WelChol oral suspension
I told my endo yesterday that I weaned myself off the crestor & am not willing to take statins any more.
She asked me to consider welchol oral suspension. When this first hit the market, the only option was six rather large pills. Now, you can take the oral suspension mixed in 1/2 to 1 cup water once a day. There is no generic yet, but in my rx list, it's the same price level as crestor. It's supposed to lower LDL & A1c.
I talked with her about LDL particle size & density. Her position is that I should have that discussion with my cardiologist (basically saying that she doesn't know.) However, she said that testing those things may not change her treatment advice.
I do have a cardiologist appointment next month for my annual pacemaker checkup & he always inquires about my cholesterol & trigs, but has never treated me for either since originally my PCP did & now my endo does.
I have found very limited information other than what the drug company itself puts out. Does anyone have any experience or knowledge about this medication, its efficacy, & safety? I'm willing to try it, but I want to investigate it, too.
She told me to discontinue the gemfibrozil & prandin for a few weeks. If I can take two meds out of my regime & replace them with one, that may be a good thing. Of course, there's no guarantee that either will remain out. We want to avoid hypos so are discontinuing the prandin. Since I don't use it regularly, anyway, that's no problem. We are discontinuing the gemfibrozil to see how effective welchol will work on its own for trigs.
I'm told the common side effects are sore throat, nausea, & constipation. Of course, everyone will not have these & they may disappear as one is acclimated to it.
Sorry for the long post. Thanks for any feedback you can provide.
She asked me to consider welchol oral suspension. When this first hit the market, the only option was six rather large pills. Now, you can take the oral suspension mixed in 1/2 to 1 cup water once a day. There is no generic yet, but in my rx list, it's the same price level as crestor. It's supposed to lower LDL & A1c.
I talked with her about LDL particle size & density. Her position is that I should have that discussion with my cardiologist (basically saying that she doesn't know.) However, she said that testing those things may not change her treatment advice.
I do have a cardiologist appointment next month for my annual pacemaker checkup & he always inquires about my cholesterol & trigs, but has never treated me for either since originally my PCP did & now my endo does.
I have found very limited information other than what the drug company itself puts out. Does anyone have any experience or knowledge about this medication, its efficacy, & safety? I'm willing to try it, but I want to investigate it, too.
She told me to discontinue the gemfibrozil & prandin for a few weeks. If I can take two meds out of my regime & replace them with one, that may be a good thing. Of course, there's no guarantee that either will remain out. We want to avoid hypos so are discontinuing the prandin. Since I don't use it regularly, anyway, that's no problem. We are discontinuing the gemfibrozil to see how effective welchol will work on its own for trigs.
I'm told the common side effects are sore throat, nausea, & constipation. Of course, everyone will not have these & they may disappear as one is acclimated to it.
Sorry for the long post. Thanks for any feedback you can provide.
Tags: WelChol
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Barrie on -
anybody? I know this isn't common prescribed because I found very little data on it, but isn't anyone taking it?
-
Permalink Reply by Brian (bsc) on -
I have not used Welchol, but can perhaps provide some information. But first, understand I don't believe in the cholesterol heart disease myth, so take my comments in that light. Welchol is a bile sequesterants. Bile acids are required to digest fats and the are bile acids recycled and reused by your body. Taking Welchol keeps the bile acids from being recycled and messes with you bodies ability to normally digest and process fats. Before statins, the use of these medications was more widespread. The problem with these medications is that you can end up being malnurished and deprived of key nutritients. It turns out you actually need fat and many vitamins and minerals are fat soluble. Mess with absorption of fat, and you end up with problems.
It is important to understand that while Welchol will drop your LDL somewhat, it's effect on your HDL is likely to be more dramatic (i.e. it will lower your HDL). And claims about it's effect on trigs for diabetics is frankly just whacked. If you want to lower your trigs as a diabetic, your best bet is to eat less carbs and lower your blood sugar levels. And any claims about Welchol lowering HbA1c are just totally cr*p. The one study cited was funded by the company.
In my opinion, Welchol is like taking Allie, probably not a good thing for your health. And thinking that you can replace your diabetic medication (prandin) with a bile sequesterant is an off label use and just weird. I would ask for advice from a real doctor (endo) on that.
-
Permalink Reply by Barrie on
-
Thanks, I appreciate the input. It doesn't sound like something my body needs & like it can be detrimental. I agree with your assessment about what I call the dietary fat myth, which is why I stopped taking crestor.
-
Permalink Reply by Christalyn on -
My internist told me to use Alli. I am not going too. I know I need to exercise and watch my foods.
Do you know what the effect of welchol is on diverticulitis? My internist told me this would be a good drug for both my BS and for the Diverticulitis which for has been extremely painful. I have to take 4 of these horse pills every night. The pain is less but the other "D" is still with me. You can't image how debilitating this is when the pain starts.
-
Permalink Reply by Barrie on
-
Christalyn, I have a friend on the horse pills. He suffered terribly from IBS & welchol is really helping him with that. It doesn't seem to do much for his BS. I'm told you can "stretch out" the dose by taking 2 at each meal instead of all of them at night.
-
Permalink Reply by Thomas on -
Wish I could be of some help about the suspension. I had allergic reactions to all of the statins. As a last ditch effort. We tried the Welchol horse pills. Used it for six months. It made no difference at all in my lipid blood work.
-
Permalink Reply by Christalyn on
-
I take welchol but in the horse pill form. I have had bouts with nausea but I make sure I take all my meds with food. I really can't say it has made much of a difference in my BS. I am taking the drug mainly because I have diverticulitis and it is somewhat helping with that since I am still suffering from it.
-
Permalink Reply by elaine peterson on -
Barrie....why did you no longer want to take statins?
-
Permalink Reply by Barrie on
-
There is too much research indicating that, while they lower cholesterol numbers, that doesn't translate into lower risk of cardiovascular disease. Also, that their effectiveness may be due to their anti-inflammatory effect, which can be achieved with low dose aspirin as well & more inexpensively. Because I was concerned about taking statins, I had a c-reactive protein test & it was squarely in the normal range - so, I just don't believe that I have an issue with CVD.
-
Permalink Reply by elaine peterson on
-
Thanks, Barrie. I have heard scary things about statins but my doc is in favor. I do lots that is supposed to keep inflammation in check.....exercise, diet, supplements.....I should look into testing.
Advertisement
REsources
Groups
From the Diabetes Hands Foundation blog...
How do you measure the work of volunteers?
329,040 minutes, 329,040 moments so dear. 329,040 minutes — How do you measure, measure volunteers? In smileys, in tears shed, in counsel, in cups of coffee. In units, in carb counts, in laughter, in strife. In 329,040 minutes – how …Continue Reading
DHF Expands Board of Advisors
Diabetes Hands Foundation has always relied on partners and advisors to increase its understanding of the diabetes space, in order to better serve people touched by diabetes. Today this is as true as ever, as we proudly announce the expansion …Continue Reading
TuDiabetes Team
DHF STAFF
 Manny Hernandez(Co-Founder, Editor, has LADA)
|
DHF VOLUNTEERS
Lead Administrator
 Bradford (has type 1) |
Administrators
 Lorraine (mother of type 1) |
 Marie B (has type 1) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
LIKE us on Facebook
Spread the word
This site complies with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information: verify here.
© 2013 A community of people touched by diabetes, run by the Diabetes Hands Foundation.
