Statins or not?

[Melleray]

Briefly, after many years of uncontrolled AF and five unsuccessful ablations, I had a Pace and Ablate procedure. After a few months I began to have horrendous VT episodes which were much worse than AF, and more serious. I developed moderate impairment and could not climb the stairs easily.

Soon, I had a CRT-D implanted to help improve things and the defib in case it got worse. For a time I was plagued by bigeminy and I was very stressed. Eventually, things settled down and I feel I am in some kind of remission at the moment. My battery should be good for another couple of years I think.

Last week I had a routine annual check with my GP and for the first time in my life, cholesterol was flagged up at 5.6. I am 72, have been vegetarian for years, no weight or blood pressure problems. My diet is very healthy and I consume very little fat. So why?? GP has suggested I take statins - he said diet would only reduce cholesterol by 10%, if that. I am going to suggest I do my best with diet for three months and if no improvement, then I will have the medication. Any advice would be welcome.

[Lowerfield_no_more]

If your diet is already heart healthy it is likely that your GP is correct in his opinion that the small changes you may be able to make will only make a 10% decrease in your lipids levels, which although welcome is not a significant step in reducing the heart health risk you will be looking for. I don't know why you are resisting taking statins but the 90%plus of people who have taken them suffer no side effects and gain the benefit of reduced lipid levels, and also a stabilising effect on arterial plaque which is already laid down. Anyway if I were you I would be trialling statins with your GP input to find out if you are one of the 90% plus group to gain the benefits they bring to millions of people across the world, where any risks from taking the statin are far outweighed by the reduction in heart health risk. But if you find you are statin intolerant your GP has other medication at his/her disposal such as Ezetimibe which can be substituted for statins. Finally do remember that lifestyle measures such as diet to reduce lipid levels are literally for life and any relaxation later on will send your lipid levels back up again, as I found out before I took statins.

[Melleray in reply to Lowerfield_no_more]

Thank you for your advice. I have been talking to someone who didn't get on with statins, so I suppose I am trying to avoid yet more medication. I still can't believe I have high cholesterol. It must be not connected with food. In 2022, I had a lot of stressful events, lost almost a stone in weight. I never regained it. No cholesterol problems then. Thanks for your help.

[Tullymore in reply to Melleray]

I had to try two or three Statins before I found one that suited me. Think they are a must for cholesterol and save many lives.

[Melleray in reply to Tullymore]

Thank you - I am very grateful for your advice.

[BeKind28-]

Hello

The choice has to be yours we share our experiences and mine was I was advised to take statins and I ignored it and went on to have 3 heart attacks and a triple Bypass

Would taking statins have prevented this happening I don't know but I do know if I could I would have listened and taken my Doctors advice when it was given

I hope you make the right choice for you

Let us know how you get on x

[Melleray in reply to BeKind28-]

Thank you for your post. I'm so sorry to hear about your heart attacks. Maybe statins might have helped, but who knows. A friend of mine took statins and still had a heart attack. I may try the statins and see how it goes.

[BeKind28- in reply to Melleray]

Hello

I agree you can still be on statins and have a heart attack but still wished I had listened as they can also help prevent them

Let us know if you go on them how you get on x

[Stentsandrun]

I think you have answered your own question. You say your diet is good and low fat, so how do you propose to make it better? As has been said it is very unlikely you will make a noticeable difference by altering your diet. I am not really sure how your raised cholesterol may impact your particular problem, but my advice would be to take them if they have been suggested as people with heart disease are usually advised that it should be under 4, and ignore any bad press you may have read. Trust me I've tried it, you won't do it by dieting unless your diet is bad to start with, your liver will just make more cholesterol only about 20% is ingested as far as I am aware.

[Melleray in reply to Stentsandrun]

Thanks for your post. I guess I really knew nothing about cholesterol, it never having been an issue. I thought if I cut out the very little fat I do eat, then it would tip the balance, but as you and others have said, it would not go anywhere near enough to correct the problem. So my raised levels must be coming from something else - I don't know what. I am going to try the statins and take it from there.

[CallMeSunny in reply to Melleray]

Had you thought of asking for a repeat blood test as lab results can occasionally be incorrect?

[Melleray in reply to CallMeSunny]

Thank you , but I think I need to follow my GP's advice. I have now discovered that I can see the breakdown of my cholesterol results on our practice website. It seems that my HDL is 1.6 and LDL 3.4 with Trigs coming in at 1.3. I am guessing that either the HDL needs to go up or the LDL come down and it is not going to happen through diet as mine is very healthy. So I do not really have anywhere to go except statins.

[CallMeSunny in reply to Melleray]

Excellent that you’ve been able to see the report. Let’s hope the first statin offered is the one for you and you see the benefit in your next cholesterol bloods! Best wishes.