Statin, yes or no ....?

[PenfoldAPD]

So a week after my T2D diagnosis the GP put me on a station to reduce my cholesterol. Have to admit I didn't know much about them so taken it for around 10 weeks now. No adverse side effects - that I know of

I'm doing LCHF so worried my tests taken last week might show increase - I'll know on Thursday.

Feeling v confused now having read all the anti Statin comments on here. Especially with folks saying it affected them seriously for a long time when they came off them.

Is a Benecol yoghurt drink (4g carbs lowest I could find) more effective. Do GPs get paid for more Statins prescribed?

I thought I was getting there (BG lowest 4.8, highest 7.4 today) but now feel I have this whole new area to try and understand!

Thank goodness for this forum

 

[Neohdiver]

You can see the impact LCHF has had on my cholesterol (all positive). My doctor pushed statins - I bargained for a small dose of metformin and a few months to demonstrate I didn't need them.

I'm not a fan of meds (generally) if there are non-pharmaceutical options. Statins give me pause because of the connection between statins and alzheimer-like memory impairment - and the recent connection between long-term statin use and the development of diabetes. My spouse (diabetes and mild-cognitive-impairment consistent with the early stages of Alzheimers) takes statins. I do wonder if what she has is either caused by statins - which she has taken just short of forever - or out-of-control blood sugar levels (her A1c puts her average above where my own BG impacts my ability to remember and reason). It was all I could do to get her tested for memory impairment (she's sure she has none) - so I'm pretty sure I'll never know.

 

[dbr10]

So a week after my T2D diagnosis the GP put me on a station to reduce my cholesterol. Have to admit I didn't know much about them so taken it for around 10 weeks now. No adverse side effects - that I know of

I'm doing LCHF so worried my tests taken last week might show increase - I'll know on Thursday.

Feeling v confused now having read all the anti Statin comments on here. Especially with folks saying it affected them seriously for a long time when they came off them.

Is a Benecol yoghurt drink (4g carbs lowest I could find) more effective. Do GPs get paid for more Statins prescribed?

I thought I was getting there (BG lowest 4.8, highest 7.4 today) but now feel I have this whole new area to try and understand!

Thank goodness for this forum

They always reach for the statin prescription because diabetics often have higher LDL from the diabetes. Some statins can increase blood glucose. People here report that LCHF does increase cholesterol slightly but that the HDL and TG numbers improve. Personally, my cholesterol has gone haywire, but this is not most peoples' experience. I think that if benecol was really effective, it would be classed as a medicine and be on prescription.

 

[PenfoldAPD]

Good point @dbr10 I'm just trying to get more educated - and thinking Benecol can't be claiming 7-10% reduction of it isn't proven. I need to research statins way more - I think on reflection I shouldn't have agreed to them so quickly - but blindsided due to coping with T2D diagnosis etc etc

 

[lovinglife]

I used benacol for a while and even though I didn't believe it would work it did drop my chol from 5.6 down into the 4s - it was difficult for me to use though as I HATE milk in any form especially milk shakes lol - I now take 2 lecithin and 2 lestrin a day - I get them from Holland & Barrett - don't know yet if they have had any effect as not had a test since starting them in November.

My chol was 6.4 but my ratios were good(sorry can't remember the numbers) but I had problems with simvastatin so GP changed them to amverstatin (sp) - they affected my liver so with agreement with my GP as my ratios were good no more statins!

The supplements from H&B seem expensive at first but last ages and work out far cheaper than the drinks - usually I get them when they have offers on

 

[dbr10]

Good point @dbr10 I'm just trying to get more educated - and thinking Benecol can't be claiming 7-10% reduction of it isn't proven. I need to research statins way more - I think on reflection I shouldn't have agreed to them so quickly - but blindsided due to coping with T2D diagnosis etc etc

Of course. It's definitely a confusing area. If you can take more exercise, it should help. I suppose it depends how much your cholesterol might come down, against any side effects like muscle pains, and the possibility that BG might rise. It's about trying to assess the balance of risk, while being pretty much in the dark about what's best.

 

[Mike d]

Good point @dbr10 I'm just trying to get more educated - and thinking Benecol can't be claiming 7-10% reduction of it isn't proven. I need to research statins way more - I think on reflection I shouldn't have agreed to them so quickly - but blindsided due to coping with T2D diagnosis etc etc

Yep, read up on them ...a LOT

 

[PatsyB]

I stopped taking statins a month ago still need to inform the GP ....they did not bother me in the least when taking them and am hoping all will be alrigth with out them

 

[Prem51]

I still take statins. My cholesterol was 4.7 at my HbA1c test last September. GPs like diabetics' levels to be 4 or below. GP didn't request cholesterol level test at my 3 month retest, so we didn't know if level had changed. They don't have any side effects for me, though they might have contributed to my blood sugar levels rising. Anyway I agreed to continue with them until my next full HbA1c blood test this September.

 

[AtkinsMo]

There are no circumstances where I would take statins. The studies supporting them are not reliable, in my humble opinion. I am not a doctor, but have read and read and read on this topic and really believe that drug company profits have lead to exaggeration of the benefits of these drugs and understatement of the risks.
The only group of people for whom statins have a benefit are men who have already had a heart attack, where they offer a small but statistically significant benefit in terms of reduction in likelihood of a second event, for everybody else there has never been statistically significant benefits. Statistical tricks are played with figures, reporting benefits in relative terms (so they appear much greater) and risks in absolute terms (so they appear much smaller). Women with the higher cholesterol levels live longest! Benecol and the like reduces total cholesterol but worsens the profile, as well as reducing LDL it reduces HDL. A superb book to start reading is Malcolm Kendrick's 'The Great Cholesterol Con', but there are loads of others.

 

[dbr10]

I still take statins. My cholesterol was 4.7 at my HbA1c test last September. GPs like diabetics' levels to be 4 or below. GP didn't request cholesterol level test at my 3 month retest, so we didn't know if level had changed. They don't have any side effects for me, though they might have contributed to my blood sugar levels rising. Anyway I agreed to continue with them until my next full HbA1c blood test this September.

I think they should have done a cholesterol check. I find, if I get a blood test form from the doctor, he misses things off. That's why I normally get one from the DN.

 

[Pinkorchid]

I have taken them for a few years now have never had any muscle pain or other side effects. People must decide for their selves to take them or not

 

[Snapsy]

I was put on statins in my 30s because my total cholesterol was 4.1. I was horrified that I 'needed' them, and was alarmed that the doctor sounded as if he was actually begging me to say yes, when I'd said 'hmmmm, let me think about it.' So I went along with it.

Next test was 4.2 so they changed it for another brand. The first lot, he said, obviously wasn't working!

Anyway, I did as I was told. No problems that I've noticed, other than incomprehension on my part as to why a fit, young(ish) healthy lady with cholesterol of just over 4 and a healthy lifestyle should have medication for something that didn't seem to me to be a problem issue.

Spoke to my consultant about it, and although he was surprised he said they were unlikely to be doing me any harm, so not to worry too much and continue to take them.

 

[Brunneria]

No one who developed diabetes after starting statins can make any claim that they haven't experienced statin side effects.

Raised blood glucose levels and increased risk of developing diabetes is one of the best documented statin side effects.

Of course, they might have got diabetes anyway, but they will never know.

 

[dbr10]

I was put on statins in my 30s because my total cholesterol was 4.1. I was horrified that I 'needed' them, and was alarmed that the doctor sounded as if he was actually begging me to say yes, when I'd said 'hmmmm, let me think about it.' So I went along with it.

Next test was 4.2 so they changed it for another brand. The first lot, he said, obviously wasn't working!

Anyway, I did as I was told. No problems that I've noticed, other than incomprehension on my part as to why a fit, young(ish) healthy lady with cholesterol of just over 4 and a healthy lifestyle should have medication for something that didn't seem to me to be a problem issue.

Spoke to my consultant about it, and although he was surprised he said they were unlikely to be doing me any harm, so not to worry too much and continue to take them.

Not surprised. Surely you didn't need them with cholesterol so low.

 

[Snapsy]

I seem to recall @dbr10 that around that time the guidelines had just been changed, and (I may be remembering it wrong) that the new recommendations for type 2 diabetes patients was for total cholesterol to be below 4, whereas for the general population it was 5.

I think perhaps my GP had just read about the new guidelines and went in rather gung ho in what was possibly a box-ticking exercise. When I reminded him I'm type 1 he looked confused but then continued the hard sell.

I have to say though that I don't have any side effects, and when I said to my consultant that actually I didn't think I needed them, he felt there was no harm in continuing to take them, which made me feel that if I did come off them, not having them would be worse for me than having them! So I'm taking them.

I admit that I'm naive when dealing with the medical profession, and when it's not something I know I know about (my diabetes) I tend to just do what I'm told. Which is unlikely to always be a good thing!

NB Have just Googled 'diabetes and statins'! Wish I hadn't!

 

[dbr10]

I seem to recall @dbr10 that around that time the guidelines had just been changed, and (I may be remembering it wrong) that the new recommendations for type 2 diabetes patients was for total cholesterol to be below 4, whereas for the general population it was 5

NB Have just Googled 'diabetes and statins'! Wish I hadn't!

Yes, you are quite right. I forgot. Googling not always good for you!

 

[Enclave]

I was put on statin some years ago .. The worst thing I ever did was to take them .. I fully believe that they are the cause of my T2 and my ill health, along with being ordered to eat low fat and high carbs !
I have stopped taking them now and LCHF .. I feel and look 10+ years younger ..
But if they aggree with you then go for it .... I did try plant steroid tablets, the side effects were the same as taking statins for me

 

[PenfoldAPD]

Really appreciate everyone who has taken time to respond - thank you. I need to research more - HbA1c results tomorrow (11 weeks after diagnosis) and cholesterol so that will be interesting. My GP is returning at the end of March - she is wonderful, but I'm hoping the next one might be more forward thinking ... eyes raised when I said I was testing doesn't help does it?

 

[Pinkorchid]

I seem to recall @dbr10 that around that time the guidelines had just been changed, and (I may be remembering it wrong) that the new recommendations for type 2 diabetes patients was for total cholesterol to be below 4, whereas for the general population it was 5.

I think perhaps my GP had just read about the new guidelines and went in rather gung ho in what was possibly a box-ticking exercise. When I reminded him I'm type 1 he looked confused but then continued the hard sell.

I have to say though that I don't have any side effects, and when I said to my consultant that actually I didn't think I needed them, he felt there was no harm in continuing to take them, which made me feel that if I did come off them, not having them would be worse for me than having them! So I'm taking them.

I admit that I'm naive when dealing with the medical profession, and when it's not something I know I know about (my diabetes) I tend to just do what I'm told. Which is unlikely to always be a good thing!

NB Have just Googled 'diabetes and statins'! Wish I hadn't!

Yes most doctors do say they like it under 4 for diabetics