High Cholesterol medicine

[bubba1]

My US doctor is about to put me on medication for high cholesterol. I spend a lot of time in Thailand and want a medication that is also readily available there at a decent price.  Is Lipitor a good choice?

 

[lopburi3]

Lipitor is expensive but easily available and only clones are also expensive and often quite hard to find.  Much cheaper are simvastatin type medications.

[ding]

I got off my statins and my LDL-P levels are actually low... for now anyway! It has been 2 years.

 

I worked calves one day and for the following 4 or 5 days I could hardly walk, the muscles hurt so badly. Never happened before. On the 3rd day I stopped my statins.

 

How I did it is less than conventional and generally frowned upon here anyway, so I wont bore you with the details.

[meatboy]

bestatin in thailand 40mg. 320bht.x 100tabs.if 40mg.is too much cut the pill in half.

[CaptHaddock]

Do you exercise?  Exercise increases the risk of muscle pain from statins from 5% to 25% for moderate levels of exercise.  I have experienced this myself when I started to exercise after having taken Lipitor for 5 years without any problem.  The pain was enough to keep me awake at night.

 

I stopped statins 10 years ago and have been taking niacin since then, 1500 mg/day.  I buy a year's supply from endur.com for about $80.  Not any niacin will do however, so research is necessary.

[lopburi3]

17 minutes ago, meatboy said:

bestatin in thailand 40mg. 320bht.x 100tabs.if 40mg.is too much cut the pill in half.

Lipitor 40mg - 2250 baht - 30 tabs on 9 September (I cut in half)

[meatboy]

i suffered from joint pain from taking 80mg.of simvastin back in the uk.and was put on lipitor and ezetimide that done the trick.

after by-pass surgery i was put on atorvastatin.

all the above are very expensive here in thailand. so 20mg.of bestatin does the job at 1.6bht.a day.

[KittenKong]

8 hours ago, meatboy said:

bestatin in thailand 40mg. 320bht.x 100tabs.if 40mg.is too much cut the pill in half.

 

That's quite a lot. I take half a 20mg Bestatin every day (as prescribed). This was recently reduced from a full 20mg per day (though at least once or twice a week I forget to take them). My levels are in the normal range and I have had no leg pain apart from general old-age aches.

 

20mg tablets cost 280B for 100 at Fascino, with a small discount if you have their free member card.

[ravip]

On 10/15/2016 at 8:25 AM, CaptHaddock said:

Do you exercise?  Exercise increases the risk of muscle pain from statins from 5% to 25% for moderate levels of exercise.  I have experienced this myself when I started to exercise after having taken Lipitor for 5 years without any problem.  The pain was enough to keep me awake at night.

 

I stopped statins 10 years ago and have been taking niacin since then, 1500 mg/day.  I buy a year's supply from endur.com for about $80.  Not any niacin will do however, so research is necessary.

That's vitamin-b3 isn't it?

An alternative for statins?

 

[CaptHaddock]

50 minutes ago, ravip said:

That's vitamin-b3 isn't it?

An alternative for statins?

 

Yes, but pharmaceutical doses are higher than vitamin doses.  Yes, niacin is an effective alternative to statins, more effective by some measures, cheap, and safe.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Cholesterol-Control-Without-Diet-Solution/dp/0966256867/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1487402099&sr=1-1&keywords=niacin+cholesterol

[4MyEgo]

On 15/10/2016 at 2:06 PM, lopburi3 said:

Lipitor 40mg - 2250 baht - 30 tabs on 9 September (I cut in half)

I used to take Lipitor back in Australia until I couldn't find it or Pharmacists would suggest a generic brand which I take now and is called  Atorvastatin

I don't know the reason for not being able to find Lipitor, but an interesting article to read below, not that I have.

 

https://www.drugwatch.com/lipitor/lawsuit/

[opalred]

eat vegemite on toast every morning 

high in b1 b2 b3 and folate

cheers

[samuibeachcomber]

There are many ways to reduce cholesterol naturally,why bother with prescription medications.

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[chiang mai]

10 mg generic Crestor daily, 780 for a 28 day supply of 20 mg tabs., cut in half, cheap as chips.

[ravip]

19 hours ago, opalred said:

eat vegemite on toast every morning 

high in b1 b2 b3 and folate

cheers

How about the sodium content and intake? 

[ravip]

17 hours ago, samuibeachcomber said:

There are many ways to reduce cholesterol naturally,why bother with prescription medications.

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Any tried and tested methods, please. 

[steve187]

17 hours ago, samuibeachcomber said:

There are many ways to reduce cholesterol naturally,why bother with prescription medications.

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you forgot to finish your post

[impulse]

17 hours ago, chiang mai said:

10 mg generic Crestor daily, 780 for a 28 day supply of 20 mg tabs., cut in half, cheap as chips.

 

I'm paying about 1300 baht for 14 each 20 mg Crestor in BKK.  More from the hospital.

 

I have been told Crestor isn't off patent yet so no generics are available.  Have I been lied to?  I'm at $300 USD per month on the 2 statins prescribed by my doc.  Okay now with 100% employer health insurance, but I dread the expense when I retire.

[rak sa_ngop]

9 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

I'm paying about 1300 baht for 14 each 20 mg Crestor in BKK.  More from the hospital.

 

I have been told Crestor isn't off patent yet so no generics are available.  Have I been lied to?  I'm at $300 USD per month on the 2 statins prescribed by my doc.  Okay now with 100% employer health insurance, but I dread the expense when I retire.

I have been buying Rosuvastatin Sandoz produced by Sandoz. I cant remember the exact price but about 900 baht for 28 x 20 mg.

 

Crestor is Rosuvastatin and previously I was paying 1650 baht for 28 x 20 mg

 

Cut in half to make 10 mg to save money

[lopburi3]

Currently using Lipitor alternative here in Thailand which is a lot less expensive.  My purchase 3 Feb 2017 (which I cut in half) was:

 

Chlovas 40mg 60 tables 1,300 baht (650 baht per box of 30 - Lipitor was 2,250 baht for same number)

[mooseman]

I dont understand why people eat statins, the benifts does not outweight the negatives.

 

"In other words, approximately 130 people need to take statins for a year to prevent just one unwanted health outcome, and 500 people have to take them to prevent a single death."

[lopburi3]

6 minutes ago, mooseman said:

I dont understand why people eat statins, the benigast does not outweight the negatives.

 

"In other words, approximately 130 people need to take statins for a year to prevent just one unwanted health outcome, and 500 people have to take them to prevent a single death."

The source of that quote - which you have not provided - led with:

Quote

There's no question that statins save lives when they are prescribed to people with cardiovascular disease. But whether the drugs should also be given to healthy people who do not have high cholesterol or other cardiovascular risk factors has been a long-standing and controversial question.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjGve2S5p3SAhUoKMAKHeVjBMMQFggcMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.scientificamerican.com%2Farticle%2Fstatins-should-healthy-adults-over-50-take-them%2F&usg=AFQjCNE_e5osUKktws69-96HTP2PR2Vgmw&sig2=OPC9sic2QRcYU77EdvDS3g

[mooseman]

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/25655639/

"Statins stimulate atherosclerosis and heart failure: pharmacological mechanisms."

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4513492/

[chiang mai]

58 minutes ago, mooseman said:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/25655639/

"Statins stimulate atherosclerosis and heart failure: pharmacological mechanisms."

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4513492/

From the same source:

 

"The problem with the conclusions of this article, is of course, that the most impassioned arguments made from first principles and in vitro results carry little weight when used to argue against the results of multiple phase 3 trials involving tens of thousands of patients.

Statins reduce MI and cardiovascular death. The data is clear".

 

And since you're clearly struggling to find some narrative somewhere, anywhere that shows statins in a bad light, please try to find something other than just a research paper from a Japanese university.

[Sheryl]

Mooseman's quote  omits the fact that the report actually says "may be" rather than "are" and does not propose that stain use be stopped but rather that it be "revealuated". There is a crucial difference.  Also both it and the other article cited refer solely to mortality from cardiovascular disease, not morbidity nor mortality from other causes such as cerebrovascular disease.

 

What is the case, is that the overall benefit of statins and other cholesterol-lowering drugs on mortality from cardiovascular disease on a population level remains unclear and the subject of debate and ongoing research, and certainly there was excessive hype about stains when they initially came out.

 

This does not mean that on an individual basis, there are not patients for whom statins are beneficial. It also does not mean that statins, or cholesterol lowering drugs in general, may not have benefits in terms of reducing morbidity (e.g.: disability related to pain form angina, stroke deficits etc) or in reducing mortality from other causes, as the studies to date have focused mainly on cardiovascular mortality. In addition, the studies to date may not have adequately accounted for the different types of lipid disorders; the net effects of stains might not be the same in people with herditary (familal) forms as for others.  All of this is still being researched.

 

"numerous studies of cholesterol lowering have failed to demonstrate a mortality benefit (specific to CVD mortality - my note) and the benefits of statins may have been overstated."  more accurately summarizes the current thinking. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4513492/

Again, that refers only to mortality, not morbidity/disability, and only to cardiovascular disease.

 

The research is ongoing and may eventually lead to changes in current medical recommendations. They have not changed as yet.

 

My personal advice to anyone with elevated triglycerides or LDL would certainly be to first try lifestyle modifications. With any disease, it is always prudent to limit medications to the unvaoidable. But we have to be realistic about patients' ability and willingness to undertake lifestyle modifications, and also recognize that there are some hereditary lipid disorders that will not respond to them. Not all dyslipedemias are the same.

 

If these fail to work, and if it were me (which fortunately it is not, knock on wood) I personally would first opt for non-statins such as niacin and if that failed, depending on the type of hyperlipedemia, possibly a fibrate drug. I say that both because of the side effects that some statin users experience and because of the uncertainty regarding stain's net effect on cardiovascular health....but that's just my personal take on matters. Those who have opted to take stains on the advice of their physicians and who are not experiencing intolerable side effects from them and otherwise doing well,  can certainly carry on at least for now until such a time as guidelines are revised.

 

And all of this needs to be viewed differently in cases of people with demonstrated cardiovascular or cerebrovascular disease or special individual risk factors.

 

[samuibeachcomber]

Any tried and tested methods, please. 

Google a web site" natural cures not medicine".On their search button, key in high Cholesterol .. remedies....And see what comes up.








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[samuibeachcomber]

Google a web site" natural cures not medicine".On their search button, key in high Cholesterol .. remedies....And see what comes up.








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For easy access they are on Facebook and I've found them to very helpful.

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[Ace of Pop]

My Doc says I must take a 10 mg Satins thing at night because I'm fat and lazy ,I like the truth,but don't know if it's the exercise I've started Or the Satins causing stiffer joints,the first 10 days were fine,any ideas ?


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[samuibeachcomber]

My Doc says I must take a 10 mg Satins thing at night because I'm fat and lazy ,I like the truth,but don't know if it's the exercise I've started Or the Satins causing stiffer joints,the first 10 days were fine,any ideas ?


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Doctor I went to said my cholesterol was high and he wanted me to take statins but that I should come back every month to check that my liver was OK.when I asked why my liver might not be OK I was told that statins block an enzyme in the liver that produces cholesterol...Good cholesterol that is.I declined the statins.



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[Ace of Pop]

4 minutes ago, samuibeachcomber said:

Doctor I went to said my cholesterol was high and he wanted me to take statins but that I should come back every month to check that my liver was OK.when I asked why my liver might not be OK I was told that statins block an enzyme in the liver that produces cholesterol...Good cholesterol that is.I declined the statins.



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I go back for blood test Feb 1, see if the 10 mg and no  Beer and exercise has helped a bit.He did mention the liver,will have to see, been over dormant of late hope that it.