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Triffo

Triffo

Active Member
Messages
41
Location
Cardiff
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
I have been following this forum for some time with great interest. I am a T2 who became diabetic following steroid treatment associated with a kidney transplant in 2013. I have been on a LCHF regime for some time with quite good results. I have lost weight, reduced my meds (gliclizide) from 80mg bd to 40mg once a day. I am concerned about statins though. I have been on statins for many years. Now on my 3rd one. I would be interested in any info on this subject particularly if anyone has a method of attacking this issue with diet.
 
Hi and welcome, glad you have now joined us. :)

There are literally thousands of threads on the forum about statins. Who takes them, who doesn't, all the whys and wherefores, side effects, and how people have done without them (me included). Before you make any decisions on whether to stop taking them, you need to know your cholesterol breakdown and ratios. (HDL/LDL/Triglycerides) If you don't know these, all you need do is ask your GP's receptionist for a print out of your test results, or look on-line if your medical records are on line, as most are these days. I don't know how old you are, but as you are female you need a bit more cholesterol to help with the bones.

All I can say is what happened to me. I was prescribed them when I was diagnosed with T2 back in January 2014. I didn't know any better so I took them for a couple of months, then stopped. Since diagnosis I have had 6 blood tests. Initially my cholesterol and all the breakdown bits improved a lot, test by test, and since then have remained stable at ideal levels. I follow a low carb/high fat diet and don't do any strenuous exercise.

Have a search round for some of the threads, and if in doubt come back with your own test results and see what others have to say.
 
Hi. I was on stains for years but decided to stop them 2 months ago and see what my fasting lipids breakdown was. Well, it wasn't good with an LDL far too high so I will re-start the statins. Don't just take statins because you're diabetic and your total is over 4mmol; GPs get paid for prescribing them and offer them like sweets. Check your Lipids ratios and take it from there.
 
I meant to reply earlier but can't find my most recent cholesterol stats. All I can remember is that my triglycerides have gone from 1 to 3 which according to some of the medical journals suddenly puts me in the group that can develop heart disease. This is worrying. Also I have been treated for high cholesterol long before I became diabetic. I was wondering if this change in my results could be as a result of the low carbing? By the way I am 67 years old. I have had kidney problems all my life which first became noticeable at around 40 yrs. the condition is known a APKD (adult polycyclic kidney disease) any thoughts would be helpful as I am stumped at the moment.
 
I take statins have done for some years now I have never suffered from the aches and pains many say they did while taking them . When I started to lower my carbs and ate much more saturated fat in cream butter full fat cheese etc which was recommended here my cholesterol at my last blood test had gone up quite a lot so my doctor was none to pleased about it and she increased the Atorvastatin I take from 20mg to 40 mg .I cut down the saturated fat...which I didn't really like anyway.. and stuck to good oils olives a few nuts and avocados for my fat intake. I have another blood test this week so hope my cholesterol has gone down
 
To start with, statins are supposed to improve HDL and LDL but have little or no effect on triglycerides (trigs), so you need to know these levels.

I must ask you, was the blood test you had a fasting one, or not? This is important as regards trigs. Your trig levels will depend on what and when you last ate as if this was fairly recent they will be floating about in your blood stream doing their intended job, so will show higher in the blood tests, and often a lot higher. It is normally wise, and highly recommended, to fast at least 10 hours prior to a trigs test. Sadly, many surgeries have stopped advising us to fast before these tests, but many of us ignore that and fast anyway. This is just as a point of interest for the future.
 
Bluetit1802 said:
To start with, statins are supposed to improve HDL and LDL but have little or no effect on triglycerides (trigs), so you need to know these levels.

I must ask you, was the blood test you had a fasting one, or not? This is important as regards trigs. Your trig levels will depend on what and when you last ate as if this was fairly recent they will be floating about in your blood stream doing their intended job, so will show higher in the blood tests, and often a lot higher. It is normally wise, and highly recommended, to fast at least 10 hours prior to a trigs test. Sadly, many surgeries have stopped advising us to fast before these tests, but many of us ignore that and fast anyway. This is just as a point of interest for the future.
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That's dead right. Eating skews your trigs results. Also skip alcohol for twelve hours beforehand as well, as that also affects your figures.

I got very different results an hour after drinking a butter coffee and other times after nothing for breakfast.
 
Not fasting makes sense. I would not have thought about it had you not mentioned it here. My surgery has recently told me that I do not need to fast so I will fast for my next one though and see what happens. Also I had never heard of butter coffee so looked it up. It seems very interesting but also expensive. Does it work?
 
as I suddently started loosing weight on purpose and very rapidly my triclycerides raised alarmingly in my blood..... well loosing weigth the right way has to mean that a huge load of fat gets in your blood instead of the sugar/charboes you usually live from... and the doctors seem to forget that

now after 3 month of 1000 kcal pro day I an looking forward to see if my 16/8 hour of daily fasting has put my triglycerides Down finally ...
 
Triffo said:
Not fasting makes sense. I would not have thought about it had you not mentioned it here. My surgery has recently told me that I do not need to fast so I will fast for my next one though and see what happens. Also I had never heard of butter coffee so looked it up. It seems very interesting but also expensive. Does it work?
Click to expand...

Triffo - butter coffee is just a way of getting one's daily fat consumption up to levels on a LCHF diet. I did drink it for a time but actually prefer cream coffee. What I meant there was that if you eat high fat, it circulates for a short time in your blood after eating before the body processes it, and that will distort your lipid numbers. So fasting is good.
 
Thanks. :). My most recent tests have greatly improved which is a relief. My Triglicerides are down to 1.7 in a total of 5.6. They were 3 in the previous test. It would appear that my concerns were unfounded.
 
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