NeuroTalk Support Groups - Starting Zocor tonight

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- - Starting Zocor tonight (https://www.neurotalk.org/multiple-sclerosis/145679-starting-zocor-tonight.html)

There is a thread here recently on MS about Drug Advertising on TV...

Statins are typically done that way. There were even Newsweek and Time articles (not ads) back when Pravachol and Zocor went generic... saying statins are so safe, we should have them in our drinking water! Just a year or so ago, Big Pharma tried to get children on statins! That was all over CNN.

Now that we have almost eliminated TRANS FATS, the heart attack and stroke risks will go down. Trans fats came in the late 30's as Crisco...and ended up in margarine during WWII to save butter. They were very toxic and destroyed cardiovascular health and the health of developing fetus' brains.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dejibo (Post 748404)

I put myself on oatmeal for breakfast at least 5 out of 7 days per week

This is where I'm at. I eat the high fibre instant oatmeal before heading out to work 5 days a week, and the other 2 days I have 2 slices of toast with egg whites scrambled with green pepper/onion and a slice of fat free cheese.

Whodda thunk oatmeal would be so beneficial to one's health? I didn't realize it myself, I just liked oatmeal and decided it was in my best interests to start eating breakfast when I returned to work 2.5 years back.

My Folic Acid and cholesterol numbers show the benefit of including cereals in ones diet for sure! :)

With that said, I'm with mrsD about the cholesterol info and what's fact v myth. My father actually alerted me to the cholesterol myth and info, as well as his belief that the real problem we're facing with disease are vegetable oils.

Interesting stuff!

Hope this medication does well for you Ewiz :hug:

They are now saying the whole egg is not a problem either - the yolk alone is so loaded with nutrients that it far outweighs any of the former egg & cholesterol scare tactics.

http://nutrition.about.com/od/askyou...gs_protein.htm
http://www.livestrong.com/article/27...trition-facts/
http://www.incredibleegg.org/health-...nutrient-chart

It's probably more important how you cook your eggs and what you eat with them.

I am thinking of how much my mom loved eggs, I mean, LOVED eggs. We were two peas in a pod, singing along with that old commercial on TV: "I love eggs, from my head down to my legs..."

She used to nearly cry watching others eat scrambled eggs and fried eggs and egg salad sandwiches and deviled eggs...she was a good girl, though, and stopped eating eggs to bring her cholesterol down, making nasty faces at the "Egg Beaters", saying "stupid fake eggs".

I'm not militantly anti-medical profession by any means, but it sure is depressing every time they tell you to stop immediately taking the drugs (or supplements) they've been pounding on you to take forever. And saying you could have been eating/drinking/enjoying whatever after all. *sigh*

Dej,

I eat a large bowl of cheerios with skim milk at least five mornings a week. It's still up there. DH and DS do the cooking now. When I did the cooking it was better. :rolleyes: I don't work out like I used to. I drink a couple glasses of white wine at night. I wonder if that hurts it? Also, I work retail hours so many times I eat a big meal before bedtime when I work the closing shift. I know I could control it otherwise but don't know if I can do it right now. I'm also going to online college so that keeps me in my chair even more.

Mrs D,

That link didn't work. Weren't the higher doses the problem? I'm on the lowest dose. I could even break these in half if I needed to.

Sal,

I'll check out some of those cholesterol lowering products. I already take 1 TB of metamucil at bedtime. I'm sure there are other things I could do.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dejibo (Post 748404)

I put myself on oatmeal for breakfast at least 5 out of 7 days per week and mine fell to 189. Everyone in my family is on the pills stuff but this far I have avoided it.

Im proud of you! being pro active helps. :hug:

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrsD (Post 748449)

I hope you have thought this thru, Ewiz.

Here is a thread that was on MS not too long ago.

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/sh...=remyelination

Zocor is very lipophilic and enters the brain besides making it more problematic.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SallyC (Post 748455)

I had heard that too, MrsD. AT first they thought that statins were good for MS, then the **** sx hit the fan and they began studying them and found that they were not at all good for MS.

Wiz, I control my cholesterol with Benechol Margerine (about a tbsp or 2 per day). It tastes just like butter and has cholestero lowering thingys in it.

My PCP says it's working, so I'm keeping it up. There are a bunch of those chol reducing things out there now....you may not have to take Zocor, you may be able to do it with you diet?

:hug:

Kitty,

My big sister died at age 37 of a brain aneurysm, my mom had strokes starting in her early 70s then later had alzheimer's. I'm going to give this a shot and if I don't have side effects I'll stick with it until I can get my life under control as far as diet, rest and exercise. Right now working on my MBA means I have to sit and study a lot too.

MrsD, I already take CoQ10.

I'm taking the generic Zocor btw. It cost me $2.14 with my insurance for a one month supply.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kitty (Post 748463)

Doesn't Niacin help reduce cholesterol?

I've been eating lots of oatmeal, too, and it really has done me a lot of good. That, along with a good diet and little to no salt works well for me.

Wiz, you don't need to lose any weight, though. Yours could be genetic. :confused:

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrsD (Post 748478)

Long acting Niacin does work, some. But it is hard on the liver and also raises blood sugar for some.

At 244, that is not so terrible.

At least consider replacing the CoQ-10 you lose to the Zocor, with a supplement. This will protect your heart and mitochondria.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8SSCNaaDcE

We won't be hearing much about LDL etc cholesterol in the near future. Lipitor and Crestor will be generic...no more ads. And the new HDL drug by Merck will replace all the statins. It is in the pipeline now.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/...22042020101117

Another simple thing that can lower LDL is psyllium fiber (Metamucil). Twice a day one tablespoonful.

There are studies showing people live longer with higher cholesterol. It is thought to be due to improved immune functions. Also the molecule in the skin that makes Vit D for us during sun exposure is cholesterol based.

What link didn't work... the YouTube?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8SSCNaaDcE

The others work when I click on them again.

Anyway...statins have been shown to increase risk of hemorrhagic strokes. Any small statistical improvement for ischemic strokes , is offset by their numbers for hemorrhagic events.
http://stroke.ahajournals.org/cgi/co...A.107.488791v1
The numbers are not great on either side of this question.

Zocor is one of the most lipophilic statins, so watch for CNS side effects. It is good that you take the CoQ-10 already... you might need a higher dose with the statin. Statins block the synthesis of CoQ-10 in the liver.

It is your decision after all.
This is my post on the Peripherial Neuropathy subforum:
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/post665830-5.html
Also watch for neuropathy.

This link gives the pros and cons in numbers...it reflects a more recent meta study:
http://www.naturalnews.com/028988_st...e_effects.html

This is the study from Canada, in 2007 on women:
http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=...UCPylVneoWax8g

Basically success or need by women is questionable.

So be very watchful for any side effects. Take care.:hug:

(Aneurysms are thought to be inherited).

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrsD (Post 748478)

There are studies showing people live longer with higher cholesterol. It is thought to be due to improved immune functions. Also the molecule in the skin that makes Vit D for us during sun exposure is cholesterol based.

My dad worked outside most of his life. He ate eggs and butter and pork and cookies with trans fats all of his life. His cholesterol was always low. He live to age 92. Maybe if I could work outdoors I could be like him, lol. :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by ewizabeth (Post 748713)

Actually much of cholesterol is genetically determined.
There has also been suggestion that the longer a baby is breast fed (very high cholesterol in breast milk) the lower the cholesterol is in adulthood. Babies that consume low cholesterol formulas, have a higher set point in the liver and make more as adults.

Also it is not eggs/butter/meat who are the culprits. It is SUGAR...predominately fructose.

New studies on obesity and sugar, find that cholesterol is raised by the metabolism of fructose in the liver.

What is even more astonishing is that we've known this since the 1980's!
http://www.hepatitis.org.uk/s-crina/cholesterol.htm

Quote:

Dr. Sheldon Reiser of the USDA has published research in the 1980's demonstrating that dietary sugar plays a major role in blood cholesterol levels. Reiser has found that a high dietary sugar intake raises blood triglyseride (blood fat) and LDL ("bad") levels, while lowering HDL ("good") levels. Reiser's work indicates that it is the fructose (fruit sugars) component of ordinary white sugar which so powerfully elevates blood cholesterol (white sugars, called sucrose, is a combination of one glucose and one fructose molecule). Considering the popularity of fructose as a "natural" sweetener in many carbo-lading, energy, diet and soft drinks and powders lately, Dr.Reiser's work takes on an added significance. The benefits claimed for fructose-sweetened foods and beverages--that they have a low "glycemic index" and thus disturb blood sugar levels less than white sugar--may be more than offset by fructose's blood cholesterol raising power. Dr. Reiser's work makes it clear that the worst combination for creating elevated blood cholesterol, even on a low cholesterol diet, is foods rich in both fat and sugar. Considering America's mania for sugar and fat rich desserts and snacks, America's high national average blood cholesterol levels may be due as much to this dietary imbalance, as to our high national intake of meat and dairy foods. It is relevant to note here that America's per capita consumption of meat, eggs, butter and cream has dropped significantly from 1900 to the present, while America's per capita sugar consumption has risen from a very modest 5 pounds per year in 1800 to about 190 pounds per year in the 1990's!

Also this:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/23/health/23sugar.html

This new medical video explains this chemistry...it is long but very very interesting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

It is not so simple, to apply the same numbers to everyone in other words.

Your dad was probably very high in Vit D... many people from the generations who worked outside, escaped chronic illness (until our medical "experts" said to get out of the sun or cover up). Vit D improves immunity, and prevents cancer when levels are high.

That's right.
What is your triglyceride level?
mine is high ....:(

Everyone always focuses only on the cholesterol # but really health wise the triglycerides can have much more impact.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/triglycerides.html
http://www.americanheart.org/present...dentifier=4778