Oh divingaggie, peace be with you, I am so sorry. May you be helped by all the beautiful memories I am sure you have of your mother. I truly believe she will be an angel on your shoulder watching over you the rest of your life.

I'm so sorry for your loss, divingaggie. It's wonderful that your mother went peacefully with family and friends around her. I'm sure that's a big comfort to you. You're in my thoughts and prayers.

LoveItaly and kureiff, thanks so much for your kind words and thoughts.

divingaggie, I am so sorry for the loss of your mother--you are in my thoughts and prayers. Hugs, AnnMarie

Ed and Aggie--
My deepest sympathies to you and your families.

OWJ

Hey, Mikemo, what you say is true FOR RIGHT now, those numbers will all be adjusted once again after the NEXT study, and in the meantime what about I, my friend Russ, my workmate Rita, and at least 4 other people I know who have liver problems or were joint/muscle affected by the Zocor or Lipitor. It makes me so happy that my cholesterol was GREAT for years yet it has taken me nearly 6 months to be close to pain free from the build up in my muscles. My one arm got so bad I could barely hold a 10 lbs tome. I'm being sarcastic here, in case it doesn't show.

And this left me in a state in which exercise was HORRIBLE.

All of this stuff is PREVENTIVE. But remember, "FIRST DO NO HARM."

Just like the birth control products, Prempro, Premarin and other categories where women have been used like guinea pigs for decades, this is going to backbite-just wait and see if I am not correct.

Sorry I know you are "right" but I have very strong feelings about this. Similarly they are trying to make some of the blood work numbers "perfect" now on my dying mother with all kinds of quality of life side effects. Give us a break! This is just my own opinion but I choose to live my life to aim for quality, and not quantity.

And more important, Ed & Aggie, sympathy to you and a heartfelt wish that you can remember more of the good times than the bad or suffering ones. You did a great job if the ending was as it sounds.

JJ

Thanks, Bonnie. Whatever arrogance Prosser et al had with Chris Paul (and we were never as bad as _uke) is long gone and we are grateful for small blessings. I was glad to see Eric Williams and Justin Grey have a final win after the horror of this season.

Posted to wrong thread. Sorry.
Given the very tender and sad messages from Ed and Aggie it is particularly embarassing to have this post to the wrong thread. My sympathy and prayers to you both.

JJ5,
Myopathy/myositis is a serious side effect of statins and requires discontinuation of the RX. Mild liver function abnormalities do not require stopping Rx in most cases.
I was cautioned about same by my internist and had to return after 30 days for blood tests for MM enzymes and LFTs (aka informed consent).
I too was very skeptical as I'm a therapeutic nihilist, but the high quality scientific evidence is literally overwhelming in favor of reducing serum LDL.
FD: I own no pharmaceutical co stock directly, but have mutual funds owning same.
Each of us is certainly free to accept or refuse any and all medical recommendations, but let me ask how you feel about (preventative)immunizations for polio, Hep A/B, yellow fever, influenza, meningo/pneumococccus, tetanus, diphtheria, MMR, etc.?
M

Mike, can I ask one question concerning statins and liver problems? Is it advisable to drink if you're on a low dose statin? I rarely drink during the week but enjoy my wine and beer on weekend evenings, particularly if we're going out to dinner, etc. And that's one of the things that scares me about taking them. I've already changed my life-style considerably in an effort to get my cholesterol down. I just hate to have to give up everything!

Once again, I am thinking of all of you during these tough times. Thanks to all who have wished me well, and hugs right back atcha!!

Yesterday morning I spent some time on the board, then I went to the grocery store. Upon my return from the store, I learned of a new family crisis that had just erupted involving my in-laws. Nobody died, but this is like a death. I will post more on next week's R&R's because I'm not ready to talk about it yet, also by next week I'll have more facts. But as I previously stated, I'm thankful we are all here for each other.

Hugs, love and peace to all.

P_M, big hugs to you!!!! ((F))

CAPH,
I'm not an expert in liver disease, but I think the cell functions that are affected by etoh and statins are different and the serum LFTs can distinguish between the two.
I don't know of any data suggesting etoh and statins are addititive or worse, but I'll do a search.
M

Hey PM--Am thinking of you guys!
OWJ

I believe your good will, Mikemo as I believe my doctor's also. But having had two dire events in my life over contraindications, I would just as soon do everything I can do without using a statin. I find Zetia does the trick without affecting the liver and causing that muscle build up.

PM, bad news is sometimes worse than the worse news. Not a good English sentence, but the truth. Take care of yourself.

Hugs from me too, P_M!

Thanks, Mike. I really appreciate your input.

But, JJ5, I noticed that the Zetia commercials also mention it's being contraindicated for people with liver disease.

JJ5,
Big difference between contraindications and side effects.
If you can achieve the recommended LDL numbers with Zetia alone, that's great.
In fact, maybe I'll try that.
Actually, maybe not, as Bill Clinton stopped his statins and low dose ASA and had serious heart problems shortly after.
Please do not stop asa or statin therapy cold turkey without your doc's knowledge and permission - that can be way bad.
CAPH,
Obviously, my comments re: etoh and statins were made in the perspective of normal liver function and not for someone with acute or chronic liver disease of any kind.
M

PM, sigh....sending you a giant hug.

Caph, email is on its way.

Thank you all so very much. My heart is touched by your kindness, as always.

Maybe it's best if I get this off my chest now.

Background:
As some of you already know, my BIL (DH's kid brother) has a drug problem. Over the years he's gone in and out of jail more times than we can count. While he's in jail he tells us how he's found God, he will change his life, and he will never go back to jail. But as soon as he's out, he immediately reverts to his reckless lifestyle, and it's only a matter of time until he's back in the system.

He just got out last June and once again, this time it would be different. But within a few months it became obvious to us that he is not only using drugs but dealing as well. So when we learned yesterday that he was arrested again, we thought it was just more of the same. But this time we were stunned to learn that he stands accused of a much more serious crime that is not drug-related. Please forgive me for not telling you the nature of this crime, but DH is so disgusted and embarassed by the situation that DH asked me not to tell anyone why BIL is in jail. I can tell you that this crime is far worse than anything we thought BIL was capable of. I don't know what kind of sentence BIL will be looking at, but given the nature of this crime and his prior criminal record, I will be very surprised if he gets out in the next 10 years. But I'm no legal expert, so I will make some calls tomorrow and try to find out more.

FIL is almost 79 and he is devastated. I think FIL knows that BIL isn't likely to go free again within FIL's lifetime. We spent some time w/FIL yesterday to try to comfort him. While we were there, BIL called from jail and asked us to post his bail of $50,000. Of course we refused. I asked BIL if he committed this crime. He didn't give a straight answer, but he did not deny it either. All he said was, "It happened, but it's not what it seems."

DH and I are completely sick about this. BIL is not dead, but he IS gone so we are in a state of mourning. Above all we are mourning the ordeal of those affected by this crime. We are mourning BIL's loss of freedom. We are also mourning the loss of our hope that BIL will ever straighten up and live a productive, clean life. But the bottom line is that if BIL did indeed commit this crime, then he deserves whatever punishment the court gives him.

Thanks for listening, and thank you from the bottom of my heart for being there for me.