Ask general practitioner Maarten: TIA and drugs against cholesterol
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.
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Dear Martin,
Six months ago I had a TIA and was prescribed two new medicines, the blood thinner Clopidogrel (in Thailand apolets) and simvastatin (cholesterol lowering) and had to replace omeprazole with pantoprazole (controloc in Thailand) because otherwise the clopidogrel would not work properly.
The questions:
- Controloc costs 15x as much as omeprazole in Thailand. Can something be done about these higher costs by using other medicines?
- I know your objections to simvastatin (which I do share, I took red rice yeast to my full satisfaction in the Netherlands, but my treating specialist said that the simvastatin was essential for me). Is simvastatin also superfluous for people who have had a TIA? A medical platform in the Netherlands says that cholesterol of 1.6 is desirable, which is exactly what simvastatin gives me. With the red rice it was 3.
Regards,
P.
*****
Dear P,
The story about the omeprazole is correct. Ask at various pharmacies what pantoprazole costs. That can vary considerably.
As for the simvastatin, it does nothing useful. The desired cholesterol level is determined by the industry.
Sincerely,
Dr. Maarten
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 (see list at the top of the page).