Very troubled over meds

Greetings,

Forgive me if it's bad form to join and start right in with this sort of post.

I will try to be brief. First of all, I never gave much thought to diabetes prior to some symptoms about 8 weeks ago. I fully acknowledge that I was not taking care of myself and I was possibly well on my way to Type 2 regardless of anything that I am about to get into. The following is a very short timeline of how I arrived at this point. The numbers that I will give are US... maybe different than EU????


November 2014 : Went in for blood work. No sign of diabetes. High cholesterol. Doctor put me on 40mg Lipitor a day.
Early Feb 2015: Cholesterol down to acceptable levels
Mid Feb 2015: Started peeing frequently... especially at night. Began to worry about being diabetic.
Late Feb. 2015 Went in for a physical for my work. Urine sample indicated diabetes.

At this point I began doing some research and discovered a possible link between Type 2 and Lipitor... but I was, (and still am), somewhat skeptical about the connection. My reaction to the diagnosis was to A: Change my diet. B: Begin an exercise regime. and C: Cut my Lipitor dose by 50%, (okayed by my doctor). Also I scheduled an appointment with my regular doctor, (the urine sample was done at a clinic for work).

March 17: I had lost 8 lbs. Went in for my first ever A1C test.
March 18: My doctor called and wanted to see me asap. My test result was 9.5! He prescribed me 500mg MetFormin twice daily
March 19 7pm: Began MetFormin
March 20 10:30AM: arrived for Diabetes Counseling. Blood sugar tested at 113. The counselor was surprised at the relatively low number.

Since that time I have been very diligent about my diet and exercise. My readings are almost always between 110 and 120. Never over 120 and once as low as 93. I vary the testing between fasting and 2 hours post meals.

I am not in denial and I realize that this is a process that will be ongoing. But I can't help but be very concerned about the wisdom of continuing the Lipitor! I talked to my doctor about it and he says that my cholesterol level was high enough to be of as much concern as the diabetes.

My instinct is to continue on the current schedule of meds, diet, and exercise and see where I am in 3 months. But it only took three months of Lipitor to push me from non-diabetic to 9.5,, (if, in fact , the Lipitor is playing a role at all).


Are there any of you that have a similar concern with Lipitor or other similar drugs?

Hi urbanracer,

Thanks for the reply. I will check back soon for more info. I did do a search here for Lipitor prior to posting this and found a link to this very troubling article:

http://healthimpactnews.com/2014/th...as-big-pharma-defends-billion-dollar-industry

However, it's so hard to tell if the author or the site has an agenda. That site smacked of conspiracy theories.

I am very interested in getting some insight from everyday people.

Thanks for the insight Jack,

For the time being I am going to stick with the doctor's prescribed meds. He essentially said what you said... statistically, the chances that the Lipitor had a strong impact on my diabetes diagnosis are slim. I believe he said 1 in 500. The rapid onset, (going from non-diabetic to an A1C of 9.5 in 3 months), coupled with the timing of my beginning the statin is what has me asking questions.

My doctor agreed to cut the statin by 50%, which I have done. We will see where my cholesterol is in 6 months. In the meanwhile, I will focus my energy on my diet and exercise and blood glucose levels.