Whal, I thought the original indication for Mevacor was for secondary prevention. I believe the West of Scotland study with Pravastatin was what gave way for the primary prevention indication. Lipitor, in my opinion has the worst SE profile. Rosuvastatin (Crestor) would be my choice. With an LDL of 160 (thanks mom) I began taking a statin. I had trouble with Lipitor and then moved to Pravachol. In the end, I quit altogether, feeling somewhat protected with an HDL of 70 (thanks mom). Mom's LDL was in the 160 range also, but with an HDL of 120! She's 92 now). Strangely (not really, I was drinking nothing but filtered water, using table salt, had a whole house water filter, not. getting minerals), in my mid 40's I developed proximal afib, then eventually permanent afib. While researching a cure, I found a liquid form of magnesium, I believe they refer to it as pico ionic. Anyway, I took the BID dosed magnesium, regardless of taste. It did not alleviate the Afib, so I went in for ablation. That was 7 years ago and no reoccurrence, which is typically 50%. With 70% of the country having magnesium deficiency, I continue to take a QD dose. But here's the kicker! After a few months, I went in for a Wellcheck. My LDL dropped from 160 to 129, no meds. Still there today. Back pain (which I'd struggled with for years, despite exercising/stretching 5 days/wk) is absolutely gone. Muscle strength, lung capacity too were much improved. Astounded, I read up on what exactly Mg does. Runs over 70 or so enzymatic processes in the body. It appears it is literally a natural (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitor, but also huge for muscle repair and function, etc., etc. Read up on Magnesium, it's amazing. Lastly, even though your blood work will show normal Mg levels, you could be and probably are deficient. Why? The test just measures systemically, what's in the blood. Our organs, muscles, when deficient rely on our blood to rob from the areas of abundance, distributing the areas of need. The blood will show normal, even thought the heart, major muscle groups are deficient. I asked my CD "why the test if it isn't a true measure?" He said it just part of the panel. WTF. There is a legitimate test for Magnesium, but you'll end up paying for it. Corrupt medicine. Also figured out docs don't work through using Magnesium on patients. Too difficult, tastes bad, uncomfortable side effects in the beginning.....but the body adjusts! Good luck, you have to do your own research to make informed decisions WITH your MD regarding your health, because they'll do the quickest and easiest treatment.
