Statins ?

Hi Dylansdad,
sounds medically unethical to me to suggest putting you on any drug without test readings to suggest it will benefit you! My last total chols were high at 6.49 total but I had very high HDL - and altho the nurse said she would normally have wanted to prescribe statins I made it clear I wasn't going to take them. Read up on their effects and how they change the way your body chemicals interact, and make sure you research how your cholesterol breakdown sits in the charts at CURRENT levels is what I'd recommend before accepting a medicine that has so many documented side-effects. There are good articles in here and other places, and books if thats how you like to get info about how the different lipids work, and what the statins do.
Hope that helps,
BBB

Dr Briffa has many blogs about the many problems with statins - their side effects and the research (the "good" research quoted by the medical profession is almost all funded by the pharmaceutical companies). His latest blog post on January 4:

http://www.drbriffa.com/2013/01/04/coul ... t-failure/

Hi. I take CoQ10 each day and have also halved my 40mg dose of Simvastatin as I'm not convinced that I need 40mg or even any statins. I await my next blood tests to see what effect the reduction has had. Without the CoQ0 the statins can do more harm to the heart than not taking them; see Dr briffa's article.

Hi

I was told that I might need statins. My cholesterol was fine for someone without diabetes, but thought too high for someone WITH diabetes. I am resisting statins and have lowered my LDL (lousy cholesterol) - and upped my HDL (happy cholesterol) by having a Benecol drink every morning, using de-caff coffee, eating cholesterol busting foods like almonds, avocados etc.

It worked for me and I'd say it's definitely worth a try. If eventually you do need statins then you won't have failed but the less drugs the better, I suppose!

Cathy N

When I was first diagnosed my Dr said that although my Cholesterol was only 3.7 they put all the diabetic patients on statins as a matter of course. Prevention being better that the cure in her mind.

Reading above maybe I should check back with my new Dr and see if we should review this...

Well, Happy new year to all !

My views on statins have been moderated on more than one occasion ! So I shall attempt to behave myself.

My history..

1992 3 Heart attcks
1993 2 Heart attacks - 5 coronary grafts ( bypasses )
1994 1 Total heart transplant

Put on statins, I didn't know any better, early days for researchers to discover and publish results of trials that we now know call statins into question. So I was on the dreaded statins for 2 years, not the next 16 years, had to hide that from Papworth. I can't stand being nagged at by consultants or gp's. Still, THEY know best eh ? why do you think they call a gp's place ' a practice ? )

One point: statins cause muscle problems, the heart is a great big MUSCLE, guess what ?

Now my Total Cholesterol is 7.2 %, whoopee I am pleased, I shall live even longer. I have some history, as you can see !

On the diabetes front the local diabetes quack wanted me to go on the insulin route about 5 years ago, I told them exactly what they could do with their ' advice ' and needles.

I do low-carb ( about 20-30g / day ) eat tons of meat in all it's glorious forms ( not processed if poss ) cream with tea and coffee ( esspresso etc ). Munching on intensly roasted organic chicken as I type ! ( s*d the veggies ! ) accompanied by a VASoda.

If you have blind faith in the nhs and medics then you may well end up worse off ( IMHO ) I do of course have an entirely diiferent view of surgeons ( they fixed me up at Papworth ! ) that or death. Uhmm , let me see ?

I think I have gone on too long ( on this forum ! ) and will sign off....

Superchip

My record now states that I am intolerant of statins due to the fact that whenever they tried them I seemed to get the worst side effect attributed to the one I was currently on. I was off my legs for two non consecutive months, went almost completely rigid on another occasion and was sent to see the physio but stopping the pills cured it and puked a lot on the last one they tried.

According to the publicity only 1 in 10,000 suffer from side effects. Well, I am that one in 10,000 .........and so is my friend down the road who was hospitalised with a "Statin Seizure" and of course the local landlord who has bad legs and my sister in law and ......................

But don't let me put you off.

I have not had any side effects taking Simvastatin, every so often i stop taking them just to see if anything changes and it doesn't. My last cholesterol test showed mine at 3.2%, that said it was only 5% when i was diagnosed as T2 6 years ago.

My old mum however had terrible trouble with Simvastatin and requested Lipitor (Atorvastatin) and has had zero problems with that.

Well said Squire ! , 1 in 10000, ha ! , more like 1 in 10 or less !
Don't get me started !
I've just received the video ' Statin Nation' by Justin Smith, will post review when watched.

Be happy.....................Superchip

Hmm

Gotta go and see my Diabetic nurse in 10 days or so. Current sugar readings are between 5.2 and 6 not higher. I've managed this by just cutting down on everything and not eating sweet stuff at all. I eat some mixed unsalted nuts each day and have stopped drinking beer (apart from Christmas and NYE) just on a bottle of red wine each weekend!

My Diabetic nurse said with a Cholesteral level of 5 last time I had it done, she wants me to take a statin. I'm not at all sure about this! In fact said no to her at our last meeting, but I know when I get my bloods done for the next visit, she is going to want to look at putting me on a statin. So what's the answer? Do they really help or are the horror stories (of which I have heard loads!) enough to say that for a level of 5 I can do without?!

Thanks Guys!!

SS

Superchip said:

, 1 in 10000, ha ! , more like 1 in 10 or less !

Click to expand...

I have suspected for some time now that even that figure is generous. Some time ago I asked the question on this forum.

"How many people on statins don't actually take them"

A significant few said that they binned them instead of taking them. I take it that these people will be recorded as statins having no bad effect on them. No good effect either I suppose.

Hi Roy,

At 5.8 your total cholesterol is higher than the recommended target range of 4, it may be worth your while asking your gp practise if you can having a fasting cholesterol check so you can get a full lipid breakdown, to give you an idea here are the target numbers for people living with diabetes:

Your total cholesterol level should be below 4.0mmol/l.

LDL levels should be less than 2.0mmol/l.

HDL levels should be 1.0mmol/l or above in men and 1.2mmol/l or above in women.

Triglyceride levels should be 1.7mmol/l or less.


As for statins only you can decide to take them or not, as your nurse quite rightly says we are at a greater risk of a heart attack or stroke being diabetic so I would suggest you consult with your HCP's before making a decision. Good luck!

Hi all,

I am anti-statin as my Mum was on Simvastin and even though she was fine for the first 3 years or so by the time she got to 5 years she was having major muscle problems, couldn't walk far and had brain fog. I told her to stop taking them and within a couple of weeks she noticed an improvement and a few years down the line she is walking more like she used to be able to despite turning 70 last year and her levels haven't got hardly any higher!!

My cholesterol is high, when my glucose levels went up (HbA1c of 86 early August and climbing) which resulted in my re-diagnosis as a type 1 my cholesterol had got to about 15. They expected it would lower as my sugars got back under control as it had previously been 7. By mid November and my 3 months HbA1c I asked for a check on it too and it was 9.2.
On Tuesday I went for my latest appointment with the hospital diabetic clinic and the Doctor that reviewed my figures said I should go and see my GP about statins....to which I said I don't like the idea of them. Expecting an argument he just said there are four main options for preventing heart disease as a result of cholesterol and one of them is a natural approach which involves your GP prescribing Omega 3 capsules to soften the arteries (from what I understood they result in the same outcome) and if you get them on prescription you don't have to pay for them, but he said Doctors won't prescribe them easily as they are more expensive than statins!
Has anyone else had this option offered? May just inquire about it next time I speak to the Nurse or Doctor at my Surgery.

Regards
Angie

Hi Angie

THanks for the heads up on Omega 3 capsules. I might ask the DN about them next visist and if they won't prescribe them I might just go and buy myself some anyway!
If I can get the Cholesteral down myself then they might just get off my back about statins, shich I really don't want to take!

BG 5.3 this am! Happy with that, not shifitng the weight now though! On 2x Metformin per day at the moment. Not really got my head round the carb thing yet, although I don't seem to spike that much after having a sandwich for lunch or shredded wheat for breakfast (skimmned milk and low fat natural yoghurt on it)

Ideas?

SS

Superchip said:

Well said Squire ! , 1 in 10000, ha ! , more like 1 in 10 or less !
Don't get me started !

Click to expand...

Seconded 1/10000 is a totally laughable figure. Your less than 10 is real-world more accurate :clap:

Officially for Simvastatin the figure for 'serious' side effects like some of those mentioned earlier is somewhere between the 2 figures cited ie 1 in 1000.
There were apparently 2.9 million people prescribed with 40mg Simvastatin in the UK in 2011! (so presumably they were also a fair number on a lower dose)
http://www.mhra.gov.uk/home/groups/pl-p ... 199557.pdf

I think people are less likely to mention it if they had no side effects. I took them for a while after diagnosis and ran a marathon on them so it didn't cause me any of the muscular problems often reported. My biggest problem was remebering to take it.
The very high cholesterol level that disturbed my doc was probably related to having runaway ketones for a while before diagnosis and actually came down very quickly. After that I took a reduced dose for a while and then eventually agreed with my doc to experiment with not taking it. I would have no qualms about taking them again if my cholesterol rose again.

I often wonder how many of the people who have problems have actually reported them. They should do.
http://yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk/

The trouble is many people who do have problems with them don't realise. I have spoken to lots of folk who are getting older and have problems moving about a bit more and when you study the way they are moving you just know they are on statins (I know from how my Mum ended up walking and from what she has told me about trouble with stairs etc.) But if you talk to them and say that maybe it is problems due to the statins and not just old age they say 'oh no they are fine and my Doctor says I have to take them so they can't be causing it'. Many folks are just so reliant on what the Doctor says is gospel that they never think that 'one size doesn't fit all'.
Regards
Angie

Phoenix: thank you so much for the link to yellow card I had no idea it existed. I took simvastatin for many years and had spells where I could hardly walk, twice in A&E as I couldn't stand and was loaned crutches! Wore off but was terrible at the time. Also had severe night cramps, very very painful. Stopped the statins, legs gradually improved and can once again walk 7 miles or so without problems (it used to be 12- 15 but I'm now nearly 70 ) and I can't remember the last time I had cramps. Will also report the dreadful Atenolol but that is another story......................................

I have taken the doctors prescription for stains and shoved it.... in my car glovebox!

On diagnosis I was told I have very good cholesterol for someone WITHOUT diabetes! Much because diabetic are more likely to suffer thrombosis, heart attacks, loss of circulation in extremities etc I would need Statins.

So I just bit my lips, took the script and left it in the car. I am not currently medicatings so am eating less red meat, more fish, a portion of citrus fruit a day (which curiously does not affect my sugar levels) Lentils and Peas etc and am trying to find teh time to exercise. Have a fasting test next week so hopefully will see another drop in the nasty stuff in my blood!