I have been on Lovastatin 20Mg for 7 years but am starting to
experience muscle soreness in my arms. I think I need a change of
cholesterol lowering medication, any suggestions that I can run past
my doctor?

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Request for Question Clarification by omnivorous-ga on 17 Aug 2004 09:55 PDT

Danny --

Your doctor should be doing annual blood tests to anticipate any
negative effects of the statin, so that would be one recommendation. 
Before starting Lovastatin had he or you tried niacin?

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA

Yes ... A low-fat diet; eat Benecol spreads, yoghurts; cut out Dairy Products.

It's all about Life Style.

It's worked for me ...

And I feel FANTASTIC.

lovastatin is a statin drug, so is zocor, pravachol, lipitor, crestor,
lescol and their generics.  zetia is a new non statin and could be
considered - the statins are all cousins and have similarity of action
and side fx.  a cpk blood test may quantify this side effect of
achiness.  also make sure you get a stress test periodically - 
cholesterol is a number and is really only one of six or seven risk
factors --  it must be taken in context of the others -, hypertesion,
cigarettes, family history, inactivity, diabetes, prior personal
history of angina or heart attack or similar, obesity.    all in all
i'll take a stress test any day of the week over a cholesterol to know
where i stand. you should ask your doctor tomorrow if you should stop
the lovastatin immediately due to  your possible side effect, then you
can proceed from there.

Well, it may sound stupid, but eat cheerios.  I'm serious, it really
works great and, of course, no prescription needed.  It can seriously
lower cholesterol considerably.

Interesting Comment, The Figg

But is there any medical-type evidence to support the Cheerio solution?

Bryan --

The Cheerios claim has been backed up by research (which was funded by
General Mills, the manufacturer).  It appears that dietary fiber acts
to reduce cholesterol:
http://www.beststuff.com/article.php3?story_id=4968

In the U.S., General Mills has been running a series of clever TV
adverts touting the cholesterol-fighting capabilities of the breakfast
cereal.

That takes care of breakfast.  For dinner we have the beneficial
effects of red wine, which acts to elevate HDL or "good cholesterol":
http://www.hbns.org/newsrelease/cholesterol8-20-02.cfm

Google search strategy:
Cheerios + cholesterol
red wine + cholesterol

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA

Hi, Omni

Many thanks for the advice.

Unfortunately, my favourite tipple is champagne.

But I suppose I could always sink a few bottles of red wine, as well.

After all, you really have to look after your health.

All the Best

Bryan