13 replies to this topic

[hannibellemo]

Help, I need some information from my peeps who have been there!

I searched for previous discussions but not a lot of concrete stuff there. I'm on 50 mg. Sprycel (after PE). I have records from 2002 and there is no doubt that my total cholesterol and LDLs are consistently high - 282 and 195 respectively. My HDL and Triglycerides are good - 68 and 73 consistently. My diet is good, changing that probably won't do much, and, I must admit, I'm not real inclined to change much.

Just how dangerous are my cholesterol and LDL levels? Am I protected enough with the other good counts? I have a scrip for either atorvastatin (generic Lipitor) or simvistatin (generic Zocor) low dose, 10 mg. per day. I don't like the interaction info between Sprycel and either of these drugs: http://www.drugs.com...1-1488,787-2439

Frank (Sneezy 12) mentioned pravastatin (generic Pravachol) doesn't have these interactions and they don't according to drugs.com. Neither do fluvastatin (Lescol), rosuvastatin (Crestor), and pitavistatin (Livalo).

Anyone taking Sprycel on statins and which one? Anyone have a feel that one works better than the others? Lipitor seems to be the gold standard when you need help fast but I don't think that's my situation. Anyone have any dangerous side effects? My liver enzymes are rock steady now on Sprycel but I had a severe liver reaction to Gleevec that required the switch.

Thanks in advance for any wisdom or personal experience you'd share with me. I will be checking with my onc, but I like to hear from those who are living the life.

Pat

[Sneezy12]

Pat, I have had no problems on Gleevec and 20 mg. of Pravastatin for 3 years. I do have a CMP done monthly. My Lipids are all normal, with a Total Cholesterol of 165 Mg. I also take 20 mg. of Omeprazole daily. Regards, Frank

[jrsboo]

Dear Hannibellemo,

the Sprycel is raising my cholesterol as well.  I tried prevastatin, but it made me MAD.  Some weird side effect or cross effect, who knows, but I was enraged all the time on the drug.  GP had prescribed it and was very non-chalant about me just stopping it if I wanted.  Onc was much more concerned and we are now trying Fenofibrate.  No side effects other than a little OCD, sigh.  Fenofibrate is not such a great choice, as it works differently, but I was told that the of the statins, only prevastatin was ok to use with sprycel.  I go next month to see if it is working and have my lipid panel checked. 

Just my 2 cents.

Caroline

[Sneezy12]

Be sure to have a Liver profile also. Frank

[hannibellemo]

Thanks, everyone, for your response. I've talked to my pharmacist and onc and have decided to try the atorvastatin (generic Lipitor). The thought process is that I'm on low dose Sprycel, 50 mg/day and I'll be on a very lose dose statin to start, I'm splitting my 10 mg. for the first two weeks to see how it goes before I take the whole dose, and 10 mg. statin is a low dose anyway.

This whole cholesterol thing is very confusing. I have high HDLs and normal triglycerides, my HDL to LDL ratio while not optimal is within good limits - that's why I wonder how necessary this whole medication thing is at all, especially since I have no other risk factors other than age and I can't help that! Supposedly, triglyceride levels are of more importance to women in the scheme of things.

Caroline, my total cholesterol and LDLs have been high since 2002; Sprycel didn't cause this. Good luck with the fenofibrate

Frank, I have my liver function done every lab due to my Gleevec scare, thanks for the info on the pravastatin.

Billie, you must have an iron liver! Can't believe what meds you take with no interaction.

I'll let you know how I do.

Pat

[Lizzybee]

Hi Pat,

High cholesterol is just a risk factor for heart disease, not a disease in and of itself.  Some doctors prescribe statins based on cholesterol numbers alone rather than looking at the whole picture.  Personally, I wouldn't take a statin unless I had other risk factors and/or very high cholesterol.  Also, they can do additional testing to see whether your cholesterol molecules are small and dense or big and fluffy.  One is a risk factor, the other is not, but I can't remember which one is problematic.  Anyway, doctors don't usually order the additional testing because insurance companies don't like to pay for it, but again, I personally wouldn't go on a statin without the additional tests. Statins can have some serious side effects, such as liver damage, muscle damage that leads to kidney damage, and diabetes.  My doctor wanted me to take lipitor a few years ago, but I refused.  If you already live a pretty healthy lifestyle, there may not be much you can do to lower your cholesterol naturally.  For me, I only had to lose 10-15 lbs to get my cholesterol back down into the normal range, and at that time, I wasn't eating well or exercising ever, so in my case, it would have been a poor choice to do meds instead of changing my diet.

Here is a good article from Mayo: http://www.mayoclini...statins/CL00010

[pamsouth]

Lizzybee,

I wouldn't take statin's either, unless there was a huge need, there are lots of long term side effects.  My husband took them, Lipitor,  for about 5 years, his cholesterol was way below normal, and his other counts, I forget hdl and ldl, whatever were good.  The doc still wanted him to take them, but he was taking so much medicine and losing his muscle and becoming so weak.  His lab counts were a wreck.  He was allergic to some of the med's, but the doc just kept piling it on.  He finally lost about 10 lbs and weaned himself off most of the med's.  I think the only one he take is metaformin, he is borderline diabetes.  When the Sunday newscaster Tim Russer died in 2008 of a stroke, he was taking Statins and there was a lot of controversy over Statins's.   Most of the people I know won't take them, but we have a couple of friends who do.  Even my dentist and his receptionist were debating over them.  The dentist said it is a lot more complicated how it all works and a huge percent of people on Statins, still have strokes, etc.  To me it is just another chemical for my liver to put up with. It seems you take med's for one things and it causes other things. 

PamSouth

[hannibellemo]

Thanks, Lizzy and PamS for your input. My cholesterol and LDLs are very high. But so are my HDLs and my triglycerides are normal. My question which no one in the medical world seems to be able to answer is "Is that enough of a protective factor?" Evidently their crystal balls are on the blink, too.

At any rate, I'll try this for 3 months and see what happens. I also read an article that said taking 1 statin pill a week is enough to keep most peoples cholesterol under control so I may try that, too, if I can get mine down into an acceptable range. Acceptable to me is a 25-30% reduction, not sure what it is for my doctor.

I'm not even sure I believe in the cholesterol bit, but I figure if I'm doing all this with my TKIs to live longer I ought to at least look into the reality behind cholesterol and heart attack/stroke.

Pat

[Susan61]

Hi Pat:  I was just thinking about you today, and was going to see how your doing since you went back on the Sprycel after your PE.  I was glad to see you on here, and it sounds like your bouncing back pretty good.

My husband has been put on Prevastatin, and he gets his liver functions tested on a regular basis due to other medications also that can cause problems.  He has done very well on it.  I had very high Triglycerides, and started to take 1200mg. of Fish Oil a day under my doctors advice.  They have come down quite a bit.  I was really surprised.

     I do not want to take any of these drugs because I feel like I am on so much already, and with all my other issues I just do not want to take a chance.  I have heard good and bad regarding the Lipitor.  You just do not know anymore what is safe to take.  Try some of the things you just mentioned, and see how you do. You can always stop them.

Susan

[pamsouth]

Pat, 

I do have some friends who take fish oil and they say that keep everything in check.

I have heard different complaints from people that have taken Lipitor, including my husband.  He took it about 5 years and muscular skeleton got bad in that he lost a lot of his muscles.  I had a rottweiler dog we put down at 13 years she was on Deramax for a couple of years went from a 100lb dog to a 60lb dog and lost all her muscles.  Deramax is also made by Novartis.  It also caused Heidi dog to have a bleed and she couldn't eat hardly anything except cottage cheese and rise.  When she started on the Deramax it was only her hind legs that were bad and she could pull herself up with her strong chest and front legs, but the deramax caused her to lose all her muscles where she could walk on any of legs.  I probably should have put her down much sooner, but she had a strong heart and was strong willed.  She would sit for hours looking out the windows watching the critters.

PamSouth

PamSouth

[Sneezy12]

What does Deramaxx, an NSAID, given to a dog have to do with a Statin given to a human? Frank

[pamsouth]

Sneezy,  Good point.  I think it was pretty late and mind was focused.

PamS