I'm a white man age 47 and currently taking 20 mgs of Lipitor daily and 10 mgs of lisinopril.

The lisinopril is pretty cheap to buy.... but the Lipitor is expensive.

Can someone confirm to me that Zocor is as good as Lipitor and that Zocor will soon be a generic? If yes will it be a lot cheaper than Lipitor?

Thanks in advance!

Here is my dilemma:

I'm giving serious thought to quitting work and going back to college full time. I can get med insurance that coves catastrophic problems but it usually doesn't cover meds. And I'm on lipitor and lisnipril

So....I'm looking for ways to be able to afford statins out of pocket

Mevacor (lovastatin) is already generic. And have you tried OTC niacin?

--
Jim Heckman

My doc wants me to use lipitor or zocor. Claims there more effective. No?

And how does niacin help me?

Simastatin is already available as a generic--except in the USA. As a sop to the US drug companies, patents can be extended beyond their normal life if the original patent owner is in the process of developing a new version.

Bill

-- Ferme le Bush

Beats me; I'm not a doctor. And since cost is an important consideration for you, you might have to make some trade-offs.

Megadose niacin, on the order of hundreds of milligrams or more, is even more effective than statins at lowering triglycerides and raising HDL, although it's less effective at lowering LDL.

--
Jim Heckman

There is a something called Red Rice yeast that is sold over the counter as herbal and it is statin also. Maybe you can try that. Supposedly used in red roast duck by the chinese. I am also afraid I will have to foot the bill for Lipitor and plavix when my wife retires. I asked my physician about weaning from lipitor and plavix and he said it is needed for prevention. In fact I feel better not taking it, because sometimes I get aches and pain from lipitor in my stomach and joints. HT

One idea that someone else told me was to buy the 80 mg pill and split it up.

Is that viable idea for you?

Well, I think I have finally figured out my illness and disability.

My history: I was 29 years old, when my father had is multiple bypass surgery. I was a critical care Registered Nurse, and I decided I did not want to be on the operating table at 58, like my father, so I spoke with my doctor, and he immediately started me on Lipitor 10 mg, which kept my cholesterol down sufficiently for 4 years. In August 2002, I began to have wicked headaches, bad enough for me to miss several days of work, I think 11 in all. My wife took me to the Emergency room 3 times because of confusion and headaches. All 3 times, I was sent home with the diagnosis Migraine Variant.
My headaches and confusion worsened over the next 2 weeks, and I missed work all 10 days. My confusion was worsening, only now I was extremely fatigued all of the time, I would stayin bed up to 17 hours a day. My wife called my doctor at home one Saturday, and she demanded he order an MRI scan, (which was not done in the Hospital , as the ER doctor thought it wasnt neccessary), so he got a CT scan which was completely normal. So an MRI scan was ordered, and the following day I had an MRI of my brain, which showed Multiple scattered lesions in the White matter, I think I counted close to 90 several months later when I saw the films, I was referred to a neurologist, and he diagnosed me with Atypical Multiple Sclerosis. About a week later I was headed to UW Madison Wisconsin hospital for a second opinion, to which the MS specialist, said he did not think I had MS, but rather somethink else, he did not know what, but was pretty adimant it wasnt MS. After several hours of testing etc, I was sent home with a follow up in 1 week.
During the course of this week, my headaches fatigue, confusion continued, anly now my right ear was ringing 24/7, and I was seeing white flashes of light in my eyes.
The following week, my symptoms grew worse, and my wife called the doctor in Madison, and his nurse tod her I whould come down there ASAP. So we got in the van, dropped our son off at my parents, and headed to Madison, where I was admitted, and grew terribly worse. I did not know who I was where I was nor did I know my wife and family. I was in the hospital for 28 days, underwent 300,000 dollars of medical care, had a brain biopsy, shich showed Spongiform Encephalopathy, more commonly referred to as CJD (creutzfeld Jakob disease), and invariably fatal disease, I had a muscle biopsy which was consistant with MELAS(mitochondraial encephalomyopathy with lactic acidodis with stroke like episodes. Another invariable fatal disease, for which the only treatment is a Mitochondrial cocktail, which consists of about 15 pills every morning and 15 every evening. These pills are all vitamins and the like, but it ts of one very improtant and key nutrient for those sho take statins, as I found out later, CoQ10. I was about 6 days from being transferred to a Nursing home, (at 34 years old!) But I began to improve, to the point I could be discharged home, with Physical, occupational and speech therapies.

Now I am 38 years old, happy to be alive, a lot closer to God, but on disability. Now for nearly 4 years..

I cant tell you how much research I have put into this whole experience, probably thousands of hours.
My discharge diagnosis was Viral Encephalitis. HAH!
1: starvation of Co Q10 in the brain, may cause Neuronal apoptosism cell death, which I found looks very similar to CJD under a microscope
2: Starvation of coQ10 to the muscles, may cause lots of different changes to the Mitochondria, which was demonstrated on my muscle biopsy.
3: Atatins do nothing to help anyone other than the fact that the contain an anti-inflammatory agent which is the key to preventing Coronary Artery Disease.
for more detailed info please refer to:
https://www.spacedoc.net
https://www.newmediaexplorer.org/chri...rt_disease.htm

https://carcin.oxfordjournals.org/cgi.../full/26/5/883

I have hundreds of links which veryfy and confirm this information, anyone with others, please let me know.


I am too tired to continue, but I welcome anyone elses input!
God bless!
Chris

Chris,

What a story! I am glad you made it through. I fear that many others have not. I suspect that in a few years, the users of statins who had their health ruined will be suing the statin makers just like the Vioxx users are doing today.

What is very sad, no criminal, is the fact that one drug maker, who knew that statins depleted CoQ10, a long time ago took out patent on a drug formulation for their statin which would include CoQ10. They never followed through on it and continue to supply folks with their product with the full knowledge that it will do them harm without the proper warning to get more CoQ10.

I hope your story gets out to as many folks as possible. Good luck.

Mike

By the way, Chris, here is an excellent article about the dangers of statins from Fallon and Enig. Perhaps you have seen it: https://www.westonaprice.org/moderndiseases/statin.html

Hi All,

There is now a web site at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine where victims can self-report adverse effects of statin drug use, or use of other cholesterol drugs. Since most doctors don�t recognize the harmful side effects much less report it, this site might be helful to spread the information.

https://www.statineffects.com/

For more on the story see:
https://www.newswise.com/p/articles/view/523563/