Maggie's Farm

Well now, Dr. Joy. I hope you will continue to investigate this topic.

I will raise my hand.

I take 20mg of Crestor daily. I do so upon doctor's advice following an MI. A minor MI but an MI nonetheless. On the day of the MI my cholesterol profile was 20 HDL, 110 LDL. I don't recall the tryglicyrides (sp). I was scoped and had no blockages beyond 15%. No stents inserted.

I have made adjustments to my lifestyle and my cholesterol profile is now 60 HDL, 80 LDL, 60 triwhatevers. A poster child. Crestor is NOT the full cause of that change. I stopped using cigarettes, I exercise, I use plant stanols and red rice yeast, etc. I moved, over 18 months, from 110 LDL to 90 LDL to 80 LDL.

In that time I have experienced muscle cramps (especially legs) that I think are directly related to the statin and also some difficulty with memory. The difficulty with memory seems, upon investigation and effort, reversible or, at least, fightable with "brain exercises" and such.

All in all I would like to get off the statin or reduce to minimum dosage. I ran into someone whose opinion I trust implicitly the other day, however, and she suggested I stay on the statin forever since it is showing some clinical advantage in fighting Alzheimers.

Now I'm torn...

Please do keep following this for us, willya. In the meantime my plan is to see if I can get the LDL to 70 and then demand at least a reduction in the dosage if not complete elimination. To be honest, however, getting LDL to 70 is a challenge - even for a poster child.

BTW, what are your thoughts re: the small particle thing about cholesterol (HDL and LDL) and homocystenes (sp?).

Sorry, too lazy to go break out the books I've perused on these topics.