New doctor and cholesterol....

Colleen

Colleen

Senior Member
Location
Pennsylvania
There was a thread not long ago about taking statin's and what harm it can actually do. I couldn't locate that thread but here's an update ....

We recently switched doctor's and my husband's appointment was a couple days ago to get established. I quit taking a statin about a month ago and started taking CoQ10 instead. I told my husband to ask the doctor if he could quit taking his statin (I guess he needed the doctor's "blessing" first) and the doctor confirmed that they can be harmful and he advised my husband to quit taking it. The doctor also told him to quit taking Protonix. My husband had a severe ankle injury 6 years ago and almost lost his foot. He had to take so many antibiotics for the infection in that ankle after 4 surgeries within 10 weeks that it ruined his good bacteria in his gut. No amount of Yogurt could have ever straightened it out so he was put on Protonix and it helped tremendously. But after 6 years, he was getting side effects from it and quit taking it. The doctor said it was bad stuff.

The only other problem my husband is having from that injury is he can't sleep. He's been taking Ambien for 6 years and the new doctor wants to wean him off of it. He prescribed Belsomra, but our insurance only pays part of it and our co-pay would be almost $200/month! No way can we afford that. I asked the pharmacist about Melatonin and he said he had no problem with it at all and it works well for a lot of people...it just takes a while for it to kick in in your system. So, he's just started taking 1/2 tablet of Ambien and a 5mg Melatonin. Last night, he didn't sleep well waking up almost every hour. I may increase the Melatonin to 10mg. We'll see.

I knew that being on Ambien, even though it's not classified as a "narcotic" (C2), it could be habit forming. After 6 years, my husband is definitely "hooked" :(
 

Ambien has so many negatives and people get hooked on it. Others are fortunate to get off it early on. I've NEVER wanted to be on it. I have a sleep combo and will post it as best I can. I take low dose melatonin and inositol and gaba and have added thyptophan and B6 and sleep 8-10 good hrs nightly. I may send you a PM with the sleep combo link from another group where I have it posted. j
 
Ambien has so many negatives and people get hooked on it. Others are fortunate to get off it early on. I've NEVER wanted to be on it. I have a sleep combo and will post it as best I can. I take low dose melatonin and inositol and gaba and have added thyptophan and B6 and sleep 8-10 good hrs nightly. I may send you a PM with the sleep combo link from another group where I have it posted. j

Sent you a PM.

Goofed somehow a double posting. Check for a PM from me.
 

Melatonin is a hormone that can work at different amounts for each person. When i first started taking melatonin, I was in my late 50’s and all I needed was 3 mg each night to sleep great. As I got older, I gradually increased the dose as needed, and I now take 10 mg each night.
However, my son, who is in his late 40’s , didn't get any effect at all on less than 10 mg; so each person can have a different requirement.
What melatonin does , is to tell the body to get ready to go to sleep when it gets dark.
Since we now have electric lights, television, and computer screens that are on at night, it is hard for our natural melatonin to know when it should start working.
I take mine about a half hour before I go to bed, and I am usually drowsy and fall right asleep when I go to bed.
Another mineral that helps with sleep is magnesium, because it has a calming effect on the body. Obviously, watching action movies or dramas before bed is going to make sleeping hard because that stimulates Adrenalin.
I usually read for an hour before I go to bed, and sometimes when I go to bed I use my headphones and listen to a self-hypnosis tape on the iPad, and that also puts my body in sleeping mode.
 
I still believe that the "obvious" is the answer...we are all different, as such we are all effected differently by virtually everything.

One person can correct a headache with 1 Aspirin , another may need several, etc.

I truly doubt that there are "blanket" numbers for everything / for everyone. It's all just guidelines . {IMO} That is why they call it "practicing" medicine....

And I also believe it behooves us to actually take part in our own care. Information is out there & relatively easy to access. If say a doc says [take six of these] Look into it, see if that does in fact, fit you / your situation.

There are good & bad everything....including doctors.......
 
It's amazing on the higher dose of Melatonin people take. I do well on 1mg but do add inositol and gaba to my combo. Started with 1/4mg years ago with the two others also, but with aging, 80 soon, I'm at 1mg with the others the same, often take an extra inositol during night when I go to bathroom...I've been working with these for at least 10 yrs.

On the example of the headache, I have not had one in over 20 yrs, all since taking Grape Seed Extract....but pain issues for me are arthritic.
 
Happyflowerlady said:
Melatonin is a hormone that can work at different amounts for each person. When i first started taking melatonin, I was in my late 50’s and all I needed was 3 mg each night to sleep great. As I got older, I gradually increased the dose as needed, and I now take 10 mg each night.
However, my son, who is in his late 40’s , didn't get any effect at all on less than 10 mg; so each person can have a different requirement.
What melatonin does , is to tell the body to get ready to go to sleep when it gets dark.
Since we now have electric lights, television, and computer screens that are on at night, it is hard for our natural melatonin to know when it should start working.
I take mine about a half hour before I go to bed, and I am usually drowsy and fall right asleep when I go to bed.
Another mineral that helps with sleep is magnesium, because it has a calming effect on the body. Obviously, watching action movies or dramas before bed is going to make sleeping hard because that stimulates Adrenalin.
I usually read for an hour before I go to bed, and sometimes when I go to bed I use my headphones and listen to a self-hypnosis tape on the iPad, and that also puts my body in sleeping mode.
Click to expand...

I have a new bottle of magnesium in the cupboard. I think I'm going to start him on that along with his 10 mg. Melatonin. I listen to meditation chants at night (not every night but on nights I need to calm my mind) and I spend at least 1 hour reading before I go to bed. I wish I could get him to listen to the meditation but he hasn't had any need for it until now.

Thanks for the magnesium pointer :)
 
Many years ago, I went through a painful separation and divorce and I couldn't sleep. My doctor told me to take Benadryl and it worked...knocked me out for hours.
 
Colleen said:
Many years ago, I went through a painful separation and divorce and I couldn't sleep. My doctor told me to take Benadryl and it worked...knocked me out for hours.
Click to expand...

Apparently, drugs like Benadryl, which have always been considered as safe, can also be dangerous for seniors.

Read this link for one woman’s horrifying story about when her aging mother was given an anti-itching pill that was a dose of Benadryl, and her mother turned into a completely irrational person, who was a danger to herself as well as her daughter.
Benadryl belongs to a class of drugs called “anticholinergics”, and it includes some well-known OTC drugs like NyQuil, Sominex, and other drugs which can be a serious danger for a person once they are older.

http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/nation-world/national/article149165019.html#fmp
 
jaminhealth said:
Benedryl and Benzos are connected to memory issues. Check that out.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't even consider giving my husband Benadryl. I was a nurse, a pharmacy tech, and worked in many doctor's offices so I'm familiar with side effects. My husband asked me about Benadryl because one of his friends (who's also a senior) told him that's what he takes to sleep.

I don't need anything to sleep...thank goodness....and besides, I already have CRS disease. I don't need anything to make it worse...haha.
 

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