Taking a statin for HCC prevention

[Bluegirl52]

The Cleveland Clinic just posted the results of a study they just completed recommending that people with Cirrhosis should take a statin to reduce the risk of HCC. Has anyone seen this and what do you think?

[one2one]

N.H.S. uk —- say statins are a group of drugs that helps lower cholesterol in the blood and reduces the production of it in the liver.

HOWEVER N.H.S. uk—- also say that

Statins shouldn’t be taken if you have severe liver disease, or if bloods show your liver is not working properly.

[Bluegirl52 in reply to one2one]

From some of the studies that I’ve read, it seems statins should be used for HCC prevention if you have compensated cirrhosis and are Child Pugh A...the least severe stage of cirrhosis. This is where I am at this point. My hepatologist at Duke ok’d then for me yesterday at my six month appointment, but the final decision lies with my cardiologist because of my heart failure. Duke is still contending that my cirrhosis is because of congestive hepatopathy which happens from right sided heart failure’s effect in the liver. Since my ultrasound did see some fat, I stay on a fatty liver diet. Trying to cover all my bases the best I can!😊

[one2one in reply to Bluegirl52]

O what tangled lives we lea eh, ha. Having had my follow up scan on the 2nd January I found myself in some discomfort, so visited GP re analgesia. She said she would ring for my blood results today and ring me at home which she did. She couldn’t get all results of bloods, but felt happy for me to take paracetamol if required. She had however managed to obtain my scan results. Found it difficult to access as she had not got previous scan to do a comparison with, but it seems I now have fluid around my liver which she felt was the cause of my present discomfort. No doubt I will get the picture when I see my consultant on 27th February. All best wishes x

[Bluegirl52 in reply to one2one]

Hoping you feel better and that your scan results are good!

[one2one in reply to Bluegirl52]

Thank you bluegirl 😉

[Ellewoods1 in reply to Bluegirl52]

I also see a Hepatologist at Duke. I have PBC and recently diagnosed with a fatty liver. I’m exercising and eating healthy. I’ve recently lost 28 lbs. and working on losing 30 more. I wish you the best!

[khanahsan in reply to Ellewoods1]

Has your fibroscan improved?

[Moonsts]

I'm in USA and a liver specialist nurse practitioner said to go on statin and metformin after attending a conference. I have distrusted her from the beginning even though she fast tracked me onto Harvoni.

That said I didnt feel right about it. So I went to a local hospital with a full liver and transplant team. I now consult with a doctor there and when I asked her about it, she said no. So I wont be taking it. I'm waiting for my follow up with her after she had 16 vials of blood drawn!

A few more blood tests and I see her in March.

Fingers crossed all will be reasonable.

[one2one in reply to Moonsts]

🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼hope it gives you good results. I’ve had my first visit to the leisure centre today, first in 15 months, 😅 phew hard work, but in general pleased with my progress. Experiencing some pain in my liver areas at times, but not too bad at the moment. This all started following my check abdominal scan beginning of the month. See my consultant the end of February, so hopefully get a better picture. All best wishes x

[Moonsts in reply to one2one]

I agree exercise is of great advantage!

For me it's not that easy. I tore a rotator cuff and had surgery. Never fully recovered from it. To add on, my "good" shoulder hurts almost worse because of arthritis. So moving about gets difficult. I have full body pain. Hence they are now testing me for Sjogrens disease (I have many of the markers for it) and rheumatoid arthritis. Both auto immune disorders. I link them to my Harvoni. I've had other issues as well that points me to this thought. Time will tell.

So while I await results for these, I'm happy to feel good enough to get out of bed and maybe make it to the market.

Before this I used to volunteer handling horses for hippotherapy, a certified open water scuba diver, skiing instructor. So really active most if my life!

Since the hep c diagnoses and Harvoni 4 years ago, I now feel like an invalid.

[Alterity]

Now I find that very funny because my heart doctor tried me on 2 different statins and my liver rejected them and put me into a heart attack. Within an hour of taken a statin. I swelled so much. Then my heart dr tried me on something else, even though he said my cholesterol was very good. He said I had a small blockage and this would prevent it from flaking off. I argued with him. I said my liver does not like medication you see that with the statins. If I have a heart attack it's probably because my liver shut down. People that are dying of heart attacks actually probably had nash and they did not know it and their liver shut down and caused the heart attack. I said your giving me meds to heal my heart or prevent it from having a heart attack, but your killing my liver with the meds, that was proven by the Statins. Makes no since to me. He finally agreed for me not to take the meds. The next day I received an email from the heart dr. saying he apologized for not understanding, he had read more on NASH and understood why I did not want to take the drugs. My NASH Doctor says Dr. just to give you a med. That is what probably has caused all this NASH in the first place. To many medications and not natural eating and living. To many Steroids and preservatives in everything. It's killing us all.

[Bluegirl52 in reply to Alterity]

I can totally understand your situation Alterity. My problem though is that I have heart failure and coming off my meds is out of the question. If a heart failure patient stops diuretics, they would literally drown in their own fluid. I have taken a statin before with no problems. We’re all very different and our livers react differently also to many different things. The drs aren’t even sure that I have a fatty liver since they can’t run the tests that would tell us because of implanted devices and they don’t want to do a biopsy because of the risk for my heart. I’m very well compensated with my cirrhosis at this point so I’m doing everything possible, including eating the diet for fatty liver and trying to watch anything else that might harm my liver.

[Alterity]

I have heart failure too. A blockage, but my cholesterol is low, and I do take a diuretic that sometimes does not do the trick, but the more meds I take to help the heart is killing my liver. I ask for only meds that do not go through the liver. I just had a shut down (which I call it crashing) this week when I was exhauster, I gained 8 pounds of water. Then 2 days later the liver started functioning again and the water went away and the heart felt much better. We are all different but that's how mine works. Good Luck

[Bluegirl52 in reply to Alterity]

Thanks for your quick reply. My bad cholesterol is raised a bit. My hepatologist at Duke University has ok’d the statin and we will check liver enzymes in one month. Duke says my cirrhosis is from congestive hepatopathy from right sided heart failure. They say to take care of my heart and I will take care of my liver. I’m trying. I’m 67 and had my first open heart surgery at age 22. Have been dealing with my heart for a long time. I’m blessed, though!

[one2one]

Hi bluegirl, glad to see your still with us, beginning to worry hadn’t seen any recent posts from you!. Still struggle at times with technology ha.

Hopefully you’re coping okay 👌 with the issues of this awful virus 🦠, and are somewhat improved since you’re recent hospitalisation 😊.

Chrissie 🙏👌

[Bluegirl52 in reply to one2one]

Thanks for checking on me Chrissie. Just had my second hospital stay since Dec for another small bowel bleed made worse from Coumadin I take for my artificial heart valve. First bleed in early Dec. Had a virtual phone visit with a dr at Duke that specializes in these bleeds and he said that my heart failure makes specialized testing too risky for me. So we’ll have to try to manage this with blood transfusions and iron as needed. On a positive note, it appears my liver is performing very well through all this. Still staying on my liver friendly diet and seeing my Hepatologist at Duke every six months. Hope this finds you doing well. The threat of this virus is certainly making changes in our lives a new normal. Stay safe! Linda

[one2one]

Hi linda, you do seem to have gone through an awful lot again, though you seem to coping well with it all. I’m so pleased the team are really on the ball, ensuring all your treatment requirements are available to you.

Like yourself I’m still keeping my diet up. Only one change in general with me is since my last consultant trip, which was fine, I did mention I’d got swelling in ankles & legs. He advised me to see GP if it didn’t subside it a couple of weeks. It continued spreading up to higher abdomen 😟. I’m now on a small dose diuretic, which is most certainly helping, but it has slowed me down mobility wise. Still hopefully it will improve in time.

Keep well & I’ll be trying to do the same yeh 👌.

Chrissie 💕