Lipitor

My Dr. gave me Lipitor, a statin cholesterol drug, and now my insurance does not want to pay. When I talk to my Dr. he thinks there is nothing better. I went to a chiropractor and he says he is the worst thing you can take. Whats up? Is it safe? Is it not? Help. Has anyone had sucess with an alternative?

guinea wrote:

My Dr. gave me Lipitor, a statin cholesterol drug, and now my insurance does not want to pay. When I talk to my Dr. he thinks there is nothing better. I went to a chiropractor and he says he is the worst thing you can take. Whats up? Is it safe? Is it not? Help. Has anyone had sucess with an alternative?

Lipitor can be harmful to your liver and I have to go the doctor every 3 months for blood work to insure that everything is ok. My doctor has prescribed carvedilol along with a Niacin tablet to take the place of the Lipitor but I haven't had my blood checked yet to see if it is working or not. Hopefully it will for it is not as dangerous as Lipitor and is much cheaper because it is available in the generic form. This may not work for you but it could be an option for you to talk to your doctor about.

I shoot Draino to keep my pipes clean. It gives my poo a minty-freh smell too.
Bonus!

I am currently in med school, and when learning about this medication I was told by my professor that he would not give this medication to a dog. It will lower your cholesterol, but there are also a lot of other negative side effects (including liver and kidney damage). Niacin, which is a OTC vitamin (also called vitamin B3), will lower cholesterol; but if your cholesterol is really high I would pursue second opinions from other doctors.

I took Lipitor for a couple of years but quit taking it last year. It did lower my cholesterol but the side effects were bad. It caused me to have weak spells and my leg muscles hurt all the time. I finally got to the point where I could not sleep for the muscle ache. These symptoms went away after I stopped taking the medication. I now that a 1,000 mg fish oil capsule a day as well as liquid B-complex vitamins.

Warning: Long post, not meant to be self-congratulatory, but encouraging!

I was recently in your same situation. I asked my dr to give me another test in six weeks to determine if I could make a significant impact on my numbers without meds. I had tried lipitor once before and had similar side effects to color me blue. My beginning total was 298.

I started by reading labels. I had instant oatmeal, bagels with olive oil margarine and jelly, or poptarts for breakfast. I have frozen biscuits with packaged gravy, eggbeaters, and lean pork chops on the weekends. Lunch is usually a salad, soup, or bocca burger with fat free feta on wholegrain sandwich thins. Dinner is a lean meat or spaghetti or chili made with bocca crumbles with frozen vegetables and a salad. Snacks are craisins, dry honey nut cheerios, sun chips, and fruit. I also take fish oil, flax seed oil, and odorless garlic oil daily.

At the end of 6 weeks my total was 226!!! My dr told me that lipitor would not have caused such an amazing change. I also lost 20 pounds and saved $100's by not stopping at the drive thru every morning and not going out to lunch everyday. I have not stuck totally to this plan, if I am DYING for a real burger I eat one, but I don't beat myself up and fall off the wagon. I have another test scheduled for the end of this month.

Good luck with getting your numbers under control! Read labels and choose the healthiest things that you actually LIKE to eat. Don't feel guilty if you slip up every now and then. If you are in my age range, it took you 40+ years to get your numbers up, set a realistic goal for getting them down.

Same thing here, took Lipitor for over a year. I had terrible side effects, Severe leg pain, muscle weakness, etc. I finally got off of the Lipitor and am now taking Zocor which is just about as bad. Anyone else on Zocor?

DONT take it. It can and will affect your liver for life. The side effects are worse than having high cholesterol.

guinea wrote:

My Dr. gave me Lipitor, a statin cholesterol drug, and now my insurance does not want to pay. When I talk to my Dr. he thinks there is nothing better. I went to a chiropractor and he says he is the worst thing you can take. Whats up? Is it safe? Is it not? Help. Has anyone had sucess with an alternative?

My doc told me to take 2 fish oil caps twice a day and 1 niacin a day. The fish oil lowers the bad cholesterol and niacin raises the good. He wanted to try this before prescribing anything chemical. Talk to your MD about that.

My Dr. did tell me to start taking Chromemate along with all the other Omega 3's, fish oils etc. He said it is used for weight loss. It is supposed to do away with cravings ie. sugar, starch, etc. Anyone had weight loss results with Chrommate. The info says its good for lowering cholesterol. I had asked for fenermine, a type of speed, for an appetite suppresant and he BLEW UP. All the side effects like high blood pressure, heart palpatations etc. Soooooooo I'm trying chromemate. Anyone had results?

Wondering wrote:

Same thing here, took Lipitor for over a year. I had terrible side effects, Severe leg pain, muscle weakness, etc. I finally got off of the Lipitor and am now taking Zocor which is just about as bad. Anyone else on Zocor?

Thanks. I'm getting commited to getting off the Lipitor. Your diet suggestions are helpful. Got to get through the Holidays!

Lower Numbers wrote:

Warning: Long post, not meant to be self-congratulatory, but encouraging!
I was recently in your same situation. I asked my dr to give me another test in six weeks to determine if I could make a significant impact on my numbers without meds. I had tried lipitor once before and had similar side effects to color me blue. My beginning total was 298.
I started by reading labels. I had instant oatmeal, bagels with olive oil margarine and jelly, or poptarts for breakfast. I have frozen biscuits with packaged gravy, eggbeaters, and lean pork chops on the weekends. Lunch is usually a salad, soup, or bocca burger with fat free feta on wholegrain sandwich thins. Dinner is a lean meat or spaghetti or chili made with bocca crumbles with frozen vegetables and a salad. Snacks are craisins, dry honey nut cheerios, sun chips, and fruit. I also take fish oil, flax seed oil, and odorless garlic oil daily.
At the end of 6 weeks my total was 226!!! My dr told me that lipitor would not have caused such an amazing change. I also lost 20 pounds and saved $100's by not stopping at the drive thru every morning and not going out to lunch everyday. I have not stuck totally to this plan, if I am DYING for a real burger I eat one, but I don't beat myself up and fall off the wagon. I have another test scheduled for the end of this month.
Good luck with getting your numbers under control! Read labels and choose the healthiest things that you actually LIKE to eat. Don't feel guilty if you slip up every now and then. If you are in my age range, it took you 40+ years to get your numbers up, set a realistic goal for getting them down.

Sorry I posted my "Thank You" to Wondering instead of you but you can read it there. tips are helpful!