blood glucose and cholesterol meds

Hi, have not been posting for a while.  I was having good blood sugar readings for a while, even some low morning numbers (114)  which was good for me.  Type II.  Not taking any diabetic meds.  Having good aftermeal readings, nothing much above 140 even when making "bad" choices.  However, when making good choices they where in the 120's after meal.  Then doctor put me on Vytorin.  I have been tired, lethargic, and my blood sugars are up.  Went to bed with 103 bg last night woke up with 137.  Had a sandwich tonight, cheese, chicken, grilled, with spray butter.  That was it, and my after meal was 197.  I know a sandwich is maybe not best, but I had nothing else, and this type of meal last month would not rise my bg like that, I would usually have a reading in the 120 if I had just the sandwich, and maybe a salad.  I am very frustrated at the moment.  Anyone here have problems taking cholesterol meds and bg levels.  The thing is  my cholesterol is not that bad.  my total cholesterol was 191 (goal should be below 200 which it was)  my tryglycerides are high 220  goal below 150 and HDL is low 39 goal 45, and my LDL 108 goal below 100.   Now these numbers vary, but I sometimes have better numbers, when I have been good to exercise.  This was without any meds.  I have yet to take my first test on the Vytorin, but I feel lousy, frustrated with my blood sugars, so just wondering if anyone here has experienced this.  I have been pretty perstistant in avoiding the cholesterol meds, until the last "pep" talk from the nurse practitioner.  I am seriously thinking of telling the professionals, ok, tried it, it makes me feel lousy, the benefits do not outweigh the side effects.  Any  similar experience here.  Thanks. Donna

Hi Donna, welcome back!  It's been awhile since you were here but I'm sorry about what you're going through now.  There are many side effects of the statin drugs and even though not everyone will experience all of them, you might be right about your suspicions.  Some literature and studies point to lethargy and muscle pain and some fluctuation in blood sugar when you're on statins, but again not everyone will have these, so I think you need to talk to your doctor.  You might want to take more control of your diet which in turn will help the blood sugar as well as the cholesterol.  If you really cut down or cut out all bread, potatoes and anything made with flour, you will see your blood sugar drop.  When I did this a year ago, my cholesterol also dropped to good levels.  You could have much lower fasting and post-prandial readings this way and possibly lower your cholesterol as well.  As always, please talk to your doctor.  (Last January when my doctor said she was going to put me on Lipitor, I told her no.  I told her to give me six months to see if I could get things under control my way.  So I got my total cholesterol from 215 to 173 and my LDL from 124 to 93 in 5 months when it was check in May.  This was when I went to a very low-carb diet with regular exercise.)  Remember, we're not doctors here but this is my experience.  Good luck.

Thanks everyone for your replys.   Yes if I am honest with myself I can work harder with my blood sugar.   My tests came back for the cholesterol, and they were very good.  Went from 191 total to 152 and LDL went from 108 to 81.  Triglicerides went from 220 to 167.  Soooooooooooo,  I agreed to continue to try to stay on them, and then all day today I kept hearing news articles about cholesterol, and the one doctor on channel 7 news says he almost wants to call them miricle drugs.  To top it off my one friend just went into hospital with clogged arteries, and had a angioplasty (spelling?) and I did some more research that suggests lowering all these numbers will stop a whole number of complications in non diabetic people, but even more so with diabetic people.  I was just being lazy about my blood sugars, and was having good numbers without a lot of work.  It is weird I can almost always tell now if I ate wrong or too much before I test.  It is like right at that two hour mark, whop!  I want to go to sleep.  It passes usually in about twenty to thirty minutes.   And also when I make good choices,  I usually can predict a good aftermeal number.  Had an egg this morn, instead of my oatmeal, and a slice of toast, two hour number was 120, so I think that is good, compared to my pasta meal of 172!  So far I feel fortunate that I can get my blood sugars down with diet and exercise.  I need to remind myself that better control now will stave off the meds for a while.  I am even coming to realize that diabetic meds are not so bad if I need to take them.  I have been very afraid of them, along with the cholesterol meds.  But I can not argue with those numbers at this time.  However, If I continue to feel bad on a regualr basis, I will reconcider taking them.   Thanks again, and take care all, Donna