Statins, advised to start 20 mg Atorvastatin

[Secret Squirrel]

Had my lot at Quacks trying to "Dole" them out like sweeties!.
Saw "nurse"! chat went something like this! Need to get your BP down? But it's not high. We need to get your Cholesterol down? but it's not high!.(All her Comments)
Then said what do you think to statins! Replied not much.
My Cholesterol was 6 and still is yonks onward plus when i ate my way Cheshire cheese (7) Full milk esp Waitrose Duchy.Cooked mushroom omelette in butter/Coconut oil not Veg **** it was down to 5.6 plus just have proper decent Rye bread from Karaway Bakery.
My BP used to always be 90/60 till they put me on T HRT over Pituitary tumour so shot up along with clots.stroke and Warfarin!

It's things like high fructose corn syrup that causes heart attacks and it's Cholesterol that is trying to save your live! but HFCS particles are so refined they once in bloodstream clog and line arteries so Cholesterol struggles to break it down and get shot of it.
And heat/burning carbs etc make sugars harden in body as they like heat just like with toffee apples!.

Med.co and Quacks would love everyone on Anti depressants.Metformin.Statins. Asthma inhalers.and heaps of more junk all in the name of $$$$.

As been said above The Brain is mostly Cholesterol.it makes your hormones,regulates likes of VitD which in turn improves Cholesterol when VitD is high.

Also there are statements that Females shouldn't take Statins!.

 

[GinnyIckle]

Hi there,

NEWLY DIAGNOSED LADA T1 on Humulin M3 (4 weeks after diagnosis)

My specialist nurse said today it would be recommended to start with low dose statin.
I said I’d been worried about going on them as I’d heard so many people saying side effects.
She replied saying the old meds used to give muscle aches and bad dreams but not the new drug, she’s only had one person not getting on with them.
My cholesterol level I think she said 5.3, not sure if that is very bad?

5.3 isn't awesome, especially for someone with diabetes or other heart risks. It's not terrible, but it is solidly within the range where statins are suggested even for non-diabetics.

As others have said, a lot depends on how much of that cholesterol is HDL (Higher is better), how much is LDL (Lower is better), and how much is triglycerides (very low is better). The total cholesterol divided by HDL — sometimes called the TC HDL ratio; a "very good" ratio, according to URMC, is less than 3.5 to 1 — can be used to estimate level of health risk from cholesterol. And the doctors have algorithms they can plug your data into that crunches all these numbers and other health factors to get an individual risk assessment.

One of the problems with statins is, they deplete our levels of Co-enzyme Q10. Yes, it's been trendy lately, but Co-Q10 also is an important enzyme that plays a big role in heart health (and dental health, and more).

So, my old GP will prescribe Co-Q10 (over the counter, that is) whenever she prescribed a statin. It's my understanding, based on her advice and my reading, that helps minimise statin side effects, too.

My husband and I both take Co-Q10 along with our statins, just as we take B vitamins along with our metformin.

We also use that cholesterol-lowering margarine with the plant stanols in, and we keep our carb intake quite low, which we started for his bliod sugar but it also dropped his cholesterol.

Best wishes!

 

[Teddysmum]

I was diagnosed statins, by my neurologist because of 'hardened arteries'. Simvastatin had no side effects for me and the NICE recommended Atorvastatin is also fine. The only problem for me is that the brand accessed by the pharmacy does vary and some Atorvastatin brands are very bitter.

I'm surprised that vitamin B is prescribed in tablet form (My daughter-in-law had B12 tablets which she discarded for having no effect) as it is said to have little effect by tablet, with injection being preferred . My injections work and even my husband guesses when they are due, as I have 'don't feel well' episodes.

(Trying to book today, but the phone queue was11 an hour ago and still 8 recently.)

 

[HSSS]

I'm surprised that vitamin B is prescribed in tablet form (My daughter-in-law had B12 tablets which she discarded for having no effect) as it is said to have little effect by tablet, with injection being preferred . My injections work and even my husband guesses when they are due, as I have 'don't feel well' episodes.

Depends why the b12 isn’t working what form is suitable. If there are absorption issues in the gut somewhere then tablets won’t work. If it‘d being depleted past that point then potentially they will. The problem is people often don’t know where the fault is/why they need additional amounts so it’s somewhat trial and error. Also once supplementation has begun serum tests can typically read high - yet be pointless as all it does is measure what’s being added rather than what’s actually available (which needs Holotc/active testing) and reaching the cells (Some kind of fancy testing rarely done).

 

[KennyA]

Had my lot at Quacks trying to "Dole" them out like sweeties!.
Saw "nurse"! chat went something like this! Need to get your BP down? But it's not high. We need to get your Cholesterol down? but it's not high!.(All her Comments)
Then said what do you think to statins! Replied not much.
My Cholesterol was 6 and still is yonks onward plus when i ate my way Cheshire cheese (7) Full milk esp Waitrose Duchy.Cooked mushroom omelette in butter/Coconut oil not Veg **** it was down to 5.6 plus just have proper decent Rye bread from Karaway Bakery.
My BP used to always be 90/60 till they put me on T HRT over Pituitary tumour so shot up along with clots.stroke and Warfarin!

It's things like high fructose corn syrup that causes heart attacks and it's Cholesterol that is trying to save your live! but HFCS particles are so refined they once in bloodstream clog and line arteries so Cholesterol struggles to break it down and get shot of it.
And heat/burning carbs etc make sugars harden in body as they like heat just like with toffee apples!.

Med.co and Quacks would love everyone on Anti depressants.Metformin.Statins. Asthma inhalers.and heaps of more junk all in the name of $$$$.

As been said above The Brain is mostly Cholesterol.it makes your hormones,regulates likes of VitD which in turn improves Cholesterol when VitD is high.

Also there are statements that Females shouldn't take Statins!.

Hi and welcome to the forums.

The forums have a rule (B13) see here:

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/community-ethos-forum-rules.50278/)

that when members are posting advice they either post their own experiences or back up anything not in their direct experience with a source. There are a very wide range of opinions.

You might, for example, have used Dr Malcolm Kendrick or Dr Verner Wheelock as references for the items you've mentioned that are general points and aren't what you've directly experienced. There are others. It helps everyone to be able to know which statments might be helpful and which aren't.

 

[BarbaraG]

Hi, I know this is an old thread, but hopefully some of the knowledgable people on here might be able to comment.

I was started on Atorvastatin a year ago, after my last annual review. My cholesterol was 5.3 (although HDL and ratios were good) and my QRisk thing has nudged just over 10%, so rightly or wrongly I succumbed to the request to go on a statin. My HbA1C then was 54. After 3 months, cholesterol was down to 3.8.

They didn’t call me for an HbA1C in the summer, and I didn’t chase it up.

Fast forward to this year - HbA1C 71! I am already on metformin (for over 20 years) and Trulicity (4 years). The practice nurse told me that Trulicity seems to work for many people for 3-4 years and then becomes less effective. So now they want to add another med, an SGLT2 inhibitor which makes you wee out the glucose.

Then I suddenly remembered that association between statins and high BG. So could my increase in HbA1C be down to the statin? And - most important question - if I stop the statin, will it revert?

Coincidentally, I had already just started a new exercise regime and better eating.

 

[ianf0ster]

I have experience of both Simvastatin and Atorvastatin. I had side effects (confirmed muscle pain and confirmed skin rash) on Simvastatin), possible brain fog on Atorvastatin - so stopped takin them. I have not heard of a Statin raising HbA1C by that much, but the effect of a Statin on BG (if any) is to raise it.

What do you mean by 'eating better'?
Do you test your meals (before eating then 2hrs after first bite) with a BG meter? - If not, how do you know that you aren't eating worse (higher carb) so far as diabetes is concerned?