@afrobin

Do you know why the French have so few strokes and heart attacks compared to other countries such as the US? They drink wine with their meals. The wine especially red wine contains resveratrol which keeps the blood thin. I would go for wine before injecting myself with some chemical. You need to drink 4 ounces daily to keep the blood thin since the effects last 24 hours. Red wine gives me a headache so I take a resveratrol pill…when I think of it.

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We all have to make our own decisions.

Yes, we will have to agree to disagree. I question and doubt any study that promotes a statin or drug because it is undoubtedly backed by Big Pharma. I prefer to believe the Canadian researchers (in the documentary) who have no stake in the game; nothing to gain.

Exactly…hopefully based on credible sources.

@afrobin

Exactly…hopefully based on credible sources.

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Evidence based. Okay I'm done. Off to enjoy my Sunday.

@afrobin

It sounds like you have been through the mill, Always hope. And it all started with a fall. Terrible!
As we see on TV ads, drugs come with an alarming list of side effects. Resorting to drugs for one's health problems should be a last resort. Lifestyle changes are still best in dealing with health issues but doctors will reach for the prescription pad…which covers their &%$#@ if anything were to happen to the 'unmedicated' patient. So many health issues including high blood pressure, tachycardia, diabetes etc…can be CURED with dietary and physical activity changes that have as an added bonus; weight loss. There is no magic pill. We have to do the work ourselves…and I am one who admits that I am in the same boat.
As for how to manage weaning off any medication, I would ask the pharmacist. They are your go-to drug specialists. They know how drugs interact with each other and how they affect the body.
This is an aside concerning the Dutch approach to good health: I have been on holiday in the Netherlands for the past 2 weeks. I have never seen a healthier population of people. ALL are very healthy looking and slim. You do not see ANY overweight people. None! The children have rosy cheeks and are also ALL slim; not normal weight but slim. All teenagers are what we would consider skinny and very lanky. I can see why. ALL the Dutch ride bikes everywhere. The streets are crowded with bikes. Even mothers with 2 babies just put them in carriers on the bikes and off they go. The elderly ride everywhere as well. The Dutch eat much less than we do. In grocery stores, packages and jars of food are small. There are no fast food places anywhere although I did see a few McDonalds on the edge of a couple of cities but there are no other fast food chains here. If you get off at a town, there may be one proper, sit down, white table cloth restaurant. If we followed the Dutch model of eating less and exercising more, I am sure most of us would be slim, drug free and healthy.

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Yep! AFRobin, I wish I had taken a more proactive position regarding my heath during that time and researched the valium before taking it. I was (I felt) a healthy 125lbs, and very active before the fall and even after when the vertigo would allow. I'm now aprox 95 lbs weak and frail. Benzos are a life destroying evil that doctors should prescribe with the most extreme caution, if ever, and no past even ten days. I found out tolerance for the Valium was building in my system after 14 days because it had already compromised the GABA in my brain and nervous system and I took it for 3 1/2 years!

There are soooo many people, especially ages 65 to 80 hooked on benzos and dying from it. The numbers for emergency room visits for people in this age group taking Benzos is heart breaking!! There is so much info on Benzos and anti-anxiety meds if you research it. Maybe big pharma increased the percentages a physician can earn for prescribing these types of addictive meds?

I wish the doctors would think of a family member when they are prescribing these meds and give their patients a stern and heartfelt warning because my doctors said nothing. They just kept writing out those prescriptions with a smile. I'm sure they wouldn't want a loved one to experience this kind of Hell. My son says:" I'm so sorry you are going through this Mom" and I'm sorry he has to see me this way.

Benzos are no joke and because Metoprolol has an anti-anxiety agent it's also addictive and causes some people like me all kinds of health problems that like me, they don't attribute to the medication.

The medical community needs to look at other options for treating heart patients. (And they're out there) Especially when the patient comes to them with their health already compromised. Makes no sense.

With the grace of God and his guidance, when my tolerance withdrawl is complete from these meds, my life, my health and lost time with my family will be restored to being as healthy as I was before the fall. In Jesus' precious name!

I'm sorry to hear about your troubles, AlwaysHope. If I can give you one word of advice it is to be PROACTIVE. Don't leave your health in the hands of someone else…such as your doctor. Can you see a good naturopath; preferably one who has his or her doctorate of naturopathy who can help you get your health back on track.
Write down your history in point form and take any medicine and supplements to show him or her. And most important of all, take questions to ask. Never mind the cost. This is your health at stake. The naturopath will create a healthy diet for you, probably encourage you to take probiotics (50 billion Garden of Life) to boost your immune system and to get plenty of sleep and exercise.
Our plates should be very colourful. You don't want to be looking at a plate of beige food. I think your naturopath can work with your doctor to get you off any meds that are giving you problems. There are more natural ways to cope with anxiety such as exercise and some natural supplements. Avoiding coffee and tea is a start. Aiming for at least 7 servings of fruit and vegetables is also a good start. I wish you all the best.

@afrobin

I'm sorry to hear about your troubles, AlwaysHope. If I can give you one word of advice it is to be PROACTIVE. Don't leave your health in the hands of someone else…such as your doctor. Can you see a good naturopath; preferably one who has his or her doctorate of naturopathy who can help you get your health back on track.
Write down your history in point form and take any medicine and supplements to show him or her. And most important of all, take questions to ask. Never mind the cost. This is your health at stake. The naturopath will create a healthy diet for you, probably encourage you to take probiotics (50 billion Garden of Life) to boost your immune system and to get plenty of sleep and exercise.
Our plates should be very colourful. You don't want to be looking at a plate of beige food. I think your naturopath can work with your doctor to get you off any meds that are giving you problems. There are more natural ways to cope with anxiety such as exercise and some natural supplements. Avoiding coffee and tea is a start. Aiming for at least 7 servings of fruit and vegetables is also a good start. I wish you all the best.

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Thank You. That's great advice. The only positive in this is that Benzo tolerance with drawl forces a healthy diet because certain and most unhealthy foods hurt, cause pain and send me into a tailspin.

@afrobin

Yes, we will have to agree to disagree. I question and doubt any study that promotes a statin or drug because it is undoubtedly backed by Big Pharma. I prefer to believe the Canadian researchers (in the documentary) who have no stake in the game; nothing to gain.

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The early Statin research, they didn't seem to realize the irony. They said the participants died from a variety of issues unrelated to high cholesterol, they felt confident that had they survived, it would have proven the efficacy of the drug.

1. I'm sure they all didn't die, but sufficient numbers must have died to spoil the statistics.

2. They were talking Early Statins.

3. I've been on Zocor for years.

4. Dietary changes are preferred to pharmaceutical intervention if the desired goals can be reached.

5. I think that some of the goals are unrealistic and lead to doses that are too high and possibly other issues from that.

Quote: 'The next time you go in for a medical checkup, your doctor will probably make a mistake that could endanger your life, contends cardiologist Allan Sniderman of McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Most physicians order what he considers the wrong test to gauge heart disease risk: a standard cholesterol readout, which may indicate levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or non-high density lipoprotein (non-HDL) cholesterol. What they should request instead, Sniderman argues, is an inexpensive assay for a blood protein known as apolipoprotein B (apoB).
ApoB indicates the number of cholesterol-laden particles circulating in the blood—a truer indicator of the threat to our arteries than absolute cholesterol levels, some researchers believe.'.
My husband had high cholesterol levels even in his twenties. After watching the documentary on The Nature of Things on Cholesterol which you can see on line, he decided not to take statins because he is not in the ultimate risk category; 'a man in his forties who has had a heart attack.'. I will ask him to have the apoB test. He has had his c-reactive protein test and it is normal. He eats very well (lots of veggies) and he's a big walker so maybe that's why his CRP was good.
35 million Americans are on statins. Is it possible that so many Americans are 'sick' and need to be medicated?

Hi All, recently went to hospital with very high blood pressure (for me) 168/98 almost fainted , diagnosis was very low potassium and long qt syndrome , was put on metoprol by ER doctor (only a month of the prescription) I’ve cut way back on salt past month, changed diet, need to exercise haven’t been, but have lost 8 lbs, the medication was also supposed to help with my constant palpitations, realized it hasn’t made a difference though my blood pressure has dropped, I have about 4-5 pills left , so I’d like to half them and wean off it, Cardiology said my heart was normal and that palpitations could have been from low potassium, I’m still having them though?? Which causes even more anxiety. I’m going to wean off this metoprolol because with my diet changes I think I can manage, and try vitamin supplements such as cq10 , potassium and magnesium. Anyone else do this? Would love to hear your insights thankyou ,

@singitsoft

Hi All, recently went to hospital with very high blood pressure (for me) 168/98 almost fainted , diagnosis was very low potassium and long qt syndrome , was put on metoprol by ER doctor (only a month of the prescription) I’ve cut way back on salt past month, changed diet, need to exercise haven’t been, but have lost 8 lbs, the medication was also supposed to help with my constant palpitations, realized it hasn’t made a difference though my blood pressure has dropped, I have about 4-5 pills left , so I’d like to half them and wean off it, Cardiology said my heart was normal and that palpitations could have been from low potassium, I’m still having them though?? Which causes even more anxiety. I’m going to wean off this metoprolol because with my diet changes I think I can manage, and try vitamin supplements such as cq10 , potassium and magnesium. Anyone else do this? Would love to hear your insights thankyou ,

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I take 3 (500mg) vit C with three meals daily. Also with VitC take HeartBeat Cardiovascular support from Health Food store. Magn, potassium in morning with first VitC. I take metoprol to slow heart rate due to afib and leaky heart valve. Why do you want to go off of metoprol?

@healthytoday

I take 3 (500mg) vit C with three meals daily. Also with VitC take HeartBeat Cardiovascular support from Health Food store. Magn, potassium in morning with first VitC. I take metoprol to slow heart rate due to afib and leaky heart valve. Why do you want to go off of metoprol?

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It didn’t seem to be helping palpitations, and wanted to just be without any medication, are you just on metoprolol along with supplements? I wanted to take potassium, magnesium and cq10 with medication and wasn’t given any formal guidance,

@singitsoft

It didn’t seem to be helping palpitations, and wanted to just be without any medication, are you just on metoprolol along with supplements? I wanted to take potassium, magnesium and cq10 with medication and wasn’t given any formal guidance,

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Most drs aren't into supplements, with the exception of magnesium for heart issues. Yes, I take metoprolol. I slows my heart rate which helps me feel better. That's about all my cardiologist recommends at this time, unless I want open heart surgery where they replace the heart valve, ablation the heart and put me on alot of meds. No thanks. I feel well enough for a 70+ year old. Also, the open heart idea would only maybe work and for maybe a few years. Good grief. No thanks.

Hi, @singitsoft, I have to agree with @afrobin @soliloquized and @heathytoday. Along with supplements make sure you maintain a healthy diet. For me the Metoprolol was causing additional symptoms besides the tachycardia. I started with dizziness, nausea, extreme weakness, I attributed it to another condition but since I started the tapering and a heathy diet and exercise as much as I can for now I feel better. I would definitely consult my doctor before quitting the metoprolol and NOT quit cold turkey depending on how long you were taking the Metoprolol it can cause additional heath problems……

@alwayshope1

Hi, @singitsoft, I have to agree with @afrobin @soliloquized and @heathytoday. Along with supplements make sure you maintain a healthy diet. For me the Metoprolol was causing additional symptoms besides the tachycardia. I started with dizziness, nausea, extreme weakness, I attributed it to another condition but since I started the tapering and a heathy diet and exercise as much as I can for now I feel better. I would definitely consult my doctor before quitting the metoprolol and NOT quit cold turkey depending on how long you were taking the Metoprolol it can cause additional heath problems……

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Thankyou it Only been taking for 1 month and it was prescribed by an ER doctor , a low dose of 25mg,