GG, I'm with you on this one. Some people feel "ashamed" if they resort to prescription drugs. And they feel a sense of superiority if they stop taking them, even if a doctor is recommending them. Yet they will take untested products from the health food store without question.

Certainly a good diet and exercise are important, no-one disputes that. But there is a genetic component to illnesses. I think taking as few drugs as possible, whether from the pharmacy or the health food store, is important.
But I also think having medical tests and following the advice of doctors is equally important, and can save lives.

Your overall message is good: "...don't just stop without a second opinion..."
But I wonder, did the Cardio doctor put him back on Lipitor after the angioplasty? If so, how were his "liver numbers"?

The other thing I wonder about is, "....the whole eat right and exercise thing lost weight etc.." What supervision or guidance did he have for that? And, if he had such guidance, did he follow it to the letter? What was his weight before he started and how much weight did he lose? What was his form of exercise? Stress control? What diet did he follow? All of this information is needed if one is to come to any kind of worthwhile conclusion

My advice to people is to eat right, control stress and exercise before trouble starts. In other words, the best thing is to not get overweight in the first place. If you wait until trouble is diagnosed, your efforts may provide too little, too late.

Having said that, it is very possible to reverse clogged arteries through diet, exercise and stress control. (Keep in mind that no one can ever give a 100% garantee because no one knows what amount of effort any person will put into any given regimen.)

Also, angioplasty doesn't get anyone "off-the-hook" as far as having to live a healthy lifestyle. If drastic lifestyle changes aren't made, the next step is more angioplasty and, eventually, bypass surgery. In the mean time, a person can get a stroke and I have seen this happen. And I'll add one more thing: Even bypass surgery won't get one off-the-hook for having to live a healthy lifestyle. Clogged arteries can come back within several months or 2 to 3 years. Angioplasty and/or bypass is not a cure, it just buys some time.

What sends up a red flag to me is the 20 to 25 miles per week of running etc.. Sounds a bit excessive and can itself cause stress (raising cortisol levels). And "diet" can mean anything.

Never had any health professional advise that high mileage would increase cortisol and thereby increase LDL . . Dont run anymore due to Knee and foot issues but do walk, and golf quite a bit. Apreciate your input

Thank you
 

Challenger...Thank you for sharing your experiences. Many do not realize that that cardiac issues can be caused by things other than an unhealthy lifestyle. You obviously are not overweight at all. I am overweight and am trying hard to eat properly and lose the weight. I have cardiac issues and know that the excess weight does not help. However, no matter what I eat or what I weigh, I will always need cholesterol lowering medication because my body produces too much LDL cholesterol and my HDL levels are low.

I find the studies about the vegan diets particularly interesting. I am sure they work for many people. However, they do not work for everyone. I have a daughter who has been vegetarian for almost 20 years. She became vegan a few years ago. She is very aware of what she eats. Her cholesterol levels cannot be kept at a safe level without medication. We have familial hyperlipidemia, which, at least in our family, cannot be controlled through diet and exercise alone. We are very thankful to have cholesterol lowering medications and some of us might not be here today without them.

Our daughter Helene, who lives with us, walks for an hour every day and weighs 128 pounds and her cholesterol level, the one that is worried about is 226. Her father and I eat the same menu and ours are lower. She is 46.

Doctor says it is the genetic issue. She will start statins in three months. She just wants to see if she can change things with a big change in diet and more exercise.

I am betting she will not be able to.

Thank heavens for Lipitor and other statins. Bare's post reminded me that there are several choices.

Villages PL, you titled this thread "Lipitor and Generic Lipitor vs Dietary Measures" . You have not mentioned the other types of medications sold to lower cholesterol, and there are many. For instance, I've read that Crestor is the most widely-used prescription drug recommended by doctors.

I'm curious .. do you think that Lipitor is particular harmful?

Drugs used to control cholesterol
•Crestor (rosuvastatin)
•Lipitor (atorvastatin)
•Lescol (fluvastatin)
•Mevacor (lovastatin)
•Livalo (pitavastatin)
•Pravachol (pravastatin)
•Zocor (simvastatin)

Follow up - To answer your question
 

He lost 25 lbs. I was just warning that some are like my husband and jumped at the idea of not taking the Lipitor and it was a mistake in his case.
His liver numbers are only slightly elevated now that he is back on lipitor, and within aceptable range. The doctors said (he has now seen several including a nutrition specialist) that it is genetic. His family all eat raw fish and rice to the exclusion of most everything else (Japanese/ Hawaiian diet - commercial fisherman) and they have all had heart issues. He walks every day now - before it was just the golf course and to and from the parking lot at work (15 min walk). He has added walking laps in the mall since the procedure as it is always raining here this time of year. (Seattle) The docs have added severe diet restrictions and exercise of an hour a day in addition to the lipitor, but say he will never be able to be off a statin.

As an aside to another post- I take pravistatin myself as Lipitor gave me leg cramps and the formulation is a little different and it worked better for me.

My hat is off to all of you who have the dicipline to exercise and eat right. I do not. I live on coffee. - work at the computer in my comfy office chair all day.


Got to get back to work, bye now
Trudy