Have been told to take Stanol by consultant, not having much luck finding it. Anyone heard of it?

[mybow]

First lipid consultation yesterday has left me reeling! All too much too fast and would appreciate some perspective if anyone has any advice to offer. LDL 5.2, overall 7.3. Had to stop simvastatin, have a genetic muscle problem. Consultant changed blood pressure tablets, told me to stop eating practically everything, gave me absorption inhibitors, couldn't find a pulse in my feet and I left the room thinking I was going to drop dead any second. As this would be very inconvenient to say the least I could do with some reassurance please!

[Aliwally]

Hi Mybow,

I think I read your entry on the FH Facebook page....I'm not a member, just an interested observer. I know what you mean about too fast..I also went to my first visit expecting all the answers and all I got was a lot more uncertainty and headaches!

I would think that your consultant probably meant the stanols that you get in the Benecol products such as the drinks and the yoghurts which you can buy everywhere now.

I also stopped statins because I had loads of side effects and my mum died from motor neurone disease, so I have muscle/nerve disorder in my family and for me the risks outweighed the benefits.

We all have different stories, and opinions, but welcome to Health Unlocked.

[mybow in reply to Aliwally]

Hi Aliwally, as you can tell I'm posting everywhere I can find hoping to find some answers!

My consultant just said stanol, but when I googled it as a product name it came up as an anabolic steroid used by bodybuilders, which didn't seem right. He wrote stanol, plant cholesterol, but the one in Holland and Barrett was sterol and stanol, don't know the difference. I don't feel I can check with his secretary as they wouldn't be bothered with the minor details! Will have to use my common sense when I get it back, the visit has really unnerved me.

So sorry to hear about your Mum, it must have been awful for her and for you and your family.

Thank you for the welcome and I hope we talk again.

[Seahorse]

Hi mybow - plant stanols and sterols are exactly the same thing, just 2 different names for same product. As Aliwally says you can get them as Benecol yoghurt drinks but Flora also do one and tesco and Asda do their own brand which are much cheaper and do the job just as well. Take them with your main meal of the day and they can lower your cholesterol by up to 10% and I can say from experience they do actually work as myself and my children all take them with success. You can also get them in tablet form and Healthspan do one. Hope this helps. Try cutting down on sugar and refined carbohydrates to lower your cholesterol too.

[Kristicats in reply to Seahorse]

I had taken plant stanol tablets for a year 3 every night and just had my blood results they reduced my cholesterol from 6.8 to 6.3. Not really impressed. Cannot take statins as badly effect my joints.

[mybow]

Hi Seahorse, thank you so much for your helpful reply. I have ordered some from Healthspan (who I have used before) and will see how I go on them. I don't use sugar, have used sweeteners for years, but now I find they can be harmful and could be responsible for my borderline diabetes, so they're in the bin! Diet is fairly healthy already, I think I've inherited high cholesterol from Mum.

I have decided to take the drugs the consultant suggested, including the sterols, and hope that the combination has a good effect.

Thank you again.

[Buckwheat1958]

Stanols and sterols are not exactly the same, chemically, but they're close enough. There's no inexpensive way to add them to your diet, as far as I know. Supplements like Super-Beta-Prostate, buttery spreads like Benecol, or fatty fruits like avocados or olives… there isn't enough in most vegetables to add up to anything.