I am aware that us folks with a gout flare-up are taking many different types of medications but I wanted to know if any of the folks in this forum are also taking Lipitor or the generic Atorvastatin for high cholesterol?
View 4 Replies61 and Yesterday my doctor told me that I have high cholesterol levels. I know how dangerous it can be, I know that it can affect my heart and trust me that is the last thing that I want because I had really good and quality life in these 61 years. He told me that I should not be that worried but he told me that he needs to prescribe some medication for me. He gave me atorvastatin drug. I am wondering how this drug can help me against high cholesterol?
View 8 RepliesI take 5mg generic zocor, how would that compare to 10 mg generic Lipitor? If I go higher than 5 I get memory problems. My sister takes 10mg Lipitor and has no side effects.
View 3 RepliesI just started lipitor. Does lemon juice affect it?
View 2 RepliesI have recently been prescribed 10mg Atorvastatin to try to get rid of some plaque in my leg and carotid arteries. My cholesterol readings have always been within normal ranges, and I have inherited high HDL. I take blood pressure pills which control my hypertension plus Evista for my Osteoporosis.
I have been splitting the pills, which means I am taking 5 mg. at the moment.
The first two days I had a slight headache when I woke up, so I hesitate to take the 10 mg. I was just wondering if anyone else has done this. I am really wary of taking any statin and want to start out slowly.
I've been diagnosed with hyperlipidaemia and high blood pressure. I've started taking 20mg of Lipitor few weeks ago to help me maintain LDL and total cholesterol levels. My doctor who prescribed Lipitor told me that it should also help with my hypertension. But since I've been taking it I got a terrible migraine headache. I was literally unable to get up or to do anything. The migraine pain is especially severe during the night. I could barely sleep. I never had a migraine before, just regular headaches, but not too often. I also got diarrhea and really bad smell when passing gas. Sometimes I feel nausea and cramps in my stomach. I've read that ingredient of Lipitor called atorvastatin calcium could be a cause of migraine headaches and other symptoms I'm experiencing. My doctor is unavailable until January, so I discontinued Lipitor by myself because I think it actually caused a migraine. Has anyone had any experience with Lipitor and migraine headaches while using it?
View 8 RepliesI had a heart attack in June 2012 and was put on many medications one of them being Atorvastatin (Lipitor) 40mg per day. After a couple of months I was in absolute agony with muscle pain which started in my left arm and shoulder, even had some numbness in fingers. The pain over the last 18 months or so has worsened going into my left shoulder and left side of my neck and now is in the whole of both my shoulders and all the back of my neck. The doctor has constantly denied it is any of the meds that I am taking and has sent me to physiotherapy many times, needless to say none of the various therapists have helped. I have been to see an osteopath, this didn't help either. I have had steroid injections into one of my shoulders, no help from that.
My pain gets worse by the week and is seriously affecting my daily life from work (I am a secretary) to driving to doing any of my enjoyed sports of fishing and golf.
I have spoken to many friends on this statin and they all complain of similar muscle pain. Why won't the doctors listen to me when I tell them this.
I have today stopped taking the Lipitor as I cannot take this pain any more. I have previously stopped this on two separate occasions and found the pain almost went away until the Doctors got quite stroppy with me and told me I was going against medical advice doing what I was doing in stopping the medication.
Is there others out there that have suffered this and have found what to do to get GP's to listen to their patient?
I am a 43 yr old male, I had a massive heart attack in August 2014. I have always been very active in my work but was a heavy smoker, did not have a good diet and did not exercise.
I had my wake up call in August and stopped smoking instantly I completely changed my diet and I am taking daily exercise, that is until the knee pains hit me.
I had a stent put into my artery and was put on many pills at hospital, I had no information about what pills I was on until I started to research the pains. Upon leaving hospital I was informed that I had to attend the cardiac rehab gym and to follow the booklet to increase my exercise to get to 30 mins per day. I could not wait to start after a very emotional shock like I had. I slowly built up to a good 45 min brisk walk twice a day and have been doing this for a few weeks, well until just over a week ago.
I was walking and suddenly felt pains in one knee cap and around it, I slowed the walk down and headed for home. I ice packed it and elevated it but it would not ease. I did not sleep very well that night through discomfort and in the morning the pain was terrible. I had doctors appointments and mentioned the pains and was told it was due to me being new to exercise. After a week of terrible pains in both knees, one worse than the other, numbness in my shin to foot and aches in my ankle. My partner said she had been told at work about statin side effects. I did a lot of research and found page after page of issues with knee pains due to statins. I spoke to my Doctor who said I had 2 options either start lowering my dose or start in a very low dose and build back up to the 80mg I was on. I got the low dose but I have not taken them for the last few days and the pain is starting to ease so much so that I was able to walk around the block yesterday although I suffered with knee cramps for the rest if the evening.
I also have been sent for many blood tests and a glucose test. The Doctor called me yesterday to inform me that I was now diabetic type 2. Luckily I had the Pill hand out in front of my at the time that states that blood sugars increase on Lipitor. My Doctor looked up in his reference book and said you're right! I now have an appointment to see the diabetic nurse. I am not convinced that I am diabetic and I am going to request a re test in a months time after I have been off statins for a month.
Has anyone else been in this situation as I am a little worried about stopping medication but the pain is unbearable and I only seem to be getting information when I search
my list of side effects on Lipitor so is severe knee and ankle pains, sleepless nights, aching gums
I have started taking COQ10 as I know this is stopped by statins I am also taking vitamin d and b12 plus omega 3,6 & 9 gel capsules
I am very shocked that more information is not given to patients regarding these drugs also the information in the professional field. I called the out of hours doctor over the weekend to find out what pain killers I could take to help the pain, the doctor did not agree that it was the statins she said she had never heard of pains in the knees etc and to take 2 paracetamol and go to bed!
The main points I have been told by every Doctor is to exercise but how can you when you can't bend you legs to even go upstairs due to pain from drugs supposed to help you
So my latest blood work revealed that I need a dose change and that I'm insulin resistant. I am now taking 200mg of levothyroxine for hypothyroidism and 40mg of atorvastatin for cholesterol and fatty liver. I also take fish oil, multivitamin, D3, allegra, and baby aspirin. My medical provider is focusing on my thyroid before tackling everything else. I should also mention that my mother has non alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver, diabetes, dementia, diverticulitis, and myopathy. I'm considering taking coQ10. I'm just wondering what is the safest otc pain medicine for me to use(ibuprofen, goodies), and is there anything else I should know?
View 2 Repliesmy cholesterol is fine but been to ae the nurse and she told me i have to take atorvastatin?
View 3 RepliesAfter a heart attack in May I was prescribed, amongst other things, 40 mgs of atorvastatin daily as a precaution. My consultant cut it down to 20mgs in September as cholesterol levels seemed fine and I have no further appointments to see the consultant. Latest blood test showed my cholesterol level at 5 which my GP said would be fine for most but, as I've had a heart attack, he'd like my level to be 4 and he's put me back on 40mgs of atorvastatin. He'll do another blood test in a month or two.
Obviously one heart attack was ample and I don't want another and my GP is great so generally trusting what he says but...was a bit upset to return to 40mgs.
Has anyone experienced up and down dosages with statins or have a view on my recent experience. It goes without saying that I do my best to maintain a healthy lifestyle, watch what I eat and all that jazz.
For several years I took Simvastatin lowest dose (cut in HALF) and had good cholesterol numbers that satisfied the internist. That doc retired and new internist did a CPK test last year (my first one ever) and found it elevated to 243 so stopped the statin due to fears of muscle damage.
A year later (last week) the retested CPK, after taking NO statin for a year, was 303 and chol. numbers were back up (see below)!! So, doc says go ahead and take atorvastatin because there is a percentage of people who have high CPK with no other apparent problem. He said atorvastatin is more effective re chol. lowering than simvastatin which I'd had years ago. Is that so?
I am female, 64 years old and at age 55 had a calcium scan of the heart which showed ZERO calcium score. This was because I had similar TC numbers to current numbers and one doc (a cardiologist!) said 'have the scan' -- "find out if you need a statin." When he saw the ZERO calcium score for someone 55 he laughed and said I did not need a statin.
Years later, however, this new internist/gerontologist says that's fine but that is just the hardened cholesterol seen in the zero score, not the 'soft,' which is what travels and causes heart attacks and stroke. Great! Money spent for nothing on the test! Guess I need to educate the cardiologist?
My current chol. numbers before re-starting a statin last week were: Total Chol: 251; HDL: 77; LDL: 157; and Trigs: 87. Ratio is 3.26 -- Doc says he does 'not like' the 157 LDL.
So... a week ago I started on atorvastatin at a super low dose (I cut the 10 mg. pills into quarters so 2.5 per day. I have read in multiple places that it's stronger than simvastatin so wanted to start LOW and research shows that 2.5 is often enough to bring numbers to reasonable levels. I am not aiming to have the world's lowest cholesterol.
Last night and today I developed sharp pains in upper mid section and read the 'side effects' -- sure enough -- it's a possibility. Have also experienced increase in heartburn since taking these pills for a week. Started almost immediately. Is there a connection?
NOTE: Gallbladder removed in '04, before ever starting on any statin at all -- I'm one of the many who still has occasional GB related pains, likely from sphincter of oddi problems (sludge or stones formed by liver). It is called SOD III and it's not uncommon and since it's not a frequent occurrence, there is nothing to do about it per gastro doc. I have not had an episode in three+ years until last night/today, though this was mild.
Any relation to start-up of atorvastatin and these pains? Who knows? I would prefer taking NO statins since they are known to raise glucose a little and can bring on Diabetes type 2. My fasting glucose is high normal already at 98 and type II runs in my family at older ages. Swell.
What do YOU experts think of this? Would you be concerned about taking atorvastatin (or switching to simvastatin, which I took with no obvious problems for a few years?) Or would you just say forget the statins and live your life and don't worry about it? There is NO history of heart attack in anyone on either side of my family before age 80 and no 'strokes' at all.
I am a 32 year old man and i had my first gout attack 5 months ago (right knee), my gp put me on allopurinol 300 mg daily . the medication brought my uric acid levels down to around 5 and my gp says this is the target , it took several weeks for the first attack to clear and left me in pain when i walk for months . my uric acid levels are still 5 ish and i have been getting really bad flares in my right foot quite regular 3 times in 4 weeks now , is it meant to be possible to have attacks when on medication . i feel like a oap with this , i don't drink alcohol anymore (since first attack) and eat a low purine diet , if anyone has any advise on this it would be good.
View 2 RepliesI am 35 year old unmarried female, i am 5feet 2 inch and my current weight is 63 kg/ 140 lb after one year dieting started when i was 77 kg.I have high cholesterol and high LDL issue in genes (my father had high cholesterol with high bp issue). My Blood pressure is normal, My cholesterol was 207 mg/dl, LDL = 160 mg/dl and HDL= 40mg/dl from 2011 to june 2015 with few up and downs but in reports of oct 2015 and march 2016 my cholesterol is increased up to 260 mg/dl, LDL = 198 mg/dl, HDL=51mg/dl, triglycerides = 100 mg/dl ,my other results are
Liver function test result are ALT/SGPT = 16U/L, SGOT = 19U/L, alkaline phosphate = 114 U/L , i am vitamin D deficient. march 2016 current level of vitamin D(25-OH) =26ng/ml . i take 600000 IU two injections in 2013 when my level was 4ng/ml and then i take 200000 IU one capsule in oct 2015 .
My prolactin level is also high since 2002 means between 75 to 100 ng/ml
My menstrual cycle is also irregular means come with gap of 40 to 70 days.
kindly tell me why my cholesterol and LDL is high if SPGT/ALT is normal. Since august 2015 i limit my whole day oil consumption is olive oil two table spoon in a day and one table spoon purified butter in a day. once in a week i eat one dunkin donut, 250 gram yogurt . i eat one egg daily.
Recently been diagnosed with high cholesterol along with my high blood pressure. Was on atenolol and bendrofluazide but these weren't keeping my bp down so was put on lisinopril. I have had pains in my stomach since i started my new meds wake in the night with a jolt, am tired and feel weak all the time, i'm only 43 and not over weight. Has anyone else had these symptoms. I'm unsure what is causing what as every thing has changed all at once?
View 1 RepliesAtorvastatin helps to lower High Blood Pressure? I started taking this 3 weeks ago after my doctor prescribed me this because of high level of cholesterol (290). My normal blood pressure before taking this medicine was 130-140/90...but when I started taking Atorvastatin may BP went down to 115-120/80. I don't know if it is because of this medicine or because I also started a change of lifestyle like regular exercise, fruits and vegetable diet, avoiding fatty foods and carbs. Just want to know if my new lifestyle is taking effect..
View 3 RepliesI searched for 'cholesterol vaccine' on the internet but could only find scientific papers and financial information. I read some but it is really over my head.
Did anyone here use it ? Does your insurance cover it ?
what is the recommended dosage on the RYR (Red yeast Rice)?
take 1 600 mg tablet daily
My diet included Extra Virgin olive oil, and olive oil margarine, and as I was working ( and eating cheese) on a daily business as well as lots of yoghurt and full milk when I was diagnosed with high cholesterol ( 8.9). I tried to bring down my score and virtually stopped eating cheese and ate only alpro yoghurt. I also stopped eating biscuits and made my own as I heard purchased biscuits have a high content of 'bad' fats, but my score still yo-yo'd around 7.9 - 8.9 ( only going down to 6.8 ounce). and was put on pills which was much better. I'm told my high score is probably also due to hereditary reasons as my mother is also very high. Recently docs have taken me off the pills due to press articles and I'm trying to find out what I can do to bring my score down naturally. As cutting out so much cheese which didn't make any diff to my score, can you help as to what else I can try?
View 7 RepliesHubby has had a few chest pains, so we went to the GP where he had an ECG, all pretty normal but we got referred to the hospital anyway, where hubby had another ECG, blood test and we were told that he may have Angina also his Cholesterol levels were high? i am puzzled as to why, we eat a healthy diet, we eat lean proteins, no fats, fruit and veg, we never eat fast foods and all our foods are home cooking and no fats, hubby doesn't drink or smoke, so why? we can't eat any better also he can't exercise as he has chronic Degenerative disc problems which makes him very immobile!!!! so can anyone tell me ,what i do now, how can i lower the cholesterol levels, hubby is a bit overweight but only due to his back problem, not food! he has to go for an Angiogram in a few weeks.
View 3 RepliesHas anyone had an increase in their cholesterol levels whilst taking Sertraline?