The stress of not being able to tolera... - Cholesterol Support

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The stress of not being able to tolerate Statins

Pollypuss profile image
15 Replies

The stress of not being able to take Statins. This subject comes up often as to whether I should be on Statins. Some people tolerate them well and I have friends who can. That’s fine. However for some of us who have been tried and tested on Statins and proved unable to take them it doesn’t exactly present a happy picture when I read the dire warnings of what will happen if we don’t take them. I despair of the findings that some people are brushed aside and almost ignored if they have side effects. Well I can recall many times when they tested me after my bypass when I just made it to the lavatory after post op which was horrific and very embarrassing in hospital. It wasn’t all “in my head” . In my case I would like to know about people who managed to survive without Statins please

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Pollypuss
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15 Replies
Pollypuss profile image
Pollypuss

thank you

Batty1 profile image
Batty1

I’ve taken 3 different types of statins and could not tolerate any of them one actually caused me to bleed and become anemic. Hypothyroidism can also be a cause high cholesterol have you have your thyroid checked?

Pollypuss profile image
Pollypuss in reply to Batty1

thank you Batty. No my cholesterol isn’t high, in fact it wasn’t when it was discovered I needed a heart triple bypass. I was advised Statins was a good precautionary measure. I was told my heart condition was hereditary . It’s all very strange because all my blood tests and Ecg’s came back normal

Batty1 profile image
Batty1 in reply to Pollypuss

So you actually don’t have high cholesterol, is this correct? Strange.

Pollypuss profile image
Pollypuss in reply to Batty1

no I was really fit for my age and only had symptoms in the last two years which was thought to be muscle pain because I played a lot of tennis. This is the problem of being a women because quite often symptoms aren’t that dramatic

Pollypuss profile image
Pollypuss

well I always eat a healthy diet and my weight was fine. But over 40 years ago I smoked. The cardiologist said this could be a major factor.

Pollypuss profile image
Pollypuss

I rarely eat junk food . Loads of fish hardly any red meat. Lots of fruit and vegetables. If I hadn’t eaten a healthy diet the cardiologist said I would have gone the same way as my parents and (brother who died at 49 .)I eat food as it comes no sauces etc it’s dull but I eat to live not live to eat . However I have had a lot of stress just before my op . It is this I attribute my heart problem

sandybrown profile image
sandybrown

Please take a look at the link below:

bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-336...

"Which oils are best to cook with?"

Pollypuss profile image
Pollypuss in reply to sandybrown

Thank you very much for you reply . I made a study of foods to avoid long before my bypass and I think diet helped. Both parents died aged 70 and my brother died aged 49. Heart disease is rife throughout my family on both sides. I only went to A&E after one night of unusual indigestion (and even that disappeared with Gaviscon) but after tests - an angiogram etc they discovered I needed a triple bypass🥺. I was 77 years old. All previous tests came back normal. I was fit . Today I am 80 years old and shouldn’t be writing this no doubt. I still play tennis and think exercise helps as much as diet. How modern medicine has evolved when a bypass is considered “routine”

sandybrown profile image
sandybrown in reply to Pollypuss

Thank you for your response. I have avoided medication for the last 10 years. Only time will tell.!! eighty ears old, healthy. Please take good care of your health.

Pollypuss profile image
Pollypuss in reply to sandybrown

thank you and well done !

Persevere99 profile image
Persevere99

Hi pollypuss

Some points to consider -

- Excessive calcium in your diet (over 1 g a day) may have been a factor of your atherosclerosis? Calcium is 1 of the 5 possible ingredients of artery plaques

- Are you using Vit K2/Mk7 ? this takes calcium out of the blood and deposits it in the bones where it belongs

- cholesterol may not have been a factor of your atherosclerosis?

however, just to be sure, consider adopting a plant based diet, which as you know, has nil cholesterol? Then the liver will make the cholesterol that you need

All the best!

Persevere99

Pollypuss profile image
Pollypuss in reply to Persevere99

Yes I have thought of calcium actually I drink one cup of hot milk per day. Also I sometime wonder about the excessive hard water we have here - but I’ve been told sometime ago it is an advantage

ALB38 profile image
ALB38

I was put on statins (against my better judgement) after I had a stroke. I had the same side effects as you. I tried three different statins with the same result. I am now on an anticoagulant and plant sterol tablets. No more strokes and normal cholesterol levels are the result. I would not touch statins with a barge pole nowadays.

Pollypuss profile image
Pollypuss in reply to ALB38

Thank you for your reply and I’m so glad you have managed to get treatment that you feel happy with and seems successful . I do get stressed out on this site with people who have no problems with Statins and insist that they are paramount to keeping us alive. I don’t think they understand that they can produce some very unpleasant side effects - not just jointpain - but continuous stomach and bowel problems. When people ask me what was my operation like - a triple bypass- I can honestly say what I now remember most was the drugs I had to take and the side effects .

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