So I just got back from the doctor, who put me on Zestril and Lipitor — presumably to keep my heart from exploding. Only my health insurance doesn’t cover Lipitor, because, y’know, Republicans are callous, racebaiting, corporate-hugging envirovillains who hate puppies. Which means I’ll have to switch to a non hydrogenated butter substitute, instead. I’m thinking Smart Balance. Or Smart Balance Light.
No chance I’m voting for Bush now.
PS. Nothing serious. But being adopted brings with it no family medical history, so my doctor is inclined to err on the side of caution where cholesterol and blood pressure are concerned.
Flax oil and walnuts for you, my friend.
SmartBalance ROCKS!
Insurance covers Zestril but not Lipitor? That’s strange. You should ask if they cover Pravachol, Zocor, etc.; they’re just about as good.
BH: Diet’s not the problem (I eat almost no saturated fat, honestly) which is why we decided to go with the pills for a bit. Both my good AND bad cholesteral are high, so it’s likely genetic.
The blood pressure thing is weird, because I can actually feel it spiking at certain times (often when I’m anxious, but sometimes just ‘cause). And it fluctuates pretty wildly. At the doc’s office I was 162/88. Twenty minutes later I took it again at the pharmacy, and I was 125/82.
Tom: I love SmartBalance, and have in fact been using it since I first found out my cholesterol was high.
Sounds like a good idea then. My dad is quite similar and the Lipitor helped a good deal after spending a few months on a drastic diet with little positive outcome. Best of luck.
Btw, I get a kick out of knowing I’m not the only one who occasionally sits down in the drugstore arm-squeezer.
You might have a case of white-coat hypertension.
About the cholesterol, don’t cut out unsaturated fats. In fact, take up eating almonds. JAMA study in July found that eating several ounces a day can be beneficial.
Also, take that baby out for lots of walks to keep your good cholesterol high. Now that you’re FINALLY back (you don’t know how crazy The Girl from Ipanema drives me at this point) we wouldn’t want anything to happen to PW.
Echoing Tom, with additional: the only rhyme or reason to why a particular insurance company covers or does not cover the three biggies in cholesterol medicine has to do with whether or not they can negotiate with the company that produces them. The different drugs affect different metabolisms in different ways—I took Lipitor and the other one (can’t recall the name) and they did absolutely. nothing. for me.
If Zocor is on your insurance company’s formulary, ask your doc if you can try it starting with the 20 mg pills. At that dosage it’s roughly the same price as the standard dosage of Lipitor. I’m on 80 mg (the max) and have been for a year and a half, with no changes in kidney function, which makes the doc shake his head.
One especially nice feature of Zocor: it’s a compressed pill rather than a capsule. If 20 mg is a sufficient dose, your doc can prescribe 40 mg pills for you to cut in half. That’s a wonderful way to pay half the co-pay: a month’s pills last two months.
Regards,
Ric
Vote for Kerry. He’ll take care of that problem for you. Pay for the whole shebang. What else you need?
More drugs? Covered.
How about a shiatsu massage? Kerry will pick up the tab.
High class hookers? Just submit the bill to “Kerry for President”. Call them “stress relief services – blonde”
Whatever you want, we’ll get taxpayers to buy it for you. That’s the Democratic Party platform.