I am in need of some advice please. Im PAF on Apixoban. The Apixoban is necessary I know but I cant say I am happy to be on it as Ive always worried about a bleed. My doctor has now told me that on the QRisk I have a score of 23.5% chance of a cardiac event due to cholesterol (5.4) and should go onto statins. I have only ever heard bad things about statins and would appreciate any advice. If I am on Apixoban does that not in itself act as a preventative of a heart attack, or do they work in separate ways? Would it increase bleed risk? Sorry if these sound silly questions but I need advice from the forum before going ahead. Thank you for any advice and please look after yourselves in these strange times.
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foxglove1
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Stations reduce bad cholesterol, apixaban helps prevent clots forming due to AF, 2 different measures to prevent stroke, statin will also reduce risk of heart attack, I take both even though my cholesterol is very good as it reduces risk, some folk have side effects from statins but they usually decrease after a short while.
I would take whatever is prescribed provided no adverse reactions which I ain't had, risk of bleed on apixaban is far less than stroke
Well done on stroke recovery. Atorvastatin is the one my GP recommended. Didn’t think my cholesterol that high either but guess with afib and being 72....however bmi 22. Guess I’ll have to go along with it but didn’t see myself as having daily pills to take thanks again for info .
Stroke is not prevented by statins and the various clinical trials done show this ( that is the ones done after the criteria for clinical trials were tightened up in the mid 2000s- any done before are worthless). The SPARKLE trial which was purely for the elderly showed no benefit whatsoever. Given the serious side effects statins can have (and for many they do not resolve after a short while) and considering that the increase in life span works out in days ( even for those who have actually suffered a cardiovascular event) they are mainly a money spinner for Pharma rather than a useful medication. This dogma of "the lower the better" is nonsense. All epidemiological studies show that as we age we need our cholesterol. It helps protect us against infections and cancer. Interestingly one of the stats from a study in Wuhan showed that those with the lowest cholesterol did worse with Covid.
It is true that even the Pharma fans of statins now admit that their effectiveness lies in reducing inflammation rather than levels of cholesterol - previously used cholesterol lowering drugs having been shown to be completely useless in lowering cardiovascular mortality. That did not stop these other drugs from being prescribed by ideologues of the higher cholesterol =heart disease hypothesis. Nor does the inflammation hypothesis lend much sense to the current "the lower the cholesterol the better" theory. But there are many other far less noxious substances that will lower inflammation that do not disrupt an essential metabolic pathway in the liver as statins do. You have to look at the NNT for statins to see that for the vast majority of people prescribed them they do no good at all .
Yes I agree, my reading has always been high, I mean never under 6 and high as 9.5. Started on statins and it was the worst time of my life, kept at it for 3 months then stopped taking them. My gp decided I just didn't want to take them and said I would probably die. About 15 years on now 76 and have had an ablation, still have the high cholesterol and it never gets mentioned. For some people the side effects are dreadful. I've never been overweight and very careful with what I eat. Heredity I believe as it is very prevalent in our family. Cheers.
I was put straight onto 80 mg of Atorvastatin afetva spectacular effort at achieving 13.5 ! However I was able to gradually reduce this with my GPs help to normal levels and reduce statin accordingly.
I have had no problems with it. I'm also on Apixaban and very glad to be!
Look at your lifestyle too,made huge difference to my score and overall health I'm sure. Xx
My cholestoral was higher than yours and I was on 20mg Atorvastatin / day and it worked just great.
That dose seems high...my chol was 5.4 and i reluctantly agreed to take a statin after years of refusing!! I am not overweight and low fat diet doesn't make a lot of difference to the chol level it seems. I am now on Lipitor 10mg......I was SO resistant, my GP said take one every other day.....I actually cut them in half, so in theory only take 5mg per night.
The coming of lockdown meant I have never been tested to see if they are doing any good, but no side effects, so I have just stuck with them.
Thank you Wightbaby. I’m the same don’t want statins and trying to avoid. Also slim and eat well but not able to reduce cholesterol down from 5.4 I’ve got a GP call in couple of weeks for a second opinion But after reading your message think I’ll
Probably have to give in. Would be very interested to know if 10mg lowers your levels and even better if breaking in half does too! Will you be able to have a blood test soon to see?
I was on Atorvastatin (Lipitor) 5mg for many years and it kept my cholesterol readings around 5.0 . I started on 10mg (2004) but found this was creating too many adverse reactions so with agreement with the Dr. reduced to 5mg dose.
I have since stopped taking statins but that was my choice as even on the 5mg dose it impacted my QOL
I really don't know.....! It's all because of Covid of course.!! Not only have I never been tested to see if the statins are doing their job (been on them since December).
I was also told by phone (there was no discussion on this!!) just before lockdown, that I had to come off Warfarin and commence Edoxaban because the surgery did not want to do INR tests. There was no monitoring of levels before I stopped Warfarin and no checks up to see how the new meds are doing since....not really happy about that to be honest!!
I am on Atorvastatin and apixoban and my only worry was that they were so free from side effects I feared they were not working!
I would always follow doctors advice with medication but don’t be afraid to question dosage and drug type when you are settled.
My cholesterol dropped from 5 plus to low 3 with the statin which pleased me, but having had a recent cat scan of my heart I was even more pleased as the coronary arteries were in really good shape
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I try to Think of the statin and anticoagulant as exotic vitamins/ supplements, because they are preventative rather than curative. It helps my “ I don’t want to take pills every day” worry
If you have a comorbidity I would take statins e.g. my wife has had high blood pressure for ages and a mild stroke last year, so she has started taking a statin i.e. emergency medicine. My understanding is the body makes most of your cholestrol for good reason, unbalance that and other issues can occur over time. I have had high cholesterol for 30+ years and like 'Sfh' above I had my coronary arteries checked recently and all clear, also my carotid all clear. I have never taken any statin. I believe what is more important is the different constituents of the cholesterol test expressed as a % of the total figure.
Have you looked it up on Number Needed to Treat? That gives you some idea of the number of people you need to treat before the medication helps one person. An interesting thing to do.
As a woman, there are no known benefits of longevity from statins. All cause mortality results are not altered. Cholesterol is not the enemy it's been made out to be.
I would never take a statin. I've read extensively about them for years. Start with the book Pure, White and Deadly from the '50's to find out why Ancel Keys got his fat is bad theory pushed forwards against the English scientist's sugar theory, and keep going until you get up to date. They do more harm than good in most cases.
The only case where they have been proven to statistically help is in men who have already had a heart attack.
I have not read as much as you but agree cholesterol is not the enemy but the 'ambulance' which gets the blame for the sickness. I have had high cholesterol for decades, clear heart & carotid arteries and don't blame it for getting AF.
please look up Dr Caldwell Esselstyn (Reversing Heart Disease) and follow his protocol for lowering cholesterol. A plant based low fat diet will help tremendously. We can end up on many meds but most of them have side effects but changing our lifestyle can attain better health without them. I am also on Eliquis and have similar concerns but I do feel that its necessary if we have AF
Low fat diets are bad for us. We need to eat saturated fat (gasp!) but it's true. It will not give you heart disease. The lack of it will reduce all sorts of things though, like your brain.
I felt sometimes that folk have conspiracy theories about medications, of course sugar consumption is a major contributor to health issues but so are saturated fats, I believe there's no definitive proof against taking of ststins for example, if side effects are an issue then of course try alternatives.
Our Gene's are based on hunter gatherer ancestry but mammoths died out long ago and our long distant ancestors were dead by their thirties anywZay
I read somewhere that our lifestyle had changed so quickly that our genes have had no chance to keep up. One problem caused by this is overcrowded teeth as we don’t need such big strong jaws anymore. Two of my children have less teeth than the norm and a dentist told me they have a mutation which is in response to this. As you say many of our modern health issues are a result of (unnatural) longevity.
Below is a link to a research article entitled ‘Statins and Atrial Fibrillation – Developments and Advances’ that may be of interest to you. I have AF and was prescribed statins not because of high cholesterol but for the protective effects in patients with coronary heart disease (which is a less well-known reason for prescribing them).
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Statins
On statins and why I’m glad I said no. 
Advice needed please …
Statins
