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didi wrote:Has anyone on the McD diet had a stent placed and come off plavix? Did you come off gradually or just stop? Any problems? What about discontinuing a beta blocker?
didi wrote:re: consult with a cardiologist who knows your history and understands this way of eating. I am sorry but I am only familiar with cardiologists who reside on this planet.
didi
didi wrote:Has anyone on the McD diet had a stent placed and come off plavix? Did you come off gradually or just stop? Any problems? What about discontinuing a beta blocker?
didi wrote:The doctor never mentioned anything to me about the length of the stent and time on plavix.
What about baby aspirin? Is it necessary to continue this? Aspirin demineralizes bones and causes bleeding and probably a whole host of other things. I am 100% compliant with McD/Esselstyn diet.
I honestly do not think anyone knows about these drugs after surgery or stent placement as far as whole food plant based no fat eaters are concerned because there are so few of us. It seems if Esselstyn is prescribing statins and aspirin and any other drugs it is because he wants to be extra safe, not because there is evidence that they are necessary for this way of eating.
didi
dynodan62 wrote:I got two bare metal stents (Rt. coronary artery) after an MI three years ago. Took plavix and aspirin (325 mg) for one year, but was also still taking my routine daily two grams of pure DHA/EPA at the same time. Got my arm jammed while working under the hood of my car, and ended up with one hell of a big hematoma & a huge, ugly bruise that lasted about 10 days. Went off the plavix after one year, and recently cut my aspirin dose in half (after communicating with Dr. McDougall), and also finally gave up the fish oil for a tbsp. or two of ground flaxseed instead. I may eventually reduce the aspirin to a single baby dose (or less, since it takes very little to produce the desired platelet effect), but I am able to tolerate it OK, so until I can discover the minimum dose that prevents carcinomas, I will stay at 160 mg.
My impression was that the people who are on plavix for life are mostly those with relatively clean arteries, but who still are prone to vascular occlusions. I also think one year on plavix is fairly standard for post MI patients (at least at the VA), with no gradual down-dosing needed. Been WFPB/no oil for two years, and will likely soon start weening myself from the beta-blocker & ACE inhibitor that are also standard post MI treatment, along with the low- dose statin I am still taking.
I am lucky to see the same cardiologist more than once (they come & go at the VA), and I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for any one of them to risk deviating from the standard VA treatment regimen. The fact that my BP was never above normal range before my MI, or the fact that my total cholesterol without taking any statins might now well be lower than 150 would not change their attitude. As far as cardiologists are concerned: You had an MI? Then you need a statin, a beta blocker, and an ACE inhibitor. End of story!
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