Stopping Gemfibrozil

[email hidden] wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

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Hi guys,

New to this site but thought I might get a quick answer here.

I have dropped about 50 pounds and now down to 160.

Congrats :-) How tall are you and how are you losing, just out of curiosity?

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Today my doc dropped my atenolol from 20mg twice a day to 10mg twice a day

Atenolol is neither given twice-a-day nor in those dosages.

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and said I could stop taking the Gemfibrozil until we get the results of the blood test to be done
in a few weeks and see where my triglycerides were at.

That would be unusual instructions from a doctor. Typically, one would like to see lower trigs
*before* stopping the fibrate.

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Cholesterol is always OK.

Trigs are part of your cholesterol profile. Being on a fibrate typically means your trigs were
elevated at some point in the past *before* the fibrate.

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He told me cut the atenolol in quarters and wean down to the 15mg over 5 days, th4en 10 over the
next 5. He didn't mention anything about the Gemfibrozil so I asssume it is OK to quit it cold??

Though there is such an entity as *rebound* hypertension there is not an analogous concern for
elevated trigs.

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Anyone care to wade in with an informed opinion on the Gemfibrozil?

I have a call into his office but no repsonse yet and Tuesday is his golf day. <g> Oh to be
a doctor.

Thank you.

You are welcome.

Humbly,

Andrew

--
Dr. Andrew B. Chung, MD/PhD Board-certified Cardiologist heartmdphd.comheartmdphd.comOpen ↗

On 29 Dec 2003 20:47:09 -0800, [email hidden] (Dr. Andrew B.

Chung said:

Quoted message said:

Congrats :-) How tall are you and how are you losing, just out of curiosity?

5'-8" and wife has been limiting my food intake to 2lbs a day. She heard about it somewhere on the
internet and seems to work fine, providing I don't get the "snacks". I am well past the "snacks" now
and have 1/2lb for breakfast and lunch and 1lb for dinner. Cut out most of the beer and wine. Still
have a glass of red at night though.

I bought one of those electronic scales that you can put a plate on then zero the reading, then
she just heaps stuff on till it reads the amount. Pretty simple actually and not hard to stay on-
track with it.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

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dropped my atenolol from 20mg twice a day to 10mg twice a day

Atenolol is neither given twice-a-day nor in those dosages.

That's what I have been doing on the doc's say-so. I am not a doctor so just do as I am told when it
comes to meds.

Originally I was on 10mg tenormin and prinivil (can't remember the dosage now) morning/night. The
insurance company (cheap [censored]) decided I had to buy generic so when we changed to atenolol the
pressure went up a bit so the doc upped the ante to 20mg atenolol. As I began losing weight he cut
out the prinivil and just stayed with the atenolol.

I do not want to get into a fight with you I am just doing as instructed, but why wouldn't atenolol
be administered twice a day and what's wrong with 20mg? I have been on this for probably a year and
still seem to kicking along OK.

Thank you for the reply.

--

Regards,
Frank R Firestone II

It seems to me I heard somewhere that [email hidden] wrote in
article <[email hidden]>:

Quoted message said:

On 29 Dec 2003 20:47:09 -0800, [email hidden] (Dr. Andrew B. Chung, MD/PhD) wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Congrats :-) How tall are you and how are you losing, just out of curiosity?

Quoted message said:

5'-8" and wife has been limiting my food intake to 2lbs a day. She heard about it somewhere on the
internet and seems to work fine, providing I don't get the "snacks". I am well past the "snacks"
now and have 1/2lb for breakfast and lunch and 1lb for dinner. Cut out most of the beer and wine.
Still have a glass of red at night though.

Quoted message said:

I bought one of those electronic scales that you can put a plate on then zero the reading, then
she just heaps stuff on till it reads the amount. Pretty simple actually and not hard to stay on-
track with it.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

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> dropped my atenolol from 20mg twice a day to 10mg twice a day

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Atenolol is neither given twice-a-day nor in those dosages.

[...]

Quoted message said:

I do not want to get into a fight with you I am just doing as instructed, but why wouldn't atenolol
be administered twice a day and what's wrong with 20mg? I have been on this for probably a year and
still seem to kicking along OK.

Just one quick note. Atenolol is distributed as 25mg tablets, AFAIK the smallest available. My
doctor has me splitting them to get the 12.5mg per *day* he prescribed. He's never mentioned
two-a-day use.
--
Don [email hidden]

[email hidden] wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

MD/PhD) said:

Quoted message said:

Congrats :-) How tall are you and how are you losing, just out of curiosity?

5'-8" and wife has been limiting my food intake to 2lbs a day. She heard about it somewhere on the
internet and seems to work fine,

:-)

Quoted message said:

providing I don't get the "snacks". I am well past the "snacks" now and have 1/2lb for breakfast
and lunch and 1lb for dinner. Cut out most of the beer and wine. Still have a glass of red at
night though.

That little bit of alcohol can raise blood pressure in susceptible folks.

Quoted message said:

I bought one of those electronic scales that you can put a plate on then zero the reading, then
she just heaps stuff on till it reads the amount. Pretty simple actually and not hard to stay on-
track with it.

:-)

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> dropped my atenolol from 20mg twice a day to 10mg twice a day

Atenolol is neither given twice-a-day nor in those dosages.

That's what I have been doing on the doc's say-so. I am not a doctor so just do as I am told when
it comes to meds.

Would suggest you double check your medications.

Quoted message said:

Originally I was on 10mg tenormin and prinivil (can't remember the dosage now) morning/night. The
insurance company (cheap [censored]) decided I had to buy generic so when we changed to atenolol the
pressure went up a bit so the doc upped the ante to 20mg atenolol. As I began losing weight he cut
out the prinivil and just stayed with the atenolol.

I do not want to get into a fight with you I am just doing as instructed, but why wouldn't
atenolol be administered twice a day and what's wrong with 20mg?

Atenolol is not available in the US as either a 10 or 20 mg tablet.

Quoted message said:

I have been on this for probably a year and still seem to kicking along OK.

Are you here in the US?

Quoted message said:

Thank you for the reply.

You are welcome.

Have a blessed New Years :-)

Humbly,

Andrew

--
Dr. Andrew B. Chung, MD/PhD
Board-Certified Cardiologist
heartmdphd.comheartmdphd.comOpen ↗

On Tue, 30 Dec 2003 15:05:37 -0800, Don Kirkman <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Just one quick note. Atenolol is distributed as 25mg tablets, AFAIK the smallest available. My
doctor has me splitting them to get the 12.5mg per *day* he prescribed. He's never mentioned two-a-
day use.

You are correct, I just checked and they are 50mg. Not sure where I got that 20mg.

The doc had said half them but didn't mention the Mg and I just assumed from somewhere they were
20's. Never asssume I guess. <g>

OK, so I am currently splitting into quarters and taking 3/4 so I guess that makes it 37.5 and then
dropping to 25 after the 5 day weaning. I guesss I need to aspire to your 12.5 and lose some more
weight as it seems the single biggest influence on my blood pressure.

Thank you for the reply though.

--

Regards,
Frank R Firestone II