common cause of high cholesterol (see: naturalnews.com/028816_thyr... ). So I also take thyroxine. Initially, my gp denied this until I sent him this article.

I've had no tests for the cause but it could be genetic as my father died young (47) from a heart attack and two of his brothers also died of heart attacks. On my mother's side, all her brothers died of heart attacks, so who knows? I've outlived my dad by 20 years.

Also, while your at it get you vitamins checked like D, B12 and your iron. I supplement every other day with vit D3/K2 (a 1000 mg I think).

sandybrown profile image
sandybrown in reply to

Hello,

Thanks for your explanation. It is diffciult for me to check on my family!, I managed to read on the web to understand both BG and cholesterol. when i go to my GP next, I have a number of questions for blood test, will ask for all of them to be checked. I am alergic to asprin and asprin products, have raised this with my GP for blood thining. I have been to Lif-line screening and have record of two years ago test and this year test for my GP to compare the resilts. NHS/GP is watching the money.Some times to is difficult to get the medication you want ,GP wants to gove you cheep medication.

Thank you for yor help.

Krivda profile image
Krivda

Thankfully, so far I have not had any side effects from Crestor (Rosuvastatin). I have tried 10 mg and 20 mg. However, I take Omega 3 and Q10 pills twice a day.

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