Statin update - and thanks to all who helped!

[powerwalk]

After my horror at being told I need to take statins for cholesterol - I went to my GP and told her I would prefer to try do it with diet - to see if I can get it down. She agreed but said if it doesn't work I will "have" to go on the statins!! So goodby my lovely cheese and chocolate - to be enjoyed in very small amounts - and the rest of the goodies! Hoping this works!! Thank you to everyone who helped me out on this. (I find it somewhat interesting that two years ago my cholesterol was way down - which is before I went on the steroids)! Just saying!!!

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Exactly - pred raises cholesterol levels. It will go back down as you reduce the dose...

[Primarose]

Good luck powerwalk, I'm trying to do the same but I find cheese the hardest.

When I told my doctor what I was doing he said don't cut everything out you have to enjoy something.

[powerwalk in reply to Primarose]

Oh I know - the list my GP was reading out - crikey - I was dwindling on the spot!!! Then with me trying to cut down/out the cheese - someone left a HUGE bag of grated cheese in the fridge here beside me in work. Its laughing at me every time I goto the fridge for something!! I suppose I was also telling myself I needed the cheese for the calcium with the pred - so in my head it was a free for all!!!! Ah well - good luck to us both!

[Primarose in reply to powerwalk]

Maybe we shouldn't mention "cheese" for a while! You can get low fat cheese, never tried it but it might be worth a go. I am a compulsive label checker now, how boring can I get!!

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Primarose]

Most low fat hard cheese is awful - but I tried one here recently that actually tasted like cheese!!!!

[Primarose in reply to PMRpro]

Can you give us a hint please!

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Primarose]

Sorry - can't remember which alm it came off! And I seriously doubt it is made in large enough quantities to get a passport...

[maria40 in reply to Primarose]

Waitrose half fat mature does taste like cheese which means you still have to beware of eating too much of it. The best cholesterol reducer - and completely natural are oats - in porage or muesli. Now one can also buy oat 'milk' but I haven't tried that. I've recently switched from the so-called cholesterol reducing spreads - Benecol etc - because they contain a mass of chemically produced oils as well as palm oil. I now use goats' butter which is naturally lower in cholesterol than cows' milk butter and goats' cheese I love anyway. Sorry about so many mentions of the forbidden six-letter word.

[piglette in reply to Primarose]

Forget low fat anything. They have been fiddling around with the food and you probably do not want to know! It now seems from what I read that we need saturated fats, rather like the egg scare it seems to have gone away.

[Rokerman in reply to powerwalk]

Hi Powerwalk - I was prescribed Statins well before PMR was diagnosed a couple of years ago. Have always had a problem swallowing tablets (with water) but easily done with food - so I took the Statin with, errm - a nice chunk of cheese........

[powerwalk in reply to Rokerman]

Oh thats funny!!!!! I love it!

[PMRnewbie2017]

Can I throw something else into the mix. Sugar increases cholesterol!!! Something which is not often discussed but has been validated. A brilliant book called White Poison goes onto loads of detail about the biochemistry and physiology and if you do a web search you will also find supporting evidence. Please bear in mind we need essential fats (omega 3, 6,9) in our diet to make hormones and perform other essential functions. Cholesterol is also necessary albeit at a normal level. With my cynical hat on, the acceptable level for HDL and LDL has been reduced over the years due to big pharma lobbying hence GPs desire for us all to slot into a box!!

Of course we have to take care with our diets and health but excluding food groups is not the way to go in my opinion. The difficulty we have these days is the availability of processed convenience foods. Hidden calories lurking.

[powerwalk in reply to PMRnewbie2017]

Totally agree - I will be reducing the sugar!! I can only try!! I think my issue really is that I don't get much in the way of exercise - as I am working fulltime and by the time I finish - sorry exercising is just not an option. I will be finishing work in 6 months - they kick us out at 60 - so I would hope to be able to do some exercise then. Many thanks.

[rewerb in reply to PMRnewbie2017]

Very insightful book, White Poison. I agree that big pharma have too much influence. Many studies are sponsored by theses big companies giving a biased outlook into drug prescribing

[piglette in reply to rewerb]

Having worked with the pharmaceutical industry for over thirty years I am probably subjective, but on the other hand the only influence they have is how keen is the medical profession in purchasing their products. The standard drug takes over nine years to get on the market and will cost around two billion dollars to get there. Possibly hundreds of alternatives may have been discarded to get to that point. If we did not have any drugs I think our doctors may have problems.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to rewerb]

Most of those studies are in the context of clinical trials or to see if an existing drug can be used somewhere else. As piglette says - it is a very expensive business getting a new drug to the stage of being used and since they are not mutal benefit societies they have to look to make money.

There are many things about Big Pharma I don't like - but we really would be up the proverbial creek without them. However you want to look at it - most of us owe our lives to them. Without antibiotics we really would be lost.

[nickm001]

Pred raises cholesterol levels, but in my case the increase was mostly in HDL ( good cholesterol). What you didn't mention is what the break down is... LDL, HDL and triglycerides. They all contribute to the total . The important factor is LDL /HDL ratio. If that ratio is below 2.5, total cholesterol (within reason) is almost irrelevant and I would not bother changing anything in the diet. There are more and more studies that question correlation between high cholesterol and heart attacks.

[powerwalk in reply to nickm001]

My doctor said it is "toxic". She's not one to use words like that so thats why I will try and get it down if I can. Even a bit - I think her issue is more along the lines of a stroke than actual heart issues. Sure I'll see how it goes. Many thanks.

[rewerb]

The Great Cholesterol Con. By Martin Kendrick Is an eye opener

Statins are widely prescribed to lower blood cholesterol levels and claim to offer unparalleled protection against heart disease. Believed to be completely safe and capable of preventing a whole series of other conditions, they are the most profitable drug in the history of medicine. In this groundbreaking book, GP Malcolm Kendrick exposes the truth behind the hype. He will change the way we think about cholesterol forever. Rubbishing the diet-heart hypothesis, in which clinical trials 'prove' that high cholesterol causes heart disease and a high-fat diet leads to heart disease, Kendrick lambastes a powerful pharmaceutical industry and unquestioning medical profession, who, he claims, perpetuate the madcap concepts of 'good' and 'bad' cholesterol and cholesterol levels to convince millions of people to unnecessarily spend billions of pounds on statins. Clearly and comprehensively debunking assumptions on what constitute a healthy lifestyle and diet, "The Great Cholesterol Con" is the accessible, indispensable and absorbing case against statins and for a more common-sense approach to heart disease and general wellbeing. No more over-hyped miracle drugs; no more garlic, red wine, anti-oxidants, fruit or vegetables; even a vegetarian diet is rejected in this controversial yet authoritative critique of how we have been mislead over how food and drugs affect our coronary health. Here, for the first time, is the invaluable guide for anyone who though there was a miracle cure for heart disease, "The Great Cholesterol Con" is a fascinating breakthrough that will set dynamite under the whole area.

[piglette in reply to rewerb]

I thought this was a terrific book by Dr Kendrick and easy to read. He also runs a blog and has articles in the BMJ.

[Mahnahvu]

Go ahead and eat your full-fat cheese. Current research indicates that dairy fat does not contribute to heart disease.

"Our findings not only support, but also significantly strengthen, the growing body of evidence which suggests that dairy fat, contrary to popular belief, does not increase risk of heart disease or overall mortality in older adults. In addition to not contributing to death, the results suggest that one fatty acid present in dairy may lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease, particularly from stroke,"

sciencedaily.com/releases/2...

[powerwalk in reply to Mahnahvu]

Oh must have a read. Thanks