Statins - general advice

[Jibba Jabba]

I have been on Statins for around 2 years or so after caving into my GP’s advice. I was never happy in taking them. I had good diet control of my sugar levels but then started to be a bit lax in watching my carb intake. I’ve woken up to the fact that I need to get back in control and have started testing again. My main question is “are Statins any good for you”? I have fibromyalgia and my brain can’t process a lot of scientific information so advice in layman’s terms would be much appreciated. I’m T2 and don’t take any medication for it. I stopped taking the Statins yesterday to see if there will be any change in my levels, which are quite good (5.6 on waking) but not as good as they used to be. Am I right in thinking Statins can raise your levels?

 

[bulkbiker]

Am I right in thinking Statins can raise your levels?

Yes they have been shown to increase blood glucose levels.

Lots of info and videos etc here..

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/cholesterol-and-statins.156985/

Do you happen to have your cholesterol results around (a full panel if possible) then we might be able to give some hints on how "bad" they are?

 

[Jibba Jabba]

Yes they have been shown to increase blood glucose levels.

Lots of info and videos etc here..

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/cholesterol-and-statins.156985/

Do you happen to have your cholesterol results around (a full panel if possible) then we might be able to give some hints on how "bad" they are?

Thank you for your reply. I have my last cholesterol test results but I don’t think they’re the full panel. I’ll dig them out

 

[bulkbiker]

Thank you for your reply. I have my last cholesterol test results but I don’t think they’re the full panel. I’ll dig them out

If you are happy to share then it might be interesting..

Personally I'd never take the pesky things.. they appear to bring little to no benefit and the possibility of quite a few side effects.

 

[Freema]

fine question , I have also recently started taking Atorvastatin to please my new GP also, don't know if the make a difference at all, my cousin has been taking it for years but her levels of cholesterol haven't changed at all, but she also have a lot of general inflammation in her body , which I haven't much of, but coming out of shape from being at fitness more times a week, it starts to show in all aspects of my body/life now... really looking forward to having the covid-19 vaccination ... in a few months..

 

[Resurgam]

I became forgetful, absent minded, and unable to concentrate, not connected to my life which was rapidly slipping away. It took only a few weeks.
After I decided to stop the Atorvastatin and Metformin I began to recover but it took years for the effects to reduce - things I relearned in that time now can clash with what I can remember - like the slightly different words to the songs I sing which suddenly began to catch me out after a couple of years relearning, though I was so glad to start to remember. I still can't play my guitar, but I have learned to play melodeon which is more useful at the moment.

 

[Jibba Jabba]

If you are happy to share then it might be interesting..

Personally I'd never take the pesky things.. they appear to bring little to no benefit and the possibility of quite a few side effects.

Hi Bulkbiker
Here's the information that I have:

Oct 2020
Serum HDL 3.0 mmol/L
Serum Cholesterol 5.5 mmol/L
Serum Cholesterol/HDL Ratio 1.8
Se non HD Cholesterol Level 2.5 mmol/L
SerumTrigs not taken

Oct 2019
Serum HDL 2.8 mmol/L
Serum Cholesterol 4.9 mmol/L
Serum Cholesterol/HDL Ratio 1.8
Se non HD Cholesterol Level not known
The Serum Trigs was 1.27 mmol/L

My HbA1c standardised record is:
Oct 2020 42 mmol/L
Oct 2019 40 mmol/L
Jan 2019 45 mmol/L
Aug 2018 41 mmol/L
May 2018 42 mmol/L
Dec 2017 41 mmol/L
Apr 2017 42 mmol/L
Jul 2016 41 mmol/L
Feb 2016 41 mmol/L
Apr 2016 41 mmol/L

I do have some other results for earlier years

 

[TriciaWs]

My GP wanted to prescribe stains and metformin, but I preferred to try low carb instead - most of cholesterol results were at the high end of 'normal' at the time but my triglycerides were higher.

Both the GP and nurse were worried that my cholesterol would worsen on a 'high fat' diet - but in spite of adding double cream, coconut milk and eating more butter and cheese than I'd had for years everything stayed fine and my triglycerides dropped at 3mths well into the normal range then had dropped again at 6 mths.
Although I eat more unprocessed fat now, I gave up processed fat in cakes, biscuits. cheap chocolate, etc so probably only eat a little more than I used to. My GPs still insist that I'm on a high fat/low carb diet - but I am on a low carb diet with loads of green veg!

 

[bulkbiker]

Hi Bulkbiker
Here's the information that I have:

Oct 2020
Serum HDL 3.0 mmol/L
Serum Cholesterol 5.5 mmol/L
Serum Cholesterol/HDL Ratio 1.8
Se non HD Cholesterol Level 2.5 mmol/L
SerumTrigs not taken

Oct 2019
Serum HDL 2.8 mmol/L
Serum Cholesterol 4.9 mmol/L
Serum Cholesterol/HDL Ratio 1.8
Se non HD Cholesterol Level not known
The Serum Trigs was 1.27 mmol/L

My HbA1c standardised record is:
Oct 2020 42 mmol/L
Oct 2019 40 mmol/L
Jan 2019 45 mmol/L
Aug 2018 41 mmol/L
May 2018 42 mmol/L
Dec 2017 41 mmol/L
Apr 2017 42 mmol/L
Jul 2016 41 mmol/L
Feb 2016 41 mmol/L
Apr 2016 41 mmol/L

I do have some other results for earlier years

Hi thanks for those..

Current thinking suggests that the Trig/HDL ratio is very important.
In Oct 2019 yours was 0.45 anything lower than 0.87 is considered as excellent.
Shame we don't have trigs for the 2020 test.
If you get a chance for another test try and water fast for 12-14 hours pre blood draw as what you eat (especially if fattty) can impact the trig number.
Lovely consistent HbA1c numbers well done!

 

[Jibba Jabba]

Hi thanks for those..

Current thinking suggests that the Trig/HDL ratio is very important.
In Oct 2019 yours was 0.45 anything lower than 0.87 is considered as excellent.
Shame we don't have trigs for the 2020 test.
If you get a chance for another test try and water fast for 12-14 hours pre blood draw as what you eat (especially if fattty) can impact the trig number.
Lovely consistent HbA1c numbers well done!

Bulkbiker these are the types of figures that confuse me How did you work out my Trig/HDL ratio please? Is HDL the bad cholesterol?
I'm presume that if I want my Trigs tested I'll have to request that when I have my next test. My GP obviously doesn't do it automatically

 

[bulkbiker]

How did you work out my Trig/HDL ratio

Divide the trig number by the HDL number so
1.27 / 2.8 = 0.45

If you ask for a "full lipid panel" then you should get the trigs number.

Might be worth asking for online access to test results too if you are in England this should be possible.

 

[Jibba Jabba]

Divide the trig number by the HDL number so
1.27 / 2.8 = 0.45

If you ask for a "full lipid panel" then you should get the trigs number.

Might be worth asking for online access to test results too if you are in England this should be possible.

Thank you so much for your help. I'ts much appreciated.
I'll ask for full lipid when I'm next tested.
I have online access to my test results, which is great. I remember when the GP's charged for a printout

 

[bulkbiker]

Thank you so much for your help. I'ts much appreciated.
I'll ask for full lipid when I'm next tested.
I have online access to my test results, which is great. I remember when the GP's charged for a printout

Pleasure.. glad to be of assistance..