Here comes the LAST RESORT Zetia

[Natanni]

Hey guys.

Nathan's cholesterol has hit the all time high of 328. This was after 308 2 months ago and we have since altered his diet with no red meat (he did sneak in a hamburger or two while snowmobiling with our son, and a few beers). He lost 14 lbs of which he did not want to lose any, and we give up. He is barely maintaining his weight at this time with his rather fast pace job.

Nathan's doc want him to start a med and he was given the choice of Lipitor (which the Mayo took him off of due to moderately high liver enzymes) and the other statins or Zetia. He chose the Zedia, and his doc wants him to home INR test twice a week, as long as he sees fit. Kudos to his GP, who in Sept had never heard of home INR testing, but has been very happy with Nathan's INR stability.

We will update on the progess (or lack there of) he makes with Zetia, as well as any INR fluctuations.

 

[Karlynn]

Just out of some curiosity - what is the cholesterol level of other blood-related family members (mother, father, sibling, aunts, uncles)?

Does he have a regular cardio-vascular workout routine?

I take Lipitor and my liver enzymes were slightly elevated at my last 6 mo. check-up. I go again in May and will be curious to see what that work-up shows.

What was his cholesterol when on Lipitor?

 

[aussigal]

I was surprised to read Nathan has trouble with his cholesterol...
I thought most BAVers had naturally low cholesterol

I know mine is low and my docs have always marvelled at it...then I read on the BAV website that it was a common side-effect of having BAVD...
I guess it shows we all dont get that lucky little side-effect...

My mum has struggled with really high cholesterol for a long-time, her level is more than double mine...I would tell you what mine is but ours is measured differently so it would be confusing...

Hope Nathan gets some lowering of his levels, there are those special margarines and stuff available now too,,,i wonder if they would help any ?

 

[hensylee]

I was on Lipitor for yrs. Finally I just quit. My cardio said some people just can't take it. He put me on Zetia. It isn't as good as Lipitor, but it does help. My numbers have been ok, not what we'd like, but not horrible either.

Family history should be taken into consideration - we get 'it' from our parents. We have no control over that.

I try to watch diet, reading labels, etc. That helps some.

Have you done reasearch via the net? Might give you some understanding of how to help. Ultimately, tho, he must help himself, as well.

 

[Natanni]

Hey Guys...

Nathan's Dad, the heart transplant recipiant, had this same extreme high with cholesterol--in the 300s. They were able to control it with vegetarian diet. We have attempted something very close to vegetarian before but only got it down to the 270s.

Nathan did respond VERY well to lipitor, I think his cholesterol was 180. Don't remember the other numbers.

Lately, I had been reading the back of every blasted label looking for all those hidden hydrogenated oils, as well as fat free everything. I am wondering how soda pop and bread affect cholsesterol. The other thing is he has had very little fruit intake which will have to change.

 

[Guest]

Doctors tend to panic about enzyme levels with Lipitor, Zocor, etc just like they do over INRs that "shoot up" to 4.7. There are so many benefits from this family of drugs called statins (because their generic names end in -statin) that people should be tried on all of them before they write the entire class off. There is a rule called Hy's Law that says that there is not much need to panic about a liver enzyme level until it is three times the upper limit of normal. So if the normal range is 10 to 20, then any level below 60 is probably of little consequence. However, many doctors will give up on all of the statins because someone has an "elevated" level of 21. This denies the person the beneficial effects of the statins not just in lowering cholesterol, but reduced risk of heart attacks, strokes and about 20 other benefits that appear to come from statins. Giving up on the group because one member causes a slight to moderate elevation is not quality care.

 

[Phyllis]

I had to go off Lipitor because of muscle weakness and aches, not liver enzymes. I had the same problem with 40mg. Pravachol, but I am able to tolerate a 20mg dose of Pravachol. However, it did not bring my CHL levels down enough and last year my pcp added Zetia. My last blood work showed that all my levels were miraculously below normal-TC 163 and LDL 90! I have had no side effects from the Zetia. Without medication my TCL was running about 275. I also lost 18 lbs which I'm sure contributed to the good numbers.

 

[ccrawford]

I tried all kinds of statins without much luck until my cardio put me on Zetia. I'm now where I should be and do not have leg cramps or any other side effects. Good stuff - at least for me.

 

[Natanni]

Al-Nathan's liver enzymes had been "elevated" during his entire stint on Lipitor, although not enough to warrent discontinuing the drug. It is when he was in Rochester with endocarditis that his liver enzymes were "high", now exactly how high, I would have to look. They did explain that they like to ride out the low to moderate levels of elevated enzymes, but Nathan's was way out of the safety net. However, it could have been a result of his infection as well, so they did a CT/MRI of the liver and gallbladder. This was all within normal limits so they leaned back toward the lipitor and took him off.

My mother in law has printed off articles connecting lipitor to cardiomyopathy (this was a topic of huge family debate, I had issues with the validity), and really wasn't happy with Nathan being on it view of his family history anyway. My feeling on it was his Dad is battling cancer of the liver and pancreas and I worry about long term side effects with these new drugs where Nathan may have a potential down the road for cancer.

Okay, enough worries. Nathan found a warfarin pill on his chair last night, and he doesn't know if it slipped out of his pill bottle when loading the weekly container or missed his mouth! When we get this straightened out, he will start his Zetia!