I was on Lipitor for less than a week 2 years ago and the muscle ...

I suggest that you find a naturopathy, a dr. who specializes in natural medicine. Lipitor is a dangerous drug and I have read that Plavix has lawsuits. Unfortunately, all drs. know is to push drugs, not nutrition and alternatives. There are many natural products to help you.

Good luck.

low level of potassium is dramatically increase the risk of heart attack.especially drugs that control blood pressure some of them has ability to decrease electrolide in the body and potassium is very important for heart function as well as magnesium.good source of pottasium is strawberries,blueberries,apricot and any friut and vegetable with orange pigments.

I notice that even blood pressure drugs don't do a very good job of bringing down blood pressure for many people. Their blood pressure is still out of site. And a person can have very low cholesterol and still have a heart attack if their HDL is low too. "Can you believe that Lipitor is given to people with low cholesterol?"

Besides not having enough potassium it sounds like you don't have enough HDL which is the good stuff and you want a lot of it. The more the better. So I take 2- 1200 mg of Lecithin every morning. My doctor has even commented how high my HDL is.

I had to make some sacrifices to get my blood pressure down and am trying something called Promise Activ Removes Cholesterol drink. I drink one bottle with the first meal of the day. I also use "No Salt" sodium substitute along with sea salt.

While I haven't cut out salt, it's been greatly reduced along with the saturated fat. I cook with a lot of canola oil now and there are many yummy recipes that has garlic and olive oil. Olive oil mash potatoes is delicious.

You may want to give what you eat some serious thought.

I'm not a medical professional, and you shouldn't make changes without consulting one. That said, I suggest consulting with a naturopath (doctor who uses herbs and nutrition to help get you to better health). It's great that you have stopped the junk food. The next step is to make sure the food is organic and not just 'natural' - which is just a marketing tool and is meaningless. Many milk products have rBHT, which is used to make the cows produce more milk, but can adversely affect blood sugar, throw off the endocrine balance, etc. I highly recommend the vitamin C therapy by Pauling and Rath: 500mg of Lysine and Proline (amino acids, available at a good health food store, or online), as well as 3-18 grams (a gram is 1000 mg) of tablet C. Start low and work it up, as some people have bowel issues with higher doses. Pauling and Rath's research show that nearly all cardiovascular issues are due to nutritional deficiencies, especially lack of 'C'.
Here's one link to Rath's site:
http://www4.dr-rath-foundation.org/THE_FOUNDATION/About_Dr_Matthias_Rath/scientific_publications.htm

An online health consultant regarding vitamin C and heart issues
http://www.cqs.com/cvd.htm

Also, here:
http://www.vitamincfoundation.org/
http://www.vitamincfoundation.org/RDA.htm

You can try the "packaged" therapies, but if you just take the amino acids and the Vitamin C, you can expect to pay about $30-40 a month. Much cheaper than the Rx, more effective, and safer.

Cholesterol is actually a precursor to the body's intake of Vitamin D. The FDA says only 600 IUs is needed per day, but after one hour in sunshine, the body makes over 100,000 IUs. Vitamin D is integral to the body's ability to fight off infection, bone health, mental processing, among others.

Dr. John Cannell (Vitamin D Council) and other physicians are finding that low D levels lead to health issues.
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/?gclid=CKeEqsn42ZYCFRg6awody3Qz2g

So, get off commercial food. I'm diabetic, but since going off the Rx, I've dropped 40 pounds. Commercial milk spikes my blood sugar over 100 points, but organic milk does not. The pharmaceutical industry are corporations with only one legal mandate - to make money for their shareholders; the incentive is not to cure, but to make people dependent on the drugs (repeat business). If you are on sweeteners, most are toxic. Stevia is a good one, and I like Xylitol. You can also just cut back on, but use real sugar. Aspertame (nutrasweet), splenda, and others have nasty, neurological side effects: migraines, muscular/nerve pain, etc. Splenda (sucralose) is derived from a pesticide formula. Cut back on corn and limit wheat products. Corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup are in nearly all commercial products -- and some people develop allergies. Allergies don't always manifest as sneezing and runny noses, it can also show as generalized fatigue.
Your health is your responsibility and your right. Take charge.
Good luck!
Fr. Dannan Tavona (replace the @ with the @ symbol)
dannantavona@yahoo.com