I am sooo bummed. on 8/2/05 I went in and got tested, and my total cholesterol was 273, with my LDL 183. The dr. agreed to allow me to take Policosanol (I took 20mg daily) and Gugulipid (I took 1000 mg daily) to see if I could bring it down without going on statin drugs.

Went and got retested on Monday, and they just called me. I have to go in tomorrow, my total only went down to 266. I am so bummed, I've taken that medicine every day, I've tried to exercise, and it drops 7 points. whoop de doo. I don't know the other numbers, I will find out tomorrow.

Unfortunately, I'm fighting genetics. My dad's untreated was 400, my mother's was over 280, so it doesn't help at all.

I had so much hope that these two supplements would help, and that just really depressed me to see they didn't help much at all, so I'm going to cave and go on statin drugs. I hate the thought, but I hate more the thought of dying of heart disease like my Dad and grandparents all did from high cholesterol.

Hi Virginia,

First off I will be honest with you and say I am anti-statin because of the permanent muscle damage I now have (from my left hip down) due to being on a statin (Lipitor) for a few short months.

I don't mean to scare you by saying this but it's the truth in my life.

Second, I will say there are different formulas of Policosanol and it should be used in conjunction with other heart healthy supplements such as fish oils, CoQ10 and others. 20 mg of Policosanol is all you should take on a daily basis but I think you should shop around and try other brands.

Like you I also have a large family history of heart problems including the loss of my mother, my sister at age 27 and my other sister having open-heart surgery at age 40. So, getting heart healthy has forever been an issue in my life and will forever be.

I will tell you - it takes a whole lot of constend work to use a daily protocol that doesn't involve stains. I gave statins a try thinking I may be the one that can take it without side effects but sadly that didn't happen and now I will forever live with the chance I took.

Be Well,
Nikki

I took Policosonal
Gugulipid
CoQ10
Omega 3 Oil
Fish Oil
Lethicin

every day, and that is what I got. I didn't mention the others, because I was mainly counting on those two to help.

I'm sorry you had that, it is the reason I have fought statin drugs is fear of side effects. My father took Lipitor for years, and thankfully, had no problems, my mother also took it without issues.

I do plan to continue taking CoQ10 with it the entire time. I know she wanted to put me on Vytorin before, so I think that is what I'll be on.

I'm also going to go back to being a vegetarian. The only time in my life my cholesterol was ever below 200 was when I was one. I'm hoping that if I go back that route (instead of eating MOSTLY meat / cheese and eggs) I might also get it down. If I can lose weight, maybe eventually I can go back off them. Thankfully, there are a lot of low-carb vegeterian alternatives out there now. (For instance, I found soy milk with only 1 carb / cup)

This is something for all of us to think about since there is so much talk lately on what true cholesterol number should be....

My sister who had open -heart surgery 6 years ago at age 40 had cholesterol readings over 800 BEFORE her surgery (800 is normal in my family) and after her surgery and being on statin drugs her cholesterol is just under 400 and her doctors are satisfied with that number.

Now, if anyone walked into a doctor’s office with just below 400 readings - they make you feel as if you are a walking time bomb.

I took Policosonal
Gugulipid
CoQ10
Omega 3 Oil
Fish Oil
Lethicin

every day, and that is what I got. I didn't mention the others, because I was mainly counting on those two to help.

Those are all good supplements. On a daily basis I take about 60 supplements (for other reasons then just my heart) at above higher doses then recommened. I understand most people just take what is recommened on the lable but for me that did nothing. I will contiune to take these for a few more months then wein myself down to lower doses. It's not easy nor is it cheap but for what I went through - I wish I'd try this first before trying a statin.

And as I explained before there are different formula of Policanol as there are different formulas of Gugulipid. I have seen bottles looking like Gugulipid when they contained guggul or guggulu and not true Gugulipid. It is by alot of trial of error that I found the correct supplements needed.

I'm sorry you had that, it is the reason I have fought statin drugs is fear of side effects. My father took Lipitor for years, and thankfully, had no problems, my mother also took it without issues.

My sister has been on a statin without problems until lately and her doctors are telling her it maybe hormonal. But then it may be the side effects of her statin use.

I do plan to continue taking CoQ10 with it the entire time. I know she wanted to put me on Vytorin before, so I think that is what I'll be on.

I took CoQ10 for 4 years before starting the statin and still got muscle weakness with damage.

On another note as far as supplements - I am also a diabetic and I have Asthma and since taking my regimen of supplements I am for the first time on absolutely NO medicine. My cholestrol has dropped from 278 to 220 and I hope Low Carbing will help me to lower those numbers even more as I am learning to eat better and I'm losing some extra weight during the process.

Low Carbing and this forum has also helped me alot in getting myself in a healther state and I find this forum to be a great blessing in my life.

Be Well,
Nikki

I got the rest of my numbers, all did improve since the last, so the medicines did help, just not enough

8/2/05
VLDL 22
Tri 112
HDL 68
LDL 183

12/5/05
VLDL 14 - Down quite a bit
Tri 69 - Down quite a bit
HDL - 74 Up a bit
LDL - 178 - Down just a little


She is most worried about the LDL. I talked with her about 1/2 an hour, told her that I'm going back to vegetarian / low carb CEA-HOW format (last time my cholesterol was low was then) She is starting me on 20mg of Lipitor, and will test me at 6 weeks, 3 months 6 months 1 year for liver enzymes, and if they are elevated at all, I'll go off. She is very conservative, and also willing once I reach my goal weight, I can go off them and see if my cholesterol stays down with diet and exercise. As leary as I am of them, I feel that she is a good partner to work on this with.

She also recommended I take Milk Thisel to help support my liver function, which I've added to my daily vitamin regime.

I lowered my total cholesterol 60 points in 7 weeks using
red yeast rice(1800 mg per day) and COQ10(100 mg).
Red yeast rice is a mild statin equivalent.I couldn't find any
reported problems with red yeast rice.

Eddie. RYR is a natural statin, not a mild equivalent......so it has the exact same side effects, precautions and dangers as any statin on the market.

Do continue to take CoQ10 if you are going to continue RYR, and stop taking it if you have any of the side effects thought to be caused by prescription statins.


http://www.spacedoc.net/red_yeast_rice.htm

I am taking the drug, taking my CoQ10 plus still taking the policosanol and gugulipid for 6 weeks, that is when she is doing the first blood test. I'm also on a vegetarian lower carb diet (no sugar, no flour almost all carbs are coming from green leafy veggies). I'm mostly vegan, I've only had dairy or egg beaters (so no cholesterol) a few times the last 3 weeks.

Once I hit my goal weight, I'm coming off the statin, especially if the initial test shows a marked drop in cholesterol....more than they should see with the statin alone. I'm fighting genetics, I know that, but I'm fighting back with diet, exercise, and supplements.

I'm also seeing my blood sugar on this diet more normal. I'm not getting high blood sugar readings in the morning (in the pre-diabetis range) so I'm thinking I could try adding niacin again to the mix. I had to stop it before because my morning blood sugar was elevated, and it was staying up after meals for way to long.

Anyone know if that would be a bad thing on top of the statin drug?

Have you thought about getting a second opinion? HDL of over 60 is often considered to be protective against heart disease. My doctor said that with HDL levels that high, he doesn't put people on statins regardless of their LDL levels.

Is your doctor looking at ratios as well as absolute numbers?

I lowered my cholestrol 24 points in around 6 months by doing nothing different except taking 2,000 mgs. of flax seed oil. During that time I was not eating the greatest, so I was very surprised and happy.

I would imagine fish oil will do the same (or even better) as they both supply Omega-3.

I've been taking 1000mg of Flax Seed Oil, along with the Fish Oil. Plus with the plan I'm on I'm doing 3 tablespoons of raw oat bran a day now, so I know that helps too.

I don't think she is looking at ratios as much as she should, and I also think she is giving more weight to the family history of heart disease (Father, Grand Mother, Grand Father on my dad's side) and high cholesterol on both sides. I will really give some thought to a 2nd opinion. In the mean time, I'm going to stay the course until the first blood test in 2 1/2 weeks.

I just worked out my ratios Total/HDL and LDL/HDL and both are in the normal range. I will definitely discuss all this in 2 1/2 weeks when I go back.

Virginia. Do YOU have heart disease?

If not, have you considered that maybe your body needs a higher level of cholesterol? Cholesterol is used for so many things.

Also you mention only LDL and total. What is your HDL? Triglycerides? And how about CRP? Homocystine?

Before you get yourself all worked up, maybe you should at least find out what the other numbers are.

And maybe read an article or two on the benefits of cholesterol and how it has little or nothing to do with heart disease!

Hi Virginia
I hate to even hear about anyone thinking of taking a statin: I've seen the damage that they do in my own family--what a very hurtful, shameful situation.
If you are interested, here are some links:

www. the omnivore.com
www.StatinAlert.org
www.thincs.org

There is some really good information at these links, but you must make your own decision, which, unfortunately, my brothers have not. From what I have read, C-Reactive Protein-CRP-is a much better marker for CVD and CHD. CRP, from what I read is a reaction to inflammation, which is associated with elevated insuline levels. An extremely good read is Dr. Bernstein's
Diabetes Solution--Read appendix A before reading the book. I learned more from appendix A than from most of the numerous other books and arcticles that I've read.

The very best of luck to you