Cholesterol again

[trophywench]

I've said before that my diabetes consultant wants my Chol level to be less than it is - currently 5.5. No idea of the breakdown - nobody does one for me these days, the hospital nor the GP - so for all I know 5 of that could be HDL or all of it Trigs (I know that's not possible - years ago my HDL was always 'good' but not 'very good' c 1.8/1.9 and the trigs usually 'OK' at1.6 ish, and then over 3 was LDL)

So once again he wants me to go onto Ezetamibe,

So if anyone takes it (on its own not with a statin) -please tell me about it. I found a thread where @Flower said she's been put on it and then told not to take it any more, and one where Vicsetter says he's on the combination with statin sort.

I only see a nurse re my intermittent claudication and she has only ever mentioned a statin, and I've told her I took myself off em cos of the side effects they caused me - all these folk only look at their speciality, so she's only interested in the state of my arteries whereas to me there's no point staying alive if I can't remember my name and I may just as well die of the consequences of hardening of the arteries, as anything else.
Anyone?

 

[Amigo]

I've said before that my diabetes consultant wants my Chol level to be less than it is - currently 5.5. No idea of the breakdown - nobody does one for me these days, the hospital nor the GP - so for all I know 5 of that could be HDL or all of it Trigs (I know that's not possible - years ago my HDL was always 'good' but not 'very good' c 1.8/1.9 and the trigs usually 'OK' at1.6 ish, and then over 3 was LDL)

So once again he wants me to go onto Ezetamibe,

So if anyone takes it (on its own not with a statin) -please tell me about it. I found a thread where @Flower said she's been put on it and then told not to take it any more, and one where Vicsetter says he's on the combination with statin sort.

I only see a nurse re my intermittent claudication and she has only ever mentioned a statin, and I've told her I took myself off em cos of the side effects they caused me - all these folk only look at their speciality, so she's only interested in the state of my arteries whereas to me there's no point staying alive if I can't remember my name and I may just as well die of the consequences of hardening of the arteries, as anything else.
Anyone?

I occasionally have the same discussion with the doc Jenny but so far have resisted statins. My levels seem similar to yours. Ezetamibe seems to be used for people who can’t tolerate the usual cholesterol lowering medications.
I’ve no interest in taking them after my husband’s experience but in relation to your intermittent claudication, has Pentoxifylline been mentioned to you? I have a doctor friend with the same condition as me who believes it’s a wonder drug for vascular and lots of other conditions (including tumour suppression and NAFLD).

 

[Flower]

Hi Jenny.

I still take Ezetimibe I've taken it for years after reacting badly to statins. I haven't got raised cholesterol but due to my ability to fast track to severe complications I've been told to take it .

I haven't had any side effects from it to my knowledge. I've not had the muscle problems statins caused or brain fog. As I haven't had and still don't have raised cholesterol I can't say how effective it is as a drug but I'm willing to carry on taking it as a preventative measure.

I was very reluctant to take it after my experience with statins but thankfully it didn't cause me problems and as long as that stays the same I'll swallow the tablets.

 

[Forgetful55]

Hi my cholesterol is 6.2 I said no to statins but D nurse did not argue too much as my HDL is 3 due I think to not much red meat and lots of fish ( mainly due to Hiatus Hernia which likes fish better than too much meat) I also do 2 aqua classes a week (most of the time) and walk quite a lot.

I personally would never take statins as I know personally 3 people who have experienced bad side effects and I hate taking meds apart from my HH ones which I really need. I think I would rather take my chances in later life regarding heart attacks etc rather than have a bad quality of life now but that's just my opinion.

I also have read quite a lot into the statins hypothesis and am not sure I agree with the current obsession with reducing cholesterol.

In the end its your body and your choice .. hope you get it sorted !

 

[trophywench]

has Pentoxifylline been mentioned to you? I have a doctor friend with the same condition as me who believes it’s a wonder drug for vascular and lots of other conditions (including tumour suppression and NAFLD).

No - never been mentioned and I've certainly not heard of it before. Off to Google go I !

 

[trophywench]

Probably they save it for people who can't walk far at all - I start off at approx. 150 yards but I can't keep on, it gets less and I need longer to rest in between each bout - so round the block here - a 10 minute walk, takes me half an hour and both feet went numb halfway round, not many places to rest, and I can hardly lift my feet off the ground by the time I get home. I am in so much pain I have to lie down, usually for half an hour after that.

I'd been standing a while before I fell up the speed bump and both feet were burning - though not much pain in my leg before I smashed my knee - so I know that caused the fall.

I wonder if it's a drug that the hospital would have to recommend - and wonder if I would stay on the Clopidogrel. The other thing is it's contra indicated if you've has 'recent bleeding in the eye' - well if it's retinopathy it can be over 12 months till I found out I had. Bit of nuisance if it could help the pain/distance - however if my problem is VLDL it won't help that anyway!