Cholesterol

A friend of mine cut out carbs and now her weight is the same as when she was a teenager and her cholesterol is perfect.

There are several different types of statins and, if one doesn’t agree with you , your doctor should be able to change them for you.
I think it’s worth giving them a try as they can be life saving especially if you can be on a low dose.

I was advised to take statins about 7 years ago when I turned 70. My cholesterol was about 6.0 and the Doctor said I had a 10%chance of heart problems or a stroke. I tried 3 different statins over the next 6 years but all of them gave me chronic fatigue and terrible muscle cramps. I had a phone consult with a new GP who advised stopping the medication, which I did. I have been off statins now for about a year and have no pain and no fatigue. I am not overweight. I watch my diet and walk about 10,000 steps a day.
My last blood test showed 6.2 but I have decided not to take the pills and live a pain free life. I hope I don’t live to regret it.

My cholesterol was 8. I got it down by altering my diet: Benecol every day, skimmed milk, porridge every morning, salad for lunch, smaller portions at dinner, no buns, biscuits, sweets, chocolate, wine, very little bread, lots of fruit and veg, not much red meat. My health in general is considerably better too. Sounds restrictive but you soon get used to it and it’s worth it

Yes, hosp suspected a heart attack in feb,& put me straight on high statins- which i wanted to avoid- turns out id not had a heart attack, but needed overdue aortic valve replacement- now ive had that done but still stuck on statin, which ive now discovered i should not be taking as i have an underactive thyroid! So i reduced it to 40mg and im back to see consultant on wednesday.Im going to tell them ill try the food route and/or plant sterols instead.With me i thnk it could be a family thing, but coupled with the heart valve problem.

You need to find out which cholesterol is high. Triglycerides come from sugar and are the worst for causing strokes apparently. They will skew the results and are elevated from sugar rather than fat so chocolate, wine, etc will affect them. Exercise, I believe, also helps.

Nannan2

Yes, hosp suspected a heart attack in feb,& put me straight on high statins- which i wanted to avoid- turns out id not had a heart attack, but needed overdue aortic valve replacement- now ive had that done but still stuck on statin, which ive now discovered i should not be taking as i have an underactive thyroid! So i reduced it to 40mg and im back to see consultant on wednesday.Im going to tell them ill try the food route and/or plant sterols instead.With me i thnk it could be a family thing, but coupled with the heart valve problem.

I'm not a medic, but wouldn't it be better to have treatment for your underactive thyroid?

Not sure why you’re worried about statins. They’ve very safe and effective. The side effects-effects are very over stated.

chocolatepeanuts

Mt61

chocolatepeanuts

My husband was told that it doesn't matter how good your diet is sometimes, your cholesterol will be high anyway as it's made by the liver. He takes a baby dose of statin and is cholesterol is now good.

Is that 10mg dose?

No, he's on 5mg.

It depends on the statin. Some statins have a stronger cholesterol-lowering affect than others.

Are you absolutely sure you were told you’ve a 25% chance of having a heart attack attack? That seems odd. Possibly a 25% “increase” in chance, which is a vastly different thing.

eg: If your chance was 4% it’d now be 5%. I’d check that with the dr if I were you!

You don't have to take statins if you can't tolerate them. There is another drug which I take which works well. Its called Ezetimibe.

I think it’s better to take statins than risk a heart attack.

Personally, I’ve never had a problem with them.

Maelil

Are you absolutely sure you were told you’ve a 25% chance of having a heart attack attack? That seems odd. Possibly a 25% “increase” in chance, which is a vastly different thing.

eg: If your chance was 4% it’d now be 5%. I’d check that with the dr if I were you!

No, the QRisk score is an estimate of the risk of having a heart attack in the next ten years, so OP has 25% risk of having a heart attack in the next 10 years.

I have porridge every morning.
My trouble is, I like a handful of salted peanuts most evenings.

there's very little you can do about inherited high cholesterol, which I also have (nobody on my dad's side lived beyond 60). I eat very little hard fat, cycle and walk. I am on statins, which have had a hugely beneficial effect, despite initial issues (aching muscles). I also also take 2tbsp flaxseed a day, which has had a substantial impact. We shouldn't really eat fish at all in terms of the environment. Why do you not want to take statins? Good luck anyway!

chocolatepeanuts

Mt61

chocolatepeanuts

My husband was told that it doesn't matter how good your diet is sometimes, your cholesterol will be high anyway as it's made by the liver. He takes a baby dose of statin and is cholesterol is now good.

Is that 10mg dose?

No, he's on 5mg.

Different statins have different doses and work in different ways - so the 5/10mg discussion only makes sense if the two individuals are on the same statin.

I was in a similar quandary a few months ago but felt it was too soon for me to start the statins and that I should just get more exercise etc as others have said. For me there is a family history and so I feel it inevitable I will be on them eventually, although my results were a little ambiguous.

Meanwhile I am finding it hard to reduce my carb intake and indeed get enough exercise. I don't think statins should be a replacement for these things so seeing this post has given me the reminder I need to get back on track.

Does that mean I have a 75%chance of not having a heart attack in the next 10years?

I have been reading your posts and may be more inclined now to try the statins if my Cholesterol levels don't improve.

When I turned 50, I also had 7.5 cholesterol. I managed to reduce it a bit through a very strict ( antisocial) diet, but not much. I now take statins, eat oats every day, no cheese or butter, very little red meat, exercise regularly and it’s down to 4.5. Considering the efforts make it should be lower, but that’s how it is. I saw my father having horrible heart attacks and I’ll do anything to avoid it. Btw, no side effects from the statins.

Luckygirl3

chocolatepeanuts

Mt61

chocolatepeanuts

My husband was told that it doesn't matter how good your diet is sometimes, your cholesterol will be high anyway as it's made by the liver. He takes a baby dose of statin and is cholesterol is now good.

Is that 10mg dose?

No, he's on 5mg.

Different statins have different doses and work in different ways - so the 5/10mg discussion only makes sense if the two individuals are on the same statin.

Exactly! Different statins have different intensities.

www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/understanding-statin-intensity#:~:text=In%20general%2C%20the%20higher%20the,much%20they%20can%20lower%20LDL.

5mg of rosuvastatin has the same effect as 20mg of simvastatin.

Grammaretto

Does that mean I have a 75%chance of not having a heart attack in the next 10years?

I have been reading your posts and may be more inclined now to try the statins if my Cholesterol levels don't improve.

Yes, it does.

Has your doctor told you if LDL is above normal and if HDL is high enough? The ratio of LDL to HDL is important. As icanhandthembacksays the level of Triglycerides is very important too. Sometimes the LDL is quite low and HDL high making the total cholesterol above 5 when in fact the ratio is very satisfactory and if Triglycerides are very low it's even better. Doctors should discuss this otherwise people could be cutting things out of their diet and taking Statins unnecessarily.

We have a sprinkling of chia seeds in our porridge; it’s supposed to be very good at naturally reducing cholesterol. There are other foods too, perhaps have a word with your GP / Practice Nurse and see what they think?

Totally agree Bamm about the difference between HDL & LDL.
A word of warning about the Qrisk calculator too.
It told me I had a 17% chance of heart attack /stroke in the next 10 years.
I’d put in my correct weight (61kg), BMI 21. When I added 10kg and put in 71kg instead, my risk went down to 13%.
Apparently the explanation for this is that the algorithm assumes that an old woman with a BMI of 21 must be underweight due to frailty or suffering from a condition that causes weight loss. Neither of these things apply to me.
So I think the lesson is that test results & calculations should always be interpreted by a doctor, in the light of someone’s general health & medical history.
If a doctor advised me to take statins I’d want to know by how much it would lower my cholesterol and how much that would reduce my risk of a cardiovascular event.
If the risk was reduced from 20% to 10% I’d go for it but if it reduced from 20% to 18% I’d think the benefit of slightly reduced cholesterol levels was outweighed by the risk of side effects.

Unless you suffer from familial hypercholesterolaemia statins are not recommended for women over 70. For most people of any age they are totally unnecessary. Cholesterol is made in the liver which controls the amount needed by the body. More is made if insufficient is ingested and vice versa.
The GP Quality and Outcomes framework awards points for the prescribing of statins hence their being dished out like Smarties!