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Statin side effects all in the mind !

One ploy to avoid statins is to say that you're not interested in treating risk factors with long-term drugs, but if they want to order a coronary artery calcium score (or some other expensive test) to prove that you have CVD, then you'll consider it. With all the budget constraints going on, I doubt if they'll go along with it :D
 
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At least yesterday's media story gave me a chuckle, listening to LBC in the car. Always, always 'follow the money,' especially when it comes to medical trials.
My aim is always to know as much, if not more, than my GP. If anyone is on a statin, or has a loved one on a statin, try to read at least one of the books speaking out against them, such as The Great Cholesterol Con by Malcolm Kendrick. Perhaps read some articles on Spacedoc.com (= astronaut medic, who's life was blighted by statins). Perhaps watch some videos on YouTube.
My latest 'hero' is Dr Aseem Malhotra. This video is 4 1/2 minutes long

As he says,we all deserve to make an informed decision about this. Don't trust your GP to do all the informing.
Get on the case
Geoff
 
For me they will never be in the mind, nor in my stomach. But staying firmly in the pharmacy:D
IMHO there is an elephant in the room, in that ongoing payments are made to GP businesses for each patient on statins. No ifs, not buts for me - money corrupts
 
Ultramum said:
The Express doesn't give much info on the background of the trial but via the Hindustan Times there is this info ...

"The trial was funded by Pfizer, which markets atorvastatin under the trade name Lipitor."
Click to expand...

Nice pedigree but I suppose better than being tested in Oxford with the results locked up and being reported in the Daily Mail.

The last time something like this ended up in the news had also been reported by The Lancet.
 
OK this is the way I see it. Just me, my own thoughts and logic, no studies (I don't trust them anyway). So cholesterol is naturally produced by the body, because it needs it. We need more as we get older, so we produce more. If we artificially lower it then we haven't got enough cholesterol for our needs and therefore inflammation etc increases and we get muscle pains. It might be true that statins don't cause muscle pains directly, it's probably the cholesterol being too low for our own personal needs that causes the pains.

I will happily remain statin free
 
Indy51 said:
One ploy to avoid statins is to say that you're not interested in treating risk factors with long-term drugs, but if they want to order a coronary artery calcium score (or some other expensive test) to prove that you have CVD, then you'll consider it. With all the budget constraints going on, I doubt if they'll go along with it :D
Click to expand...
I'll have to remember that one next week if they try to nag me at the diabetic clinic to take them! With the NHS budget being as it is, see how quickly they will back off!
 
zand said:
OK this is the way I see it. Just me, my own thoughts and logic, no studies (I don't trust them anyway). So cholesterol is naturally produced by the body, because it needs it. We need more as we get older, so we produce more. If we artificially lower it then we haven't got enough cholesterol for our needs and therefore inflammation etc increases and we get muscle pains. It might be true that statins don't cause muscle pains directly, it's probably the cholesterol being too low for our own personal needs that causes the pains.

I will happily remain statin free
Click to expand...
That's my opinion - the body makes it for a good reason - to repair damage - usually caused by chronic inflammation - it can't do the job its supposed to if it ain't there!
 
Ultramum said:
A study in the Lancet has concluded that patients suffer side effects from statins due to a 'nocebo' effect. They experience them because they expect them.

They are calling for the side effects NOT to be listed due to this.

The study compared a dosage of 10mg of Atorvastatin vs a placebo where the rate of muscle aches and pains reported was the same for both arms of the trial.

My first thought was that 10mg of Atorvastatin was only a very small dosage.

http://www.express.co.uk/life-style...-side-effects-life-saving-statins-cholesterol

The Express doesn't give much info on the background of the trial but via the Hindustan Times there is this info ...

"The trial was funded by Pfizer, which markets atorvastatin under the trade name Lipitor."
Click to expand...
It also says at the end of the article that the statins dose was much lower than the one regularly prescribed now so makes the conclusions unrelaible ie 10mg might have no effect but 40 mg might. Worth reading though.
 
Having scrutinised my on-line medical records it is obvious that at each review the nurse has a tick list of everything she is supposed to have covered, and just goes through it and ticks the appropriate boxes on the computer software. . One of them is about statins. The boxes are probably "accepted" "declined" "dose and brand ... " She is obliged to discuss, even if she knows what the answer will be. All mine say "declined" but she always mentions them, if somewhat briefly without any nagging these days. The diet one is also interesting. She knows my diet is LCHF but there is no box for it so instead she ticks the high fibre box!!!
 
One voice worth listening to in the anti-statin debate is that of Research Scientist Stephanie Seneff. She has an intense interest in the biology of the body, and wouldn't even give statins to those with Familial Hylercholesterolemia.
She points out that heart disease may be on the down, but heart failure is on the up. Statins are bad news for muscles, and your most important muscle ? Your heart.


All her YouTube videos are interesting, but be prepared to get lost in superior medical terminology from time to time.
Geoff
 
Nicksu said:
I'll have to remember that one next week if they try to nag me at the diabetic clinic to take them! With the NHS budget being as it is, see how quickly they will back off!
Click to expand...
You don't need a "ploy" just say you don't want to take them. The doctor is supposed to offer them, if he can tick a box marked "declined" he has done his job. My doctor just said " ok fair enough".
 
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