statins

[eastridingbigden]

Hi I am a 76 year old mail who turned down a triple heart bypass 4 years ago because put it bluntly i did not like the risk that was my decision i have been fine no problems but the cardioligist has now decided my heart is beating okay my cholestrial is 5 I stopped copidogrel unknown to him or my gp I stopped simvastatyn because of side effects I am still working not in a physical way anymore I drive to my clients I can walk around the town not getting out of breath and my G. P wants me to take atorvastatin 10 mg because according to the computer I have 53% risk of having a stroke and the figure should be 16% from April next year it will be 10 % and if anyone hits a 10 % figure we will have to take statins can someone out there tell me if 1 they have taken Atorvastatin 2 what was iot like 3 after reading my story what would you do

[sandybrown]

Sir, Enjoy one life. Medication is what a GP wants to offer. GPs do not know any better! You know your body and its reaction. 10%, 50% these all mats numbers!

Ask you GP how did he or she got to these numbers?

I will be 69 in December, so far I have refused medication, enjoying my life with life style change, regular exercise and food intake control. Only time will tell!!!

Enjoy your working life and relax at home.

[eastridingbigden in reply to sandybrown]

Thanks Bala I am glad you are a okay like you say just enjoy life thinks I will not take the statins its quality of life not quantatiy just needed to know what others thought thanks again

[sparky333]

Personally I would never take a statin.. there are other ways of reducing cholesterol. Your cholesterol is low at 5. Current scientific advice says that cholesterol is 'no longer a nutrient of concern'.

Your doctor receives a financial incentive for prescribing statins. Sounds like like you're doing well so if it ain't broke - don't fix it..

[eastridingbigden in reply to sparky333]

Thanks sparky 333 I agree with you all the way many thanks keep on batting

[sparky333 in reply to eastridingbigden]

yea... I was diagnosed diabetic in 2004.. ever since it's been a battle with docs.. 'take these statins and in 6 months you'll be on metphormin.. eat a low fat diet bla bla..."

No, I've controlled it successfully with just diet and exercise since. Low fat diet? = I've never felt so ill and my cholesterol went through the roof. I recently did a complete self ananlysis on how different foods affect my sugar levels. I changed my diet completely - don't eat bread, porridge, or other starchy foods - I eat eggs, bacon, full fat greek yoghurt, more oilly fish. My 20 stone diabetic nurse had a fit! Told me to look on nice website otherwise I'd be bang in trouble with my diet.

The look on her face when she logged my figures... never been better, cholesterol normal and I'd lost the 1.5 stones that had been impossible before..

I thought of suggesting it to her - but decided not to.. apparently there's 750,000 obese people working for the NHS.. so it's not working for them either..

[CDreamer]

This type of question came up at a local heart & lung group and the answer our GP gave was:- There are 2 groups to think about when considering taking stains 1. Those at high risk due to other heart disease and the rest of the population. The government incentive to prescribe statins are controversial- especially with GPs. There is always a risk / benefit assessment which should be the QRisk - which will give you statistical analysis of your risk of having a stroke or MI. This cannot give you a statistical analysis for you as an individual as it is based on large numbers of the population and not your individual circumstances. Other factors - such as genetic - diet - lifestyle etc will all be important.

In other words no one other than you can decide, but make it an informed decision.

I chose not to take statins, but I have never been in a position that I was advised a bypass was advisable. Well done for getting through that one!

Sometimes the medicines are worse than the disease,

[eastridingbigden]

CDreamer many thanks for your reply I agree with you all the way it was big throw of the dice when I turned down the bypass and since then I don't think the establishment have liked it I also think so many problems people have with statins is unbeliveable the reason I put it on the notice board was to find out if I was the only one thinking they way I do glad am not the only one Many thanks CDreamer for replying but all life is a risk for us all.

[Hidden]

"it will be 10 % and if anyone hits a 10 % figure we will have to take statins "

Hi, this isn't entirely true. New NICE guidelines are that if you have a 10% risk you should be offered statins, but a lot of GPs have said they think this is too low and refuse to implement it, so NICE are backpedalling at bit, and saying they will just trial it.

But in any case your doctor can't make you take statins, they just offer them. I don't take statins despite being told I have possible FH.

[eastridingbigden in reply to Hidden]

whats FH idontbelieveit

[Hidden in reply to eastridingbigden]

familial hypercholesterolemia- a genetic defect that leads to high levels of cholesterol.

[sparky333]

There's also a recent study that suggests a link between low cholesterol (ie people who are on statins and or low fat diet)... and altzheimmers etc.. after a while on just an NHS guideline low fat diet. I noticed my memory was deteriorating even with stuff I do week in week out, so it was worrying..

Since returning to a normal fat intake my memory has improved immensely...

[ckra1000]

There is so much information available about ways to treat heart disease by diets, lifestyle changes and medication. I've found that if you have a point of view there will be something on the web to support that point of view. It's a minefield with no clear general answers, especially about the use of statins. It's an awful decision to have to make.

However, I have been very careful with diet, exercise and lifestyle from a young age as there is a family history of heart disease. Despite this, I had a 95% blockage in one of my heart arteries earlier this year at the age of 53. My total cholesterol (not a good indicator in my opinion) has never measured more that 4.7. I decided to take statins (80mg high dose Atorvastatin) and have never felt better. After 9 months, my cholesterol figures are 2.3 total and I have more good HDL cholesterol than bad LDL cholesterol. My Triglycerides are also very low and my blood pressure and weight are perfect. There is a research article on the PubMed site which claims high dose Atorvastatin can stop the progression of heart disease/atherosclerosis. As I said, you can always find something on the web to support your own beliefs.

I have no idea how much undetected damage the statins may be doing to me, but diet/exercise/lifestyle didn't save me from heart disease so I needed to try something else. So far, so good with no side effects that I can detect.

It's a very individual choice.

[eastridingbigden in reply to ckra1000]

Thanks ckra1000 will take on board what you have mailed might try one pill and see what happens. Hope you keep on working and enjoy life

[jearnold67]

I had a stent put in my chest back in march of 2014 and my cardiologist had me taking 40mg atorvastatin ( lipitor ). I took that for a year, and I'll be honest,, i'm not sure if my muscle aches were from the statin or my work. I do alot of physical work so I get sore alot. When I hit one year he told me to get some lab work done and if my cholesterol was in the normal range he would take me off of it and so he did,,, my levels were great, and total was 128. after 3 months I am back on it cause my diet hasn't changed enough and I need more exercise on a regular basis and to drop a few pounds,, am working on it. I taking 20mg now and hope it does as good but I am not feeling anything bad and I hate taking meds and am doing my best to get off of it.

[ckra1000 in reply to jearnold67]

You make a good point about muscle aches. Of course when you have Cardiovascular Disease the blood supply to your muscles will be reduced through the narrowed arteries around your body. It's not just the arteries to your heart that are effected. This may lead to muscle ache, especially as you try to do more exercise after a stent operation. From this, it's possible that the effect Statins have on muscle aches has been over reported. I'm not saying it doesn't happen as I know one neighbour who lost a lot of muscle mass whilst on statins and ended up in a wheel chair for a short period. They recovered muscle mass quite quickly when they stopped taking statins. Some people get Statin side effects and others don't.

[jearnold67 in reply to ckra1000]

That is why I work out,,, cardio boxing, treadmill,,, weights ,swimming. I have read that over time statins can clear your arteries of plaque and that getting the blood pumping helps a lot. I am a pump mechanic by trade and when my cardiologist was telling me about exercise and getting the blood flow moving,, I really understood him. It is called scouring velocity, it is the fluid moving through the pipe at such a speed as to keep debrit from sticking to the walls of the pipes, so if you get your heart rate up you are really moving the blood through your pipes or arteries. I know everyone is affected a bit different by statins,, but can't they be good for only a short time? I for one will suffer through muscle pains for a bit to help add time to my life,,, remember,,, it took us years to get to the condition we are in and that was easy,,,,, to get back close to how we were before is going to take a lot of work.

[eastridingbigden in reply to jearnold67]

thanks jearnold67 thanks for that,I have been asked to have 10 mg am still thinking about taking had the box a week cannot bring myself to take one.Glad your doing okay its lousy getting old but it has to come I suppose I might take on tonight and see what happens but if any change at all even a sneeze am stopping it l.o.l

[jearnold67 in reply to eastridingbigden]

I'm not old yet,,, I was 47 when my stent was put in a little over a year ago. I know that the medications that you have to take for high blood pressure and high cholesterol really make you think if your just trading those problems for the ones the medication causes. I hate taking medications and luckily I am only taking a 10 mg of lisinopril and an 81 mg asprin once a day and 20 mg lipitor at night. My blood pressure is under control and it gets better with exercise and if I drop 20 lbs my doc will take me off the lisinopril and I still need to get my diet more in balance to get off the statin and I will do it. Don't give up,, I used to think I was indestructible till this,, but it really opened my eyes as to how long I had let myself go before this. When I was a kid,, I played baseball,,, football and soccer,,,, I would go swimming everyday in the summers,, hike in the redwoods,, till I hit high school,, then it was down hill from there,, I was a smoker,, always fast food,, I was very stupid. your health is worth working for.