Zocor Sciatic Nerve, Alternative Meds, High Cholesterol, Statin Drugs, Healthy Diet
Posted over a year ago
Except for having high cholesterol (310), I'm a 29 yr old healthy active female, very petite and weigh 98lbs. My mother has had a quadruple bypass and 4 stents at the age of 54, high cholesterol is just hereditary in my family. My doctor put me on 40 mg of ... more »
Except for having high cholesterol (310), I'm a 29 yr old healthy active female, very petite and weigh 98lbs. My mother has had a quadruple bypass and 4 stents at the age of 54, high cholesterol is just hereditary in my family. My doctor put me on 40 mg of zocor. The first week taking zocor I started feeling strange, a little soar here and there and very tired at times, also I have become very forgetful. It's been almost 2 months now and I have severe pain in my legs. First it was the right leg and now both legs, the pain starts at my lower back all the way down to my cav. I have a burning painful feeling sometimes numbing feeling, its driving me crazy!!!! I can't stand for too long cause I feel tons of pressure on my lower back pushing down my legs, It feels like my sciatic nerve. I went to my doctor and he said he is 95% sure that this is from the zocor medication, he told me to stop it right away. This is my first day without it, I know I need to do something to prevent what happen to my mother, I'm on a strict healthy diet, staying away from all fatty cholesterol filled foods, but there has to be a better way then taking statin drugs! If anyone has some ideas of what kind of alternative meds I can take, please help.
Bobby - Felicia, what a great post! Thank you for taking the time to write that. Very good questions.
The most important thing we can do to prevent heart disease is to chose our parents wisely. After that, lifestyle changes is all we really can do.
FACT: Half the heart attacks happen to people with low to normal cholesterol. Think about that statistic for a while...
Honest answer is we really don't know what causes plaque buildup in arteries. "We don't know" is a very unpopular answer because companies can't make money from "we don't know", but its the cold hard honest truth.
The cholesterol theory is commercialy viable. The general public accepted the theory which made it a blockbuster in sales. Thats really what Zocor and other statins are really about. Sales $$$. Each patient represents an average of $1,000 per year in gross sales x 29 million patients worldwide = $29 BILLION gross sales per year.
For alternatives, look to populations with low death rates from heart attacks. Study their lifestyles, and imitate them the best you can. I assure you none of them take a statin drug.
Bobby
Swedish - I totally agree with the previous writer (Bobby) but would also recommend you to read different books and form your own opnion to prevent you from being talked into taking another statin. Lucky that you got side effects ow - and not after many years.
it`s also good to know how the pharmaceutical companies work. Maybe, you would find Marcia Angell`s book - The Truth About The Drug companies - interesting.
When it comes to the cholesterol issue etc. there are for instance - The Great Cholesterol Con (Anthony Colpo), Malignant Medical Myths (Joel F. Kauffman), The Cholesterol Myths (Uffe Ravnskov) and Overdosed America (John Abramson).
I have never taken statins - nor would I.
I was forced to "educate" myself because of three people close to me - they all took statins.
Samanthaivanna - Hi, i hope you are feeling better now, this med is driving me nuts too, i been feeling numbness all over my toes and fingers, also migraines, diahrea and nausea, i been taking this med for a month, i been so busy that i didn't associate Zocor with my symptoms 'til few days ago that i mentioned to a great friend of mine who is a nurse and she told me about Zocor, i'm so scared now, i have no idea when is this med going to leave my body, how long did you take it? are you still sick?, you know Oatmeal decreases Cholesterol level and Fish Oil, that's what i'm taking and inmediately stopped Zocor. Rosie.
Nicolet - Just want to share with you my experience. I had the same symptoms as yours when I took the Zocor for a month. So I searched the Web and found a natural way to lower the LDL and the total cholesterol, at the same time raise the HDL. It's the combination of Niacin (which is vitamin B3) and Milk Thistle (which is a herb that is really effective in detoxify the liver). The Milk Thistle is really helpful for people who take a lot of drugs or who are under chemotherapy, because it helps the liver getting rid of the toxins that accumulated in it. Anyway, after stopping the Zocor, my muscle spasm didn't go away, my total cholesterol was 275, HDL was 33. After taking the Niacin (500mg a day) and Milk Thistle for 1 week, the muscle spasm went away. After 1 month, my cholesterol dropped to 198, HDL raises to 45. I'm so thankful that I'm pain free, and I don't have to take any prescription drug.
Lisapineda - I took nuts, soya products, vegetables , Lecithin supplement and my cholesterol dropped.
777 - When you stop taking statins, your cholesterol level will higher. Please remember, your body/mind needs cholesterol to function properly. DON'T LET YOUR DR. TO CON YOU TO START TAKING STATINS AGAIN. The anti-cholesterol drugs are a HUGE SCAM . . . it is all about $$. By the way, when your cholesterol gets too low . . that's when you have problems.
Seanmyangel45 - Excuse Me Sorry........... I posted about a garlicillin products it's not nature's own.I's Nature's Way products,call garlicin look it up and you decide and ask your docctor cause some people may be on other medicaiton and you can't mix certain herbs with medications...
Seanmyangel45 - I think my frist posted comment didn't go through it was very long it would have explain why i said I'm sorry about the name. but this was a product was on yeras ago it help me keep my cholesterol lower. but along with exercise and change the way you eat. execise is the main important key to lowering your cholesterol.I've been on Zocor and still is haven't yet had any side effects.but I'm only on it for a short term then when I can starting buy me some garlicin i will not take Zocor any more. I was many years on garlicin and the doctor i went to at that time told me what ever i was doing or taking keep on taking it cause it was working.this products will take a several months to see results but if you do your execise and watch what you eat. but as i said in the first comment that didn't get posted. what work for one person may not work for you.
Turtlej - The Mayo Clinic posted information about a natural plant additive which you can find in some foods. The additive is called Plant Sterols and is guaranteed to reduce cholesterol by a significant amount. It can be found in things like Heart Healthy Minute Maid orange juice, Promise Margarine (small tub only), Nature Made Cholestoff etc.
Do two things: 1) go to the MayClinic on the internet and read about plant sterols, 2) search for products that contain them on the internet.
I have found that drinking orange juice and having a piece of bread or toast with the margarine is pretty easy. The Mayo site will tell you how many milligrams/day you need to take.
Best of luck
Lynn Johnson
Tulsa
Ostara63 - You can also use folic acid and 1 asprin a day. It helps to take the aspirin with food so as not to disturb your stomach. These, in addition to the Niacin, Milk Thistle, and Lecithin should help. Of course, proper diet and exercise should be incoroporated in the daily regime.
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