• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Statins?

Sobeit

Sobeit

Well-Known Member
Messages
228
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi, I was told by my gp that my cholesterol is 7.9..and that I should go on statins! She said they can cause muscle problems etc. I really dont want to go on statins since I already suffer with body aches and pains .These are helped by my magnesium oil and less bad lately maybe due to cutting sugar out of diet. But im scared to go on statins .Is there anybody on.here that could shed any light on my HDL LDL numbers etc ? If so I would really appreciate it ...Or any1 with any advice on alternatives to statins .TIA
 
Hi Sobeit,
Welcome to the forums .. I will tag @daisy1 who will be along soon with your info pack.
You need to ask your Dr for the break down of your cholesterol figure, as the full total is not helpful. Also could I ask if you are controlling your T2 with a LCHF diet ?
 
Welcome :)

I can't answer your statins question as I don't take them. But I'm moving your thread to the Ask A Question section where you may get some responses sooner :)
 
Thanku Enclave and Azure .Im not sure what a Lchf diet is ? Is it low carb high fibre?Yes I am if thats what it stands for..Trying my best at least to keep carbs down.I have been a vegetarian since I was 6! I think its a bit more difficult when meat,fish eggs are a no go. Getting this diagnosis has been such a shock ..I have been very tearful and down but am trying to be positive now and think im getting a handle on the diet..I do ha= a breakdown of the blood results but hav no idea what they mean ...Im glad to be on here. Lots of helpful reading :-)!!
 
I was actually asked if I would like to go on them at my last appointment last week, which I suppose was nice of my consultant to do..............


as well as reducing cholesterol he said it does have a micro vascular complication reducing effects, so the eyes and kidneys........

i have some minor issues with my eyes, so I suppose it might be wise a few years from now..........

my cholesterol is 4.7, so no concern yet............I think a 7.9 is still high enough though, regardless of the HDL/LDL ratio......

I would consider is maybe, if it does cause bad pain then you can come off........
 
Hi Sobeit. Do let us know the full set of figures for your cholesterol as a high overall reading isn't helpful in itself and just causes worry.
Perhaps you can persuade your GP to keep you off statins until you've had a chance to try to bring you blood sugar levels down. People on the forum often find their blood pressure and cholesterol improve as well.
I've stopped statins with the agreement of my GP to see what happens
 
Sobeit said:
.I have been a vegetarian since I was 6! I think its a bit more difficult when meat,fish eggs are a no go.
Click to expand...
Lots of veggie recipes on the forum and if you have more ideas in due course they'll be welcome.
 
On diagnosis my total chol was 7.6. After about 2 years Dr prescribed simvastatin, & after a few months the muscle pains were serious. I read letters in 'Balance' that attributed muscle pain to statins, so I stopped them. In a week or so the pains had cleared. I reported back to the Dr & he said it was a known side effect & I should not take them. That was about 12 years ago. I have no indication of cholesterol related health problems. Present total chol is 6.2

You could try them if advised, but be aware of the side effects. IMO I'd rather accept a possible future risk than suffer present problems.

The forum ran a poll on Statins & side effects with 60% of statin users reporting problems.
 
Sobeit said:
Hi, I was told by my gp that my cholesterol is 7.9..and that I should go on statins! She said they can cause muscle problems etc. I really dont want to go on statins since I already suffer with body aches and pains .These are helped by my magnesium oil and less bad lately maybe due to cutting sugar out of diet. But im scared to go on statins .Is there anybody on.here that could shed any light on my HDL LDL numbers etc ? If so I would really appreciate it ...Or any1 with any advice on alternatives to statins .TIA
Click to expand...

Hi,
You need to ask your doctor for a print out of your cholesterol test. You can then see for yourself what the breakdown was (HDL/LDL/Trigs etc.) If this breakdown wasn't included in the blood test, then I suggest you ask for another test that does include them. Total cholesterol on its own is meaningless. You need to know the breakdown so you can come to an informed decision on statins.
 
IanD said:
On diagnosis my total chol was 7.6. After about 2 years Dr prescribed simvastatin, & after a few months the muscle pains were serious. I read letters in 'Balance' that attributed muscle pain to statins, so I stopped them. In a week or so the pains had cleared. I reported back to the Dr & he said it was a known side effect & I should not take them. That was about 12 years ago. I have no indication of cholesterol related health problems. Present total chol is 6.2

You could try them if advised, but be aware of the side effects. IMO I'd rather accept a possible future risk than suffer present problems.

The forum ran a poll on Statins & side effects with 60% of statin users reporting problems.
Click to expand...
 
Thanku IanD for your helpful reply.That is interesting re. the poll :-)
 
DeejayR said:
Hi Sobeit. Do let us know the full set of figures for your cholesterol as a high overall reading isn't helpful in itself and just causes worry.
Perhaps you can persuade your GP to keep you off statins until you've had a chance to try to bring you blood sugar levels down. People on the forum often find their blood pressure and cholesterol improve as well.
I've stopped statins with the agreement of my GP to see what happens
Click to expand...
 
novorapidboi26 said:
I was actually asked if I would like to go on them at my last appointment last week, which I suppose was nice of my consultant to do..............


as well as reducing cholesterol he said it does have a micro vascular complication reducing effects, so the eyes and kidneys........

i have some minor issues with my eyes, so I suppose it might be wise a few years from now..........

my cholesterol is 4.7, so no concern yet............I think a 7.9 is still high enough though, regardless of the HDL/LDL ratio......

I would consider is maybe, if it does cause bad pain then you can come off........
Click to expand...

Whilst 7.9 is a big number, without the breakdown we have no idea if it's a bad, big number or a good big number.

I have always had lots of those special chats with my GP as my lipids usually include some big numbers, but by last time, in May, when my total was 7.4, my GP was getting the hang of it all, and her only comment was "You must be utterly delighted with those numbers". I had taught her well. :)

@Sobeit , if you have the number breakdown, and feel comfortable sharing it, we may have a better insight.

At diagnosis, I had a big total score, and the breakdowns were far from ideal, but over time, they have come into line to be very good. I've never taken statins, because I'm not convinced they offer a great deal to a woman of my age, and very little of the research conducted includes many women in the research population. I'm sure that latter point is purely because of the historic gender bias of CVD sufferers.
 
Here goes:
Cholesterol total 7.9
Triglycerides 4.22
LDL cholesterol 4.63
CHOL/HDL 17.1
T.chol/HDL Ratio 5.85
C reactive protein 6
 
Hi And Breathe I posted my breakdown .If u or anybody can make sence of it to me I would be very grateful:-)
 
OK those do look high to me. These are the recommended levels:

Total 3 to 5 (under 4 for diabetics)
Trigs 0 to 1.7
HDL 1.2 to 3.5
LDL 0 to 3
TC/HDL ratio under 4
Non HDL under 3.4 (Total minus HDL)
Trig/HDL ratio under 1.3
 
Not good news. So I'm not able to suggest any alternative to going on statins, at least for now.
 
I should add I don't know what the levels for C reactive protein should be as I've never had that.
Have you got the right figure for CHOL/HDL?
 
Back
Top