Posted on 03/20/2010 4:54:22 PM PDT by TennesseeGirl
“And some wonder why the docs are so fast to write out the prescriptions? I’m sure that you are aware of all of the “incentives” that the drug companies give them based on the volume of scripts written, that is a huge driver.”
Whoa, that’s incorrect these days, and I know because I am in the industry. What “incentives” can you identify that are currently being given to doctors? Maybe they get a lunch brought in to the office, but surely you don’t think that, after 15 years of higher education and thousands of dollars of student loans to pay back, doctors are going to prescribe a drug they actually believe is not an appropriate med for their patients. There are serious anti-kickback laws that apply to drug companies as well as doctors.
If anything, the insurance companies are driving a lot of physician prescribing habits these days, which is precisely why a lot of folks are ending up on simvastatin 80mg.
All my husband needed to read was Irreversible Muscle Damage
and he stopped taking statins.....dead legs went away after 3 days!
I forgot to include that I was already taking 40mg pravastatin. The 25 to 30% lowering of LDL was in combination with Zetia.
I am not at all knowledgeable in this area, just cynical of drug taking.
Even at 60, I can take the stairs 3 at a time [I learned this from my brother]. But, after taking the meds, I had big trouble moving my legs. It was so bad that I had to use my arms to move my legs late at night.
I called my doctor at Cedars-Sinai who told me to stop taking them immediately. I did. At 61, I can still take the stairs 3 at a time. :=)
Although not as robustly as 20 years ago.
The doctor wrote my Zetia prescription so fast and hard that I left his office convinced he was getting some sort of incentive.
Just went to my Aunt and Uncle's 75th anniversary party. They say at this point they think the marriage just might last.
Liptor, Zocor... whatever they call them, they are nasty drugs.
On your second point (surely you don’t think that, after 15 years of higher education and thousands of dollars of student loans to pay back, doctors are going to prescribe a drug they actually believe is not an appropriate med for their patients.), perhaps you have a lot more "faith" in them than I do. My curt response would "surely you don't believe that they wouldn't!"
You can believe what you want, and I will believe what I want.
You’d have to ask a doctor to find out how this happens, but what I mentioned is a boiler plate warning I’ve seen on the patient information sheet that comes with prednisone and prednisolone. If they cause trouble, it doesn’t necessarily show up immediately.
I’ve taken just 10 mg for almost two years now — cut my 20’s in half.
My total had been a bit high along with LDL. HDL was always good (high) and very low Trigs (good).
Docs said ‘take a statin’ so I finally relented. No problems at 10 mg. whatsoever and it keeps me in a perfect range. Is it important? Probably not — my ‘ratio’ is exactly the same because my extremely high HDL is lowered a tad by the drug.
Unless I get a bad result on a 6 month liver function test I’ll stay on it to keep the docs quiet. They claim they don’t like to rely in the ratios anymore, for some reason.
Well, your doctor is practicing defensive medicine by trying to meet the recommended guidelines for cholesterol, and they think of Zetia as a “safe” agent to add to a statin, since it is not systemically absorbed. These aggressive guidelines are driving the doctors to use so much statin therapy. They are afraid of being sued after a heart attack, if they did not meet the guidelines.
Zocor wiped me out with leg muscle aches and tiredness. I’m on a low dose of Crestor and doing fine for 77. I also take Indapamine, Benicar and Amolodipine plus lots of supplements. Had three way bypass in mid 2004...
Thank you for posting this information.
I am prescribed Zocor (Simvastatin) 10 mg daily but it causes leg cramps when I try to go to sleep, so I don’t take it all the time.
As for the other side effects, it’s nice knowing all the facts - knowing what works well without causing any problems for some people other people can’t tolerate - so that at least we can all make informed decisions of what risks we want to take.
Our doc HATES statins with a passion.
Took hubby off of them immediately and switched him to 4 grams of Niacin a day.
His cholesterol levels were never better.
Then hubby had triple bypass due to 90% blocked arteries and *that* cardio doc put him back on them so fast it’d make your head spin.
Our doc says that the pushers...uh...drug company reps commonly hand out money, vacations, you name it, proportionate to how MUCH statins a doctor prescribes a month.
Our doc tells them to get bent.
Unfortunately, hubby is now taking them because he’s afraid of another bypass when it’s a fact that 90-95% blockages take *decades* to build up and his cholesterol had little or nothing to do with it.
Next time your doc gripes about your “LDL”, ask him to have your LP(a) and homocysteine levels checked.
I guarantee you’ll piss him/her off.
LP(a) “cholesterol” is what blocks your arteries and homocysteine levels predict how “far gone” you may be.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipoprotein(a)
Honestly hadn’t thought of that angle.
You’re probably right, and it just pi$$es me off at the ambulance chasers.
Now I need an interpreter for all my doctors words.
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