Prediabetes caused by statins

MT10

Newbie
Messages
2
Hello, this is my first post here following a recent diagnosis. I've got 2 questions on which any comments would be welcome.
  1. I'm 69, non smoker, low alcohol, quite fit, BMI only 21, varied mostly vegetarian diet, cholesterol was highish but within normal range. 6 mths ago I had a fairly severe heart attack, completely unexpected as no hereditary problems. I was put on the highest dose of statins and I'll have to take them for the rest of my life. My HbA1c level previously as well as immediately afterwards was 39, but now it is suddenly 44, making me prediabetic. This is equally unexpected but apparently an uncommon side effect of statins can be to increase blood sugar levels. It's not clear yet whether they'll carry on going up. Has this happened to anyone else reading this and what did you do about it?
  2. I've read numerous posts about needing to go low carb high protein which I understand. However, these all seem to assume that weight is readily available to be lost, which in my case it isn't and if I followed this approach I'd likely become very thin while at the same time would pretty certainly be increasing my cholesterol levels which is also undesirable. But I do want to bring my HbA1c below 42. It feels a bit like a rock and a hard place, and maybe it's a lesser of two evils situation but has anyone got any suggestions?
Thank you
 

Geordie_P

Well-Known Member
Messages
849
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Statins can raise blood sugars, but I took rosuvastatin when I was first diagnosed with T2, and it didn't seem to raise my bloods much- my GP took me off them after I got my triglycerides down to normal levels. I'm now on atorvastatin after a heart attack last year. Statins are controversial, but my advice would be to take them for now and drop your carbs to zero, or as close to zero as possible. My cardiologist advises me to ditch carbs and eat lean meat and green veg. Frankly, I don't see much to disagree with in that advice. My thought would be that you could take the statins, and compensate for the mild rise in sugars by brutally quashing sugar in your diet. I'm a statin sceptic, but for those of us who've suffered actual heart attacks, I think they may have their place.
 

Dark Horse

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,840
1) You could try going for a short walk after every meal to minimise the post-meal rise in blood glucose https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23761134/
2) You could get a glucometer and test yourself to see how your blood glucose rises after different meals. Some people handle some carbs well but not other carbs. Try to eat fewer of the meals that cause a large rise in blood glucose.
3) Bear in mind that even if you do develop diabetes, complications of diabetes generally take years to develop. With your age and medical history, focusing on cardiovascular health would seem to be more important.
 

MrsA2

Expert
Messages
5,575
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Statin use may be controversial, but not when the taker has had major cardiac event.!

@MT10 although your bmi will cause envy in most of us, you may be what they call a TOFI, thin on the outside, fat on the inside, which means you may be carrying fat round the organs, so to lose a bit and see effect on bg may be the route to go. I found by concentrating on getting bg down by low carbing that I lost weight, but that wasn't the main motivation, lowering that bg was.
Once your bg is down you could look at putting a few pounds back on if you wished
 

lucylocket61

Expert
Messages
6,435
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
lowering carbs need not mean losing weight. If you make up the carb calories with lots of protein and fats, you wont lose weight.
 
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Resurgam

Expert
Messages
9,850
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
I found a comparison of taking Simvastatin or lowering the intake of omega 6, substituting Omega 3 and 9 - after a first myocardial infarction.
Simvastatin reduced subsequent CHD events by 30 % and the diet, by 70%.
That was 27 years ago - 1994 - yet they are still pushing statins.
 

Daibell

Master
Messages
12,642
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Insulin
My experience with statins which I do take is that they 'permanently' increase BS by perhaps 1mmol. Not a lot but measurable. The BS won't keep going up. Don't rely on carbs to keep your weight up because of the BS. Fats and proteins should do that unless you are nearer to being T1/LADA which is often the cause of low BMI due to the body burning fat as it can't metabolise carbs properly. Low-carb normally doesn't cause cholesterol total to go up and may improve LDL/HDL ratios etc. BTW many of us would challenge the view that sat fats cause higher blood cholesterol as that's not the way the body handles ingested fats. The liver decides that. So, as well as proteins have enough fats and go unsaturated if worried.
 

Daphne917

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,320
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
Hello, this is my first post here following a recent diagnosis. I've got 2 questions on which any comments would be welcome.
  1. I'm 69, non smoker, low alcohol, quite fit, BMI only 21, varied mostly vegetarian diet, cholesterol was highish but within normal range. 6 mths ago I had a fairly severe heart attack, completely unexpected as no hereditary problems. I was put on the highest dose of statins and I'll have to take them for the rest of my life. My HbA1c level previously as well as immediately afterwards was 39, but now it is suddenly 44, making me prediabetic. This is equally unexpected but apparently an uncommon side effect of statins can be to increase blood sugar levels. It's not clear yet whether they'll carry on going up. Has this happened to anyone else reading this and what did you do about it?
  2. I've read numerous posts about needing to go low carb high protein which I understand. However, these all seem to assume that weight is readily available to be lost, which in my case it isn't and if I followed this approach I'd likely become very thin while at the same time would pretty certainly be increasing my cholesterol levels which is also undesirable. But I do want to bring my HbA1c below 42. It feels a bit like a rock and a hard place, and maybe it's a lesser of two evils situation but has anyone got any suggestions?
Thank you
My hba1c increased from 48 at diagnosis to 54 in 6 months whilst taking statins - I took them after being told “all diabetics should take statins” which I did until I researched them. However in your case I think it needs careful thought and discussions with your medical team to decide which is best for you and your heart.
 

Nicknackwack

Active Member
Messages
25
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi MT10 - noting that you have had a cardiac event, are you on beta blockers ? These can significantly increase BS levels. Also re Statins, it’s well documented that they can also increase BS levels. My own experience following heart failure followed by heart ablation then medicated with beta blockers and a statin increased my BS substantially. To fix the issue I got my diabetes team to consult and communicate with my cardiac team. This led to a review of my meds and a solution was found. I ditched the statin, reduced the beta blocker dose and my BS levels reduced and are stable without any detrimental effect to my heart. Also, under the approval of the cardiac team, I’m about to start insulin to hopefully reduce my BS further. The trick is to make sure that both your cardiac and diabetic teams work together to find a solution
 
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Mbaker

Well-Known Member
Messages
4,339
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Available fast foods in Supermarkets
This is a very serious topic as you have had an event. An area where the consensus is that statins are the way forward. Personally I think statins help to aleviate an area that they were not specifically designed for, which is inflammation, here is an extract written by the exceptional Dr Malcolm Kendrick:
https://www.crossfit.com/essentials/kendrick-statins-2-what-are-the-benefits:

"In summary, over an average of around five years of statin treatment:
  • In primary prevention, life expectancy was increased by 3.2 days.
  • In secondary prevention, life expectancy was increased by 4.1 days."
Oxford University have unreleased information on the effects of statins that are guarded like the crown jewels and not open for public scrutiny. Positive results for statins are always relative risk, never absolute as they are so poor. The film Extra Time, is worth a watch https://www.extratimemovie.com/