JackD,
Another good reason for me to give this a try. My mom had Alzheimer's so if this gives me another way to avoid that, I'll do it.

MrsD,
I value your opinion and I appreciate your skepticism, and I don't take meds lightly. I have tried many and stopped them if they cause more problems than they help. That includes Topamax, Fosamax-like meds, Baclofen, Tysabri and many more. If this causes problems I'll stop it, with no hesitation. [btw, the moss rose survived the winter and I should have blooms this year. Woo hoo!!]

Agate,
if this gets my cholesterol down fairly well, I'll likely take half a pill a day for maintenance. These are easy to break in two. And if that keeps it down, I'll take them less frequently like you do. How are your levels on that dose?

Sandy,
I'm glad to hear that they work well for Jim too.

How many of the campions survived? Mine are just peeking out from under the snow.

I have 4 flats going in the house of various things...and need to get them outside under the cold frame...but there is still too much snow and ice for that! Whew.

Just take care with the Zocor. Confusion, memory problems, aching muscles, are the most obvious symptoms. They don't show up right away either. So be ever watchful. And take your CoQ-10.

I meant campion of course, doh!! I have about 5 or 6 spots around the house. The silver gray leaves stayed pretty intact under the heavy snow. I'm hoping for flowers this year. I actually put stakes by each one but it wasn't necessary. I can easily spot them because of the well-preserved foliage that overwintered. I wanted to make sure I didn't accidentally pull them up as weeds during spring yard cleaning.

You'll love them...they put on a big show. Each year I add about 6 more plants to my spots! The more the merrier! They do increase/volunteer easily too. I put 4 of them in the free city garden at the corner and gave my son 3 for his front yard, near his poppies. The campions will bloom just as the poppies fade.

I bought another variety of campion seed from Ebay. An orange variety with purple leaves. They all germinated, but I don't know if they will bloom this year or not. If they do I'll take photos and save seed like I do. This variety does not have fuzzy leaves.
http://www.gardencrossings.com/plant...s-Orange-Gnome

If it works out and I have seeds you can have some too when that happens. Anything that attracts hummers and is easy and perennial I like.

ewizabeth, you asked about my levels on the dose of Lipitor that I've been taking.

Last April I was on 10 mg/week but the total cholesterol was 204 (HDL 49, LDL an unacceptable 128).

After increasing the Lipitor to 10 mg twice a week, in June the total cholesterol was 168 (HDL 54.8, LDL 95). Still not great for the LDL because they want to see 70 or lower.

I quit Lipitor completely at the end of June. In late August my total cholesterol was 210 (HDL 62.3, LDL 127).

I went back to 10 mg a week, and in December the LDL was down to 101. Since the doctor thought this was still too high, I've been taking 10 mg twice a week and will have a recheck soon. I'm hoping I won't have to increase the Lipitor any more.

The doctor says that with Type 2 diabetes I probably can't expect to have an acceptable cholesterol reading without one of the statins.

Just so you know....

Metformin may reduce cholesterol too.

I took it several years ago and it had that effect...however, metformin is so rough on the GI tract.

I am now back on it using a new form called Glumetza. So far no side effects on the GI issue!

Eating sugar and fructose will also increase cholesterol. As does
alcohol. It has to do with the liver metabolism of fructose.