Recently my doctor put me on a very low dose of cholesterol medicine as I was borderline.
Anywho, after taking it for a couple of days I noticed I wasn't able to remember things like I use to. After a week, my memory was so fogged up. I have stopped the medicine a week ago and my mind is back to being clearer. Whew !!
Makes me wonder how many of our love ones are on medicine that is messing with their memory? I realize this won't happen to everyone.
I think if a person is experiencing issues, they should discuss it with their doctor. Just because meds don’t affect some people doesn’t mean that it won’t affect others.
My brother has had numerous serious heart issues and several major surgeries. His doctor initially placed him on statins. He simply could not tolerate them. The doctor found an alternative medicine for him. He is taking several medications for his heart. He is taking four blood pressure meds.
Honestly, it’s a miracle that he is alive. He died during one of his surgeries but they were able to bring him back.
He researches every single medication that he is prescribed and discusses them thoroughly with his cardiologist and primary care doctor.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correlation_does_not_imply_causation
My 93-yr old Mom, 100-yr old Aunt and 103-yr old Aunt (all sisters) all have cholesterol of 300+. Mine is 245+. Every year my primary doc starts talking to me about the statins nonsense and I just point to my very healthy LOs who have lived long lives. End of discussion. I play tennis regularly, eat home-cooked healthy meals 95% if the time, drink in moderation, maintain a reasonable weight and have never smoked anything. I'm not worried.
My husband's cholesterol is about 120 and he consumes more McDonalds and Oreos than I care to think about. His has always been very low. There is no heart disease in his family, or mine.
JoAnn29: "You know Drs get kickbacks for prescribing certain drugs." This is already against the law here in the States. And pharma companies cannot give them gifts above a certain value nor pay for travel or vacations etc. I work in medtech marketing and we have to be very careful about how we promote drugs and therapies to docs. It would end their careers. I've not heard of a kickback case in decades.
I dragged out a DNA medicine test I had taken a few years back. Sure enough, "statins" were an issue, the test showed what meds to use with caution and what to avoid. For me, best to stay away. Also on that list were meds for acid relfux, no wonder none of the over-the-counter meds for acid relfux didn't work, my DNA ignored them. So I use good old fashion Tums which work instantly :)
My RN boss felt its pharmaceutical hipe. Years ago the borderline was much higher and its come down now to 200. When I went to my new doctor, first thing out of his mouth was Lipitor. This is the worst of the Statins and causes the worst side effects. My Mom took Statins for years, she had Dementia. When I told my Dr I refused to take Statins, he did not argue with me. You know Drs get kickbacks for prescribing certain drugs.
My Cholesterol came down 20 pts but I am still high at 245. Have no idea what I did to lower it other than I don't eat much. If my husband's cholesterol goes up, he cuts things out. He eats chicken cheesesteaks. Pretzels instead of chips. I make a no egg cake or shortening cake he likes. He loves Tasty Kakes but they have hydrogenated shortening in them. Hydrogenated shortening goes into the body just the way it looks. I still buy lowfat cheese and ham. He drinks 2% milk but won't go lower. Skim is the best or 1%. If you are borderline, you may just need a lifestyle change. Cut back on redmeat, more chicken and fish. Its all about the fat that you take in. Exercise, just walking is OK. My daughter is Vegan and says a plant based diet is the best.
I had none of the mentioned side effects per the literature they handed me, but what I DID get was plantar's fasciitis that was severe. Tried all sort of supports and finally had to do the foot molds and special inserts to help me stay on my feet. Finally went to the doctor and said "this all started with the cholesterol meds, yet I know that while leg pain CAN be a side effect, foot pain is not'. And despite all my reading he told me that foot pain WAS a side effect. I stopped the meds.
Basically at 80 I no longer let them even measure my cholesterol which is and has always been off the charts high. At 80, if I die, no one is going to care WHAT it's due to other than just old age. No one ever read the obit of an 80 year old and cried out "But she died too YOUNG!"
When I was an RN working cardiology I kind of did my own homegrown sloppy research. I Never really saw an upswing in problems for those with high cholesterol, and it always seemed to me that most problems such as early MI and such passed in the family. If I asked a 50 year old man with a heart attack about family history his Dad often started with MIs at about the same age. As I said, informal sloppy research there, but I kind of formed some beliefs around it.
All of that said, cholesterol medication for those who can take it seem to be helping us to live much longer, and the new research suggests they help protect against stroke, and likely even Alzheimer's. Who knows. They say you can prove anything with Statistics and I suspect that's true.
It took years for my feet to heal, but I WILL say this......I was at that time working three 12 hour shifts on 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. I didn't sleep enough during the days and I was too active, up on my feet during the day before work. Have always been up on my feet a lot. So it may have all been coincidental. Like I said, I am the last one to be certain of anything. At 80 I am just beginning to learn all about how little I know, and all I don't know.
So I stopped taking it right after that appt. and that was probably 10+ years ago. and yes, I still have high cholesterol, but I'm not concerned, as there's much more that goes along with just that diagnosis.
Not just dizziness, or imbalance, or weakness.
I stopped it carefully, over time.