a change in medicine

[stellatj]

Hi i have been taking zocor 10 mg for a little over a yr my cholesterol was 228 when i started it at my last doctors appt. my cholesterol was down to 108  hdl 33 and ldlc 55 my doctor switched me to pravachol 20 mg he said mostly for my family history i am a 39 yr old female i also take atenolol 50 mg and k-dur plus 1 bayer a day. what i am scared of is could my cholesterol get to low what would be the warning signs of low cholesterol.i have a-fib but not bad mostly just brought on by stress thank you

[CCF-M.D.-CRC]

Dear stellatj,

Both pravachol and zocor belong to a family of medications called 'statins'.  These drugs are very good at lowering cholesterol but different drugs have different dosage levels.  Therefore 20 mg of pravachol may have the same effect as 10 mg of Zocor.  There are not really any warning signs for too low cholesterol.  I would recommend a repeat level check in about 6 months time.

[broggie]

They do say recently that low cholestrol is a marker for clinical depression.  Then again did the low cholestrol cause the depression, or the depression cause the low cholestrol.  You could look forever for markers, but if you feel ok dont worry about it....wonder what the Doc will say...

Ray