Maarten Vasbinder lives in Isaan. His profession is general practitioner, a profession that he mainly practiced in Spain. On Thailandblog he answers questions from readers who live in Thailand and writes about medical facts.
Do you have a question for Maarten and do you live in Thailand? Send this to the editor: www.thailandblog.nl/contact/ It is important that you provide the correct information such as:
- Age
- Complaints)
- History
- Medication use, including supplements, etc.
- Smoking, alcohol
- Overweight
- Optional: laboratory results and other tests
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Dear Martin,
I am 58 years old and had 2 stents placed in the artery that supplies blood to the heart muscle in mid-April.
- Length 1.79 m
- Weight kg 101
- Alcohol: none
- Smoking: no
Medicines:
- Controloc -> 1 tablet per day, before breakfast
- Apolets -> 1 tablet per day after breakfast
- Aspirin 81 mg -> 1 tablet per day after breakfast
- Metformin 850 mg -> 1 tablet after breakfast and 1 tablet after dinner
- Mandipine 20 mg -> 1 tablet after breakfast
- Bisoprolol 5 mg -> 0,5 tablet after breakfast
- Mevalotin 40 mg -> 1 tablet after breakfast
- Lantus Solostar -> 30 unita at bedtime
Since I take statins for cholesterol (first Chlovas 40, now Mevalotin), I suffer from muscle pains in my arms, cramps in my legs and feet. Furthermore, my blood sugar appears to be out of control: where it used to be 120 before breakfast, it is now 170 at best.
My question now is: is there an alternative to the statins without all those side effects?
Thanks in advance.
Yours faithfully,
D.
******
Dear D,
Judging by your lab, your blood sugar has been way too high for some time. HBAc1 10,8 and FBS 228.
Those high sugars can also cause the muscle pain. I don't think it's a luxury to consult an internist or diabetes doctor. Such high mirrors can cause many problems. The medication will therefore have to be adjusted.
Furthermore, you can probably omit the aspirin. How long ago did you have a heart problem?
As for your question. From me you can stop the statins, but your cardiologist probably doesn't think that's a good idea.
Don't wait too long to visit the internist or diabetes doctor. Your sugar is really way too high.
Yours faithfully,
Dr. Maarten