Re: flax seed oil

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 11/18/04 12:40:39 PM Eastern Standard Time,

descartesmum@... writes:

>

>Thankfully my GP doesn't like giving out statins.

>*whew* She kept going on about them and how people get

>nightmares when taking them. Funny how she is so anti

>but the diabetes nurse is very very pro. Since I

>started going to her she has always mentioned statins

>and that the GP should be giving them to me.

>>>>>>>>>

My cholesterol was 215 a year ago at diagnosis. HDL 40, LDL 138. I started

diabetes treatment, started regular exercise, started various supplements

including flax, and in August, my numbers were virtually unchanged except the

HDL

was up to 47 (from drinking red wine, no doubt).

I started lipitor in August -- 10mg at night. Cholesterol now 150, LDL 68,

HDL 48. I think this is a terrific med - does what it's supposed to do. No

side effects that I can see. I had already been taking coQ10 so I just

continued.

I always wonder at the fear of statins. Lipitor has been around a while and

basically causes few problems given the number of people taking it. Metformin

has side effects too, but people don't seem to veer away from it. Aspirin

can do real damage, but plenty of people take it every day, same with tylenol.

Shrug.

I think it's great. I appreciate it almost as much as I do my prescription

prilosec which I think is the wonder drug of wonder drugs. Started taking it,

no more pain for reflux. It helped immediately and it works perfectly. Did I

try other things before the prilosec? Sure - just about everything - but I

wish I had gone to the doctor about it much sooner. I'd give up a lot of meds

before I'd give up this one.

For both, quality of life matters a lot to me. Both allow me to live a

better life - more enjoyable. I wasn't willing to give up spicy foods and

caffeine

and wine and anything with fat in it. Didn't work anyway.

YMMV

Stacey

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 11/19/04 4:11:31 PM Eastern Standard Time,

jlnhjm@... writes:

>

>How interesting Stacey, my drug that I would not give up is protonix.

>Before I was the heartburn queen of the world, stage 2 esophageal

>disease, now I can eat anything. No more tums in the middle of the

>night. This was the one that worked the best for me.

>>>>>>>.

Helen, when I went to the doctor, it was last year in October, and I went

because I had been taking prilosec over the counter for 2 weeks and when I

stopped all the pain of the last few years came back. The box instructions said

to

see a doctor if that happened, so me, being the good little soldier, went to

see a doctor for the first time in 12 years (or something like that), having

ignored all the diabetes symptoms, which, frankly, were as nothing compared to

the reflux pain, and they were far from nothing.

Doctor hateful (now a former doc) gave me samples of protonix which worked

great, then a month later, after bloodwork he prescribed, diabetes got

diagnosed. In January, I saw a gastroenterologist who did the upper endoscopy

and a

stool test and said, reflux, damage showing, hiatal hernia. He felt that all

the reflux meds were comparable and I should check with my insurance on what the

best coverage was and go with the cheapest, and if that didn't work we'd try

another. I get the generic prilosec for $7 per month (my only generic med!).

All the others were $50 co-pays (I guess to encourage people to use the OTC

prilosec), and all the reflux meds required prior approval.

It worked great, still does. When I need to get a new script, the gastro

doc's office is so amazingly efficient and pleasant that I wish all my dealings

were with them.

Prilosec - the wonder drug.

I used to (not really) laughingly say that water gave me indigestion.

Breathing did. And now I can eat whatever I want, no pain at all. From my cold

dead hands, as the saying goes. That pain was not to be believed, and I lived

with it for over a year. Took pepcid daily, tums all the time, they didn't help

much. alka seltzer heartburn relief worked for about a half hour.

Stacey

[Guest guest]

How interesting Stacey, my drug that I would not give up is protonix.

Before I was the heartburn queen of the world, stage 2 esophageal

disease, now I can eat anything. No more tums in the middle of the

night. This was the one that worked the best for me.

After a few years of healing, I backed down to a dose every M, W, F

morning. Works like a charm. I am susceptible to pneumonia, three

times in the last 12 years. Sneaky ones that do not involve fever,

rather they hurt. In fact, I never felt the last one, it was picked up

when I had an x-ray for other reasons.

Lipitor, which does work well for me, is still something I would rather

do without. I have so many aches and pains, I don't want something that

could make them worse. Quite frankly, I do not know that it does; I do

know that without it, no matter how I eat, exercise and supplement, my

cholesterol goes into the high 300s.

I also found out, too late for me, that high tris, which I had too, in

the presence of high bgs is toxic to beta cells. Lipitor keeps my tris

down in the 70s.

Helen

[Guest guest]

> After a few years of healing, I backed down to a dose every M, W, F

> morning. Works like a charm. I am susceptible to pneumonia, three

> times in the last 12 years.

The acid in the stomach protects us against infection, so those drugs that

reduce stomach acid also make us more susceptible to infections. It's a

balancing act.

Gretchen