a few years ago my cholesterol was

275. yes, 275. now it runs from 120 is (yes i said 120) to 140 ish. my good cholesterol is at a great level and my bad cholesterol is where it should be.

how did this happen? well first off i stopped eating MAYONNAISE (i am addicted, just like i am to sugar. so i don't keep either product). i attempted to go vegan as well (and am now for the most part* after many attempts and failures. i've been a vegetarian since i was 18 and NEVER failed on that level - and i am past 18 by more than 2 X). what else? i take lipitor. my doctor insists upon it. he also told me, he'd most likely have me on it even if my cholesterol was normal in the first place. he provided me with literature on all sorts of studies conducted on the product (when i walk out of his office, i always have a fistfull of medical articles on one thing or another).

do i mind if dr jarvik rows or not? of COURSE NOT. i don't give a flying yoo hoo. do i mind if he takes lipitor or not (but says he does)? YES THAT I CARE ABOUT. and i believe him when he says he takes it too.

*i knit with wool and silk fibers. real vegans would not do such things

i want everyone to know i think the fda is THE most useless organization on this goddess' earth. it appears to me they are a bunch of weasels (again, no offense to the weasels). they're out to PLEASE BIG BID-NEZ and shaft the rest (why are all sorts of drugs approved even when studies show they are DANGEROUS. and why then do they get their panties in a twist about things like stevia and l-tryptophan?????????? WHY WHY WHY)

For Jarvik Heart Pioneer, Drug Ads Raise Questions
By STEPHANIE SAUL

Dr. Robert Jarvik is best known for the artificial heart he pioneered more than a quarter-century ago. Since then he had toiled in relative obscurity — until he began appearing in television ads two years ago for the Pfizer cholesterol drug Lipitor.
The ads have depicted him, among other outdoorsy pursuits, rowing a one-man racing shell swiftly across a mountain lake. “When diet and exercise aren’t enough, adding Lipitor significantly lowers cholesterol,” Dr. Jarvik says in the ad.
Celebrity advertising endorsements are nothing new, of course. But the Lipitor campaign is a rare instance of a well-known doctor’s endorsing a drug in advertising — and it has helped rekindle a smoldering debate over whether it is appropriate to aim ads for prescription drugs directly at consumers.
A Congressional committee, concerned that the Lipitor ads could be misleading, has said it wants to interview Dr. Jarvik about his role as the drug’s pitchman.
Some of the questions may involve his credentials. Even though Dr. Jarvik holds a medical degree, for example, he is not a cardiologist and is not licensed to practice medicine. So what, critics ask, qualifies him to recommend Lipitor on television — even if, as he says in some of the ads, he takes the drug himself? ......