Dear Dr. Roach: Im a 70-year-old female who had a stress test, echocardiogram and carotid study. I passed all tests. My cholesterol is 173, with my HDL 56, LDL 95.6 and triglycerides 108. My blood pressure is 110/64. The cardiologist put me on 5 mg of Crestor. He feels this will help my numbers. He also has me taking CoQ10 and vitamin D3 in case my legs start aching from the Crestor. Ive been taking everything now for two weeks, and my legs are starting to ache. Is it really necessary to stay on Crestor? J.S.
Answer: I put all your numbers into the standard risk calculator at www.cvriskcalculator.com, and your risk for heart disease or stroke in the next 10 years is 6.8%. That is in a range where medication therapy is not usually recommended.
Of course, I cant tell you to stop taking the medication your doctor has recommended. He may know something about you that I dont. Its possible you have a less-common risk factor your cardiologist may not have told you about.
