Taking On the Establishment

Last fall, while playing in my weekly softball league, I did something really, outrageously stupid; I slid into third base. The result of my slide on a poorly-maintained field (the infield hadn't been dragged probably ever and was rock-hard), while wearing shorts, was a nasty gash on the side of my left shin. This thing measured about six inches from top to bottom and another three inches wide. For some reason, it took weeks to heal and eventually became infected. The pain in my leg was so great that I slept on the couch for over a month so I wouldn't disturb my wife each time I winced and gasped in pain.

Fast forward to November and I went to the ER with some abdominal pain. During the course of my evening in the hospital, they ran some blood work and the doctor came to me with a question. "Has anyone ever talked to you about diabetes?" He informed me that my glucose level was 220 that night. Later that week, I had more blood work done and went to see my doctor. The diagnosis was confirmed. At age 33, I was officially a Type-2 Diabetic. At least that explained why my leg was so slow to heal.

Upon getting the news, my wife and I dove into this thing head-first. We changed our diets, I was taking metformin and lisinopril (for high blood pressure), and the results were good. Both Valerie and I lost a good amount of weight (her more than I, but she's better at dieting than me). Eventually, however, the dieting stopped and the weight has slowly started to come back. I was once as heavy as 309 pounds, but got as low as 268 in January of this year. Now, I'm back to 280.

Last week, I had more blood work done, just to see how my sugar is doing. The results were encouraging, my A1C had dropped from 8.4 to 6.6 giving me an average glucose reading of 138; down from 196. This time, however, the doctor tells me my cholesterol is high. It never ends. So back to the doctor I go.

She wants me to start taking simvastatin (or Zocor) at 10mg per day. Seems reasonable enough I suppose. She explains that in "normal" people, my LDL of 129 would be in the accepted range and would require no medication, but in diabetics, they want that number below 70. She also tells me that my "good cholesterol" is 38 and we need to bring that up to at least 50. The statin, she says, should give me all the boost I need. Sounds good to me, I suppose, so I leave the office (BTW- my blood pressure was 117 over 70 - I rock) and drop the scrip off at the pharmacy and head back to work.

I spoke with my wife and told her what was going on. She immediately voices concern over taking a statin. She calls her grandmother, a nurse, and alerts me to a cocktail of supplements June was taking to lower her cholesterol. Now, June is in her eighties and is not diabetic, so I figure that her situation and mine aren't the same. Regardless, with the amount of worry Valerie had in her voice, I figured maybe I should do a little research here.

I spent the next couple of hours ignoring the latest Tigers trade rumor and instead surfing the web for information on diabetes and the use of niacin versus statins. No matter the source of the article, I found nothing good about statins at all. I decided that maybe my best bet would be to talk to the pharmacist.

When I approached the counter, the pharmacist was busy. I waited briefly, but eventually just figured I'd give some stuff a try. I had found no indication that niacin would cause any adverse effects in my body, so I'd just self-medicate. The pharmacist then did something I didn't expect; he came and found me to say he had seen me waiting and to ask if I had questions. I quickly explained my condition and my concerns over taking the statin. He relayed to me the adverse effects of statins and also told me my concerns were real. We talked about niacin, a supplement he was apparently well-versed in and he explained how I should start small and gradually increase my dosage. We agreed to avoid the "non-flushing" niacin because the hot flash that comes with it enables the user to determine when the ideal amount has been reached.

I left the pharmacy yesterday with a bottle of 250 mg niacin and a bottle of garlic. I did not pick up my prescription for simvastatin.

The more I've read on the subject of medications for my diabetes and my cholesterol, the less enthused I am about traditional medicines. From what I'm gathering so far, vitamins and supplements (or, ideally, healthy foods) hold all the same value as the drugs to, but without the risks. A small overdose of a prescription drug can kill you, but a significant overdose of vitamins causes only diarrhea and vomiting. To me, the idea that I might have a hot flash or two seemed a much happier outcome than the liver and muscle damage connected to statins.

So now I'm in an unusual position. I have always trusted my doctors to know what they are doing. After all, they have years of medical training and all I've done is read a handful of internet articles. I feel a bit dumb even exploring the idea of trying "alternative" medications for my condition. The drugs I've been on have worked so far. But my doctor now also wants to check my liver and kidney functions, and send me to an opthomologist for a dilated eye exam.

I haven't yet spoken to my doctor about not taking the statin and I don't think I will. I have blood work scheduled for October to check on my progress and until then I'll be doing things on my own to try to get my issues in check. The more I read about diabetes, the better I am understanding how to control my sugar levels through diet and supplements.

Today, I found a handful of articles that gave me some ideas on what to try. I also discovered an online community of diabetics that seems very friendly and helpful. This is a condition which scared the crap out of me at first, but now is doing the same again the more I read. Sometimes the effects can take years, even decades, but the damage to the internal organs, as well as the extremities and the eyes, is real and if left unchecked it can be deadly.

This is a scary place for me to be. I'm making a potentially deadly decision to go away from my doctor's advice and to try to sort things out on my own. What I really need to find, I think, is someone knowledgeable in the use of vitamins and supplements as alternatives to prescription drugs. Of course, I doubt my insurance will cover that visit. If I'm right, however, I can stop taking my meds (eventually) and start to live a healthy, long, life. I'm still only 33, there is a lot to do before I die.