Red yeast rice....works!!!

[spinn]

Six weeks ago my cholesterol was 344 and my DR wanted to put me on statins. With the help of this board, I found out about red yeast rice and my cholesterol has dropped to 253. All of my other numbers and triglcericides have improved as well.

I am very relieved because my DR was VERY adament about me taking these drugs and I was equally adament about not taking a drug whose side effects are my primary health issues...ie fatigue, malaise and joint pain.

Why dont DRs know this?????

 

[fit4life05]

Pharmacies.

 

[cpeil2]

Six weeks ago my cholesterol was 344 and my DR wanted to put me on statins. With the help of this board, I found out about red yeast rice and my cholesterol has dropped to 253. All of my other numbers and triglcericides have improved as well.

I am very relieved because my DR was VERY adament about me taking these drugs and I was equally adament about not taking a drug whose side effects are my primary health issues...ie fatigue, malaise and joint pain.

Why dont DRs know this?????

Red yeast rice extract contains the same compound as lovastatin, a prescription cholestrol-lowering drug.

 

[Chippewa]

+ rep to Spinn for posting these results.

 

[JanSz]

Six weeks ago my cholesterol was 344 and my DR wanted to put me on statins. With the help of this board, I found out about red yeast rice and my cholesterol has dropped to 253. All of my other numbers and triglcericides have improved as well.

I am very relieved because my DR was VERY adament about me taking these drugs and I was equally adament about not taking a drug whose side effects are my primary health issues...ie fatigue, malaise and joint pain.

Why dont DRs know this?????

Hmm, and I was thinking that it is due to Omega-3 EPA/DHA that I am taking.
I had my cholesterol at about 230, then slowly I got it to 213, 4/27/06
I started taking red yeast rice couple months ago, did not changed omega3's.
My new test shows cholesterol=153, everything else is acceptable also.
I do not remeber ever having such numbers.

Now 153 is as low as anybody wants to go, wonder is I should be taking red yeast rice every other day rather than current daily?
It may be working too well.

 

[yeahright]

Now 153 is as low as anybody wants to go, wonder is I should be taking red yeast rice every other day rather than current daily?
It may be working too well.

Ummmmm, no. Current guidelines call for LDL below 100 and HDL (for a man) above 45. So, you should look at where your breakdown leaves you and what the ratio of HDL to LDL is.

New Guidelines on LDL Cholesterol

 

[JanSz]

Ummmmm, no. Current guidelines call for LDL below 100 and HDL (for a man) above 45. So, you should look at where your breakdown leaves you and what the ratio of HDL to LDL is.

New Guidelines on LDL Cholesterol

This guidelines recomend mostly that LDL be agressively lowered.
For High-Risk patients LDL < 100 mg/dL, and consideration should be given to lowering it to < 70 mg/dL.
For Moderately High-Risk patients < 100 mg/dL
For Low-Risk patients < 160 mg/dL


It looks like the red yeast rice works mostly on LDL, that is where the money is.

This are my results, test, desirable range, units, actual result
Lipid Panel
Cholesterol, Total <200mg/dL 153 was 213
HDL cholesterol >/=40mg/dL 43 was 48
cholesterol/HDL ratio <5.0 3.6 was 4.4
LDL chol, calculated <130 mg/dL 87 was 143
Triglycirides <150mg/dL 113 was 110

 

[RPHMark]

Hate to break it to you, but as was stated earlier, you ARE on a statin drug if you take Red yeast rice. It contains lovastatin (brand name Mevacor) in a naturally occurring form. That does not make it bad though, it is lower in potency than a prescription strength would be (assuming you are on a "typical" dosage). Statin drugs can work wonders and have shown several promising results in cancer prevention also, you just need to know the risk/benefit ratio going into it. You should also supplement Conenzyme Q10 if on any statin as they deplete it.

 

[JanSz]

Hate to break it to you, but as was stated earlier, you ARE on a statin drug if you take Red yeast rice. It contains lovastatin (brand name Mevacor) in a naturally occurring form. That does not make it bad though, it is lower in potency than a prescription strength would be (assuming you are on a "typical" dosage). Statin drugs can work wonders and have shown several promising results in cancer prevention also, you just need to know the risk/benefit ratio going into it. You should also supplement Conenzyme Q10 if on any statin as they deplete it.

LEF couple months ago came with revised version of CQ10
Super BioActive CoQ10 Ubiquinol
50 mg, 100 softgels
Item Catalog Number: 952
Super Bioactive Coq10 Ubiquinol, 50 Mg 100 Softgels
I take a one pill daily, is it enough??
I take NowFoods Red Yeast Rice 1200mg pills
one pill daily.
I used to take LEF Sytrinol
Sytrinol™
150 mg, 60 softgels
Item Catalog Number: 674
Sytrinol, 60 Softgels
with out much results, well cholesterol moved from 230 to 210.
but now it is at 153, I stopped Sytrinol.

Comments.

 

[spinn]

I take Swanson hydrosuluble CoQ10 Swanson Health Products - Q-Gel Mega 100

supposedly, it absorbs at 3 times the normal rate.

As for the statins.....I am not totally against them. I do admit that I took some satisfaction in my numbers going down when my DR said it wouldnt work Just ego I guess.

Also, I just bought a two month supply for $25. Lipitor costs I think $150 a month or so. Even if it is covered by insurance, it still drives all of our costs up. I see no reason to spend $150, even if its covered by insurance when $12.50 gets the job done.

 

[jmh80]

Idebenone is better than CoQ-10 (and cheaper if you can find the bulk powder....).

 

[spinn]

Sounds interesting....I actually like the fact that it facilitates blood flow in the brain. I have a suspision that is an issue with me as well. It seems like piracetam, which I have tried a few times.

Strange thing with Piracetam was it worked great the first month I took it, not so well in successive months.

 

[RPHMark]

Most sources say CoQ10 doses from 50 to 100mg/day is appropriate. As a few have stated there are supposed to be several "new" forms/products with increased absorbtion which should help even more (I know NOW just put one out) at the same dose. I know Idebenone is a stronger antioxidant, but does it fit into same the metabolic pathways as CoQ10? Not arguing, just have not checked on that. I think it is a metabolite of CoQ10, right? Even so, I guess I'll need to pull out the biochem books and take a look, huh.

 

[spinn]

I agree...I do worry that Idebenone is synthetic.

We arent arguing....but is it really the same...or better?

 

[yeahright]

I agree...I do worry that Idebenone is synthetic.

We arent arguing....but is it really the same...or better?

The reason many people argue that Idebenone is better than regular CoQ10 is that under conditions of oxygen deprivation to the cells, CoQ10 can become a pro-oxidant. Idebenone isn't subject to this.

This isn't a huge worry but if you had a medical condition that caused you to stop breathing, then it's possible the CoQ10 would actually start damaging your heart.

With all that said, I usually just take CoQ10 myself.