Do I need to take statins for the rest of my life after having two heart attacks?
446203
It's usually a long-term treatment - you may have to take it for the rest of your life. Studies have shown that daily treatment with a statin drug for around five years reduces the risk of a major heart problem by about 30 per cent, with benefits obvious after about six months of treatment. The risk of a stroke is also reduced by up to 32 per cent.
184481
I found information about this on this site. I hope this helps. The diet and rules are clearly set out. \n\nhttp://www.cartercountymarket.com/html/cardiac.html
323698
OK... time to make some clarifications. A 64-slice CT scanner is sometimes used as an alternative to more invasive coronary angiography. The fact that your CT scan showed two areas of blockage means you should probably undergo a coronary angiogram to verify these findings and to treat the disease if it is there. You should definitely start taking an aspirin, as this has been shown in studies to reduce the risk of heart attack in patients with known coronary disease. In addition, there are a handful of other drugs that have been shown in very large, well designed scientific trials to reduce your risk of heart attack, heart failure, and death. These include a beta-blocker (one kind of blood pressure medicine), an ACE-inhibitor (another blood pressure medicine), and a cholesterol-lowering drug in the "statin" class. Several alternative treatments have been tried and pushed in the past including chelation therapy, but the truth is that none of these have been shown to reverse coronary artery blockages. In fact, none of the drugs mentioned above have been shown to reliable reverse coronary blockages either. BUT you don't necessarily need these blockages to shrink for the medications to provide a benefit.\n\nNow, I have to say that IT ISN'T TRUE THAT YOUR 90% BLOCKAGE COULD KILL YOU AT ANY MOMENT. Sure, it's POSSIBLE that you could drop dead tomorrow, but that 90% blockage probably grew gradually over the course of a few years so it is unlikely to suddenly close off at any moment. Don't panic! On the other hand, it will probably continue to progress to 95%... 97%... 99%... and eventually lead to such significant blockage that some of your heart muscle will fail to get enough blood flow, even when you are at rest. This can lead to something called a non-ST elevation MI - a heart attack. The more upstream that blockage is, the more heart muscle it supplies and the more life-threatening that heart attack can be.\n\nWith the newer technologies at our disposal, most significant blockages in the coronary arteries can be opened during the angiogram with a small, drug-eluting stent. These have a very good tendency to stay open over many years, thus avoiding the need for surgery in most patients. However, depending on the location of the blockage, some patients may still do better with surgery.\n\nI strongly urge you to see your doctor and get the coronary angiography done. It is not something that you have to do in the next day or two, but it should definitely be taken care of in the next couple of weeks. Believe me, if there were natural medicines that are effective for treating coronary disease, your insurance company would force you to take those before it agreed to shell out $15,000 for a stent.
282193
Yes, if permanent damage from heart attack or other disease has not occured.  Arteries can be unblocked or rerouted; cholesterol and blood pressure can be lowered; heart failure can be managed.
770955
Hi scared....Boy do I know how you feel!  I walked into the emergency room on June 23, 2003 holding my chest.  My Cholesterol was >500, triglycerides >1200, and I weight 230 pounds....about 70 pounds over for me.  For some reason I turned down an angiogram and anything invasive and started on a quest for health.  I’ve been a Chef for years but the idea that food (and exercise) could so dramatically affect health escaped me somewhere....as it does just about all Americans.  The fact is that we in America have created this nice little fantasy world that exists apart and separate from the environment that nourishes us; the earth.  My journey has led me to a greater understanding of my own body and how it fits into the earth system.  I took two drugs for a few days over 1 month, just until my Doctor indicated that the momentum had switched to blood lipid reduction and I through them away and realized way more than half of my blood lipid reduction through diet and exercise alone.  In under 6 months I had bounced off of 150 ponds and settled about 160...my cholesterol was <150, triglycerides <100, I’d put on 10 ponds of muscle mass....I felt and looked GREAT...the best I’ve looked or felt in 45 years!\n\nI’m presently studying to become a Registered Dietician so that I can help plain folk like you and I help themselves faster and easier.  Although I could....and WILL in the future....offer some very concrete advise, especially on how to get through this on a day to day basis, I’m going to defer to several well qualified sources below that will get you going...spend a few hours on the vegsource website....find a teacher-Doctor there that appeals to you....I’ve highlighted two below.....get their DVDs (as well as the vegsource lecture DVDs) and books......put what they teach into daily practice......turn off the TV and tune in to life......exercise DAILY and eat right....become apart of the earth environment!  \n\nGood luck.....you can do this...I KNOW because I did it MYSELF.....I and others are with you!!\n\nDr. John McDougall\nhttp://www.drmcdougall.com/index.html\n\nDr. Neal Barnard\nhttp://www.nealbarnard.org/index.htm\n\nJohn Robbins\nhttp://www.foodrevolution.org/\n\nVegSource....a great resource for tons of health oriented teachers...\nhttp://www.vegsource.com/
1134083
I'm 30, and I take atorvastatin, very similar to lovastatin; and I work in the medical field.\n\nThe side effects are rare and mild.  The main ones are these:\n\n1.  You may experience some muscle aches; CoQ10 (health supplement) can help with this.  If you have sore muscles, tell your doctor.  If you have to stop the medicine because of the aches, then the aches will go away.\n2.  Mild nausea, more common in the first few weeks.  Take it at night, and it should be gone by morning.  Taking it at night is better anyway because that is when most cholesterol synthesis takes place.\n3.  Elevated liver enzymes.  Because this medicine works in the liver, it can sometimes elevate your blood test for liver enzymes.  There has never been any known long-term effects on the liver of anyone taking these medicines.  In theory, IF you were one of the few people that this medicine caused an elevation in your liver enzymes, and IF you were to continue taking these medicines for years and years, you could IN THEORY damage your liver.  That is why your blood is tested frequently when you start taking the medicine and yearly after that.  Again, if there are any problems, you stop taking it and everything goes back to normal.\n\n\nAs far as the "we have to start taking it for life" thing, you say that as if you are condemned or as if someone is forcing you to take it forever.  It is not an addictive medicine.  Your body does not become dependant on it.  You have the choice to stop taking it any time.  Nobody is going to force you to do the smart thing or the thing that is good for you.  If you don't want to live a longer and healthier life, that is your choice.\n\nNo, you cannot take it for just a year.  Can't I just take a blood pressure pill or diabetes pill just once?  That would be nice.\n\n\nI'm not really sure what you are scared about, exactly.  Not to be mean or blunt, but you should be a whole lot more scared of having a heart attack or debilitating stroke from clogged arteries than from taking a pill.   Taking cholesterol medicine is not exactly a major cause of death in our country.  The number one cause by far is related to clogged arteries - heart attack and stroke.  \n\n(A person is 7 times more likely to become disabled than they are to die.  Do you want to have huge swollen legs from having congestive heart failure and not be able to walk across the room without your oxygen?  Or just not be able to walk at all because of a stroke that keeps you from using the right side of your body, with all the drooling and speech problems.  Who in your family will stay with you to change your diaper?  Or will you just pay someone for that?  How much will that cost?)\n\nI don't mean to be graphic, but that is the REALITY that I see all the time.  I would do what your doctor advises;unfortunately, it sounds like you are the type of person who will not.  After all, you are trying to solicit information from anyone with an internet connection instead of listening to your doctor and taking the prescription that you already have.  \n\nI'm sorry that you are having a difficult time emotionally dealing with your cholesterol, but you need to face it and take control of your health.
530026
You are now taking Diltiazem, Atorvastatin and muli-vitamin preparations. \nFor more information about the drugs, please see the webpges noted below.\nYou have to continue the medicines with the periodic supervison of the doctor unless and until the side effects are shown.
694570
I don't need to tell you that his symptoms and his family history means that a heart attack MUST be ruled out. I guarentee that if he goes to a hospital they will take him as serious as a train wreck. You need to push, drag, or get his buddies to carry him to the ER. If he has had a heart attack, he may live through it but maybe not the next one, I can't tell you enough how I would like to drag him myself to the hospital. He needs help now!!
918597
That happens to me too, after I make any sudden movements. I don't think you're going to drop dead from a heart attack any second now, but I do think if you don't do something about it it could lead to heart/chest problems later in life. I'm assuming it's your heart, unless you have a broken upper rib right in the middle of your chest. It's good that you've gone to a doctor to check things out, because you're better safe than sorry. If looking to be on the safe side, you should probably just drink lots of water and eat bananas or something because water flushes all of the bad toxins out of your body.
245043
There are only several interventions that have proven to reduce mortality during the heart attack.  Most of them are hospital based, so calling 911 is defenitely a good idea.  As you are waiting for the paramedics, you don't need to cough or sit in a particular way.  You should try to relax, as anxiety may worsen the pain.  Two things in your cabinet may be helpful.  First and most important is aspirin.  It is essential and a first thing paramedics would give you anyway.  It is important to chew the aspirin, so it enters the bloodstream faster.  The usual dose is four baby (81 mg) or one 325 mg tablet all at once.  The second thing is nitroglycerin (that is what you put under your tounge).  Nitroglycerin helps with pain.  All of these issues are pretty complex, so if you are worried about getting heart attack, talk to your doctor about it.  If you think you are having one, just remember these two things: 911 and aspirin.\n\nP.s. Some people like to get a service where they could call 911 directly using a bracelet or a nacklace device.  Forgot what the company is called.  It is good for people who live alone, so if the fall and can't get to the phone, the help can be summoned anyway.
310823
2 reasons why my hubby had a heart attack 2 years ago. i suggest each thing you buy at the store check the cholestrol number, saturated fat numberand all listed on the package.
138183
The risks really aren't that bad, as long as you continue to have your yearly check-up. They increase after the age of thirty IF you are a smoker. There's an increase in the risk of strokes and blod clots I think. Hope this helps.
904795
these are for high blood pressure, do not stop taking them, see the doctor before you do. i think you will need them forever, sure if you stop taking them your bp will go back up and you could have a stroke.
678637
Yes, do go to the emergency room if you can drive, or have someone drive you.  Otherwise call 911.  I had a silent heart attack in my 30's, so minor pain could indicate one too.  At the hospital a blood test will reveal certain elevated enzymes if you're having a heart attack.  Don't take any chances.  I felt silly calling 911, but otherwise would have died, because I had to be defibrillated.  Better safe than sorry, so please go!
409939
MI patients should leave the hopsital on several medications:\nACE-I: Lisinopril, enalapril (prevents cariac remodelling)\nStatin: Lipitor, Crestor, Zocor (Lowers LDL)\nNTG: Nitro-stat (reduces chest pain)\nBeta-Blocker: Metoprolol, Atenolol (control heart rate)\nASA: Low dose ASA (81 mg) (lowers clot formation)
1055450
It really depends on what it is that you do eat.  Cetain grains and vegetable combinations carry everything you need to survive.  If you are eating these then you will be an extreamly healty person with no risk of heart disease.
1168601
My dad is going through the same problem right now.  He had a scan done, and they are setting up for the vascular surgeon to go in and put in a stent.  He has had this done once before, we were told too much plaque build-up, cholesteral.  He is on Lipitor for that, but the Dr. said it HAS to be done!!  His other side is blocked 80%!!  So try to get in touch with your family Dr. to get set-up for tests ASAP to get a professional problem.  Someone go with the patient to write things down because the patient is usually pretty stressed out to remember what was said!!  Good Luck for Good Health.