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Just been prescribed statins

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Nik2402

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Hello people, I have just been prescribed statins because of high cholesterol, is anyone else on here in the same boat ...are they working well for you? I’m not someone who likes to take pills so I guess I’m looking for a bit of reassurance ..I think I could get my cholesterol down but my Dr is saying they are very good and has advised to go on them.

thanks for your time
 
Hello and welcome,

In the UK statins are offered to all diabetics. I say "offered" because that is all they can do. We are not obliged to accept them. I certainly wouldn't touch them with a barge pole. Do you know what your full cholesterol results were? (HDL, LDL and triglycerides) Without that information you can't make a decision. If you do know, perhaps you could share them with us and we can take it from there.

There is a very informative thread on the forum. https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/cholesterol-and-statins.156985/
It is very long with hundreds of videos. You will need several days and lots of coffee to get through it!
 
There's only one kind I can take, with my wonky thyroid, and it aggravates my rheumatism, so.... Considering I don't actually need them, but they're given to diabetics as a matter of course.... I think @Bluetit1802 's advice is excellent. Check your numbers, see if you actually need it. If you're seeing double digits due to familial high cholesterol, or you've had a cardiac event and a cardiologist is pushing them, yeah, okay... Otherwise, I'd do a bit more research to see whether you actually really need them. Then go from there. Also, as an aside, going low carb also lowered my cholesterol. Just so you know.

Thing is, statins can up blood sugars. Not the best thing for a T2. The other side effects are also unpleasant, from alzheimer -like symptoms (our brains are made up out of a large portion of cholesterol!) to what I experienced; extreme joint pain. So see what is right for you and go from there. Me....? I'll never take them. Just not an option.
 
Hi,
I'm on Simvastatin 40mg, one tablet at night. That I'm aware of I've had no side effects, I've been on them about 10 years.
I was prescribed them when my cholesterol was creeping up.
Looking at 2019 results everything is well in target now, so they must be doing their thing?
Does a lower cholesterol outweigh any possible side effects?
 
No, offered them, refused them and have it on notes to not bother asking me again.
 
As my results were low, I may inquire if a reduction in the dose I am on would be a wise move.
 
I obediently swallowed Atorvastatin for about 5 weeks, along with Metformin.
I was very ill by the end of that time and it took years to recover mentally and physically.
There are still gaps in my memory, but there are sudden recoveries even now, so I am hopeful of more to come. I can't find anything which shows that lowering cholesterol is actually going to be a good thing. Lower levels are associated both with reduced wellbeing and vulnerability to infection, plus earlier death, so it isn't turning out as predicted.
 
My cholesterol has always been low, until recently. It was 7.23 at the last test. I don't see that taking a statin would be useful, but I would like to understand why cholesterol is increasing. The doctor has no answer for that question.
 
Thanks so much for the reply’s! my result was 6.1, I have no idea if that is really high (enough to take statins) or if I can reverse it by diet/exercise etc..? I have reversed it before by changing my diet but I’m not sure exactly how high it was before.

I think I will change my diet and get tested again in a couple of months and decide what to do from there

My blood pressure is also high which I’m happy to take a higher dose of lisinipril for ...would that improve my cholesterol too?
 
Cholesterol is involved in many processes such as fighting off infections, moving fats around the body, and is an important part of the structure of brain and nervous system. If we need it we make it - I think the liver is the source.
I suspect that the amount of cholesterol in the blood is simply an indicator of our reaction to all that is going on in our environment, with the various components reflecting how various processes are responding. Rather than seeing an increase or decrease in a naïve way as good or bad, it would be far more help to analyse what it actually might signify.
 

You are quoting your total cholesterol at 6.1. On its own, that is meaningless. You need the breakdown of the parts that make up the total. The total is just that, a total of the good cholesterol, the not so good and the bad. Have you got the breakdown? If not, you need it.
 
Nik2402 said:
are they working well for you? I’m not someone who likes to take pills so I guess I’m looking for a bit of reassurance ..I think I could get my cholesterol down but my Dr is saying they are very good and has advised to go on them.
Click to expand...
I have always had high cholesterol before and after diagnosis 3 years ago. Always declined statins. Decided to give them a try and so far have had no side effects apart from my cholesterol coming down to 4 with HDL 1 and LDL 2.4. Seems to work for me.
 
I still don't get the logic behind using statins. The liver makes cholesterol because the body needs it. It is not surprising that people who have heart attacks have high cholesterol. Something has to be done about the underlying inflammation. It looks like the anti inflammatory effect of stains helps somewhat. But reducing cholesterol causes various problems.

My cholesterol is higher than doctors like to see it. But I am not going to second-guess my liver and reduce cholesterol. Most people with high cholesterol don't have heart attacks. Just like most people who are overweight don't become T2 diabetics.
 
Mr_Pot said:
This might be of interest......
BBC News - Most statin problems caused by mysterious 'nocebo effect', study suggests
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-54951648
Click to expand...
Interesting finding. That 90% of observed statin side effects are because people believe they will have them is not surprising. The converse, that 90% of the reduced heart disease risk is due to people believing statins will have this effect, is probably also true. But one thing is almost certain. The benefits of taking statins has nothing to do with cholesterol.
 
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