Wednesday, March 26, 2008
I have not discussed concern with my GP since I just came across this web site. I would like to get some feedback before approaching the subject, since I'm not certain about the credibility of the information on here. My main concern is that in the interest of playing it safe, my Dr. might be overly cautious (if there can be such a thing in this day and age) and prescribing a higher dosage than I need, which could have a negative affect on my health which I wouldn't be aware of.
Any replies would be greatly appreciated, especially if I'm misreading this information or not understanding the relationship between preventitive treatment and the actual treatment of high cholesterol.
I'm not an expert, either on mainstream medicine (the monopoly that our government supports) or alternative medicine (which our government will not test products to see if they are effective to to ensure that they even have the advertised products). You might want to do a lot more research on your own, or even see another doctor for a second opinion. I don't know whether your excellent BP figures are before or after taking medicine.
From my research, I have found conflicting information and advice. So it is difficult to determine who is right -- and of course the government isn't interested in an objective determination.
For both BP and cholesterol, there are natural alternatives that what I would call an honest doctor would recommend first. I can tell you that both BP medicine and cholesterol medicine can cause problems. I have read that cholesterol medicine changes the body's way of controlling cholesterol -- so if you get used to taking it, you will have to take it for the rest of your life, since you have terminated your body's natural defense. There are alternative medicine experts who point out that many people who die of heart attacks have low cholesterol, and who say that even though the medicine lowers the cholestorol readings, there is no reduction in the number of deaths.
I take lisiniprol (although higher dosage) because my BP is too high otherwise -- much higher than your good readings. I constantly cough as a result. And I have a lot of trouble getting it up (impotence). Other BP medicines also have had side effects.
My cholesterol is barely above 200, which used to be considered good. The pharmaceutical companies keep lowering the figures -- I think, to sell more drugs. It seems to me that if they didn't know what they were talking about when they said 200 was OK, then maybe they don't know what they're talking about now.
This site has some good material on cholesterol, as well as BP. Then there's WebMD and other sites. Maybe you could just do an Internet search. Read everything you can, and make up your own mind. There's a lot of information. I doubt that you have a BP problem, and you should determine when if ever your cholesterol gets high now. Unfortunately, it's harder for you to check your cholesterol.
I hope others will offer their advice as well. Roy