I had a blood test and my and by bad cholesterol just slight over 6. I trying to put off taking Satin. I am already on a highly blood pressure medication. I bought myself this 24/7 blood pressure bracelet from a Swedish company. Since I have been wearing it my average blood pressure is 130/85 some times it’s 120/81. I send a full report to my doctors. Every time I go to the doctor my blood pressure is 150/95 . My question is shall I start taking Satin for the Cholesterol? Thank you
High Cholesterol : I had a blood test... - British Heart Fou...
High Cholesterol
Written by
Masteroftime
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Read more about...
39 Replies
•
Only you and your gp can decide. But I'd say yes. Statins have helped control my cholesterol and I've had no major side effects. I was worried at first and I di think they come with some undeserved bad press.
Absolutely; why ever not?
Statins are fine for some people but not me, I was very ill and ended up in A&E. All sorted now, I have been prescribed an alternative medication by my cardiologist, it is for people who cannot tolerate statins,. Definitely worth trying statins first, you might be lucky and no side effects. Be very hard for you to control your cholesterol without medication otherwise.
in reply to MaiaK
HiDitto for me aswell.Could you share the name of the alternative medicine you've been prescribed please.
May I ask what your reaction was, I've recently been put on statins, though my cholesterol isn't very high and I've not been feeling 100% since though can't really explain why.
I was dizzy, standing, lying down, couldn’t walk straight eat or think. I felt as if my veins were popping out of my body, so weird. Spoke to doctor on phone and was told to call ambulance, I had a brain scan which was clear. Had to go to out of hours doctors another time and a&e again. In the end it was a GP I saw who listed my medications and told me to stop one at a time to see if any difference, top of the list was Atorvastatin and within two days I was normal. I will add I don’t react very well to any medications.
That is interesting, thanks for your reply . Will definitely monitor it and see if things improve .
Hi.I had a mini stroke at the end of June. The stroke consultant prescribed Atorvastatin 40mg. I took the one dose at bedtime and the next day I was really ill. Aching muscles, kept sleeping and it felt like a load of knives in my throat when I swallowed. I told my gp who said he thought I'd picked up a virus!! They never want to blame the statins!! Anyway he changed me to Rosuvastatin 10mg for 4 weeks then increased to 20mg. I do still feel tired and who can say if its the meds or not. However, just had a blood test. My cholesterol should be less than 1.8, and now it is just 0.9 the drs are really pleased with me. Is it the statins? Who knows.
Best wishes
Denise
If you haven't been on statins for long,just give your body time to adapt.
My body is also intolerant to statins MaiaK. Immediately after a heart attack in January this year I was admitted to hospital and prescribed a daily dose of 80gms Atorvastatin (among other meds). I had to stay in hospital for five weeks waiting for a triple bypass. I had a blood test taken the day before the bypass was planned and it turned out my liver enzyme readings were "deranged" (their word!). The op was cancelled, and I was immediately taken off the statin and my liver returned to normal within 3 or 4 days and my medical record now states that I'm never to be given statins. I had the bypass around 10 days later and at my six-week post op assessment, the surgeon said my cholesterol was still slightly high (4.5ish if I remember correctly) and I was prescribed a lipid inhibitor called Ezetimibe. Coincidentally I'm off to the GP for blood tests this morning to see how it's performing. The link below gives more information on how it works:
heartuk.org.uk/getting-trea...
Hope you are feeling ok now. This is the medication I am now taking, no side effects and my cholesterol has gone down half a point so far.
Hello MaiaK, thank you for posting. Would you mind my asking what meds you have been prescribed instead of taking statins. I take statins but really struggle with some side effects, thanks for your help, Judi
Hi, Ezetimibe, thank goodness works for me but as you know we are all different
Thanks so much for replying, I m going to speak to my doctor. I have heard of it before and others who take it because they don’t tolerate statins. I seem to get a lot of painful weakness in my legs, which I know is the statin as I tried without it and the weakness goes. It’s quite debilitating. I know I need to take them and I have tried 3 others already so I think I will ask the doctor about Ezetimibe. As you say we are all different I just need to find something which works for me. Thanks again I appreciate your reply. Take care, Judi
in reply to Heyjude31
Apparently some people experience side effects from some statins but not others. I suggest you discuss this with your GP to see if a change from your current statin to another at the same equivalent dose eliminates your side effects or at least makes them tolerable yet still achieves the same cholesterol adjustment.
Drink green tea good for lowering cholesterol.
just watch how much you drink if on warfarin as its higher in vitamin k which interferes with warfarin.
in reply to 2_bobc
But not nearly as effective as taking a statin.
I would say yes. I didn't and five years later I had HA and cardiac arrest. Immediately started on statins and cholesterol came down to 3.2 after 12 months.
Take them and see how you get on with them, they may save your life, or save you from angina in the long term.
Couldn't agree more,I was offered them in my 50,s but said no thanks,I regretted it in my 60,s,like you cardiac arrest,I didn't even have high cholesterol at the time it was 4 now,2.something,after 4mths.
Take the tablets. If they don’t work take something else. Wrist BP monitors are notoriously unreliable.
High blood pressure in a medical setting is known as ‘white coat syndrome’ and is quite common.
High blood pressure is a separate risk factor than high cholesterol (it is actually the LDL that is the important parameter).
I understand it is often difficult and unsettling to realise that you might need a medication for life, especially one that has been given a lot of bad press. Personally, I think it is the nature of how medics in the US get paid per procedure or action that they over-prescribed and the subsequent bad press as a result.
In the U.K., statins are under prescribed.
People say they want to modify their cholesterol with lifestyle, but that modification means ongoing, not just to get one half decent blood test result and then not get tested again for years.
I could never lower my cholesterol, it is genetic, as I avoided so many foods for 20 years.
I could have died from sudden cardiac death my LAD was so blocked up, statins could have prevented that.
i would say yes, but its your choice. If your GP has recommended them, i would give them a go.
yes, definitely take the statins - my cholesterol was 7.7 with the LDL at 6 and ended up having a CABG on LAD.
As folks have said it is genetic, there are x4 genetic markers so it won’t come down without the meds.
I am on 80mg of atorvastatin, few side effects to start but after a few months and getting used to it the side effects disappeared. But statin x80 mg was still not effective enough, so I also take Ezetimibe x10mg daily and that has done the trick
There are three problems likely here. First is 'white coat syndrome' which can easily add 10 to each reading.
Perhaps more important is that most readings in the surgery are not taken according to their own rules. You sit around in reception getting increasingly agitated. Someone then appears and leads you at a good pace to a room where no sooner are you sat down then a cuff is slapped on you and a reading taken, then likely a minute later a further reading. So instead of sitting calmly for at least 5 minutes it has been taken under entirely different conditions.
Third might be your device. Have you double checked it with a proper cuff device?
Masteroftime I will just post my favorite statin anecdote. My brother and I are of similar build, age, lifestyle and obviously genetic profile. He had slightly to medium-high elevated cholesterol in his mid 30s and was put on a low dose of statins. My cholesterol crept up over the years but never really went into the red zone -- but it was getting close. I had nearly full LAD blockage at age 52, cardiac arrest a year later. Am now on the 80 mg atorvastatin/10 mg ezetimibe with a bunch of stents in 2 separate arteries.
My brother, after 20 years of statins? He had a full workup after my CA. While he does have about 40-50 percent blockage, his plaque is likely stable and hard, and he is on nothing but statins and baby aspirin as a precaution.
Turns out we both share the Lipoprotein A marker, meaning we can't really produce more of the "good" cholesterol. People with that marker are at much higher risk of HA, even with acceptable cholesterol levels and in good overall health.
I only WISH I'd been put on statins many years ago. Make of this what you will.
I was put on a statin automatically after a stroke in spite of not having high cholesterol.. I had a side effect of aches and reduced the dosage with my doctor's agreement. She did say I could stop it completely if I wanted but statins provide other benefits to the heart apart from lowering cholesterol which is why I continue to take them,
My story for what it is worth! High cholesterol, but then diagnosed with gallbladder issues so went on a low fat diet. Five months later another blood test and cholesterol had got up slightly!!! Realised that diet wasn’t going to help so started on statins and low and behold my cholesterol is down.
statins get bad press but are literally life savers. I messed around with for years due to cramps etc. ended up with. CABG X2. Blocked arteries are an additional thing to high blood pressure. Now I’m low dose Rosuvastatin and Eztimibe with no problems and cholesterols at 3.5 was 9.6 at its highest (slowly crept up over the years). Good luck 😊
Porridge lowers cholesterol also flaxseed oil but you might need to ask your doctor first.
I can't take statins but thankfully lifestyle changes have worked for me.My latest blood results:-
3.05 serum
1.03 Triglycerides
1.39 HDL
1.19 LDL
2.2 HDL Ratio
Masteroftime in reply to
Thank you how did you manage to reduce it without medication. My LDL is 5.1
Diet and exercise.
Both have the added benefit of helping keep my blood glucose levels lower aswell.
Win win for me. I understand everyone is different though.
Not what you're looking for?
You may also like...
High Cholesterol & PLAC test
had a my cholesterol checked.
Both the private & gps test came back high 7.6 total cholesterol
I...
microvascular angina and high cholesterol
today I've been told I have to take statins as my cholesterol is high. Just another tablet to add to
High cholesterol levels
annual routine blood tests and my cholesterol is very high now. I have to have further blood test...
High cholesterol...yet again!
My cholesterol has stuck stubbornly around 5...despite me trying everything to get it lower!...
extremely high cholesterol 
Lowering a High Cholesterol 
High cholesterol - feeling smug
Overweight. High cholesterol. 
High Cholesterol 
