View Full Version : Lets talk about Statins
peakbagger
03-03-2012, 07:59
This is a long post and if you dont take statins or are a youngster, you might want to skip it.
First the standard warning, "I am not a doctor nor do I play one on TV"
For those unfamiliar with statins they are a class of drug used to lower cholesterol. They are a very popular prescription drug that has a very strong industry behind it. For the large majority of people statins are a preventative drug, the intent is to take it now so that you avoid heart attacks in the future. The smaller group of patients are folks who have had heart attacks and the statins are intended to stave off future heart attacks. There is a lifestyle and a genetic component to the drug, if your diet is poor, you are not very active and a smoker, statins can help counteract some of the lifestyle issues, for others its a genetic issue and the statins can counteract inherent imbalances in the bodies chemistry. There is a more than a bit of debate worldwide on statins and their value but as they are quite profitable, the US pharmaceutical industry has turned it into a cash machine and have consistenty tried to expand the market by lowering the recomended blood cholesterol limits. For many folks there are no noticable acute side effects to taking the drugs and their company is paying for it so they take statins.
Unfortunately, statins are slowly turning out to be less the benigh for many folks to the point where there are now going to be getting warnings attached. I find it interesting that the government waited until the major statin Lipotor and a few others were off patent and are now generic before they decided to do this new labeling.
So how does this tie into hiking? well one of the side effects is "in small majority of patients muscular and skeletal issues may occur" and on occasion serious liver damage can occur. The way they downplay the issues, it sounds to a non medical professional like your odds of having issues are lower than winning the lottery. Unfortunately, the side effects tend to be cumulative and the current US medical opinion is that the benefits outweigh the side effects. A large number of users are older adults or the elderly and they write down any side effects as getting old rather than tied to a drug.
So what are muscular or skeletal issues?. How about sore muscles, joints and sore feet? Sound likes like a hiking issue to me. It took me several years of going on and off different statins to conclusively tie the use of statins to hiking issues. Some were worse (like Zocor) some less but they all hade the same issues. The first issues I noticed were I hiked less as my feet tended to hurt during and after the hike and my joints would start to give me problems where they didnt before. Usually for at least a day sometimes two, my feet would swell up and hurt to the point where I needed to wear larger sized shoes. All through this when I complained to the doctor, they would come up with some other reason and suggest I take aspirin and pain releivers. I had a significant issue with my wrists and elbows to the point where they were considering surgery for carpal tunnel and I had an odd issue that my bursa in the elbows swelled up and eventually collapsed. Another supposedly rare side effect (which is not so rare) is an odd form of insominia where I would wake up and couldnt go back to sleep after 4 hours. This definitely was cumulative and really cut down my motivation to do a lot of hiking or any activity in general. There are lot of reports of confustion as a side effect but generally its the high dose elderly folks that report it so most chalk it off to old age.
I am not the only one to have these issues, I peronally know of a few people who were almost on disability as they couldnt walk since their feet were so sore and I have run into others with the insomnia, (although some statins seem to be worse than others).
After trying all the statins in different doses, my response to going on them is that it takes weeks for many of the side effects to kick in (although the insomnia is almost immediate) and when I drop them it takes about a week or two before things clear up. They do as advertised and when I take them, my test numbers drop to normal. I have made the decision to not use them anymore and everytime I see a new doctor the first thing they do is try to get me back on them as the standard treatment for high cholesterol is statins. I do take other varieties of drugs and OTC drugs to help my numbers and on occasion get a precise CRP test which is an alternative way of determining my likelyhood of future problems that has as good or better corelation with cardiac issues. I am definitely not advocating throwing away your statins without a discussion with your doctor but I would definitely see if some of the not so rare side effects are the root cause of some of the reasons why you dont hike as often these days.
Since I got off them, my hiking abilities are back to where they used to be although as I get older some of the motivation is not there as much (I am getting more and more to be a fair weather hiker).
So if you have read all the way down here, what is your experience
surfnturk
03-03-2012, 08:06
I took lipitor for a little over a month and had major joint pain issues. finally had to stop. I got mine cholesterol down using natural supplements and eating oatbran every morning. Statins are bad news for a lot of people.
I take lipitor (generic now). I don't seem to have any of the issues with it you have. I don't sleep more than about 4-5 hours at a time but that was going on long before I started taking the drug. I've been taking it about two years.
I've had high cholesterol all my life and have never had any heart issues but my doctor finally convinced me to take the drug. I've been on a walking regiment for 20 years. I take a 6 mile walk every night after work. I may skip a night on the weekend if I've been doing a lot of work in the yard but my total weekly miles is always over 30 miles. I didn't notice any increase in joint or muscle pain when I started taking the drug. My LDL is now below 100 where before it was about 160 and my HDL is 45 which they tell me is good.
ekeverette
03-03-2012, 08:26
im discontinuing taking mine on my hike..... got enough meds to worry about trying to get along the trail.....
GoldenBear
03-03-2012, 09:28
I've taken statins for almost twenty years. My doctor hoped I could control my cholesterol with diet and exercise, but found that I still had a horrible ratio despite (1) weighing 140 pounds at a height of 5'10" and (2) being able to get to level six on a stress treadmill. In other words, despite FAR better than average usage of diet and exercise, my cholesterol was still at a deadly level and ratio. I've taken Mevacor{R} and Lipitor{R} since then, and have had absolutely no negative side effects. I'm also glad to know that I've outlived my father -- who dropped dead of a heart attack at age 47 -- by ten years.
I'm aware that statins can have nasty side effects, and any reputable doctor will monitor your blood and tell you watch for these problems. So far I haven't had any problems.
Lone Wolf
03-03-2012, 09:29
i take Simvastatin daily and have no problems. i run almost daily
I too take Simvistatin in the lowest dose possible. Lipitor gave me severe muscle pain and was clogging my liver and kidneys with muscle material. Simvistatin is a generic low dose to start with. Listen to your body no matter what you take. Good luck.
I stop taking it when I'm gonna hike. It definitely gives me trouble if I keep taking it.
Wise Old Owl
03-03-2012, 10:08
i take Simvastatin daily and have no problems. i run almost daily RRRUN? Wow - great to hear LW....
I too take Simvistatin in the lowest dose possible. Lipitor gave me severe muscle pain and was clogging my liver and kidneys with muscle material. Simvistatin is a generic low dose to start with. Listen to your body no matter what you take. Good luck.
Yep same happened to me - Pain in left knee is now in the muscles....
Lone Wolf
03-03-2012, 10:11
RRRUN? Wow - great to hear LW....
6 months after my quad by-pass i ran a 16 mile trail race
Wise Old Owl
03-03-2012, 10:15
Awesome - by the way good morning... I thought the bypass was two years ago.
Lone Wolf
03-03-2012, 10:19
feb. 28th 2009
Wise Old Owl
03-03-2012, 10:29
So how do you feel? - and what did you have to give up?
lifestyle modifications and diet should always be the first step to controlling high cholesterol. However, typically patients do not maintain the lifestyle and dietary changes that are recommended by their physicians. Then you also have the genetic component over which patients have no control. The statins are life saving drugs but any medication has a potential to do harm as well as benefit and it is always a choice of benefit vs. the potential side effects. I am not defending the pharma industry and believe me I know this industry very well. And I am certainly not defending the FDA. However, the NCEP (National Cholesterol Educational Panel) sets the treatment goals for cholesterol not the pharma industry. The NCEP is a supposedly independent group of physicians and researchers in the field of lipidology. The side effects with statins are dose related (higher dose = greater possibility of side effects). That is another reason lifestyle changes are key so if a patient must take a statin they can take the smallest dose possible to achieve their goal. As always, you should discuss this with your physician and make your decision based on benefit vs. risks. But keep in mind that No medication is side effect free. You should also report any statin side effects to your physician immediately as their are some serious and potentially life threatening side effects that can occur. I personally would not hesitate to take a low dose statin if it was needed.
I take simvastatin too, for about a year now, at the low 20 mg dose. I took it as a last resort -- I kept thinking that a guy on a vegan diet who runs 40 miles a week CAN'T be having this problem, though, yes, I know there is a genetic component to it too. My bad cholesterol went from 140 to down in the 80s after taking it for just over a month (my good cholesterol has been consistently in the 60s even before I started taking the statin). No side effects for me, though I know simvastatin was recently in the news for problems (joint pain among other things) some people are having at the high doses. Hopefully the low dose will suffice for me for a long time -- I've got a physical coming up this week so I will see what my cholesterol readings are then. I did take the simvastatin on the one long backpacking trip I took since starting it and had no problems.
Tony Lagana
03-03-2012, 10:51
1000 mg of Niacin a day before bed worked wonders on my numbers got them below 200
Lone Wolf
03-03-2012, 10:55
So how do you feel? - and what did you have to give up?
i feel great. didn't give up anything. moderation is the key. i just cut way back on high cholesterol foods namely animal fats. instead of eggs every day i may eat them every ten days. and red meat a few times a month instead of 3 or 4 times a week. all lean too. no marbled fat rib eyes
map man you must play with the cards you are dealt and in your case it wasn't a hand full of aces. Sounds like you are doing the right things! Keep up the diet and exercise and your meds. With a LDL in the 80's and an HDL in the 60's sounds like you achieving success.
My cardiologist put me on Crestor some time back just due to family history mainly, and somewhat high-side cholesterol. And I took myself off after a while (a few years ago now) after reading up on various problems AND, at the time at least, I recall reading an article that said that while the cholesterol numbers improved for people on statins, the actual mortality rates didn't seem to change as a result, with the conclusion that they still really don't understand the real nitty gritty details of what's happening when major cardiac events occur. I.e., the simplistic model that smaller density lipids get caught on arterial walls and so forth doesn't adequately explain everything. Witness most recently Davy Jones (Monkees) having a heart attack, when he was a healthy vegetarian who ran every day --- seems like we periodically see these stories of "how did s/he die of a heart attack?".
If anyone has any lay-person oriented articles on this that seem both recent and credible, I'd be interested --- seems like they're always coming to new conclusions about this stuff.
medicine is not an exact science! your physician makes his best clinical judgement based on his/her knowledge and skill. There are still many unanswered questions in cardiovascular disease. However, every clinical trial done with statins thus far have demonstrated a benefit in reducing morbidity and mortality when you lower LDL cholesterol.
Odd only 1 comment on niacin. Another thing to ask the doc about is Co Q 10, if you have soreness.
Niacin is an effective med. but it typically takes doses of 2 grams daily to impact cholesterol significantly. And niaicn generally impacts HDL and triglycerides but not LDL (the bad cholesterol). Also, it is a rare patient that can tolerate 2 grams of niacin daily as severe flushing and burning sensations are very common. Aspirin will help with this some but will not stop it completely. And recently their has been some data that suggest that niacin may actually increase cardiovascular risks in some patients. As with any med. niacin has some risks as well so please talk with your doc.
surfnturk
03-03-2012, 13:19
Daily, I take niacin ( trying non flush type) fish and/or flax seed oil pills, red rice yeast and Cq10 along with plenty of fiber, including fiber supplements if needed.
Fiddleback
03-03-2012, 13:43
Statins are meant to be started with a doctor's recommendation. Similarly, like all prescription/former prescription drugs, the dosage shouldn't be stopped or modified without a doctor's recommendation. The patient and the doctor should discuss efficacy, risk and benefit as well as cost, alternatives, lifestyle solutions, etc.
That said, the only thing that's new in the 'new' FDA warnings is...they are now FDA warnings. Virtually all the side effects described by the new warnings have been well known for a long time. I believe the muscle issues were promulgated from the very early days of statin usage and I've known about the memory issue longer than I can remember.;) Although it was new to me, the issue of raised sugar levels has been around for a while too and was discussed in another thread (different forum) a month ago. FYI, with the issuance of these new warnings, at least one old side affect warning, one that has been around from the start, was removed.
FB
I've been taking simvisatin (sp?) for about 7 years.
When I first began to take it, I was bicycling a lot. I found that I didn't recover from my hard ride (50 to 60 miles) by the next week. That's when I got into hiking.
Since hiking I had swollen feet after the hike one year, but none of the other effects you guys have reported. I always fight stiffness, which I attributed to arthuritis. Maybe it's the statins?? We'll know more post hike.
I am not taking it during my hike this year. My Doctor even agreed to this. We'll see if I "get into the groove" any faster without it.
Nitrojoe
03-03-2012, 14:19
Ive been on statins since 1990 when I had my first of many angioplasties that year. In 2008 I thru hiked the PCT with no problems from the statins. In 2010 my doctor decided it was time to check on my heart and gave me an echocardiogram. That was not good news and I ended up having a four way bypass. Since then Ive been on CRESTOR another type of statin, but stronger. Did the statins work for me? I dont know. When the doctors did the four way bypass they told me that my heart had alot of colatatial small arteries around my heart and that is what keep me from getting a heart attack. I will see you all on the AT for I start my thru on March 07.
peakbagger
03-03-2012, 14:46
I take niaspan which really cuts down on flushing plus something for triglycerides, baby aspirin flax seed and fish oil. The aspirin, flax seed and fish oil all cut down on inflamation in the artiries whihc is the real cause of heart attacks. The precise CRP test assigns a avlue to the level of inflamation in the blood and has been proven to be a better indicator or first cardiac events for women then a cholesterol test. Its not fully in favor with the medical industry as there arent a lot of expensive drugs that can be prescribed. One of my prior doctors who left the area really believed in it. If someone scored low he was a laid back on cholesterol numbers but if it scored high we went real agressive. I generally tested low.
I also had a stress test and echocardiogram last year and the doctor didnt see anything suspicious and I maxed out the treadmill, basically all my test scroes were all very positive.
The swelled feet issue is very obvious. The best way to describe it if someone stuck a water hose under you skin and turned it on, the entire foot is swelled and the skin in tight. It can be painfull to walk and its worse if you sit in a chair all day. If you cut back on your activity, it isnt as bad but its real easy to just stop being active.
I'm following this thread with interest, as I recently agreed to take Crestor (10mg) after decades of sky-high total cholesterol (but also very high HDL), thanks to my Dad, who passed on the gene to me and my sibs. My diet, I'd say, is pretty good and getting better. For most of the first six weeks, I was incredibly thirsty, slightly dizzy, and very wakeful at night. I stuck it out for six weeks, had a blood test, and lo, now I have 220 total cholesterol (down from 340) and good numbers on everything else. The side effects have subsided considerably. I'm not planning any backpacking until late summer (this have been a tough health year for me, with a broken ankle in the Wildcats last year), but when I do, I'm hoping I'll still be able to enjoy the outdoors.
Funny there was an article in today's morning paper about a local guy developing a new drug...
Paper isn't available online anymore, but here is a little bit from another source...
http://www.993theriver.com/news_story.php?newsID=14490
Douglastown man approved to make cholesterol medication
By MNN. Last updated: 2012-03-02 08:44:41
Health Canada has approved the manufacture and sale of a new cholesterol medication invented by a Douglastown man. Russell LeBlanc came up with Rupaflexor after he was diagnosed with high cholesterol seven years ago. Speaking with the Miramichi Leader Leblanc says he wasn't happy with the side effects of Lipitor - the cholesterol drug he'd been taking - so he decided to come up with his own formula. In his first trial runs he used himself as a guinea pig and found the herbal medicine has no side effects and produces the same cholesterol lowering effects as Lipitor. LeBlanc says he'll manufacture the pills in his basement for now. He expects to be in production by late spring.
I'll start typing the longer story from the paper and email it to anyone interested.
handlebar
03-03-2012, 16:36
I've been on Zocor (Simvastatin) for 18 years after trying without success to lower my familial high cholesterol with diet modifications, exercise, and even some niacin. It hasn't caused any problems to date even though I'm now at 80mg/day. I've been able to keep my total cholesterol just under 200 and my bad LDL under 100. I do have some knee pain, and after a long day of backpacking, muscle soreness, but then I'm at an age when that is to be expected and I know I have some small tears of the meniscus in my right knee.
I don't know if keeping my cholesterol at healthy levels accounts for an improvement in the status of coronary arteries or not. Due to "false positive" results on nuclear stress tests when I was 49 and again when I was 66, I had heart catheterizations at those ages. (I apparently have a bad reaction to the radioactive thallium used in those years; in other years prior to both the AT and PCT thrus, I passed the nuclear stress test with flying colors when an agent called Cardiolite was used.) The latter test at age 66, after I completed thru hikes of the AT and PCT and half of the CDT, showed a reduction in the narrowing of the coronary arteries and a reduction in the number of narrowed arteries. I think my cardiologist fully expected to insert some stents during the most recent catheterization. I heard him remark, "Your arteries are clearer than mine!"----and he is a very fit young man in his late 40s or early 50s. I told him he could fix his arteries by hiking the triple crown!
I work for a group of cardiologists and we are always asking the patients to let us know if they are having ANY symptoms or problems when they are on statin medications. A good deal of the patients do have various aches and pains and a simple blood test will tell us if it is actual mayalgia, liver, or kidney damage. If there is a problem, even a small one we tell the patient to stop their med immediately. There is a huge selection of non statin meds out there that we use, both prescription type and over the counter. One of the biggest things we do recommend is daily exercise, specificly get up and walk! Some people are sensitive to almost any medications and they seem to do best with diet, exercise, OTC meds like fish oil, flaxseed oil, niacin, CoQ10 and prescription meds like trilipix, livalo, niaspan, tricor, etc. If you can't get you doctor to really listen to your concerns, find another doctor...they are to serve you!!!
theoilman
03-03-2012, 17:37
I'm on simvastatin, 40 mg. Next checkup late this month and was considering asking about lowering dosage, after reading this thread definitely.
I've been on it for just over 2 years, since triple bypass Christmas 2009, 3 'restricted' or undersize vessels, not 'blocked.' Cholesterol was on the high side of normal before without statin, now way down, but would prefer to reduce or eliminate meds.
Pain? Recently I have had extreme right ankle pain but no swelling, had not twisted or sprained it all. I had not associated the pain with the statin, but now read it is possible/probably. Went on 2 day hike while pain was really bad, put on ankle support plus laced boot really tight (Vasque Breeze) both lower and upper sections of laces. Just went, grin and bear it, and go - because I wanted to hike. Several days following the pain was much less. ????
The benefits of hiking to heart health far outweigh the other pain.
Surplusman
03-03-2012, 23:33
Five years ago I was bicycling back and forth to work, working out with weights, and watching what I ate. Then in July 2007 I had a stroke and wound up in rehab for a month, learning to walk, talk, and use the right side of my body again. The doctors never pinpointed what caused my stroke, but I do believe that a factor in it was my terrible cholesterol levels. I take simvistatin, but am thinking about changing to red yeast rice on approval with my doctor. I make damned sure to get my bloodwork done once a year to check cholesterol levels when I have my yearly physical.
I can't hike as far and as fast as I did before my stroke, but even with my slightly slow right leg I manage to get along. I still watch what I eat, even when backpacking. At home I try to keep my daily sodium intake below 1200 mg. I up my sodium intake when I'm hiking, however.
Take care of yourselves, and get a yearly physical with cholesterol testing, to start off with. May you never have the distinctly frightening experience of having a stroke. Happy trails.
Funny there was an article in today's morning paper about a local guy developing a new drug...
Paper isn't available online anymore, but here is a little bit from another source...
http://www.993theriver.com/news_story.php?newsID=14490
Douglastown man approved to make cholesterol medication
By MNN. Last updated: 2012-03-02 08:44:41
Health Canada has approved the manufacture and sale of a new cholesterol medication invented by a Douglastown man. Russell LeBlanc came up with Rupaflexor after he was diagnosed with high cholesterol seven years ago. Speaking with the Miramichi Leader Leblanc says he wasn't happy with the side effects of Lipitor - the cholesterol drug he'd been taking - so he decided to come up with his own formula. In his first trial runs he used himself as a guinea pig and found the herbal medicine has no side effects and produces the same cholesterol lowering effects as Lipitor. LeBlanc says he'll manufacture the pills in his basement for now. He expects to be in production by late spring.
I'll start typing the longer story from the paper and email it to anyone interested.
Interesting story, but it will never fly in the US with that kind of testing. It's funny he found a herbal remedy that does what lipitor does with no side effects. I'm a little sceptical but would be interested in more info.
quilteresq
03-04-2012, 08:40
Just another perspective:
From the early 20th century to the time they invented the TSH test, high cholesterol used to be considered diagnostic of low thyroid. After dealing with a "fibromyalgia" diagnosis with all that the diagnosis entailed, including daily use of percocet, I got on thyroid meds, despite not having a high TSH. I treat my thyroid to almost completely suppress my own thyroid production, and therefore rely on thyroid pills for my daily energy. My cholesterol, which had gone up in a straight line since menopause to about 250, went down 75 points in the first year of use to normal. No statin involved. I sure wouldn't be thinking about hiking the AT if I still had pain every day like I used to.
It's easy to live in denial about the risks of MI and stroke from untreated hyperlipidemia, but that doesn't mean those risks go away. Lipitor is now generic and simvastatin is as well. Lifestyle and dietary interventions are paramount, but in many individuals are insufficient to reduce their risk of life altering cardiovascular event. Most can take statins just fine. I have never had a patient have a serious problem from taking a statin. Most strokes and MI's can be prevented if risk factors are controlled: BP, glucose and non-HDL cholesterol. Once a person has had a stroke or develops CHF it's too late.
I take a very low dose of Crestor - I've been on it for about 5 years. We discovered that my cholesterol was a little high at that time. Being a (casual) marathon runner, a long distance backpacker, rock climber, whole foods eating, non-smoking, vegetarian - not sure what I could do more (except maybe give up my beloved occasional glass of wine) to be in top-shape - I'm really pretty thin and fit - 5'8 - 150 or so. The low dose of Crestor seems to keep my cholesterol where it should be. I don't like the idea and your post scares me a little bit but it does work and I don't want heart problems. I hope I'm doing the right thing. I have lots of aches and pains all the time but don't think they are related to the drug - - probably just going at it hard combined with a touch of age.
Shutterbug
03-04-2012, 18:22
...So if you have read all the way down here, what is your experience
I have taken Lipitor for about 10 years and have never had a problem that I can remember ..... now what was it I was talking about? Sometimes I can't remember.
rocketsocks
03-04-2012, 18:39
I have taken Lipitor for about 10 years and have never had a problem that I can remember ..... now what was it I was talking about? Sometimes I can't remember.
LOL HaHaHa
O-H-10 Lil Ohio
03-04-2012, 19:24
My experience is the almost exactly the same as the OP, to the tee. I leave within the next ten days for Springer Mnt, for my attempt of the thur-hike, however, before I leave I will need to make a decision on my meds. I am waiting on the results of a muscle enzyme test based on discussions with my cardiolgist. I would really enjoy my hike more if I thought I could hike without the soreness in all my joints and muscles. BTW; I have done around 430 mile on the AT since Sept. to prepare for my hike, all of it done with the same soreness shared by the OP. Thank you for sharing you thoughts on this subject.. Hoping to leave the my cholestrol and blood pressure meds home. Let's see what the docs have to say, I don't what to be foolish , I find this to be a hard decision to make.Tic-Toc
"Hoping to leave the my cholestrol and blood pressure meds home."
I can't speak to the cholesterol meds, but my suggestion is that you plan to take the blood pressure meds with you. I did my first thru-hike in my early 50's, and I asked my doctor beforehand whether I could sort of "hike my way" out of needing them. He said that at my age, it was questionable, and the older you are the less likely that any amount of physical exercise will reduce blood pressure. So what I did was to stop a couple of times along the way in small towns with fire stations and ask if they would take my blood pressure (each time I had stopped taking the medication a day or two before with this intent). In both cases my blood pressure was higher than I wanted to see it, even though by that time I was in great shape, had lost essentially all body fat, etc.
So I'm just reconciled now that whatever trip I go on in future, I need to take my blood pressure meds. One thing that helped a lot was that I asked my doctor to write me out a 90 day rather than 30 day prescription, so less times that my wife has to go and pick it up and distribute the pills among resupply boxes.
Interesting story, but it will never fly in the US with that kind of testing. It's funny he found a herbal remedy that does what lipitor does with no side effects. I'm a little sceptical but would be interested in more info.I am skeptical also, but it could well be that if bad diet is part of the problem than a herbal or diet based remedy could be a big part of the solution, at least for some people. Anyhow, not alot more information here, but it's an interesting story...
Telegraph Journal Saturday March 12, 2012
Local Inventor approved to manufacture meds
Cholesterol-lowering drug to be produced in Douglastown man's basement
Dan Benoit
Mirimachi Leader
Miramichi - A Douglastown inventor has been approved by Health Canada to patent and manufacture a medication he developed in his spare time that lowers cholesterol and reduces inflammation.
Russell Leblanc invents things.
Leblanc has degrees in science from Dalhousie University and St. Mary's University. He spends his days developing new types of ammunition for the United States military.
"I have a great interest in ballistics," he said from his spacious home on the O'Keefe road on Thursday night.
That interest in ballistics and his background in science led to a working arrangement with Federal Cartridge, a company that produces ammunition. A lot of it.
"They manufacture virtually all of the military cartridges in the U.S.," Leblanc said.
LeBlanc developed some very specialized types of ammunition, one a "door breacher" round used by the U.S.Military to open doors during combat, and other more secret ordnance he developed for special forces like the U.S.Navy SEALS, that he can't even discuss, he said.
But while ammunition is his day job, so to speak, his hobby has become trying to make sick people better. People like himself.
About seven years ago, LeBlanc visited his doctor, who told him he had high cholesterol, not an uncommon thing.
"The results were quite high," he said.
He took the drug Lipitor for awhile, which lowered his cholesterol, but he had a lot of awful side effects, also not uncommon. Just reading about class action lawsuits that have resulted from Lipitor use is frightening, he said.
"Some of the lawsuits out there from these patent drugs are unbelieveable."
He was afraid for his health, he said.
"I had to endure it or try something else," he said.
He decided he was done with Lipitor, but he needed a safe alternative that worked just as well.
He read some science text books and some books on alternative medicine, then he put everything together in his head and came up with a simple solution to a common problem.
"I did some research and I developed a formula to lower cholesterol," he said.
"I came up with this formula that I though would work."
He took a large pill bottle from his coffee table and shook a pile of the brownish-capsules into his open hand. The medication is called Rupaflexor
Does it work?
"Absolutely," he said.
Under the supervision of his doctor, he went off Lupitor and on Rupaflexor for 15 days. His cholesterol was way down, he said.
His doctor thought he still might have Lipitor in his system, so he went off ot for 30 days, still taking the Rupaflexor. The cholesterol had improved yet again.
"Sure enough. the cholesterol was actually a little better."
Though he didn't have any real interest in manufacturing Rupaflexor when he first developed it, lots of people he knows told him he should start selling it. So he decided to do just that.
But if he had known the ammount of paperwork involved in such an undertaking, he might never have gotten started.
"It was a lot of red tape," he said.
LeBlanc used a ruler to measure all of the single-sheet forms he had to submit to Health Canada to get his drug approved. The stack measured 1.5 inches thick, he said.
But after years and years of back and forth communication and test after endless test, LeBlanc now has another stack of papers, but these all say Rupaflexor is certified by Health Canada to improve heart health and lessen inflamation of the joints.
It lowers cholesterol the same way Lipitor does, but since its all herbal, it's much better for you, he said.
"There's no negative effects. It's loaded with anti-oxidants. It's chock full of that."
He now has a company called Rupa Organics Inc. and he plans to sell Rupaflexor wholesale and do retail sales of it on the internet.
He never would have got into the retail aspect of it without the encouragement of friends, he said.
"The encouragement of people asking, "Why don't you do this?"
The big pharmacutical companies have billions of dollars they can devote to advertising alone, so he doesn't think he'll pose any real competition to them.
"But you've got to start somewhere," he said with a grin.
He's proud of his accomplishment.
"It happened right here," he said, spreading his hands.
"We're approved to do it right here in our basement."
He plans to have his first production run within two to three months, he said.
"Sometime in late Spring."
In his spare time, LeBlanc is also developing a medication which reduces prostate inflammation and another which reduces the symptoms of the common cold.
Fiddleback
08-11-2012, 10:55
There's no such thing as a too old thread.;)
On the subject of statins and diabetes risk; "Statins' Heart Benefits Outweigh Diabetes Risk", http://healthyliving.msn.com/diseases/diabetes/statins-heart-benefits-outweigh-diabetes-risk-study . And a simple but interesting story on diabetes itself; "5 Early Warning Signs of Diabetes", http://healthyliving.msn.com/diseases/diabetes/5-early-warning-signs-of-diabetes .
FB
Snowleopard
08-11-2012, 11:40
I don't have heart disease and haven't taken statins, but have mostly followed a regimen designed for heart patients. It is really worth considering serious lifestyle and diet changes before you need statins.
This is based on research by Dr. Dean Ornish and consists of:
Mostly vegetarian diet; vegan is there is a cholesterol or blood pressure problem or past heart attack.
Whole grains.
Very low fat diet.
Regular exercise.
Meditation or similar stress reduction method.
This regimen reduced my cholesterol from borderline high to fairly low and blood pressure from borderline to low.
Since I have a family history of heart disease, I decided to stay on it (mostly).
a very low-fat diet including predominantly fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and soy products in their natural, unrefined forms; moderate exercise such as walking; various stress management techniques including yoga-based stretching, breathing, meditation, and imagery; and enhanced love and social support, which may include support groups.
http://www.pmri.org/lifestyle_program.html
Ornish has a number of books: http://www.pmri.org/dean_ornish.html#books
I liked: http://www.amazon.com/Ornishs-Program-Reversing-Heart-Disease/dp/0804110387
Thru-hikers often eat a very unhealthy diet. Enough of the older hikers die of heart attack in NH or ME that you have to wonder if the bad diet offsets the great exercise they get on a thru. It's probably worth the extra effort to eat a healthy reasonably low fat diet on your thru-hike. If you're 25 it doesn't matter but after 50 it really does matter.
Fiddleback
08-12-2012, 10:06
+1, Snowboard!
And, as the referenced report states, it's important to adopt/continue a healthy lifestyle after beginning a statin regimen. The importance of such for those at risk of diabetes is a given, with or without statins. Diet and exercise will prevent Type 2 for most...
FB
I'm glad this thread got bumped, since I forgot to report on my experiment.
I hiked for a bit over a month this spring. I stopped taking simvasatin for the first two weeks. I didn't notice any big effect.
Since my Doctor was a "little concerned" about a month, I started taking it again at that time. A day or two later, it dawned on my that I had no energy and was tiring very early in the day. I quit again for the duration and my energy levels went back up.
Anecdotal, but I believe.