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To statin or not?

KTNIC

Active Member
Messages
43
Have had my 3 month review today and so pleased my hard work has paid off! Weight 12 months ago , 12st 2lb, now 11st.
BMI spot in! BP, spot on, HCL 52 12 months ago now 39. No meds. Liver function ok. Diet alone.
BUT, because my cholesterol is still not what they want it to be, gone from 7.5 to 6.5, lipid being 4.7, they want me on statins which I have tried to resist.
The Qrisk score is 18. I did it myself at home didn’t tick diabetes and got 11.9.
Their attitude seems to be your stuck with it take statins!
Asked about family history. Mum had high bop and didn’t have stroke until she was in her early 70’s and lived till she was 92, cause of death dementia.
Thoughts from the man, woman in the street
 
My experience with the Qrisk was a little different. Doctor said "I am supposed to recommend statins". I said but I have non diabetic HbA1c and so he unticked the diabetes box and said "fair enough" and didn't mention statins again. Ultimately you have to decide for yourself.
 
@KTNIC . At the end of the day it’s your choice.
You have made a wise move in getting Joe Publics views, alongside the information from the medical experts you should be able to reach a decision.
 
When I was first diagnosed with Type II diabetes in August 2017, my total cholesterol was 6.2. While I was losing weight (lchf) it went up to 6.7. I'm now in remission and at a healthy weight. The last time my cholesterol was measured (almost a year ago) it was 5.6.
At each visit with the practice nurse she has pressed me to take statins. (When it was 6.7 she called me in for an emergency meeting the next morning). I did my own research and decided against taking them. All of my health markers are better than they have been in years. My cholesterol ratios are perfect. I've read research that older women (that's me) do better with higher cholesterol levels. The practice nurse was basing her advice on a protocol that is automatically applied rather than it being specific to me. I once put my details into an online risk assessment tool. It came back as low risk. I then realised I'd overlooked the Are you diabetic? question. I ticked yes, and a flashing red sign came up saying I was high risk. As Mr Pot says how does that take into account my 'in remission' status.
I'm not saying I'll never reconsider but I won't start taking them as a preventive measure as I just can't see much evidence of their effectiveness as such. A woman on the street view xx

What does irritate me is how the levels at which you are identified as at risk keep being lowered. Hmm.
 
KTNIC - oops, what I also meant to say is really well done with the weight loss, hba1c and your other health markers.
 

Thank you!
My feelings exactly! I was feeling really good about myself till then! When I asked about how I could adjust my
Diet they seemed non plussed! I am also a women of a certain age which they both kept reminding me of! I can have a pneumonia jab if I want! ***!
 
They can prescribe them, but they can't force you to take them...........I'm personally ambivalent, I have familial hypercholestrolimia (try saying that after a couple of shandies) My grandad died at 62 due to side effects of this, my Dad is still here, fit and healthy at 74 having been on statins for many years, but I do think some GP's hand them out like sweeties and just being Diabetic shouldn't mean you automatically take them. Do your research and come to your own conclusions
 
Call me cynical but sales of the world's biggest seller statin (Lipitor aka Atorvastatin) have fallen though they are still reining in billions may just be the reason that the guideline levels have been lowered wrt Total Cholesterol.

Yeah, must be my nasty suspicious mind again. As you were, folks.
 
bulkbiker said:
Nope..

Edit to add.. challenge...watch/read all the stuff on that thread and give me a reason why anyone would take them..
Click to expand...

I had a very high cholesterol score around 20 years ago(?). Have been on statins ever since. My cholesterol is now normal. Had zero side effects. And I am NOT dead
 
porl69 said:
I had a very high cholesterol score around 20 years ago(?). Have been on statins ever since. My cholesterol is now normal. Had zero side effects. And I am NOT dead
Click to expand...
What was considered high then and what is your level now though..?
Do you think you are NOT dead because of the drugs or in spite of them..?
Your total cholesterol level can also move around during the day depending on a number of factors so if you were prescribed statins after one blood draw (which most doctors seem happy to) then you don't have much of a reference point.. but hey what do I know I've only spent the past 3 years reading up on this stuff..
 

I never said you knew nothing. Just saying my cholesterol is back to normal after statins. So, for me, statins have worked
I read a lot of books on NASA but I am not an astronaut!!!
 
A good question you may wish to ask is 'how much longer will I live by taking a statin?' Seems reasonable when you are thinking of preventing cv events rather than lowering your cholesterol as an end in itself (a statin will do this).
I have a q risk of 10+ which is the trigger point for offering a statin I believe yet my GP admitted I would not live any longer. Then she went a little quiet and shut up about it and got on with treating me for what i'd come in with.
All your other markers of health look excellent though so well done and remember that your surgery will be unused to seeing diabetics turning themselves around as it doesn't fit the narrative.
BTW It is reckoned that a good ratio of triglycerides to HDL is a more meaninggful marker. Ideally you'd like a diet that keeps trigs low in comparison to your HD so that might be another good question to ask.
 
I don't think there is any dispute that statins 'work' in lowering cholesterol. They do. The question is whether or not there is any benefit in doing so.
 
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