[pct-l] Rx Vytorin

[Peter Shaw]

Shepherd,

As you can tell by the responses so far, we all react slightly differently.
In my case, my working lifestyle was eating out in restaurants or in
airplanes five days of every week. My cholesterol was way high and the
doctor decided that meds were the only practical solution. I have tried two
different statins and have had regular checkups and despite all of the
cautions (the drug industry's CYA approach) never experienced any ill
effects, although Vytorin wasn't one of the brand drugs I took. If I had
experienced such side effects, I would have switched brands and if that
didn't work I simply would have quit taking them and lived with the possible
consequences.

I had been on the meds for some years before I tackled the PCT in 09 (at the
same age as you).  The doc said forget about the meds while on the thru hike
since your body will consume every microgram of fat and everything else my
digestive system can find. That happened and like most folks I lost at least
25 lbs as well. When I got back from Canada, I had the regular physical and
to my dismay and disappointment by cholesterol level ballooned into the
mid-300's. Back on the meds it's now down to my regular 150'ish range. I'm
not a medical expert in any shape or form, but my engineering background
says at least I have one real data point. Why my body reacted this way, I
can only speculate. I'm guessing that even though I burned all the fat and
calories I consumed, while digesting all that food, the digestive process
still managed to produce cholesterol as a byproduct. Since I was eating over
twice as much food while hiking, I can only conclude the cholesterol
production is roughly proportional to quantity of food consumed as well.

This year I'll get another data point, hopefully, when I tackle the CDT and
this time I will continue to take the meds. I'll try to report my second
data point in the fall if my memory doesn't fail between now and then (I
wish they had meds for that). In the meantime, I would be skeptical of
anyone's else's experiences (including mine) and treat your doctor's advice
with some caution. The docs, no matter how good they are, rarely understand
the metabolism of a thru hiker and their advice tends to be more applicable
to the "normal" person.

Peanut Eater

-----Original Message-----
From: pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net [mailto:pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net]
On Behalf Of Amanda L Silvestri
Sent: Wednesday, February 16, 2011 4:43 PM
To: pct-l at backcountry.net
Subject: [pct-l] Rx Vytorin

 My doctor is think of putting me on Vytorin for cholesterol control but
said that a possible side effect could be muscle weakness.  I am 59 years
old and hiking to Canada this summer.  I am concerned about muscle
weakness.  I know you can't give out medical advice over the Internet and
without seeing my blood work, but I would like to know if anyone has
experienced muscle weakness on Vytorin.
 
Shepherd
_______________________________________________
Pct-L mailing list
Pct-L at backcountry.net
To unsubcribe, or change options visit:
http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l

List Archives:
http://mailman.backcountry.net/pipermail/pct-l/