Poster child for Lipitor?

[Gail in Ca]

I had my check-up with my cardio. I am doing great, looking great, until he reads my past lipid panel. Darn!! Again, he says I need to take lipitor, to lower my LDL. (everything else is great, HDL is high). I bring up the muscle ache issue I have read about on this site. He pooh poohs this, but does tell me that Lipitor has been shown to lower Co Q 10. I asked if he took this supplement along with his dose of Lipitor, and he did admit that he probably should start taking it, although he doesn't have the muscle aches.
So, I check online and sure enough, it does lower coQ 10, and it is recommended that people on Lipitor take 100-200mg of Co Q 10 daily.
I did not know this, so if I absolutely have to take it, I will be taking Co Q 10,too. I haven't checked what it does to INR.
Anyway, I thought this was interesting. My cardio said he was glad to go on Lipitor for all the good things it will do for a person with high LDL.(such as less risk of stroke, subarachnoid hemorage, etc). Well, I will get another lipid panel done tomorrow, and I hope my LDL has come down.

 

[Cooker]

I had my check-up with my cardio. I am doing great, looking great, until he reads my past lipid panel. Darn!! Again, he says I need to take lipitor, to lower my LDL. (everything else is great, HDL is high). I bring up the muscle ache issue I have read about on this site. He pooh poohs this, but does tell me that Lipitor has been shown to lower Co Q 10. I asked if he took this supplement along with his dose of Lipitor, and he did admit that he probably should start taking it, although he doesn't have the muscle aches.
So, I check online and sure enough, it does lower coQ 10, and it is recommended that people on Lipitor take 100-200mg of Co Q 10 daily.
I did not know this, so if I absolutely have to take it, I will be taking Co Q 10,too. I haven't checked what it does to INR.
Anyway, I thought this was interesting. My cardio said he was glad to go on Lipitor for all the good things it will do for a person with high LDL.(such as less risk of stroke, subarachnoid hemorage, etc). Well, I will get another lipid panel done tomorrow, and I hope my LDL has come down.

Gail ... Lipitor is the one that I have tried that does not give me muscle aches ... I am on 10mg daily and my number were good at last months physical, 135 total cholesterol ... I take no supplements.

 

[tobagotwo]

There is some question as to whether the lowering of CoEnzyme Q10 is a side effect or an antagonistic chemical relationship (meaning they may interfere with each other). In any event, realize that if you take CoQ10, you should be regular about it. Your body manufactures some CoQ10 to maintain certain levels in your bloodstream. When you supplement, that internal production goes down, replaced by the supplement. If you stop the supplement suddenly, there can be a sizable dip in CoQ10 concentrations in your body that can last for some time, until internal production picks up again in response.

Please understand that most people do fine on Lipitor or other statins, when they are prescribed in proper amounts for the appropriate reasons. Most of what you see on this site are postings from the people for whom it doesn't work. It's important to give it a fair trial first. The chances are greatest that you'll do fine with it.

I post a high percentage of negative information on statins because I see them misused and misprescribed (such as for reducing valve calcification, for which they have been proven ineffective in several major studies). I also read consistently of practitioners who do not respond to the concerns of patients who are having symptoms that the FDA has mandated they respond to. Toward those issues, I am resoundingly negative.

However, Lipitor has been proven to decrease future heart problems in those who have specific indicators, such as high LDL. It would be a mistake to avoid a prescription that has been shown to extend the lives and health of people who share LDL issues unless there are real health issues that happen to you personally from using it. By far, most people don't experience enough issues to tip the balance of benefit vs. risk away from taking it.

Be well,

 

[olefin]

My wife has taken Lipitor for many years to control high cholesterol. No problems, she did have the liver test to be sure it didn't effect her liver. She has never been overweight and had tried a low fat diet that didn't lower cholesterol.