Has anyone been prescribed an add on drug to a statin for high cholesterol and did you notice any changes in your levels?
@A DiabetesTeam Member
My nephew's has started injections for cholesterol. They are injected twice a year. His pill therapy wasn't doing enough.
I do take a Statin (Atorvastatin/Lipitor) - the dose never increased from my initial (heart protection as advised by Diabetes Canada) dose of 20 mg (80 mg is the max dose)
From the chart above it's like I'm in the "low risk" category so looks like the "preventative" meds are working for me (unless they are doing nothing at all)
But if I was maxed out and my Cholesterol was still an issue, I "would" medicate further - cardio vascular disease is what gets us collectively, that is how most of us are going to go - so "anything" you can do to delay that is a positive and maybe there is a few side effects "worse than death" but you don't hear of them typically with cholesterol meds - so if you need them go for it
Last Cholesterol Test (Aug 2024) my numbers were:
HDL - 34 (0.9 mmol/l) and
Total Cholesterol - 172 (4.46 mmol/l)
My LDL always run a little high at 111 or 2.85 mmol/l (last numbers) but I almost expect that since I follow a High Fat Diet so even if try to be careful I do consume a little too much of the (wrong) saturated fats
The drugs for cholesterol disagree with me! I am lucky my cholesterol is not bad. They put me on it to Protect my heart as I am type 2. That was yrs ago. Had leg pain so they tried a newer one a few yrs back and that bothered my stomach . My total cholesterol is 205 now generally I ran low till recently. But I checked the charts and at 74 that is considered low.
Ezetimibe Blocks absorption of cholesterol in the intestines . diarrhea is the top side effect Other Possible side effects include sore throat , runny nose, sneezing and joint pain. More are listed but they are rare. Hope it works for you.
I am on 80 mg now a statin for many years I took 20 started with 10 and just a month ago a new add-on but I don’t think I can spell it. Ezetimibe or something. I am hoping for improvement!