I know I'd be rather wary--
 

--of going on Lipitor with your history (depsite the doctor's take on it); would Zetia perhaps be a better choice (if not contraindicated)? And perhaps some niacin (or did you have a particular flushing problem with that in the past)?

The bigger question, though, is what jumped your cholesterol numbers to those levels? Forteo certainly may have contributed, given its effects on Vitamin D metabolism, but I haven't been able to find anything that points to a real link this morning (admittedly it's been a very cursory search). Could there be other possible culprits? I somehow doubt you've been consuming lard.

re: Lipitor...
 

Well, why don't you start your investigations with why it is always Lipitor?

LIPITOR

It doesn't have to be THAT statin, does it? ( the answer to this is YES, because right now Pfizer is doing the biggest push ever for any drug ever, to get the last drop of $$ from the patent which is expiring very soon. When that happens, you will see a push then for the toxic Crestor, since it is the last one left. And you will see more true studies made public showing statins are flawed and dangerous like we have seen with other drugs going off patent).

If you visit our PD forum there are posts there about other statins that
are more useful in neurological disease. (Simvastatin for example).
Just type that into the search for that forum.

Then you can watch this ditty from YouTube... and carefully study the graph presented:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=i8SSCNaaDcE#GU5U2spHI_4

You can hit the pause button at will.

Then you can check out this website:
http://www.cholesterol-and-health.co...olesterol.html
If you search Monica study cholesterol you can find articles like this one:
http://www.forces.org/evidence/files/cardio.htm

In the end it is your decision of course.

And as far as your nose is concerned... remember the simple medical fact that the royal road to your brain, is the olfactory bulb. What do people do with recreational drugs? They SNORT them, whenever possible.
http://pharmalicensing.com/articles/..._37d4cd6e18626
Now when one wants and needs a drug to go to the brain effectively, then this delivery system is ideal. When one puts drugs you don't want in your brain, into a nasal delivery system that expedites them there, you get problems. Like Decadron.
The fluroquinolones are the most neurotoxic of the antibiotics out there, and you consider shooting them right into your brain this way? This logic elludes me. This is why I won't recommend nasal vaccines.

Thanks, Mrs D, I'm going to work my way through these sites. I do know that the cholesterol idea is an oversold idea, and that the goals of cholesterols as low as they are being sent with lipitor make no sense, but of course, I need to learn a bunch more before I decide what, if anything, to do. Sadly, I do this learning over and over, as I do with many topics, forgetting what I've learned when resolved the issue---that time around.

I don't know what the PD forum is, however; can you lead me there?

...
 

PD forum = Parkinson's forum here.

There are many threads...
there some recent, some not so. Using the search
will be helpful for you.

Thanks, Mrs D, there's a lot to wade through here, and I'm going to need to print and read, which means buying computer paper today on my errand-run.

What I'm wondering is this: Given what you know about cholesterol and given what we know about the importance of good mitochondrial function to recover from neuropathy (I'm pretty sure my mitoochondria were poisoned, and my carnitine is low in the absence of supplements), how would you feel with a cholesterol of 300, the LDL portion being about 200 of it, the HDL about 100.

These are rounded numbers. So far my doctors have all believed that my cholesterol of 225 was not a risk, since the HDL was always high; now I'm over some sort of tipping point for them.

Would you face off on this and NOT get treatment if it were yourself?

Push for simvastatin?

Any thoughts?

Who knows anything anymore?
 

You'll have to decide for yourself.


I am not in reality advocating other statins over Lipitor. Only pointing out that just because they are now generic, they are IGNORED by doctors for the most part unless insurances force their use. In fact Pfizer has cleverly insinuated a study to convince even the GODS of insurance payout that Lipitor is BETTER than other statins. Yes they have. The only statin that crosses into the brain well is Zocor. (this may be good or bad depending on what happens to the patient in the final analysis. But it is a provable fact).

So rather than research the drugs, you should look into why your cholesterol is high to begin with. 1) goes up for almost every human as they age you know. 2) is there some feedback loop connected to your pituitary problem? Cholesterol is a precursor for making all hormones you know. So does cholesterol go up, because we are no longer making estrogen etc?


The studies are just not good enough...
http://www.cholesterol-and-health.co...es-Stroke.html
See how you feel after reading this article! then read this new article on the toxicity of statins to mitochondria:
As long as the studies funded by the drug companies themselves are taken as truth, the waters will always be muddy, IMO.


removing personal information

I am glad they did a culture on your sinuses. Sometimes they suggest IV treatment becuase it crosses the blood brain barrier better than oral, but that also depends on the drug they are using. Either way, the antibiotics will cause changes in the normal body flora which keep some of the more exotic organisms in check. (Interestingly, many nurses when cultured nasally carried MRSA and had no symptoms, obviously because they wre exposed to it way before it was even identified...sorry for the digression.)

I think you are wise to ponder the situation. Will the treatment irradicate it or is it likely to come back due to the dryness or other drugs such as anti-inflammatory or immune suppressants? It is a tough call. How dangerous are the organisms?

On the cholesterol, mine is running high too, not quite as high as yours, and I found if I walked even two miles per day, I got it down, somewhat. I have not agreed to taking any cholesterol lowering drugs and just try diet and exercise and kind of live on the cusp. I know exercise is not in the picture for many of us, at least on many days. I am thinking if I have to make the choice....I am thinking zetia....but I hope I do not have to make the choice. Way back when my husband had great luck with some garlic thing he bought, LOL, but it also messed up his liver enzymes, just like the cholesterol drugs. I have a real concern regarding rhabdomyolosis and those drugs. Again, a really, really hard call.

I am one of those 'fortunate' people who gets so darn sick on most drugs, that I can't take most of them....which will probably do me in at some point. But I guess that is what I have to weigh....risk versus benefit, with very little margin for error. Docs can be too cavalier about doling out some drugs and way too stingy with others. It does sound like they are thinking this thru, as are you, and in the long run, you will make the right decision for the circumstances, and you can't look back on it and ruminate. (Been there, done that and it does no good.)

Is running a large area, high quality HEPA filter all the time of any use? I use one during the winter and we seldom get sick from colds or flu. I used to have hideous sinus problems. Every cold became a sinus infection. If you are dry, don't run the HEPA in the room you are in the most, as it really blows out air hard....very drying. I also got rid of every carpeted surface in the house...(had too, have pets, hubby has allergies). Getting rid of carpet really helped.

time to think
 

The good news is I have a lot of good specialists, and I can punt between them. It was the endocrinologist who wanted to put me on lipitor, but I also have a cardiologist. I sent him the numbers, and he called me today, saying he's concerned, but thinks they may come down further back to where they used to be. He said HDL usually never changes over time without something going on, so he's not at all sure why my HDL is lower than it had been. His recommendation--eat a very low saturated fat diet and let's look again in another month. He's concerned about giving lipitor to someone with neuropathy.

I like that. Still need to talk more with the sinus guy, but again, I'm in no rush to take drugs for anything. I'm generally feeling well, and I'd like to keep it that way.

And, remember--
 

--the way those alarming commercials try to tie high cholesterol levels to heart dsease is a great oversimplification. High LDL levels alone do not seem to have a major coorelation with myocardial events, whereas high levels in conjunction with high homcysteine and C-reactive protein levels do. The other part of the puzzle seems to be inflammation:

http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/g...in-crp-testing

Of course, I know you've had various inflammation issues over the years, but how are those levels currently? You may, as cycelops says, be able to lower your levels enough with merely diet, exercise, and some supplementation to "live on the cusp".

In terms of cardiac risk: My CRP and homocysteine are always low, and I don't have other risk factors, except a dad with coronary disease. My chol:HDL ratio is still good, even with these very high numbers it's 3/4.

I take my supplements, which should help also: I take AREDS formula antioxidants, as well as alpha lipoic acid, CoQ10, acetyl L carnitine, and N-acetyle-cysteine (which keeps homocysteine down). Oh yes, omega fatty acids.

I had posted on this thread that the sinus guy wanted me to irrigate with Avalox. I was wrong; it's Amikacin. I haven't begun, as I don't have enough information to be comfortable. The mycobacterium is called m chelonae, and I've found just about nothing useful on the web. The cultures are still cooking.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.