zocor

  I am 42 yrs old.  My cholesterol is 245, HDL-52, LDL-175.  My mother died at the age of 60 with a heart attack, my father has had open heart surgery, one of my brothers had two stents(spelling?) put in at the age of 43, and my other brother has high blood pressure.  I know I have a reason to be concerened about my heart.  I am concerened about starting Zocor because of the side effet of depression.  I am on zoloft, 50 mg once a day since Sept. of 98.  It scares me to death that one of the side effects of Zocor is depression.  I know I need to lower my cholesterol.  Do you think it would be ok to take Zocor?  I am also taking Synthriod (.05 mg)  

[CCF CARDIO MD APS]

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Dear Carol,
What I think is that you have a very serious risk for coronary artery disease (CAD) and that at best you should try this drug. It been proven NOT only to reduce cholesterol, but has been proven to decrease the likelihood of you having a heart attack and or death from CAD.  Depression is NOT a common side effect of Zocor and there are quite a few other lipid lowering drugs to chose from if this one does not work out.
I hope this information is useful. Information provided in the heart forum is for
general purposes only.  Only your physician can provided specific diagnoses and therapies.
Feel free to write back with further questions. Good luck!