In fact, they can also greatly increase your risk of heart attack because they lower an important liver
enzyme, CoQ10. This enzyme protects your body against heart conditions, muscular dystrophies,
Parkinson's disease, cancer and diabetes. Taking CoQ10, though, as a supplement has shown very little
benefit. In other words, taking statins may send you down a spiral of degeneration that you cannot stop
unless you stop using these dangerous drugs.
I found in my own practice that regular statin users accumulate an excessive amount of cholesterol
stones in the bile ducts of their liver and gallbladder, which can lead to a vast number of chronic diseases
(see The Amazing Liver & Gallbladder Flush for details).
Before you decide to take LIPITOR or other statins, consider these basic points:- You need to tell your doctor and pharmacist if you are allergic to any other drugs. This obviously
raises the question of the number of patients who follow that advice. - You are supposed to tell your doctor and pharmacist the prescription and nonprescription medications
you are taking, especially antacids, antifungal medications such as itraconazole (Sporanox) and
ketoconazole (Nizoral); digoxin (Lanoxin), erythromycin, medications that suppress the immune
system such as cyclosporine (Neoral, Sandimmune), oral contraceptives (birth control pills), other
cholesterol-lowering medications such as cholestyramine (Questran), colestipol (Colestid),
gemfibrozil (Lopid), and niacin (nicotinic acid), and vitamins. You may wonder how many people
follow that advice and how many doctors ask this information of their patients. - You need to tell your doctor if you have or previously had liver or kidney disease, a severe infection,
low blood pressure, or seizures. How many people actually know if their liver's bile ducts are packed
with stones, whether their kidneys have major stone deposits in them, or if their blood pressure is
below acceptable? - Tell your doctor if you are pregnant, plan to become pregnant, or are breast-feeding. If you become
pregnant while taking LIPITOR/Atorvastatin, you are supposed to stop taking this drug and call your
doctor immediately as it can harm the fetus. If the drug can harm the fetus, you may need to ask what
else it can harm. - If you are having surgery, including dental surgery, tell the doctor or dentist that you are taking
LIPITOR/Atorvastatin. How many people remember to do that? - Talk to your doctor about the safe use of alcohol while taking this LIPITOR drug. Alcohol increases
the side effects caused by LIPITOR/Atorvastatin. Many doctors forget to tell their patients about the
potential risks regarding alcohol, and many patients just ignore that warning, often with severe
consequences. - Plan to avoid unnecessary or prolonged exposure to sunlight and to wear protective clothing,
sunglasses, and sunscreen. LIPITOR/Atorvastatin may make your skin sensitive to sunlight. It is a
pretty serious condition when the sun becomes so dangerous that you have to hide from it. Not
getting enough sunlight lowers your vitamin D levels and thereby increases your risk of cancer and
many other illnesses. - For the drugs to be effective, you also need to eat a low-cholesterol, low-fat diet. This kind of diet
includes cottage cheese, fat-free milk, fish (not canned in oil), vegetables, poultry, egg whites, and
polyunsaturated oils and margarines (corn, safflower, canola, and soybean oils). Avoid foods with
excess fat in them such as meat (especially liver and fatty meat), egg yolks, whole milk, cream,
butter, shortening, lard, pastries, cakes, cookies, gravy, peanut butter, chocolate, olives, potato chips,
coconut, cheese (other than cottage cheese), coconut oil, palm oil, and fried foods. How many