I don't want to take Statins. Advice please.

My very good friend was told by his doctor that his results suggested he should take statins. But, as the doctor also said he’s a nearly 70 year old man (albeit with a very healthy diet and weight) and being a neatly 70 year old man is by far the largest precursor to any heart problems and the amount of risk reduction by taking statins was so negligible that he really needn’t bother! So he didn’t. This does not mean that you shouldn’t, but that they’re not essential for everyone.

Your body your choice your health Your Dr is just doing the job that they trained for. If i go to drs with a medical condition and they say we recommend you take this I take it after a few questions they not asking you to take them for fun they obviously feel like you need them and I’ve been on statins for few years couldn’t tell you if I’ve any side effects because I take that many pills.

I think you should ask for a referal to a clinical dietrician, as you obviously have two problems and to me, a layman, it sounds as if solving the one is going to increase the other.

You need to put on weight and won't be able to do so on the diet you describe that you are following to reduce your cholesterol levels. I gather this is a diet you have put together yourself and not one that a doctor or dietrician has suggested.

So please do get qualified advice on your diet from a health professional.

My sister was given statins, she didn't do well at all with them. She takes Q ensyme 10 instead and she's doing fine. worth a try.
good luck with whatever you choose.

My cholesterol was 7.5 and I chose not to take statins bc of what I had heard about them. Instead I changed my diet and went on the low GI diet. I followed the one by Rick Gallop and I managed to get the cholesterol down to a normal level and also reverse (pre) sugar diabetes. I stuck rigidly to it and it took a while for the weight to come off (I had put on 3st during menopause) but the GP was amazed at my progress. Now I am back to my normal weight I can indulge a little more.

I have always kept an eye on my cholesterol, having had both parents suffering high blood pressure and cholesterol, heart problems, stroke and worse. I have paid for tests when the doctors used to be less than accommodating. It has always been in the 3 to 3.5 range with a good balance of HDL and LDL. I recently asked my GP about statins as I have aortic stenosis and a heart murmur. He agreed that to take them as a preventative measure might be a good idea. I have read widely about this subject, both for and against, and concluded that this is right for me. I take 10 mg of Atorvastatin daily- the lowest dose- and have not noticed any side effects at all, for which I am grateful. Now, more than ever, with the health and social services in such disarray, I am trying to remain as healthy as I can into my old age. My mother suffered a stroke from which she never fully recovered and Dad had vascular dementia, from which his sister and mother also suffered. The memory of my father, particularly, has spurred me on to take better care of myself these days.

I was advised to take statins and have been taking them for 3 weeks. I thought id give them a try but they are causing me to wake very early and I’m not then able to get back to sleep. This then causes symptoms of tiredness and feeling generally unwell. I have researched natural ways to lower my cholesterol which at the moment is 5.8. I found the portfolio diet and started following that today. Basically its nuts , green veg,fruit and oats.

I resisted. I'm a vegetarian and thought it shouldn't be high. I went on a diet and upped the exercise. I'm averaging 20,000 steps a day. They said my blood pressure had come right down and obviously the diet was good as I'd lost weight. But my cholesterol had gone up! They think it's a family thing. So I'm having a low dose and checking again in a few months. I'd had loads of side effects! Luckily they're wearing off now. Only reason I agreed to take them is there's heart attacks in the family.

As a statin user for nearly 9 years, I am pro them. I tried diet, but my cholesterol went up, not down (mine was over 8 at its highest), so I paid to see a female heart specialist and she said given my fam history and the fact that I wasn't overweight she recommended going on them. Just recently, as my mum died at 69 which I will be next month, I went back to her and paid to have a coronary angiogram which showed quite considerable calcification, so the specialist suggested I up my dose from 20 to 40 mgs which I've now done. I feel absolutely fine on them - I did have some aches and pains in my legs at one point but they were nothing to do with the statins, they were arthritic. I feel so good that I've taken control of my health and only wish my mum had been able to. The specialist I saw was Dr Laura Corr. Good luck!

I think it depends on the reasons for high cholesterol. If it is diet, then it is fairly easy to address, if it is genetic (which I have) then it is to. Statins has saved millions of people from dying of cardiac disease, and there are many different drugs on the market. I think you should shop around, and find one that suits you rather than going on what other people tell you. Also, increasingly, we know that the ham-fisted approach to cholesterol is almost useless. "the cholesterol discussion you receive at your annual medical ..... is misleading and oversimplified to the point of uselessness." The best longevity drug is exercise. Quote is from an excellent book which I recommend OUTLIVE: THE SCIENCE AND ART OF LONGEVITY, Peter Attia. Good luck.

cangran

Vintagegirl

Sorry I have not read thru all replies... I also have always had high level up to 7.8 But this figure needs to be broken down into the LDL and HDL amounts and then a ratio worked out between the two to get a better figure. When I queried this, it seemed I had the healthiest rate in the practice. I would refer you to a book called The Cholesterol Myth tho not sure if still in print?

I've always thought that it was the proportions of LDL ('Good') and HDL ('Bad') rather than the overall figure in a cholesterol test (which can be high without being a problem) is what's important but it sounds from many replies that these figures aren't always looked at unless you are aware of them and ask the doctor. Having said that, I can't remember what those proportions are and whether this changes with age and other factors. Can anyone shed more light on this please?

You're right. It's the ratio of total cholesterol to HDL which is important. Divide total cholesterol by HDL. Any result over 4.5 is considered high risk.

The other figure which is important is the triglyceride level, which should be below 1.7 for women.

I haven't read all the posts so can't be sure it hasn't already been mentioned. However I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism last year and learned that high cholesterol is (along with many other things!) a symptom of hypothyroidism. Since being treated my cholesterol has returned to normal levels as has my glucose metabolism (no longer type 2 borderline) and my kidney function. I have also become aware that thyroid issues are often poorly understood and treated in general practice.

I did notice the point about GPs being paid to prescribe statins and that there was a misleading response. As far as I'm aware the NHS still offers GP practices financial incentives to boost the rate of patients given statins following the introduction of the Quality and Outcomes Framework

If you were to try the statins and found they did indeed disagree with you, you might then consider trying nattokinase.

But why not give the statins a go first; surely it cannot be true that lightning would strike anyone who started and then decided they didn't want to carry on.

Have a look at what Dr Aseem Malhotra a consultant cardiologist has to say about them. You will find a lot about him on the internet. From family experience I will be refusing to take them.

I have refused statins. This is partly down to the fact that I am already on 31 pills a day of which several have unpleasant side effects. Also I know two or three people on them and they say they wish they had never started taking them. My GPs seem to be trying to palm them off on every other patient at the moment. I won't be changing my stance on them.

I tried to lower my levels by diet but it didn’t happen so I have been on statins for over 8 years, no problems at all! See what your next blood test shows and go from there! There is more than one statin available !

Point One The whole cholesterol thing is misleading - read What Doctors Don’t Tell You. Nearly all ‘medical knowledge’ comes from research sponsored by drug companies. We need cholesterol
Point Two statins are almost completely useless and often harmful - check out cardiologist Dr Aseem Malhotra
Point Three many, many people live with drug side effects and never report it, or if they do report it, it isn’t logged, or it’s put down to old age.
I would never take statins and would need a lot of convincing to take any regular drug
Please eat a good diet with lots of vegetables-as much organic as you can, avoid UPF like the plague and enjoy lovely organic butter cheese and a little red wine - oh, and fresh air, laughter and walks a-plenty, preferably among trees

Changing your diet will help for sure. My mum was prescribed Statins aged 82 and she too was only about 7 stone, however she also had Alzheimer's and Cancer she said the Statins didn't agree with her and after speaking with mums GP because of her other health problems she didn't need to take the Statins. I would definitely speak with your GP.

There can be some troublesome side effects but has to be weighed again cholesterol measure and reducing risks. Diet and exercise don't have much impact sadly. I'm on statins as there is a strong history of heart attack and stroke. I'm 70 now. My brothers have been taking it since their 50s as it was a "no brainer".
If you read the side effects of paracetamol, you'd never take it!
My risk has increased with age quite markedly and want to avoid being disable or worse for as long as possible.
Someone suggested apple cider vinegar but no research to back this up. Check out trustworthy info like NICE and NHS not anecdotes

My gp brought up some stats once when discussing possibility.
Something like 22% chance of stroke or whatever in next 10 years if you don't take them and 19% if you do. I don't.

While statins are ok for a lot of people they don't agre with everyone. Lifestyle changes help and also there are non-statin cholesterol lowering tablets you can take, you could ask your doctor about them? I take them as statins didn't agree with me (caused muscle problems) but I take the non statin ones to help reduce my levels but am also careful with the food I eat

I took statins for a month and was so ill my doctor has now taken me off them my cholesterol is 7.8 but he felt the cons out weighed the pro’s they give them out as a preventative

I’ve taken statins for years, because of possible hereditary heart problems. I have no trouble with them at all. They are not all the same and you should ask to try a different type if you get side effects. They don’t affect your weight and if you are taking them the doughnuts wouldn’t make you feel so guilty!

I too refused statins as my cholesterol was low, I was slim and healthy and could see no reason. Three weeks ago I had three minor heart attacks, a stent fitted and five major medications prescribed for lord know how long, one of these being a statin!

I can’t know if I would have swerved the heart attacks if I had taken the statins but perhaps so. Not arguing now!!

Nobody has mentioned good cholesterol or bad cholesterol. I’ve read up on this as I have high cholesterol but doctors never discuss the ratio between the two versus the total no. Better to have high cholesterol if it is the good cholesterol then lower with the bad cholesterol. Hope that makes sense. I’m 71 - only pills I take are HRT and probiotics through choice.