Cholesterol meds might end your hiking.

[Wise Old Owl]

no I am not seeking advise but I am sharing my experiences. After almost a year off the medicine that was the culprit of reducing my hiking ability The doc tried one then the other...it appears Zetia was the issue. a key ingredient of Vytorin. I took several months of Vytorin. When I complained he switched me to Zetia alone... and it got worse... now I take Simvistatin much of the pain is gone. Some problems continue, like the first few steps from the car.


And Pedaling Fool is right on the money


From the (known problems)
Unexplained muscle pain or weakness could be a sign of a rare but serious side effect and should be reported to your doctor right away. This side effect can rarely cause kidney damage that can lead to death. Also notify your doctor if you have muscle problems that do not go away even after your doctor has advised you to stop taking VYTORIN. The risk of serious muscle problems is greater with higher doses of VYTORIN, particularly the highest dose (10/80 mg). The highest dose should only be used by people who have been taking it chronically (such as 12 months or more) without having muscle damage and who don't need to take certain other medicines.


Vytorin (combination of simvistatin + ezetimibe; Merck, Schering Plough)
statin + absorption inhibitor
Vytorin is an interesting drug because it is composed of two medicines mixed into the same pill. We pharmacists call this a "fixed combination " pill.

The Zetia portion of the pill is reduces your digestive tract's ability to absorb cholesterol from the foods you eat. The Zocor portion of the pill inhibits your liver from producing cholesterol.

Here is a bunch of information regarding Vytorin. Our editors have checked out these links to make sure thay are accurate and up to date:
Vytorin Information

Vytorin.com Official web site; explains how Vytorin works, basic information on cholesterol, etc.
Prescribing Info - side effects, dose, mechanism of action, contraindications; this is the information your doctor uses to learn about Vytorin
General Information - similar to the flyer that you get in the drugstore when you fill your prescription for Vytorin.

[fudgefoot]

Start eating a vegan diet and your cholesterol will be fine.

I second that. Went vegan over 5 years ago and my cholesterol dropped 50 points. It has had no adverse affect on my hiking, I actually notice less inflammation and recover quicker from long hikes.

[max patch]

Start eating a vegan diet and your cholesterol will be fine.

Thats not a true statement.

Cholesterol level is a function of what you eat and what your body makes.

[Ktaadn]

Thats not a true statement.

Cholesterol level is a function of what you eat and what your body makes.

http://nutritionfacts.org/video/bloc...heart-disease/

[Wise Old Owl]

Yes but written by vegans and quite frankly in a recent discussion with a close freind around the BBQ she made a stunning statement that Diabetes is caused by BBQ - found 15 pages of pro heathy eating on American Diabetes.org and other good sites and 1 vegan website BBQ will kill you by increasing your heart attacks with miserable science to back it up written by another vegan..Miserable Science is something I coined when I hear "studies suggest".

My question for you is simple... do you see these sites funded or thought processed by PETA Polotics?Please dont Eat the Tasty Animals

No I don't have Diabetes.

[dirtypaws]

http://nutritionfacts.org/video/bloc...heart-disease/

Considering nutritionfacts.org is a vaccine truther's website, please don't post that here. I'd sooner trust Rick santorum for relationship advice.

[Wise Old Owl]

Yea I gotta keep this on track, here is some more information more in line with the thread and again my opologies when I started my thread in 2012 ... I was on a fact finding mission to discover what knocked me out of my boots.

Weakness and fatigue are terms that are often used as if they mean the same thing, but in fact they describe two different sensations. It is important to know exactly what you mean when you say "I feel weak" or "I am fatigued" because it can help you and your doctor narrow down the possible causes of your symptoms.

• Weakness is a lack of physical or muscle strength and the feeling that extra effort is required to move your arms, legs, or other muscles. If muscle weakness is the result of pain, the person may be able to make muscles work, but it will hurt.
• Fatigue is a feeling of tiredness or exhaustion or a need to rest because of lack of energy or strength. Fatigue may result from overwork, poor sleep, worry, boredom, or lack of exercise. It is a symptom that may be caused by illness, medicine, or medical treatment such as chemotherapy. Anxiety or depression can also cause fatigue.

Both weakness and fatigue are symptoms, not diseases. Because these symptoms can be caused by many other health problems, the importance of weakness and fatigue can only be determined when other symptoms are evaluated.
Weakness

General weakness often occurs after you have done too much activity at one time, such as by taking an extra-long hike. You may feel weak and tired, or your muscles may be sore. These sensations usually go away within a few days.
In rare cases, generalized muscle weakness may be caused by another health problem, such as:

• Problems with the thyroid gland, which regulates the way the body uses energy.
  
  • A low thyroid level (hypothyroidism) can cause fatigue, weakness, lethargy, weight gain, depression, memory problems, constipation, dry skin, intolerance to cold, coarse and thinning hair, brittle nails, or a yellowish tint to the skin.
  • A high thyroid level (hyperthyroidism) can cause fatigue, weight loss, increased heart rate, intolerance to heat, sweating, irritability, anxiety, muscle weakness, and thyroid enlargement.
  
  
• Guillain-Barr� syndrome, a rare nerve disorder that causes weakness in the legs, arms, and other muscles and that can progress to complete paralysis.
• Myasthenia gravis, a rare, chronic disorder that causes weakness and rapid muscle fatigue.
• A problem with the minerals (electrolytes) found naturally in the body, such as low levels of potassium or sodium.

Muscle weakness that is slowly getting worse requires a visit to a doctor.
Sudden muscle weakness and loss of function in one area of the body can indicate a serious problem within the brain (such as a stroke or transient ischemic attack) or spinal cord or with a specific nerve in the body.
Fatigue

Fatigue is a feeling of tiredness, exhaustion, or lack of energy. You may feel mildly fatigued because of overwork, poor sleep, worry, boredom, or lack of exercise. Any illness, such as a cold or the flu, may cause fatigue, which usually goes away as the illness clears up. Most of the time, mild fatigue occurs with a health problem that will improve with home treatment and does not require a visit to a doctor.

[rgarling]

Consider the possibility that our current societal thought about statins, blood cholesterol, and dietary advice is wrong.

Try a 90 day experiment with no wheat products, no vegetable oils and no sugar. Emphasize cold-water fish, pasture fed beef / pork, and eat no carbs except what come in vegetable form. Don't fear fat. Just see what happens for you: http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf

[Pedaling Fool]

This is an interesting article asking where are all the miracle drugs. And it gives a little review of the weight-loss drug Fen-Phen, they're still dealing with all the complications that drug caused, it was actually kind of good thing, but since we really don't understand our complex bodies it had serious side effects.

I do believe there will be major medical breakthroughs, but for now and in the foreseeable future the only real fix for one's health is to remain a slave to nature, meaning get on that wheel and run you damn rat


http://www.slate.com/articles/health...me.single.html

[Wise Old Owl]

There will never be a magic pill for weight loss. Eat More wabbit and exercise more... less typing...

swine-flu-porky-pig.jpg

[Wise Old Owl]

Hey this took some time to figure out, and I still have lingering issues... Hope you learn from my mistakes, Hike on....

[Wise Old Owl]

I have just discovered that all statins cause muscle weakness from a reliable sources. Some are worse than others... guess I have to have another conversation with the doctor.

[peakbagger]

Great you finally came to the conclusion, having been there and done that, a statin is a statin. Medical Inc. is always pushing some new variation and representing that the new variety has less side effects but if you are intolerant to statins, any statin will cause you grief, but the symptoms can vary. Zetia has lost favor as though it does reduce LDL, there is no link to any cardiac benefits. If you can tolerate niacin that does bump up your HDL but to some the side effects aren't worth it.

The Michael Mosely videos are back up on PBS, the first two are worth watching http://video.pbs.org/program/michael-mosley/. I know the 5-2 plan works for me.

[Another Kevin]

Make sure your doctor knows that the statin side effects are getting in the way of llifestyle modifications - because the latter are more important! If the doc doesn't listen, find one that does.

Have you had creatinine kinase checked while you were suffering muscle symptoms? It can provide an objective finding of statin intolerance.

It may take some messing around, but statin intolerance can be treated.

(1) Fluvastatin and rosuvastatin are often tolerated better than the other statins in patients with myotoxic side effects.

(2) Atorvastatin and rosuvastatin show benefit to patients even with less-than-daily dosing. Perhaps your doc could try you on every-other-day dosing. Severely intolerant patients sometimes do well even on 5-20 mg of rosuvastatin once a week.

(3) Some patients with statin-associated myopathy have reduction of symptoms by taking supplemental coenzyme Q10. The statins shut down the pathway that makes Q10 in the body. And make sure you're getting enough vitamin D (at least 600 IU/day). Patients on statins need more vitamin D than people who don't take them.

(4) There are questions whether patients actually benefit from ezetimibe, as someone mentioned above. But it doesn't have the same side effects profile as the statins. Perhaps your doc would want to try it.

(5) Some statin-intolerant patients do better with bile acid sequestrants. The problem with these is usually the GI side effects. Colesevalam has lower incidence of these than colestipol or cholestyramine.

(6) Alternative and complementary medicine: try a regimen of red yeast rice (1800 mg, twice a day) and fish oil. The combination has documented efficacy.

(7) As someone mentioned above, niacin can help if you can tolerate the side effects. If you're also diabetic, it should be used with some caution.

(8) Another possibility is a PPAR-alpha mediator - one of the fibrates (gemfibrogil, fenofibrate, benzafibrate, and ciprofibrate).

There's a decent survey paper about the various alternatives here. One suggested clinical protocol for approaching the statin-intolerant patient is here.

So there are a whole lot of things to try (and no guarantee that any one of them will work in any individual patient, so the whole affair takes patience, unfortunately). Any doc who tells you "well, you HAVE to take the statins, and just live with the side effects" or tells you to discontinue the statin without offering an alternative, is not doing his job.

I'm one of the lucky ones: for me, lifestyle modifications have been enough so far. (And the lifestyle modifications have been GOOD ones - I'll happily take the advice to get out and hike more!)

[Pedaling Fool]

If the doc doesn't listen, find one that does.

That's what I do; I find a doc that says what I want to hear
I know you're point AK, only kidding

I would really think seriously about getting off drugs, but that's a personal decision and one only you can make. I really believe that most people would benefit more from less drugs and more vigorous exercise and to some extent the proper frame of mind, and of course a sensible diet, but mostly just eating less.

There are a lot of studies out there, but the funny thing is that so many of them are just simply wrong. There's nothing new in this, there are so many articles out there concerning the issue with Studies, this is kind of long, but it's pretty good at detailing all the issues http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/...l.pmed.0020124


I'm NOT anti-science and we need to keep studies going, but at the same time we need to acknowledge the shortcomings of our knowledge today. And you can see these shortcomings by just going to the doctor's office. I don't go often, but of the few times I've been I never really got an answer to my issue, just a drug and told to take it easy. I also read a lot of articles and there are a lot concerning problems people have at the doctor's office, here's a good one, but so many more...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/nation...a55_story.html

Again, I'm not anti-science, nor am I anti-doctor, but I do believe that most of our health issues can be fixed by simple lifestyle changes; I say simple, but that doesn't mean it's easy, it takes dedication and work.

[googlywoogly]

Consider the possibility that our current societal thought about statins, blood cholesterol, and dietary advice is wrong.

Try a 90 day experiment with no wheat products, no vegetable oils and no sugar. Emphasize cold-water fish, pasture fed beef / pork, and eat no carbs except what come in vegetable form. Don't fear fat. Just see what happens for you: http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf

The above statement is the truth. Except you don't need to do it for 90 days. 30 days of following the above advice will amaze most folks with the discipline and motivation to actually follow through. It isn't saturated fat that kills us via high cholesterol & heart disease et. al. ), it is the super processed grains and sugar that replaces fat in most low fat/no fat foods that were marketed to answer the "fat is bad" misinformation fed to us via bad science and outright fraud and incompetence.

Just give it 30 days. If you don't feel any pronounced and wondrous effects on your health you can go back to your previous Standard American Diet (SAD).

[Paul the Brit]

I have been taking Vytorin for several years now, plus other life induced medication such as anti-acids and sleep meds. One of the major reasons I am going to thru-hike is its time to reset my body and get back on track. Sitting in an office Without natural sunlight, eating fast produced food, and working evenings weekends in a stressful job has taken its toll. I hope my thru-hike with assist in losing weight, reducing stress and helping me sleep again. luckily I don't have the issues with Vytorin as described by others, but I have an issue with the way I am living my life.

[Wise Old Owl]

I get it.. I love making low sodium jerky and I still eat fried wings once a week... and a few beers... its a quandary... Here is a thought wrap your mind around this. If it wasn't for processed foods we would as a group be dead already... Africa has been practicing organic foods for years... How is the water?

[Pedaling Fool]

Here's a pretty good piece on understanding BP readings; it's very long so I will only copy an excerpt, but some really good stuff if you open and look at the whole thing. http://health.nytimes.com/health/gui...ion/print.html



High Blood Pressure In-Depth Report

In-Depth From A.D.A.M. Background

High blood pressure, also called hypertension, is elevated pressure of the blood in the arteries. Hypertension results from two major factors, which can be present independently or together:

• The heart pumps blood with excessive force.
• The body's smaller blood vessels (known as the arterioles) narrow, so that blood flow exerts more pressure against the vessels' walls.

Although the body can tolerate increased blood pressure for months and even years, eventually the heart may enlarge (a condition called hypertrophy), which is a major factor in heart failure.
Click the icon to see an image of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Such pressure can also injure blood vessels in the heart, kidneys, the brain, and the eyes.

Two numbers are used to describe blood pressure: the systolic pressure (the higher and first number) and the diastolic pressure (the lower and second number). Health dangers from blood pressure may vary among different age groups and depending on whether systolic or diastolic pressure (or both) is elevated. A third measurement, pulse pressure, may also be important as an indicator of severity.

Systolic Blood Pressure. The systolic pressure (the first and higher number) is the force that blood exerts on the artery walls as the heart contracts to pump out the blood. High systolic pressure is now known to be a greater risk factor than diastolic pressure for brain, heart, kidney, and circulatory complications and for death, particularly in middle-aged and elderly adults. The wider the spread between the systolic and diastolic measurements, the greater the danger.

Diastolic Blood Pressure. The diastolic pressure (the second and lower number) is the measurement of force as the heart relaxes to allow the blood to flow into the heart. High diastolic pressure is a strong predictor of heart attack and stroke in young adults.

Pulse Pressure. Pulse pressure is the difference between the systolic and the diastolic readings. It indicates stiffness and inflammation in the blood-vessel walls. The greater the difference between systolic and diastolic numbers, the stiffer and more injured the vessels are thought to be.

Some studies suggest that in people over 45 years old, every 10 mm Hg increase in pulse pressure increases the risk for stroke rises by 11%, cardiovascular disease by 10%, and overall mortality by 16%. (In younger adults the risks are even higher.)

Hypertension Categories

There are a number of ways to categorize or describe hypertension.

• Essential Hypertension. Essential hypertension is also known as primary or idiopathic hypertension. About 90% of all high blood pressure cases are this type. The causes of essential hypertension are unknown but are based on complex processes in all major organs and systems, including the heart, blood vessels, nerves, hormones, and the kidneys.
• Secondary Hypertension. Secondary hypertension comprises about 5% of high blood pressure cases. In this condition, the cause has been identified.

Other doctors categorize hypertension based on what portion of the blood pressure reading is abnormal:

• Isolated Systolic Hypertension. Elevated systolic pressure may pose a significant danger for heart problems and stroke even when diastolic is normal -- a condition called isolated systolic hypertension. This occurs when systolic hypertension is over 140 mm Hg but diastolic pressure is normal. It is related to arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). Isolated systolic hypertension is the most common form of hypertension in people older than age 50.

Click the icon to see an image of atherosclerosis.

• Diastolic Hypertension. Diastolic hypertension refers to an elevated diastolic blood pressure reading. This subtype is most common in middle-aged adults age 30 - 50.

Blood Pressure Guidelines

Blood pressure is measured in millimeters of mercury (mm Hg). According to current adult guidelines, blood pressure is categorized as normal, prehypertensive, and hypertensive (which is further divided into Stage 1 and 2, according to severity).

• Normal blood pressure is below 120/80 mm Hg.
• High blood pressure is greater than or equal to 140 mm Hg (systolic) or greater than or equal to 90 mm Hg (diastolic).
• Blood pressure readings in the prehypertension category (120 -139 systolic or 80 - 89 diastolic) indicate an increased risk for developing hypertension.

Current guidelines for children are based on percentile ranges for a child’s body size. Hypertension is defined as average systolic and diastolic readings that are greater than the 95th percentile for gender, age, and height on at least three occasions.

Pre-hypertension in children is diagnosed when average systolic or diastolic blood pressure levels are at least in the 90th percentile but less than the 95th percentile. For adolescents, as with adults, blood pressure readings greater than 120/80 are considered prehypertensive. Increasing rates of childhood obesity have led to increasing rates of hypertension and pre-hypertension among children and adolescents. Although more children are having high blood pressure, recent studies indicate that pediatric hypertension is frequently underdiagnosed.

[Namtrag]

So 110/90 is safer than 130/60? That goes against everything I ever thought about bp