Health status

[CharlieSanti]

Met with doctor on tuesday biospy results were inconclusive for what they were looking for so I guess the lab guys got after the doctors about my med list. Turns out I am having a reaction to Zocor because of the copper levels in my blood. The joint pain and fatique they claim is caused by the reaction. I am now off zocor and will have to change my diet to work on cholestrol. It will take a couple weeks to see if its working so we shall see. Thanks for all the support hopefully this is good news. Charlie

[Mr. Know It All]

Glad they got it sorted out. Sometimes the cure is worse than the disease. :rolleyes:

[NormMessinger]

The two maladies you feared are so rare I thought surely it would be something else, and that is worth absolutly nothing. However, I'm pleased you know what the problem is and can deal with it.

Best wishes.

[imported_Conrad]

Charlie- my doctor is an MD with a sensitivity to naturopathic methods. When starting on the cholestrol meds I was told that joint pain and fatigue could be issues, but that taking 60mg a day of Coenzyme Q-10, available at your local health food/suplements store would take care of it. I've never had any issues, as well as getting the anti-oxident value of the supplement. It might be worth looking into. Having more experience than I care to recount with the politics/bias of modern western medicine, and the narrow-mindedness of some practitioners, I can tell you that unless your doctor is very open minded, curious, and fully up to speed on the latest research a lot can be missed. This is one of those issues. Might be worth a try.

[Bernadette]

Thanks for updating us Charlie...hope you can get back to good health soon.
As you may well know: one of the biggest problems with modern medicines is the frequency of "side effects" people suffer. Roughly speaking they are graded from those which may cause minor discomfort to those which can be downright fatal!!! There isn't any drug around that doesn't have the potential to harm. Sometimes it's difficult to keep abreast of the problems they cause. Hope your doctor is a smart and sensitive person.
All the best from Bernadette.

[ishmael]

Hi Charlie,

Glad it wasn't what they thought it could be.

When people hear they have to change their diet it's often a difficult thing. Make it fun. Look into a Mediteranean diet.

One of the difficulties in a shift like this is the loss of taste because fat is so limited, so use the right fat instead of eliminating it. Olive oil, olive oil, olive oil. Lots of vegetables, rarely red meat, lots of fish and poultry. Stop eating fast or prepared foods as much as possible, and definately stop hydrogenated oils, which are in almost any prepared food from the grocery or the Micky Dees. Learn to cook!

Best,

Jack

[Alan D. Hyde]

Charlie, if you follow, even partly, Jack's suggestions, I'd add that you should probably minimize the amount of top-of-the-food-chain fish you eat (e.g., halibut or tuna) because of the problem of high mercury levels in their flesh, to which (under the circumstances) your liver may be unusually sensitive.

Alan