I had some bad side effects with Lipitor, I am now on Lovastain (like Crestor) and its great. No problems at all.
Try taking some fish oil & niacin that helps with High Cholesterol

Crestor nearly ruined my life and my health. I say nearly because I am still alive. But my quality of life has been seriously and permanently compromised.

High cholesterol is a genetic characteristic in my family, even though we tend to be lean and active. It's a tough battle, when sensitive to statins, as I am.

I am very careful about what I eat, religiously so. I also add plenty of healthful foods and supplements that have greatly improved my numbers. One of the most significant of which has been triple strength fish oil, recommended by my physician. It made a difference within one month.

It's easy, I think, to eat a healthy diet....as long as it's delicious. I control my cholesterol almost entirely by diet. Same for my blood sugar and high blood pressure.

You cannot be lax, If you want to get those numbers down without those medications.

I was taking statins and I was to the place that I could hardly walk from all of the muscle aches I was having. My Cardiologist took me off of the statins and told me to take 2 Red Yeast Rice and 2 Fish Oil tablets twice a day. I hope it works and looking forward to my physical next month. You might ask your doctor about this combination.

My LDL was going up, and I had an ultra sound done on my legs to check for blocked arteries this past August. My bad cholesterol was up a bit, but not enough for my doctor to be concerned. But when my ultra sound came back that my arteries were 50% blocked, she wanted me to take 5mg of Crestor. Which I did for 30 days. Only 30 days. In the meantime I did some research on the long term effects of statins on the body: mainly the eyes (can cause glaucoma) and the brain (can be what cause Alzheimers). The brain actually needs cholesterol to function. When you start taking the drugs that rid the body of cholesterol you do the brain damage.

Instead I decided to stick to the Ketogenic diet. I started it in July and after 2 weeks fell off the wagon. I thought it was hard: I missed my Starbucks frapps, my bread, my fries........ Then I got my test results and jumped back on the wagon.

I'm down 30 pounds so far. I have more energy. I began working out by walking on my treadmill, lifting weights, doing a few floor exercises, and playing on my WiiFit. I find eating this way (it's a high fat, low carb diet), I feel more alert. Less hungry. I sleep better. My moods have leveled out. And in June when I go for my yearly check up, I'll find out for sure if the real butter, heavy whipping cream, extra meat and eggs have lowered my cholesterol.

There has been a ton of stuff on the news lately about sugar and carbs being the culprit in obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, joint pain, even mood swings: it's helped people with bi-polar disorder!

My daughter has dropped 85 pounds in 12 months this way. She's my inspiration. My goal is to see what my counts are like in June. I've read so much positive reports on the diet I've been on, that I hope that I can continue with it and make it a life long way of eating.

Time will tell if it's working for my health. As a side note: my feet aren't as cold as they used to be, and I do take a hand full of vitamins.

I've been taking Lipitor for 10 years or more and have had no noticeable health consequence. Other than a significant drop in cholesterol numbers. I also exercise and try to watch my diet.

I thought it was a rather low percentage of those taking statins who may have adverse effects. I don't say that with any confidence, I really don't know. There are risks of taking statins, but aren't the risks of not treating high cholesterol even greater? You should get your doctor's opinion on that question, but maybe it's implicit in recommending you take Lipitor.

My doc told me way back that while diet and exercise are important (for other reasons too), higher than desired cholesterol levels usually can't be effectively controlled without drugs.

debby, way to go!

My doctor wanted to put me on Lipitor but after seeing the damage it caused to several friend I said let me try something else. He laughing said ok IâÂÂll give you 6 week and see if you can do it without medication.

I did some reading up on the subject and started taking red yeast rice, 600mg, once and a day. Changed nothing else and my numbers went from 221 to 164 in 6 weeks my doctor was amazed.

One google search found material from several sources that said that many samples of red yeast rice contain a substance identical to one type of statin. That's thought to be the reason for its cholesterol reducing effect. A problem with getting statins from this source is that supplement manufacturing is unregulated (and unreliable as a result). In particular, one source suggested another problem is that the statin concentrations were found to be inconsistent from one sample to another.

If you doctor is well informed on the topic, his chuckle may have been because he saw you were following his advice but you were thinking that you weren't.

I also have had problems with multiple statins and take red yeast rice and have cholesterol under control

Snidely,

I did read that it has the same ingredients as some of the statins but that amount is very small and red rice yeast doesnâÂÂt have all the other crap that the pharmaceuticals have. My doctor was very impressed and told me to keep taking it.

If you think just because the pharmaceutical industry is regulated itâÂÂs any safer than natural products your welcome to your opinion.

Statin drugs caused me severe cramping too, so I refuse to take them. Instead I take 4 fish oil daily, along with 2 Cholesterice, 2 Red Yeast Rice, and CoQ10 which is a must to take if you are taking a red yeast product. Being handicapped, I can't exercise and I do not have a weight problem at 92 pounds. So far so good. I'm checked every 3 months. We DO need "some" cholesterol in our bodies of course, just not an excess amount.

My joints were hurting so bad that I decided to just stop taking it and see if it would help...even the shoulder pain that was supposed to be osteo arthritis that I actually took drugs for went away...I vote no...

247 isn't that high and you can control it with diet or if you feel the need....take it for a brief time to get it in a suitable place using diet as well and then stop.

At this point I am no longer taking a pain killer and I was taking 2 per day...because of that pill.

Thank you for the responses. After reading them and further google searches, I'm going to try the red rice yeast in addition to a better diet and the addition of exercise and forego the statins for now. I read there are theories connecting statins with Alzheimers....not a chance I want to take.

I think an important consideration is to look at your risk factors for heart attack: family history of heart attack before age 70, smoker, diabetes, ^BP, along with ^ cholesterol.

I personally think many dr's have tunnel vision & only treat the numbers.I took Crestor for a year, then started getting significant joint stiffness, stopped the Crestor & symptoms left. My risk factors for heart attack/stroke are very low. Dr admitted the statins would take my risk from 3% to 2%. Not worth the "pain", imho. If I were high risk I would consider them. My mom lived to age 98 with ^ cholesterol & I plan to follow her example. Mine is largely hereditary, & that is very hard to lower the levels with diet, because your body is producing it (we actually do need cholesterol).

Read lots of info from reputable medical sites, along with your physician's input,to help make your decision. It should involve a lot more than the anecdotal stories on a forum.

Oh this gives me hope after hearing how many of you are on red yeast rice...but I am taking more than what others are taking. I was never told that I needed to take CoQ10 with it...only fish oil.

I've taken a statin for years with no ill effects. I also exercise and eat a reasonably healthy diet and am not over weight. I guess you have a few choices:

Take a statin

Try to control with diet and exercise

Try some homeopathic remedies (which in my opinion are uncontrolled, unregulated substances made by companies out to make money the same as pharma companies)

Live and die with whatever the impact is of having high cholesterol

Phoggie, the health food store where I get our Cholesterice and Red Yeast Rice informed me that I needed the CoQ10 to avoid liver damage, then hubby's heart doctor told us the same thing. Not all doctors have been taught about the use of natural vitamins/herbs but thankfully the doctors we have DO know those things. Some of the red yeast rice out there now does contain CoQ10 as do some of the fish oil capsules. I still take extra CoQ10 just to be on the safe side. As with most any vitamins, whatever our body doesn't need is passed through in our urine according to my doctor when I asked why my urine was sooooo yellow when I had given a sample. The "only" meds I take are Welchol, which was actually developed as a cholesterol lowering medication but was found to control diarrhea in cancer patients undergoing chemo. I take it to control the diarrhea caused by IBS and it works....and I'm sure it too is helping the cholesterol as well, and I take Loratadine....a generic Claratin. I faithfully take a good probiotic, an acidophilus, 2 Colostrum, Potassium, Cranberry, and B complex daily. The less "prescription" meds, the better, is how I feel.

Momrox, did your doctor use a formula to help decide whether a statin would be worth it? My number went up significantly this last time (250? can't quite remember,) and I was worried I'd have to fight him about the statin. After plugging in all my numbers, he said I wasn't there yet and of course I should try to lower with diet and exercise.

"I personally think many dr's have tunnel vision & only treat the numbers." Bee, ain't that the truth!! I think they are so fixated on not being sued that no docs want to diagnose without numbers and tests anymore.

I just finished watching a documentary and one thing you should ask your doctor when they tell you your LDL is too high is: are my large particles high, or my small particles high? If your large particles are high: THAT'S GOOD! They don't absorb into your system and cause the blocked arteries. If the small particles are high, you need to change your diet, and work out: which I'm doing. You can get retested and have your doctor check that.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cereal Killers (free for 7 days - one hour long)

DH's 'high cholesterol' was never more than borderline, yet he was prescribed and took a statin for years. I urged him to stop taking it for a month before a physical to see what his unassisted numbers were. They were even lower than borderline, and his MD agreed that he could stop taking the statin -- also citing DH's then-age of over 70.

Individuals have differing cholesterol levels that are 'normal for them' -- not to dismiss huge numbers. My *sole* claim to physical fame is perfect cholesterol levels. Every MD I've ever had has commented on them. I do absolutely nothing to make this happen.

Doctors are under a lot of pressure to 'protect against lawsuit'. I could support some tort reforms.

I have always had excellent cholesterol numbers.....I eat healthy, exercise and keep my weight down.
But I have a horrible family history of heart disease.
I had to have an angioplasty 3 months ago.
I will get lab work Monday and will discuss statins with my doc on Wednesday.
It all comes down to risk vs benefit.

Momrox, can you let us know what you decided to do? I'm facing this now and don't wanna go on the statin; I have the (generic Lipitor) sitting here and am still not on board....

Hi sjerin,
I decided to try the Atavastatin (sp) which is generic Lipitor, 20 mgs which my dr. recommended. After about a month, I had the same muscle pain and tingling in hands and feet that I'd experienced when I was on Lovastatin previously. Took myself off it. Symptoms went away. I take krill oil and try to watch my cholesterol; we'll see. Apparently my body does not tolerate statins. I have hypothyroidism and have read that high cholesterol is common with this problem.
Good luck with your decision; it's not an easy one to make.

p.s. I "was" momrox; now I'm pipsmom49.

I have had the same number for many years. When I was in my thirties, the doctor asked about my life style, and did not prescribe anything. I exercise, never smoked, daringly occasionally, have always kept my weight down etc. But, when I was approaching 60, I felt I should do something.

I take Pravastain 20mg. No side effects.

Ellen, are you saying your cholesterol count was always high, so you asked your doctor to prescribe something as you approached 60? At first it sounded to me as though your number has always been low, which made me wonder why you wanted to start taking a drug.

No one has mentioned triglycerides. High triglycerides are a serious heart risk, especially for women. I suspect this might have been a factor in my grandmother's death from a heart attack in her mid-40's. She was German/Austrian, and loved to bake.

In my 40's I learned that my triglycerides were 547. The American Heart Association recommends that these levels be kept under 100. My doctor at the time explained that even though all my baking was the "good" kind--whole grains, our homemade maple syrup, tofu, etc., it was carbs that got my levels to that point, and carbs would have to go. And they did.

I take pravastatin 10 mg a day. I also take COQ10. I am a healthy weight(BMI of 22), mostly eat well and am active so I decided to see what my numbers would be without the statin. In 6 weeks it went from 189 to 241 so I'm back on it. I've had no issues with it.

Aren't there cholesterol lowering drugs which are not statins? My husband takes Zetia because he could not tolerate the statin drug, like many here.

Yes. Besides statins, there are bile acid sequestrants (cholestyramine/Questran), cholesterol absorption inhibitors (ezetimibe/Zetia), fibric acid derivatives (gemfibrozol/Lopid) and nicotinic acid (niacin). I used all these drugs when treating pts with high cholesterol.

However, most pts prefer and do best on one of the statins, of which there are several including atorvastatin/Lipitor, lovastatin/Mevacor, pravastatin/Pravachol, rosuvastatin/Crestor, and simvastatin/Zocor.

I added coconut oil to my daily routine and my cholesterol and triglycerides went down. I drink at least eight ounces of coconut milk each day (I haven't had cow's milk in over two years), and I add one tablespoon of coconut oil to every cup of coffee. I also eat coconut stuff like coconut cookies, etc.

What kind of coconut milk do you drink Lindsey? Have you given up all dairy? I would like to as I don't think it's very healthy. I mostly just use grass fed butter and a little cream and Greek yogurt.

We almost always buy the So Delicious brand Vanilla coconut milk, but sometimes we get the Silk brand (also vanilla). Depends on which store we're in. I also eat coconut milk yogurt.

Thanks pipsmom, (I keep reading that as pigsmom!) I appreciate the update. I decided to bite the bullet and start the 10 mg of Atorvastatin yesterday. At least I know what to watch for. Thanks everyone else for your input.
Alisande, that was a crazy-high triglyceride number! And you think it came solely from carbs?

I know it did, Sjerin, because drastically cutting down on carbs drastically lowered my triglyceride number. That was the only change I made.

My dad had very high cholesterol, which he kept under control with a strict diet, but he had no triglyceride issues--and Halloween (with all the leftover candy) was one of his favorite holidays. :-)

My goodness, I guess it just goes to sow how different we all are. If only the doctors would treat us that way. :)

My husband's triglycerides and cholesterol were high....family traits. He asked about alternatives to medication, and our doc gave him diet and exercise recommendations, specifically oatmeal. He followed this advice and began eating steel cut oats every morning. After 6 months, his new numbers astounded our doctor. I started oatmeal, too, and my numbers, which weren't bad, also improved. We followed the additional diet and exercise advice, but I think oatmeal made a difference. Would never have believed it!

I will never take statins to lower my cholesterol or to reduce the blockages in my arteries. I chose to change my diet instead. Statins are dangerous and can have serious long term effects on the body. IMO, if there is a natural way to heal the body, you should do it. Change the way you eat. Go for walks. Take charge of your health. I do the ketogenic diet to lower my cholesterol. And in the meantime also lost 43 pounds. I'll get my blood tested again in July to find out how well this diet works. People freak out when they find out it's a high fat diet. Fat doesn't raise your cholesterol. Sugar and starches do. Processed foods. We don't eat any of that anymore. Just meat, some vegetables, little fruit, cheese, eggs and bacon. Yes, bacon is a food group of it's own........ ;)

43 pounds is great Debby. I did keto for a few months, well, modified keto. I don't eat meat so a lot of eggs and vegetables. I agree fat is important in the diet, though I try to get mine from plant sources, like avocados and coconuts. I'm curious how your blood work comes back, though I think just losing significant weight in itself will improve blood work so it's hard to say what a particular diet does other than as a weight loss tool.

A lot of people do keto, but don't drop weight. They keep up the calories to stay the weight they are. Even skinny people can have elevated cholesterol. I'm learning to eat those avocado's. Someone here told me they like them with lemon juice and so far, it's the only way I can eat them. I put coconut oil and butter in my coffee almost every morning. My ketones are still low: today, 0.6 which is barely in ketosis. When I get back from holidays, I'm going to sit down with my meal plans to try to include more fatty meats. I also have to get back downstairs and use that gym I made my husband put together for me. Haven't been in there since January. On a side note though: my parents live on the bottom of a small mountain. It's like a big rocky hill. LOL I want to walk to the top of it. Mainly so when I get to the top, I can look at the US side and take pictures of Mt Baker from one side, then turn around and take pictures of the city my parents live in. Coming down will be much easier. I mentioned it to my sister last night. I was hoping she would come with me. She said, "ask dad......" LOL