Monday, February 13, 2012

The JUPITER Study: Should everybody take Crestor?

The JUPITER study has been the subject of countless headlines reporting the unprecedented reduction in heart attacks with the cholesterol drug, Crestor®. The study has received gushing pronouncements of the inestimable value of statins by my cardiology colleagues.   Pharmaceutical giant, A...
Anonymous
Lily
11/18/08 2:35pm

I looked up the price for Crestor 10 mg on drugstore.com. It was $111 for 30 tablets. With my RxDrugCard I can get 30 Simvastatin 10 mg for $8. If it turns out that one statin is as good as another, I'm going for the generic!!

Anonymous
Cappy K
11/21/08 7:47am

Why not take an aspirin?

 

They tell you to take a baby aspirin a day for your heart anyhow.  A lot cheaper than Crestor, and not all the garbage side effects.

 

That the drug company sponsored the study should tell you something about their results.

Anonymous
Rhonda
4/ 9/09 1:35am

wow. i started on crestor four weeks ago.  i had a  relatively normal cholesterol; but have a strong-family history of heart disease with sudden cardiac death/and malfunctions of all sorts; in the 40-50 yr time frames.  My bad cholesterol was only 114.  Now it is 72. I was "talked into taking this; by my german cardiologist; whom i have always felt is a bit of a health nut.." SO,  I began this ALREADY having plenty of myalgias; tons of physical-fatigue/angina/enlarged organs;spleen-liver-pancreas- and severe inflammatory responses throughout my entire body; though; i eat great; vegen and only mildly obese.  I tried all the healthy things i could and ate a diet to fight inflammation with okay results.  BUT; i felt nauseated when first starting it-however; I found by taking it at bedtime the non serious side effects were diminished. I felt my heart moving-without pain a few days at first; then the angina stopped.  Finally,  I had my  3-cardio/rheumatology/gi-check ups this week; including a blood test to measure inflammation-a ct scan w/contrast; and ekg.  ALL my organs are back to normal size.  My inflammation is normal-probably the first time in 3 yrs. My HTN is on 1/2 the dose of diovan.  My joints are feeling good and I am feeling -less congestion and friction in my chest wall-and less inflammation in my ribs;I can move-now and I now feel like exercising regularly---i have started swimming again after 20 yrs...wow- and over all -i cannot say i have felt this-good in years. I have had MCTD ( form of lupus) since my 20's. I am now 47 and feel like i might even one -day be off of disability. now; i am telling my kids 24 and 27 whom suffer from connective tissue inflammation that effects they already.  wow. i pray  if this isn't the perfect drug then i hope they will keep working at it til they get it right for all.  I don't care what it costs.  I feel its worth it.42

Anonymous
Barb B
7/29/09 11:35am

Rhonda: I was glad to read your post. I am suffering from almost the same things as you - connective tissue inflammation. I just got my blood cholesterol results and they are not good, so I am starting Crestor 10 mg. Your post gave me hope and encouragement. Thanks!

Anonymous
Rhonda
7/29/09 5:52pm

Great let me know how it goes.   If you have any serious side effects though let your doc know so he can adjust your dose. I had to have mine decreased early on -then it leveled out fine.  I also do pomegrante juice and black cherry juice (NOT) from concentrated daily on a empty stomach to address chronic inflammation symtoms!  I am about to try a natural yeast-relieving diet too; eliminating flour-sugar for a month; so excited in two weeks my waist measurements dropped by 7 inches total-just doing that without any weight loss so my digestive system is greatly improving along with this new-diet!   take care keep me posted and if you come across things to reverse inflammation let me know libertykatrkm@gmail.com

Anonymous
Barb B
7/29/09 6:27pm

Will do. I tried the Cherry juice (natural) and it gave me bad gastric problems. I'm hoping the Pomegrande will be different. Dr. said to take lots of Vitamin C, so I take the Emergen-C 3-4 times a day. It has a 1,000 per dose and tastes good (the main reason I take it). He also said to try Tumeric (Curcumin) because it was good for inflammation and 'cleaning out' the arteries. I take fish oil too.

 

Frankly, I was a bit surprised at the cholesterol numbers because I am not overweight and I am mainly a vegetarian, taking only a bit of fish, a bit of turkey and some chicken on rare occasions. However, I do have a bad family history - grandmother, aunt and mother all dead of coronary heart disease. All had HP, High Lipids and inflammation, so the 'handwriting is on the wall.' I could exercise more and I will be doing more of it now that I got the 'bad news.'

 

I am on 10 mg of Crestor to start. Blood work again in 2 months and we go from there. I was encouraged about what you wrote -- how you felt better when you started on the statins. I am hoping the same holds true for me. I will call dr. if I experience any side effects. I know so many people on Crestor and most all have no side effects at all. However, you do hear of complaints. I'm hoping I will be lucky because it appears that statins will be a 'way of life' for me now. 

 

I will keep you posted!! 

2/27/10 9:02pm

Since taking Crestor, I have developed a vitain D deficiency.  I drink milk everyday, broccoli is my favorite vegetable and I go outside.