FoodBanter.com - View Single Post

wrote:
> On Thu, 03 Jun 2004 12:38:56 -0700, Brian Mailman
> > wrote:
>
>
wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Tofu - compared to steak - also has no cholesterol and very
>>>low calories and fat content. This is especially important
>>>to me since I have had to stop taking a statin drug because
>>>it was beginning to cause muscle problems (which can become
>>>very serious).
>>
>>Very serious. I wound up in the ICU in April and then a variety of
>>stepdown units before I escpaed for 12 days because of it. Couldn't
>>even turn over without somebody doing it for me. I'm quite lucky there
>>was no permeant organ damage. They *mention* it (last) in the tv ads
>>but sort of skid through it
>>"notifyyourdoctorifyouexperiencemusclepainorweak nessthiscouldbeppotentiallyaseriouscondition."
>
>
> I know, I read your earlier post (for which I thank you, as
> it alerted me to the possibility).
>
> I'd been taking the statin for about five years ...
>
> What happened to me is that I had gradually increasing
> muscle pain. OK, didn't know what it was. Then I had to
> stop taking the statin drug because I was on an antibiotic
> for quite a while - six weeks - and the particular
> antibiotic I was taking has a bad interaction with the
> statin drug.
>
> After I stopped taking the antibiotic, I resumed the statin
> drug. With my first (first!) dose of it, I could barely
> walk the next day, my leg muscles wouldn't hold me. All
> that night, I had really serious muscle pain. I knew enough
> not to take any more of the statin drug and to go to the
> doctor post haste, which I did.
>
> No more statin drug for me, which leaves me with a bit of a
> problem cholesterol. The doctor has me trying another
> (non-statin) medication called Zetia - this works in a
> different way than the statins. It remains to be seen
> whether this will control my cholesterol level and whether
> it will have bad effects on me. I'm waiting for the results
> of the blood test now.
>
> It also remains to be seen whether the manufacturer will
> give it to me free (on a Patient Assistance Program) because
> otherwise I cannot have it at all - we cannot afford to buy
> it ourselves.
>
> I'm willing to be not only a vegetarian but a vegan (no
> animal foods) to control my cholesterol if need be, but the
> problem is that this doesn't work for me - I've done it in
> the past for as long as six months (NO consumption of
> cholesterol at all for six months) and my cholesterol did
> not budge. I have, I am told, an hereditary condition.
>
> Great. My grandmother died of heart disease at 62. I am 60
> now. I don't intend to check out for a long, long time.
>
> Pat
>
>
> --
> To email me, remove the trap and type my first
> name in its place.
>
> "Rats and roaches live by competition under the laws of
> supply and demand. It is the privilege of human beings to
> live under the laws of justice and mercy." - Wendell Berry

I also have inherited high chloesterol and have done well for more than
ten years on simvastin (generic Zocor). My total C reading is down
around 135 and my triglycerides are normally around 130-135. I still
have the heart disease but not all the high readings anymore. I get a
liver profile every 6 months and so far so good.

George