Hi there, I am an AFibber since 2016. I have recently had a number of cholesterol blood tests taken and unfortunately even after changing diet etc the number has not changed from 6.2. This is made up of HDL 1.73 LDL 4.1 and triglycerides making up the rest. I have a a GP review call on Monday and am expecting him to suggest statins as there is apparently more than a 10% risk of developing heart disease or having a stroke. Can anyone advise if there is a BEST STATIN out there? I have read literature that you should also start on a low dose to see what benefits it has but also to gauge what side effects may be experienced. I've also heard that statins are anti inflammatory and could assist with my gastritis which I believe has triggered my AF in the past. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
High Cholesterol and Statins - Atrial Fibrillati...
High Cholesterol and Statins
I think most of us resist these drugs. In UK doctors have incentives to prescribe them. I took artovastatin for maybe twenty years until I refused about ten years ago and nothing bad happened.
Thanks Bob. I did hear that doctors were trying to encourage everyone to take statins.
Your LDL is high by many standards. The decision to take statins depends on many variables, including family history of heart disease. There are pro statin people and professionals and there are anti-stain people and professionals. I was anti-statin for a long time but my LDL was resistant to lifestyle changes so now I'm on a high dose statin. I haven't had any noticeable side effects, but who knows. Don't go by my opinion or the opinion of others, as anecdotal evidence is not real evidence. Speak to your doctor, do your homework and make up your own mind.
Jim
Thanks Jim, believe it or not I'm spending a Friday evening doing my homework on statins.William
permanent afib been on simvastatin for years but it has reduced my level from 6.75 to 4.5 do not seem to have any side affects but who knows
We are all different, I started with simvastatin, but found it gave me achy legs in the night - was changed to atorvastatin - just 5mg a day keeps my cholesterol at 4, which my doctor is very happy with, not too high and not too low, I don't watch my diet, only eat butter and have plain double cream yoghurt every day.
thanks for the information
Thanks for your reply pussilanimous
Thanks Billblue
It’s good that you’re looking into statins. As they don’t reduce your risks by just lowering your cholesterol they have a beneficial effect on your blood vessels as well. My massive heart attack was caused by a blood clot. ( all other blood vessels in good Nick). I had normal cholesterol. But I’m on a high dose statin as it helps reduce the risk of any plaque caused by the normal aging process breaking off and causing a blood clot to form. So keep researching then do what you feel is right for you.
Thanks Ewloe. Have just watched a video from Sanjay Gupta, cardiologist who although not a supporter of statins as a matter of course gave one reason for taking statins as exactly what happened to you in relation to plaque dislodging from the vessels and causing a blood clot.William
Its a lonely old world out there when it comes to the statin and other such decisions. Now not helped by the pressures and changes we have all seen in the NHS service recently.
The majority of research findings will no doubt favour statins but of course there may be reasons for that other than health based ones....not being deliberately cynical, its just commercial life!
Increasingly these days, I try to seek out non-mainstream non-biased medical information (eg not from my GP) and weigh that up with my state of health generally and taking into account my annual blood tests taken at my local Surgery.
On a personal relevant to your query note: I have had the same total cholesterol level as you for 40 years with currently the same HDL/Total ratio. My heart & carotid arteries were checked and shown as clear 8 years ago. I am active, good QOL and no comorbidities, so I have declined statins so far. Currently 70yo, if all stays the same, will reconsider at 75.
Thanks secondary. The problem nowadays is getting a test to confirm my vessels are at this time clear.
Yes, costly but maybe if funds allow worth it.
Hi, I did a post about cholesterol and statins last week I think. I got some really useful responses. Maybe these will help you too?
I haven't noticed any side effects whatever with statins and they have brought my cholesterol down well. I gather many of the side effects attributed to these drugs aren't actually caused by them. They seem to have developed a near cult-like bad press among a few people and that truly intrigues me.
I also have gastric issues, but the statins haven't changed that at all.
Steve
good answer old age gives me more side effects than statins
Thanks Steve good to know
I went from 6.2 to 3.2 with Avorstatins as part of my cocktail of medications
I've just had another read of your post as my own total serum cholesterol is now 5.6. I too had the statins conversation with my GP. However, our lovely locum GP walked me through the results and explained that my non HDL levels were below the tipping point and my triglycerides are negligible. My ratio of cholesterol to HDL is good and well below the benchmark. Posting an image here from NHS that might help you. There's also different thinking between males and females re appropriate levels. I didn't check this out but I think it's women who need higher levels.
So what I take from.this isit's the individual levels that are important not the overall calculation.
Hope this helps yourdeliberations.
I’ve read that the life enhancing and lengthening benefits of statins show mainly in those who’ve already had a heart problem or stroke. I always think that’s an interesting thing - what do they do for those people’s circulations that works so well and is whatever that is useful even if you’ve not had any problems?
My sister-in-law had a heart attack at Christmas and her doctors have given her a course of powerful cholesterol lowering drugs before starting her on statins so they are taking her cholesterol levels very seriously.
Steve
Thank you. My.BP is notnreally where it should.be so I do suspect atherosclerosis but for the moment I'm happier to do overnight fasting and use the supplements that CDreamer recommended in her response to my other post. Am also.hoping that fixing the hypothyroidism will help.
My understanding is that lifelong exposure to high(er) LDL (particularly apo B) over the lifetime is what causes the problem and that starting statins in 50s/60s/70s helps prevent further plaque formation but can’t reverse what’s already there. Therefore it *appears* there isn’t much benefit in terms of CVD outcomes but in reality the statins can’t undo the existing damage. This appears to be borne out by Mendelian randomisation studies which look at genetic predisposition to lifelong high/low cholesterol. So the moral of the story is to look after yourself when you’re young or maybe choose your parents well 😀
That was very interesting. Yes - choose your genes carefully, indeed. The link between genetic inheritance and the effects of the environment are still not well understood but utterly fascinating.
I did once read an interesting study that found evidence of the earliest plaque formation - a kind of “pre-plaque” within the arterial walls - in teenagers as well as in primates that had lived only in a natural environment. It seems that genetics really is at the heart of the matter and what statins do remains still unclear. The points you made have taken me off to reading up on the latest once again!
Some years ago I did stop taking statins out of a kind of fear generated by the many negative views I had been reading, I suppose from those with cynical views of the pharmaceutical industry. After a couple of years or so, and feeling no difference whatever, I followed my GP’s advice and went back on them.
Steve
There is a lot of reluctance to taking statins, that’s for sure. We have to be really careful about who and where we find our health information. The anti-statin advocates come in various flavours. There’s an article on the Skeptical Cardiologist’s website by a cardiac patient who went from low carb/keto to vegan regimes, both camps being anti-statin and against other medications too, but in the end he had to accept medical and surgical interventions and ended up sticking more to the vegan diet with the addition of healthy fats which the vegan advocates eschewed. Admittedly his LDL improved and he lost weight on the vegan diet so that’s what worked for him — but he still needed the meds and probably would have benefited much more had he taken them as advised.
There have been some changes in the thinking around cholesterol components in recent years. It now appears that HDL isn’t as protective as previously thought and possibly too high HDL may be associated with increased risk, but we’ll have to wait a bit longer to see if this is confirmed by further research. It’s probably more realistic to consider HDL as neutral/mildly protective. The current focus is on apo B which is considered the most accurate indicator of risk (as far as cholesterol levels go) but we don’t have that test routinely in the UK yet. The best proxy is your non-HDL total or your LDL. Although most peoples’ LDL is a reliable indicator of their apo B, there are some people who have higher apo B than their LDL might indicate.
There is this idea in online diet cults that high LDL levels are not a concern but I wouldn’t make my healthcare decisions based on that information. Nor do I think the HDL/total-C ratio holds much sway either. I am fortunate to have low cholesterol ever since I’ve been tested so no one has ever mentioned statins. But now I’m getting on a bit and have a diagnosis of AF, that could change. None of us want to take medication but we can’t think ourselves out of reality, unfortunately.
Thank you so much for such a superb response. You do know your stuff!
Steve
Thanks Autumn leaves. I'm beginning to think my genes are not the best and must have done something really bad in a previous life.
Oh dear, we can’t afford to think about karma! We all must have been very bad indeed! 😅
Thanks Singwell
I recently had an appointment with a lips clinic as I had very high lipids I have had problems takings statins in the past. She told me that you need to make sure all bloods are normal for example Vit B12 VitD and folic acid as this will reduce the risk of side effects she says she will make sure my bloods are all good before she prescribed me anything. Really what I’m saying is ask to be referred to a lipid clinic because they are the experts not the GPs. And also I ignored for years and am now having to have a bypass in a couple of weeks
Thanks Truffles2. Very good advice. Who knows when I would get a Lipids Clinic appointment nowadays though with the state the NHS is in. Given your heart bypass information I may er on the side of caution and take them in meantime.
There are plenty of statins out there. IT's usually just a case of trying them until you find one that suits you. I was put on atorvastatin after a heart attack but couldn't tolerate it. I swapped to simvastatin.which has been absolutely fine. Yet my husband whose cholesterol is very high and he's diabetic was given simvastatin and had bad muscle pain. He refused to try any other. Most posts on the BHF forum seem to feel that rosuvastatin is the best for the lack of side effects. Do remember that the majority of posters only write because they've had problems with them. The vast majority are fine and don't post. There's an excellent video on the BHF website by c consultants who explain why and how they work and why they get such bad press. youtube.com/watch?v=om7PnTd...
Many thanks Qualipop. Will give the video a look and am certainly one for erring on the side of caution by taking some form of statin.
I have been taking Rosuvastatin 5mg for about 18 years no side effects. Total cholesterol 3.0. I was initially given Simvastatin (this is the cheapest statin), developed very bad leg aches after two years. I could hardly walk. My GP kept saying they couldn't prescribe Rosuvastatin because it was too expensive. I pointed out that if I couldn't work because I couldn't walk it would be more expensive if I started claiming benefits!
On a different note and showing how bad NHS is. In November I had shingles , when I saw GP she said I needed to go for blood tests as taking Ramipril. Went for test all okay. Two weeks ago had text message saying I need to go for blood tests as taking Ramipril. Thought I'd check if I really needed to repeat tests after only six weeks. Tried to phone GP. You can't phone our GP reception you get put through to a Triage service. Tried to email, no email address for surgery. In the end walked to surgery, spoke to receptionist said no need for another set of tests. Have I or NHS lost the plot.
Thanks Rass4 for your advice. I too like you have had a few too many bad experiences with our so beloved NHS
I received an email newsletter 12 years ago saying that to be careful when you turn 50 your gp will want you to take a statin. this was on my 50 birthday and on the morning i was due to go for cholesterol test, i had already decided it was a drug i didnt want[not because of email] as i had been researching it. but i take plant sterols instead ,and my ep 1 year ago told me my cholesterol was reasonable.
Thanks Tomred
Hi, just to say after my HA in November,my LDL,bad cholesterol was 4.2 , this was described to me as serious and I would need to go on the most potent statin available,so they started me off on lipitor, 80mg, I found this statin hard to take,no real bad side effects,just made me feel ill, so they changed me to Crestor 40mg. I found this one more tolerable at it has brought my LDL down to 1.5.Your LDL is high , but they may not want it down to my level, as my having the HA I am more at risk of having another one.
Just to say whatever statin they give you,don't give up to soon on taking them, there are a least six different types of statins to try
And finally I was given statins nine years ago after a mini stroke,like a fool I listened to the internet rather than my doctor and did not take them. So only got myself to blame for my heart disease getting out of control,and ending up a HA and going from zero medication,to being on 5 new meds for life.
Listen to your doctor and persevere with what ever statin therapy you find fits you.
Thanks Cmnc. Your experience is obviously one I don't want yo repeat. Take care.
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