For his friends with High Cholesterol:
Not knowing which of my friends were using statins, the most commonly prescribed anti-cholesterol agent, I sent this "mass mailing" to everyone in my personal address book. If you use an anti-cholesterol drug, please read on. If not, please excuse me. If you're not sure, here's the listing for the generic and brand names of the most commonly used statins. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statin
After doing my own search on this topic, I have concluded that if you take any of the statins, you should be taking Coenzyme Q - 10 (CO-Q10, CQ10, etc.) along with it. Here's one fairly definitive study. If you don't want to read all 22 pages of the article, just read the intro which includes the mine point summary.
http://www.fda.gov/OHRMS/DOCKETS/dailys/02/May02/052902/02p-0244-cp00001-02-Exhibit_A-vol1.pdf
Although most studies I've read list the drug amount (usually 100 mg per day) given to the test subjects, they fail to mention the effectiveness of smaller dosages. Since 100 mg seems to work, and since I can find few studies which indicate that less than 100 mg/day works, I suggest 100 mg per day unless you can find studies which indicate otherwise, and if you do, please let me know about them. There are sufficient studies probing for toxic levels and 100 mg seems to be far below the dosages creating noticeable side effects or toxicity.
Of course as with all OTC drugs, you cannot be 100% certain what available amount of the primary ingredient is contained in the formula, nor what the shelf life is. Given that the drug is not particularly expensive to manufacture, (there's a tremendous markup at the retail level) you may wish simply to rely on the reputation of the distributor when choosing which brand to buy. I personally buy online from Puritan's Pride. http://www.puritan.com/ They are much, much cheaper than Walgreen's, CVS or even Wal-Mart. Three 60 tab bottles cost $23.86 or about 7½ per pill. Locally, the best price was $19.95 for a meager 30 pills, for a whopping $1.50 per pill.
Another online source with a good reputation is Vitamin Shoppe, which has some local brick and mortar stores as well. http://www.vitaminshoppe.com
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I have been on CQ 10 for 3 years due to my exhaustion after starting statins. My heart doctor pooh poohed the whole thing. The article you cite has been floating around for years. Nothing new ever seems to come out. I started with 50 mgs a day and it perked me up after a day or so, no longer felt like I couldn't get out of bed, now up to 300mgs a day. Before taking it 3 years ago I was put on Lovastatin and felt so tired. I tried 50 mg of CQ 10, perked me up, and as the years go by, I am up to 300 mgs a day. Expense is high. So your article makes me wonder if maybe I should drop down to 100 again and see how I feel. I wish we could see something more to encourage use. Sam's Club CQ 10 added in big writing in the past months that use is important if one uses statins, so they must have seen something I hadn't. Still sort of in limbo with the use, but I haven't felt exhausted for three years once I started CQ 10 due to my readings on the web. My use is a habit now and your comments made me wish to say a few words.
Post a Comment