Statins

[William_moyer1]

I am totally confused. I had a stent put in a blocked coronary artery one year ago. Couldn't take Simvastatin at first but when I tried with small doses over time, the side effects went away. I take Uniquinol to counter the effects of the statin. My LDL is now back to normal and I just ran my first 5k since the stent was put in. I am 70.

If you can take statins or take with Ubiquinol and your bad cholesterol goes down, I fail to see the harm from the statin. Can someone explain or start a conversation? Thanks.

[shahid75]

I agree! I take 10mg lipitor once a day due to genetic cholesterol of 7.8, been taking for 4 weeks now with no side effects, I also take 100mg ubiquinol as well. If at my next blood works my numbers come down I will be very happy man. Not sure myself why there is so much negativity around statins, maybe it works for some but not for all, millions of people take them with no side effects at all from them.

[BerniceFeicht in reply to shahid75]

My md never mentioned q10 and she has had me on 3 different statins finally I said no more due to muscle pain this last statin has given me chest pains.

[eraruc44]

I don't understand your confusion.

You take statins, you exercise and you take an antioxidant in tablet form?

Foods with ubiquinol are varied; from fruits and vegetables to meats and grains. Perhaps one of the foods that has the highest ubiquinol content has to be meat. This includes red meats, poultry, fish and turkey. According to the USDA, one serving of fried chicken, that’s about 3 ounces, will give you 1.4 milligrams of ubiquinol.

What do you eat... Mars bars...

If you eat healthy and excercise then you don't need Statins. Cholestorol is a natural element produced by your liver plus what you eat and drink.

How much water do you drink per day.

I found this, it's the BLURB for Ubiquinol or Q10.

•Coenzyme Q10 is used for energy production by every cell in your body, and also helps protect against cellular damage from free radicals. CoQ10 is especially important if you’re taking a statin drug as statins deplete your body of CoQ10, thereby speeding up progression of heart disease

•Ubiquinol is the reduced form of CoQ10 – the effective form your body naturally uses to transfer free electrons – and research shows that this reduced form is superior for your health in a number of ways, primarily due to its superior bioavailability if you’re over 25

•CoQ10 has been available for many decades, but the reduced version, ubiquinol, has only been commercially available for about six years. Prior to that it could only be made for research studies. There are well over 100 studies supporting its use and demonstrating its many health benefits, including its beneficial effect on statin-induced myalgia and other diseases rooted in mitochondrial dysfunction

•Studies have demonstrated that ubiquinol has a positive effect on: inflammatory processes, septic shock (which is also associated with mitochondrial dysfunction), cardiac arrest and stroke recovery, and periodontal disease (including gingivitis and dry mouth)

[zorro1]

Genetics? Both of my parents had terrible problems with statins. My father was taken off them because of what the statins were doing to his liver and my mother's muscles and joints were affected to the point where she was in such agony she couldn't walk. I recently bought them dna tests that allow them to look back at their genetic ancestry. In addition these tests can identify certain genetic configurations related to health including whether the tested individual is deficient in Alpha 1 antitrypsin. People who are deficient can develop lung and liver disease at a young age especially if they smoke, or later in life as damage builds up in their bodies. Both of my parents are carriers of this condition. As a carrier your liver could be subject to ongoing stress and damage without you being aware of it. Throw statins into the mix and perhaps your liver cannot cope. Statins are not cleared properly from your system and so build up in your body. I believe 1 in 25 people with European ancestry are carriers of this condition - possibly more, but most will not know it. How many other genetic configurations are there that may make individuals react badly to statins? I have no idea and I suspect the medical world has no idea either.

[Ladybowhunter1 in reply to zorro1]

I am one of the ones that cannot take a statin. I was almost down and couldnt get up without alot of pain.

[zorro1 in reply to Ladybowhunter1]

So sorry to hear that. I hope that you are fully recovered now.

[Andyman]

So as far as I can see millions take Statins and have no side effects. Also millions take statins and have really bad side effects. As I have said many times we are all different and this would explain why it's OK for some and not OK for others. Those that have side effects do tend to make more noise about statins and so being controversial as well get more press. If you have had a stent fitted you are probably on Statins as it helps further blockages occurring in the future as well as controlling your cholesterol.

[PeterWh in reply to Andyman]

Yes millions do. Many do get pains etc but do not associate them with the statin or put it down to other things including old age, especially as it is a gradual increase in pains.

In my case I definitely had NOT associated the increased pains and cramps and sleeping with simvastatin that I had been prescribed and would have continued suffering and it probably getting much worse than it did. Many medics and physios (and similar) do not realise the extent that statins can cause problems.

The only reason I found out was because my pharmacist offered a full and in depth medical review about two months after I started warfarin (initially I was on Apixaban). This was circa 4.5 months after starting simvastatin. Pharmacist said that I was overdue for a blood test after starting simvastatin. Had test then next day multiple urgent calls from GPs. Blood test had showed liver failing and 4 times over maximum of range. They immediately stopped simvastatin and six weeks later back within range for liver function and pain and cramp levels had reduced from where they were and reduced further though I still have more now than before I started simvastatin but obviously don't know why this is.

[sandybrown]

The question statin as primary medication "Is it necessary?", There are many discussion going on, on this subject.

Station as secondary medication after a heart attack, "YES" it is necessary to help with blood flow.

We all react differently to different medication therefore if there are no issues with the statin you take then where is the problem?

for good health, food and drink intake control, watching out for free sugar in food and hidden sugar in both food and drink and regular exercise can help towards a healthy life.

After heart attack there is no risk calculation!, The question in how important are blood cholesterol test numbers?

Let us all have the discussion to these questions.