I posted my recent cholesterol results a few weeks back and received some commee we ts about them being way better than “normal”
My GP surgery sent them to me with a note to say they were “normal” without any context.
my Serum cholesterol for example is 2.4 mmol/L , way below the normal target of 4-5.
Calculated LDL 0.7 (below 3 seems to be target of 2 below)
Se non HDL 1.1 (4 or less but seems to be a target of 2.6 below )
I’ve just been in contact with the BHF on line cardiac nurse and had a chat about how my numbers all look normal and that for the last month or so I’m feeling worse than ever , aches , pains , neuralgia type headache for a first week January, left leg painful in shin muscle and quad when sitting still … all sorts of stuff and wondered if it was my meds ( bisoprolol 1.25, Rampiril half of 1.25, clopidogrel, pantaprazole, aspirin and 80mg artovastatin). I sent her my cholesterol readings and she confirmed that they are just normal , nothing exceptional and gave a link to BHF information. None of this has ever been explained to me !
She did encourage me to get a review of my meds with my GP though 👍🏻.
“If you are getting secondary prevention treatment for your heart condition, you may have different LDL-cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol levels to aim for. The guidelines say you should aim for :
LDL cholesterol level of 2.0mmol or less.
Non-HDL cholesterol level of 2.6mmol or less. “
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DWizza
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A small number of people who take statins suffer from a side effect of muscle and joint aches and pains. It is possible, especially since you are on the max dose of Atorvastatin, that you are also suffering the same side effects from what you have said. However other statins are available to try e.g. Rosuvastatin which may not give the same side effects and it certainly worth discussing this with your GP when you have your meds review. Or, since your lipids are very low, it might be worth discussing reducing the dose which may mean any statin side effects are lessened, especially since there are some of the medical opinion that very low total lipids might actually be bad for you.
The point of my posting was that I thought my lipid results were low, according to the BHF they may not be low , just normal as I , like many of us , am on secondary treatment. I mentioned previously that when I got test results from my GP surgery they just said they were normal, no context . The BHF put the secondary treatment as the context for the results probably being normal and not exceptional. This something I will be taking up with my consultant. I was never briefed that I would need to hit a different set of cholesterol targets because I’m on secondary treatment. I am looking forward to getting the clarification once and for all. I presume there are a many more that are not aware of the different targets?
I’m not remotely suggesting you try this without first discussing with your doctors , but when I first started on statins the prescribing Dr said, if I felt that I was getting side effects, I could stop for two weeks to see if the side effects stopped and then started again after the two week pause and so could be attributed to the statin. Fortunately I have not had any issues (but I am on a lower dose to you).
The Dr also recommended that I should take vitamin D, not because this is connected to cholesterol but because many aches and pains sometimes attributed to statins are actually a deficiency.
Harefield nurse tells me LDL needs to be below 1.8 after HA which is apparently what the rest of Europe uses. Mine has never been that low so I’m on Inclisarin now
My experience of aches and pains resulted from a concoction of atorvostatin blood pressure tablets and clopidogeral. They stopped the statin, changed to a different bp tablet which now is a minimum 2mg Candesartin plus the 75mg clopidogeral. 2mg is enough to keep my blood pressure normal and my only remaining side effect is pins and needles on fingertips and toes. I was told this effect would reduce, which it has but the remaining p and n can be uncomfortable particularly at night.Yes, your review is an urgent requirement.
Thanks for sharing Cushie , I also feel the cold a lot more , hands feet and a constantly runny nose 🤦🏼🤣..
My BP is pretty good , 110-117 over 74-80 . Resting heart rate is 46-50.
I hope I can try something different, I thought I’d be really keen to push on with my training , I really feel so low that I can just about get the outdoors work done on the small holding. I don’t even enjoy walking my Lurcher for 4k atm, it all seems such a hurty effort 🤦🏼
Mention to your GP how you feel and ask about your cholesterol as it seems excessively low. Ask for a break from your statins and see how you get on. My GP told me that the general advise for people who catch bad colds, covid infections is to take what he calls a statin break to help them recover, Cholesterol is very important for helping your bodies metabolism, and tetosterone and vitamin production which is essential for energy and good health. Leave any decisions to your Gp but personally my cardiologist is very happy with my LDL of 1.8 and total cholesterol of 3.5. Good luck.
I have been reading some articles that suggest that if one has had a heart attack or stroke, then target goals for LDL cholesterol should be much lower than the medical standards usually stated. For example, the LDL number should be no higher than 70 mg/dL, or 1.81 mmol/L.
I have been watching American Heart Association television ads recently that say that total LDL levels should be no more than 55 mg/dL, or 1.42 mmol/L, in order to possibly avoid a second heart attack, or stroke.
In the first year following my HA, my LDL cholesterol went from 132 mg/dL to 66 mg./dL. I thought that I was doing great with taking my 40 mg. Atorvastatin and eating healthier. Now, I realize that I need to try to get that level even lower.
You might want to check out this article from the Harvard Medical School:
Cheers Smitty 👊🏻, I found it very frustrating to get my results back with no context and what appears to be the standard goals for for anyone not on secondary treatment.
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