Guest guest Posted June 15, 2004 Report Share Posted June 15, 2004 Thanks Judy....I appreciate it. D-Ô¿Ô¬O Re: What is CoQ10? Thank you....I have stopped taking the Statin's and the Dr. put me on Zetia...Two doctors have told me that zetia is safe and doesn't cause any side effects but the counseling paper I received with it said otherwise....When I found your group and read all the posts I stopped taking the Zetia and purchased CoQ10.....I'm taking 50 mg's of it daily now....Is that all that I need to do....I had been on the Zetia for 7 months. I was on Statin's for 8 years...I had so many complaints that the Drs. just ignored me.....I was diagnosed with COPD and blamed my symptoms on COPD...then I had a cancerous tumor in my kidney so I blamed the symtoms on that....But the Drs. kept saying neither the COPD or the Cancer should cause such symptoms.....Finally the Dr. said that he had other patients that had reacted to the statin drugs...I was changed from Zocor to Pravacol to Lipitor and finally Zetia...I am still having aches and pains and muscle weakness...Swelling in my hands and feet and problems with short term memory. The aches and pains are so severe at times that I just feel like I can't stand it.. I keep reading that the longer you were on it the worse the symptoms are and will take such a long time to ever get over them...I'm very angry that the Drs. kept me on them so long and that I wasn't aware of the damage they were doing..I'm having a hard time understanding a lot of the information as to what I should do to help myself.. Should I be taking something other than the CoQ10? and what dosage should I be using? D-Ô¿Ô¬O Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 16, 2005 Report Share Posted December 16, 2005 > > I had a call today from my doctor's office about the blood tests they > did last week. It was an assistant, not the doctor himself. She didn't > give me any numbers, but said that the doctor wants to put me on Zetia. > I told her that I was not taking any cholesterol drugs under any > circumstances. She said that Zetia was not a statin, and didn't have > the same side effects. I told her that from my own research and > experience, my brain needs the cholesterol, and that women with higher > cholesterol live longer. She finally got the idea that I will not take > these meds. I know the doctor knows me well enough to know that I mean > it. > Linden > ___________________________________________________ > Try the New Netscape Mail Today! > Virtually Spam-Free | More Storage | Import Your Contact List > http://mail.netscape.com > My mother was also contacted by her doctor strongly advising her to take Zetia after her bloodwork came back and her numbers were high. They left a message on her answering machine that made it sound like life or death. My mother is afraid to take anything. We have another friend who is taking Zetia after having problems with Lipitor. He is doing OK on it so far. (1 Month). I haven't found much info on Zetia. Good grief - how is a person to decide? Have a stroke or heart attack or take poison? Just wish you could trust the drug companies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 16, 2005 Report Share Posted December 16, 2005 Here is my husbands experience with Zetia. This is also after having had shingles about 3 months earlier, so there may be a connection. My husband once again gave in to his cardio insisting he take some type of cholesterol lowering drug. He started Zetia on the 19th of Aug. On the 24th he started having severe back pains, and on the 28th we ended up in the er because they became stabbing pains that would not stop. (I took him off the zetia that day, because from prior experience with the other drugs that is what was causing the problem) As you might guess he had ever test under the sun, and they could find nothing wrong. He went to his primary dr, the cardio, the gastroenterologist, and finally the pulmomary Dr. None of the Doctors or any of the tests found anything wrong...anywhere. The pulmonary Dr. said it might have been the shingles being reactivated. Well, do you wonder what might have reactivated the shingles? My conclusion is the zetia because of the readings about nerve problems being a side effect of some of these drugs. He has not been on another cholesterol drug since that time. It is my believe that if you have problems now like tendonitis or bursitis, these drugs will inflame those problems. The shingles are a nerve problem and I believe the zetia just aggravated the problem. Also....be aware that if anyone goes on any of these drugs.....do not just stop them without telling your Doctors. Unfortunately most Drs. do not tell us that stopping cold turkey can cause serious heart problems. I believe that is what happened to my husband when he stopped the lipitor. He had a heart event in less than two weeks, and it sounded just like what has been described in this info I found on a website site. Below is what they said. If you are already taking a statin agent, do not stop using the drug. Doing so abruptly carries a small but real risk of activating previously silent coronary plaque. Susie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 16, 2005 Report Share Posted December 16, 2005 The statistics on " high cholesterol " and heart attack are not that compelling--read the fine print at the bottom of most statin ads and they say " not proven to prevent heart attack " or something similar. And the statistics for older women is that the mortality rate is higher with statins and lower cholesterol... Linden Re: Zetia > > I had a call today from my doctor's office about the blood tests they > did last week. It was an assistant, not the doctor himself. She didn't > give me any numbers, but said that the doctor wants to put me on Zetia. > I told her that I was not taking any cholesterol drugs under any > circumstances. She said that Zetia was not a statin, and didn't have > the same side effects. I told her that from my own research and > experience, my brain needs the cholesterol, and that women with higher > cholesterol live longer. She finally got the idea that I will not take > these meds. I know the doctor knows me well enough to know that I mean > it. > Linden > ___________________________________________________ > Try the New Netscape Mail Today! > Virtually Spam-Free | More Storage | Import Your Contact List > http://mail.netscape.com > My mother was also contacted by her doctor strongly advising her to take Zetia after her bloodwork came back and her numbers were high. They left a message on her answering machine that made it sound like life or death. My mother is afraid to take anything. We have another friend who is taking Zetia after having problems with Lipitor. He is doing OK on it so far. (1 Month). I haven't found much info on Zetia. Good grief - how is a person to decide? Have a stroke or heart attack or take poison? Just wish you could trust the drug companies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 20, 2005 Report Share Posted December 20, 2005 > > If you are already taking a statin agent, do not stop using the drug. > Doing so abruptly carries a small but real risk of activating previously > silent coronary plaque. > > Susie i previously posted information about increased platelet stickiness occurring upon stopping a statin--a few research studies point to the greatest increase about day 14 after stopping the statin. you could ask your doc what would help decrease platelet stickiness and take it during the 2-4 weeks after stopping a statin--ask about aspirin or plavix? i am unsure of any vitamins or supplements which may help--maybe someone else would know about those..... for those interested in the biochemical explanation and /or studies related to stopping statins: >Statins (at least lipitor) reduces the expression of CD36 and lectin-like oxidized-LDL receptor-1, which is present in platelets. from a couple of studies, it looks like there is a rebound period of receptor expression and therefore platelet stickiness after discontinuing a statin that peaks around 14 days. Thromb Haemost. 2003 Sep;90(3):476-82. Related Articles, Links Platelet hyperactivity after statin treatment discontinuation. Puccetti L, Pasqui AL, Pastorelli M, Bova G, Di Renzo M, Leo A, Cercignani M, Palazzuoli A, Auteri A, Bruni F. Department of Clinical Medicine and Immunological Sciences, Internal Medicine Division, Policlinico Le e, V. le Bracci, 53100, Siena, Italy. pucce...@... Hydroxymethyl-glutaryl-CoA-reductase inhibitors (statins) reduce cardiovascular events by cholesterol lowering as well as by non-lipid related actions. Among them, the modulation of platelet activity could play a relevant role in vascular protection. Furthermore withdrawal of statins has been associated with increased cardiovascular event rate. The aim of our study was to evaluate platelet activity after cerivastatin discontinuation in eighteen subjects that did not accept other drugs and in sixteen subjects continuing treatment with simvastatin. Fourteen subjects at the end of the discontinuation period decided to receive other drugs (simvastatin) and they were evaluted six weeks later. We measured complete lipid profile by the chromogenic method (LDL-C was calculated); oxidized-LDL (ox-LDL; ELISA), platelet P-selectin (P-sel) expression (flow cytometry detection), platelet aggregation (% change of transmitted light), intracellular citrullin production (iCit; HPLC) as an indicator of intracellular NO synthase activity at baseline and 7, 14, 28, 60 days after statin discontinuation. P-sel expression and platelet aggregation were increased at 14 days (p < 0.001 and p < 0.05) in association with raised ox-LDL (r = 0.30, p < 0.05) and decreased iCit (r = 0.53, p < 0.01). Increased LDL-C was related to P-sel and platelet aggregation at 28 days (r = 0.30, p < 0.05). Subjects continuing statin treatment had no significant changes of P-sel at 28 (p = 0.221) and 60 days (p = 0.238). Subjects treated with simvastatin after 60 days of diet showed a significant reduction of P-sel and platelet aggregation after six weeks of treatment (p < 0.01). Our data suggest a platelet hyperactivation state in the second week after statin discontinuation which is partially related to raised LDL-C. Such a finding could participate in the increased cardiovascular event rate after statin discontinuation. Circulation. 2002 Mar 26;105(12):1446-52. Related Articles, Links Withdrawal of statins increases event rates in patients with acute coronary syndromes. Heeschen C, Hamm CW, Laufs U, Snapinn S, Bohm M, White HD; Platelet Receptor Inhibition in Ischemic Syndrome Management (PRISM) Investigators. University Hospital furt, Germany. BACKGROUND: HMG-CoA Reductase Inhibitors (statins) reduce cardiac event rates in patients with stable coronary heart disease. Withdrawal of chronic statin treatment during acute coronary syndromes may impair vascular function independent of lipid-lowering effects and thus increase cardiac event rate. METHODS AND RESULTS: We investigated the effects of statins on the cardiac event rate in 1616 patients of the Platelet Receptor Inhibition in Ischemic Syndrome Management (PRISM) study who had coronary artery disease and chest pain in the previous 24 hours. We recorded death and nonfatal myocardial infarction during the 30-day follow-up. Baseline clinical characteristics did not differ among 1249 patients without statin therapy, 379 patients with continued statin therapy, and 86 patients with discontinued statin therapy after hospitalization. Statin therapy was associated with a reduced event rate at 30-day follow-up compared with patients without statins (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.49 [95% CI, 0.21 to 0.86]; P=0.004). If the statin therapy was withdrawn after admission, cardiac risk increased compared with patients who continued to receive statins (2.93 [95% CI, 1.64 to 6.27]; P=0.005) and tended to be higher compared with patients who never received statins (1.69 [95% CI, 0.92 to 3.56]; P=0.15). This was related to an increased event rate during the first week after onset of symptoms and was independent of cholesterol levels. In a multivariate model, troponin T elevation (P=0.005), ST changes (P=0.02), and continuation of statin therapy (P=0.008) were the only independent predictors of patient outcome. CONCLUSIONS: Statin pretreatment in patients with acute coronary syndromes is associated with improved clinical outcome. However, discontinuation of statins after onset of symptoms completely abrogates this beneficial effect. -- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.