Statins feed back help: Hi has anyone got any... - Healthy Eating

Healthy Eating

60,750 members8,166 posts

Statins feed back help

Lee2703 profile image
36 Replies

Hi has anyone got any feed back about statins, my cholesterol is 6.2 I eat healthy and do 4 classes a week and gym work twice a week. Any suggestions.

Written by
Lee2703 profile image
Lee2703
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Read more about...
36 Replies
Petefromwales profile image
Petefromwales

I stopped taking them as was advised and had very high blood pressure and cholesterol went up thro the roof, so keep taking them.

HealthSeeker7 profile image
HealthSeeker7

I would suggest doing some research online about statins, and ask yourself why they are being pushed upon us so relentlessly. Many years ago my doctor told me I would drop down dead from a heart attack if I didn't take statins because my cholesterol is very high ... just like my healthy 91 year old mother's is. (My dad is a healthy 98, so I know I've inherited my parents strong constitutions, and I practice their healthy diet.) I refuse to take Statins, and I changed my doctor when he tried in such a negative way to make me take them.

I've read that statins damage muscle tissue - well our heart is a muscle! A friend of mine complained about muscle pain when he started taking Statins a few years before he died.

There are a lot of misconceptions about cholesterol - it is not the enemy, we actually need it. There are many websites addressing the truth about cholesterol and statins. Here's part of an article from this one:

thecholesteroltruth.com/ppc...

"Doctors and drugs companies want you to believe that cholesterol is a major cause of heart attacks and strokes.

Why? So that they can sell more cholesterol-lowering drugs, known as statins…

One in three people over the age of 45 in the UK – that’s 7 million people – currently take statins at a cost to the National Health Service of £450 million per year. Sales of statin drugs have skyrocketed to an eye-watering £60 billion per year which makes statins the world’s best-selling class of drugs.

But what you’re not being told is that cholesterol isn’t the arch villain it’s made out to be. . . and that all these people (and you could be one of them) are risking their health.

Statins come with a huge list of debilitating side effects, including:

Heart failure...

Diabetes...

Muscle pain and weakness...

Liver damage...

Dementia...

Kidney failure...

Fatigue and shortness of breath...

Cataracts...

Hair loss...

Digestive problems...

...and even Cancer

They are also linked to depression, loss of cognitive function and memory, nerve damage and sexual dysfunction.6

So, why don’t doctors, hospitals or drug companies — or anyone else in the medical profession — tell you the shocking truth about statins’ side effects?

Why wouldn’t they want you to know that these cholesterol-lowering drugs do almost NOTHING to reduce heart attack risk? 7

Simple: Because when you don’t take their drugs . . . or when you prevent disease or heal yourself with safer alternatives… they don’t make a single PENNY!

Pharmaceutical companies also don’t want you to know that statins seriously deplete your body of Coenzyme-Q10 (CoQ10) – the vital heart nutrient produced by your body that naturally PREVENTS heart attacks and strokes.

CoQ10 stops cholesterol from blocking arteries, it helps lower blood pressure and rejuvenates heart cells…

Yet statins destroy this essential ‘life spark’… diminishing it to such an extent that it reaches dangerously low levels. This increases your risk of serious side-effects like muscle wastage and pain, confusion, forgetfulness, disorientation, fatigue, liver damage, migraines, nausea and diarrhoea, to name but a few…

You simply need to look at all the known side-effects of statins to realise that any possible benefit from taking these drugs comes at a massive price to your health."

Lee2703 profile image
Lee2703 in reply to HealthSeeker7

Many thanks you have given me a lot to think about. My cholesterol is related to hereditary not diet or life style. This is why the doctor said I should consider statins. I do 5 classes a week and gym work 3 times a week plus I eat very healthy. And still my countis 6.1. Based on this should I be concerned. I do have 1 benocol drink every morning.

HealthSeeker7 profile image
HealthSeeker7 in reply to Lee2703

My cholesterol was, and maybe still is 9 (UK reading), the highest my doctor said he'd ever seen. His statement concerned me enough that for a short time I started taking a tablespoon of Lecigran - soya lecithin - a day, which brought my cholesterol down to 6.9, then 6.3, before I'd read enough to realise high cholesterol might actually be a sign of strong health and we shouldn't mess around with it. My mother's cholesterol is also 9, and as I've said, she is 91.

Cholesterol lowering food and drugs have benefitted the manufacturers and drug companies more than us. Lowering cholesterol is like killing off firemen who are fighting a fire.

zoeharcombe.com/the-knowled...

chriskresser.com/the-diet-h...

Lee2703 profile image
Lee2703 in reply to HealthSeeker7

I have been on the Internet all afternoon, Wow the information I have found out about statins. The side affects are unbelievable. I have decided not to go back to the doctor at all, as I am not going to take any statin. Many thanks for your input.

lilbird profile image
lilbird in reply to Lee2703

I was just saying further up the thread, i was told by someone that eating an apple a day is just as good as statins for lowering the cholesterol level. :)

Paul12 profile image
Paul12 in reply to HealthSeeker7

Surely with cholesterol that high LDL is at least 5 and the particle size and quantity may be very dangerous. Lowering cholesterol may be exactly the right strategy if you do so by identifying the cause!

Paul12 profile image
Paul12 in reply to Lee2703

If the cholesterol is DAMAGED cholesterol it may be very dangerous indeed! What were the PLAC and VAP test results?

HealthSeeker7 profile image
HealthSeeker7 in reply to Paul12

Paul12 What damages cholesterol?

HealthSeeker7 profile image
HealthSeeker7 in reply to HealthSeeker7

draxe.com/low-cholesterol-l...

Paul12 profile image
Paul12 in reply to HealthSeeker7

Lifestyle factors only some of which we can change

Paul12 profile image
Paul12 in reply to HealthSeeker7

Sugar, stress, high carbs...

Tibblington profile image
Tibblington in reply to HealthSeeker7

Health Seeker7 - your post is absolutely spot-on. No doctor knows what your cholesterol level should be and moreover if you question them they have no idea what cholesterol does. My doctor wanted to prescribe statins for me but when my wife and I explained in detail the function of cholesterol she went silent - she evidently didn't know and had just read the publicity put out by the pharmaceutical companies to sell their ghastly products. I recommend that you read the article at: healthscams.org.uk/are-stat... and also healthscams.org.uk/statins-...

I have a lot of criticism of the Eatwell programme and will be commenting further.

Paul12 profile image
Paul12 in reply to Tibblington

Damaged cholesterol can be very dangerous. Do not ignore cholesterol results - disaggregate them!

Tibblington profile image
Tibblington in reply to Paul12

I have not heard of "damaged cholesterol" but bear in mind that cholesterol is a repair medium and only collects where damaged tissue exists which can be a simple cut or external injury or blood vessels. Have a look at: healthscams.org.uk/heart-su... where an honest heart surgeon explains things better than I can.

Remember that at the top of every doctor's prescription pad there is a note not available to the patient, it says "Give the patient a good dose of fear before anything else". Sorry to be a cynic.

A well known and highly respected physician the Late Surgeon Captain T.L. Cleave FRCP gave us all a very simple message, "Don't tamper with food". We would do well to follow his advice.

Paul12 profile image
Paul12 in reply to Tibblington

Damaged is where it has been glycated or oxidised. You then need a VAP test to investigate VLDL particle size and quantity - they're the real killers. You also need a PLAC test. All are available in UK at a price less than 70 beers...

Tibblington profile image
Tibblington in reply to Paul12

I was interested in your reply but we are in danger of going down ever narrowing corridors. We didn't have these problems 100 or even 50 years ago. I doubt whether such problems would be here today if we ate what Nature provided instead of "tampering" with it as do the food companies. Just look at some of the packets and see what is included. Hippocrates said," Let medicine be your food and food be your medicine" He was born in 460BC.

Paul12 profile image
Paul12 in reply to Tibblington

Untrue. We didn't have the means of testing, all those years ago. We had heart attacks but we didn't overeat so much, tighter social communities and manual labour. Also people didn't live so long - strokes (75%) occur in the over 60s, for example.

lilbird profile image
lilbird in reply to HealthSeeker7

my test put me up at 9 as well, and I too was put onto statins. After 2 different types of pills and bad side effects (including really painful feet!) i took myself off them. I have been told that eating an apple a day is just as effective anyway, and also that it is a symptom of low thyroid condition which I suffer from. It is great to hear someone else saying that it can be absolutely okay to have a high count. Im getting another blood test soon, and am interested to know if it will have changed at all, but I don't want to get myself all worked up like the last time.

in reply to HealthSeeker7

Thanks petefromwales. I have just had a blood test because my cholesterol was high and my Dr. said he was on the verge of putting me on satins. I knew nothing about them but I said leave it with me, I will see what I can do. I just watched my sat.fat intake and a side bonus was I lost a good bit of weight. Whether this is going to help I have not a clue and I have just had the dreaded blood test and wait to see how I have done. When I asked at the hosp. how they worked out what it should be she just said there was a range that was considered to be acceptable. She did not really know. If it comes back as high I shall ask my Dr. how he knows how to determine what it should be. I always have perfect blood pressure. What ever, I had decided not to take them if offered. Your post reinforces that decision. Thanks 2well-ington

Petefromwales profile image
Petefromwales in reply to HealthSeeker7

The devil if you do I stopped my statins as advised by this company and I visited my Dr in Spain and they told me if I did not go back on my statins for my very high readings I will have a stroke😳 so went back on them and my cholesterol is normal.

Silver_Fairy profile image
Silver_Fairy

Has your GP suggested you start taking them?

Statins do a lot of harm. You just have to google and you will see lots of articles - tandfonline.com/doi/full/10...

biznews.com/health/2015/04/...

Statins lower the level of Coenzyme Q10 in the body - ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

Look up Dr Kendrick, sorry cannot link to his website at present.

GP's get rewarded for prescribing statins, aswell as drugs like anti depressants.

Is your diet as healthy as you think? High fat, medium protein, low carbs is the way to go. Have you had your thyroid levels checked? Hypothyroidism can cause a higher cholesterol count.

Lee2703 profile image
Lee2703 in reply to Silver_Fairy

Yes my Doctor did suggest that I take Lipitor 20mg. I live a very healthy life style. 5 classes a week, plus 3 times in the gym. My diet is fruit, veg, fish, white meat ect. Yes I have been told of joint pain cramps and the liver might not work as well as it should, but when people go on about strokes and heart disease it really frightens me, due to my own mother passing away at 39 due to a stroke. Many thanks for your reply.

Silver_Fairy profile image
Silver_Fairy in reply to Lee2703

Sorry to hear of your mums' passing at such a young age.

You seem to have your health well in hand, so you may not be as at risk as you think. Thing is, taking statins, you will be adding problems not taking them away. Please think carefully before letting your GP prescribe them.

Apparently vitamin D deficiency can cause strokes. Ask your GP to test your levels.

Lee2703 profile image
Lee2703 in reply to Silver_Fairy

Hi silver_Fairy many thanks for your input, I have been on the Internet all afternoon, Wow the stuff I have found out about statins, I am very shocked. They had another treatment they are called Bezafibrate, Not a stain. But when I looked in to them they seem to have the same side affects as statins. Have you heard of them ? I am going to look into plant sterol, at what I can buy and take. Have you any suggestions about this please. But thank you, you have made me think twice about statins. X

Silver_Fairy profile image
Silver_Fairy in reply to Lee2703

There are probably a few things more you can do. Do you smoke? Maybe make more changes to your diet? Ask your GP to test your thyroid levels (you may have to give him some sham 'symptoms'!) as if out of kilter can affect your chance of having a stroke. Definitely ask for Vitamin D to be tested (there is mention in the following link re deficiency) If you need to supplement, you must take Vit K and magnesium aswell. Most people in the UK are deficient in Vit D and magnesium. How are your stress levels?

Try a Paleo diet - paleoedge.com/the-diet-myth... Also has a lot of info on statins and good and bad cholesterol. Funnily enough, statins depletes many of the vits & minerals needed to STOP you having a stroke! Ironic eh?!

Nothing can take away all your worry about having a stroke, but you can do as much as possible to arm yourself with the knowledge to help you avoid one. After that trust to faith and enjoy life!

PS When I was young I would rarely have thought to research things regarding my health. If I had I may not have the health problems I have now. But, in researching since diagnosis' I have stopped them being made worse by Specialists recommendations!

The internet has helped me loads, but I also use my common sense and know to take some 'advise' with a pinch of salt.

Good luck :)

Paul12 profile image
Paul12 in reply to Lee2703

Fruit is not as good as you think. Statins won't stop a stroke. Exercise, relaxation and especially, lowering your blood pressure, will prevent most strokes

lilbird profile image
lilbird in reply to Lee2703

My sister died very young of multiple strokes, it turned out that she had Hughes syndrome, sticky blood, and if she had been treated with blood thinners could have been okay. After she died I got the lupus blood tests done to make sure I was clear. If you haven't asked for this already it would be worth doing, in case your mother was a sufferer, it is definitely genetic. In my sister's case it was her father's family who passed on this problem. It isn't the sort of condition that doctors consider.

happydodderer profile image
happydodderer

Instead of statins try plant sterols. These are what the yogurt manufacturers which advertise their cholesterol lowering products put into them. They are available as a food supplement, are natural, and can be very effective - just do a search.

Paul12 profile image
Paul12 in reply to happydodderer

In your search you will find published paper clearly linking sterols to CHD

dickymint678 profile image
dickymint678

New to the site but agree with Health Seeker and Silver Fairy. Do some research - you will be able to enlighten yourself. In this highly commercial world, we need to take control of our own health by researching about the topics of interest and developing a view whether the commercial interests are being put before our health. Remember, just because something is written (in text books) doesn't necessarily make it so! I will recommend Dietdoctor.com as an excellent point of reference considering the question you asked. Good luck!

Tibblington profile image
Tibblington in reply to dickymint678

Be careful as I think Dietdoctor.com is commercially funded.

dickymint678 profile image
dickymint678 in reply to Tibblington

I know they are funded by their members and maybe some other LCHF donors. They do not sell any product only the LCHF lifestyle. I think there would be little of interest in any Pharma or Food Co financing them as the "message" is whole and nutritious food not processed & commercialised and reducing internal inflamation due to Food and Drug stresses on the body.

Tibblington profile image
Tibblington

Can I suggest that you have a look at articles as follows: healthscams.org.uk/statins-... and healthscams.org.uk/are-stat... you could also read what I have said to Health Seeker7.

in reply to Tibblington

Hi Tibblington, I had the dreaded blood test for cholesterol today and did as you suggested and asked how it was worked out what mine should be. She said she did not do the tests and that she thought there was a range that was probably acceptable and if you were below or above !!. So I shall wait to find out the result and then ask my Dr. I have done my best, low sat.fat intake, plenty of veg, fish and don,t eat much red meat anyway. Have changed over to natural yogurt with fresh fruit. Will let you know how i get on.2well-ington

Yogiado profile image
Yogiado

Earl grey tea works wonders

You may also like...

Cooking or feeding for one

it after a second helping. I either waste it or eat it and then I have eaten too much. Ideas please

CHD + Statins = very confused!

needs a stent or bypass. He has been prescribed statins to lower his cholesterol, which he is...

Confused is back again

my progress. However, I`m sorry to say I have not got very far. Following instructions from my GP I...

Christmas chocolates help !

pizza . Still loads of chocolates in the house . Any tips on avoiding Christmas goodies? I’ve made...

Help with large tummy

like to ask if anyone has got any suggestions on how I could get my tummy flatter. Any help would...