1. Community
  2. Heart Health
  3. Statins and Other Lipid-lowering Medicines

Cholesterol of 8.7 at 35

Posted , 12 users are following.

hannahbell35
hannahbell35

Hi and thanks for taking the time to read this. I have been back to my GP in the last few weeks after continual hypertension for the last couple of years which peaked at 190/124 two weeks ago. I was started on Amlodipine 5mg, had eye test and ordered to have further bloods done and urine dip. I went back to my GP today. I've got to redo urine dip, but bloods showed "generally normal results" but cholesterol of 8.7 and today's BP reading of 168/104. GP says cholesterol levels are the highest of anyone he's seen of someone my age (35) and called me a "ticking time bomb for death" which has not done me anxiety levels much good! ... He's increased Amlodipine to 10mg daily and asked me to go back in 2 weeks for further BP check. Had 24 hour heart monitor on August this year which showed heart as fine .... I guess my question is if anyone else has been in similar circumstances ... And whether I should start statins which is something that was suggested by doc today. To add last year my bloods showed raised liver enzymes and ultrasound confirmed fatty liver. I have made big changes to my lifestyle and current liver results were normal. I am 35 yrs old and 10 stones 4 lb. my dad had high cholesterol and was stated on BP meds in his thirties ... Any advice welcome:

0 likes, 37 replies

37 Replies

Next
  • bill80656
    bill80656 hannahbell35

    Posted

    Do lots of research before you take statins. They really made me sick sick sick from terrible side effects. And since I got off of them and refused to take them ever again against my doctors advice, I have done a ton of research. One interesting fact is that statins only help 1 out of 300 people. That number is called the NNT (needed number to treat). I think that statins are a bunch of balony.

    It is just big pharm and doc's making big bucks off of suckers.

    Cholesterol is normal and natural and important for the body. It is sugar and refined carbohydrates that are clogging up our arteries.

    i changed my diet totally to avoid these things.

  • mrbob84
    mrbob84 hannahbell35

    Posted

    I was put on statins after a needed heart operation that had nothing whatsoever to do with my cholesterol, which was - and still is - perfectly normal, yet they put me on them afterwards routinely, just on general principles and for the rest of my life.  They do that "for" anyone who has any kind of a heart event.  Just in case.  "We like to have people with heart issues on them, just in case" is how my cardiologist put it.

    Cholesterol is needed for your brain to function correctly.  My brain got so bad on them that I could not remember my bank account number at the bank I had been with for 25 years.  Everything was black and white, there was no depth to my existence, my life was not colorful anymore, it was simply tedious.  And they wonder why dimensia is on the rise.  That's where I was headed, and after a while I would not have even known that.  My awareness had become severely compromised.

    That's all back to normal now that I have been off of them for more than a year, and every few days a new memory from my past floats in and makes me smile, I get giddy to be in touch with that event again, makes me feel alive.  No such luck while I was on statins.

    Find another way.

  • mary98491
    mary98491 hannahbell35

    Posted

    Hello hannahbel35   I have been on Atovastatins 80mg/day aong other medications for over a yer now...I think of them as my cholesterol busters.Whatever any of us advise on here.....at th end of the day you really must listen and act on your doctors advice, after all they have the trainining for such things and have your best interests at heart....We can all say how we react to certin drugs etc. but what suits one does not suit another. At the moment \i am waiting for an echocardiogram appointment at our local hospital....following which the cardiologist will possibly change my medication levels...I have total faith in their decisions...please don't act rashly without their advice. Good luck...
    • mrbob84
      mrbob84 mary98491

      Posted

      I get where you are coming from, but doctors NOT advising you on their side effects is criminal, IMHO.  My cardiologist to this day - 3.5 years after my heart operation and countless appointments with both him and his associate cardiologists in his office - has not said 1 word about the side effects of statins. 

      He means well, he's very good at what he does, and has obviously been doing this all his life, as he appears to be in his 70's.  He just doesn't believe in mentioning side effects other than his platitude "All drugs have side effects", which is what he tells me EVERY time I bring it up.  I have given up on getting any kind of statin side effects advice from him or his office.

      I had to come here, and also to hear about them from places like John Hopkins and Scientific American to even start to hear about the devastating effects they can have on you.  Google it.  You will find the same articles, and also go to the FDA's website to see their "New warnings on statin use".

      What's more, the drug companies are upping the ante on their statin drugs and have plans for rolling out many many more in the next year or 2, for thousands more people, regardless of whether they actually need them or not.  While flat stating that "their side effects are minimal".

      Just keep reading here to find out the real truth, and from those who have suffered permanent damage that now won't go away.  I know I would be headed for dimensia by now had I stayed on them.

      I would not trust a doctor to accurately fill you in.  They are too busy doing what they do best: saving your life.  They are quite busy in their practice - appointments out the door, into the hall and booked solid for months ahead - and have no time for - nor interest in - counseling you on the quality of your life.  As far as they are concerned, you should be thanking them for saving your life and letting it go at that.

      Good luck.  While I think your faith in your doctors could use some scrutiny, I care about you and don't want you to suffer the same fate as alzeimer, loxie and a few others whose stories I have read about here on this site.  It rips my heart out every time I read a new post about permanent damage from these statins.

  • loxie
    loxie hannahbell35

    Posted

    Hi Hannah.  I too have an abnormally high cholesterol level, at 9.2 last time it was tested.  My GP also used totally inappropriate terminology, telling me much the same thing as yours and that I was a 'stroke waiting to happen' and that if I didnt take statins I was 'definitely going to die soon' - as you say, this doesn't help and only serves to increase anxiety.  I'm sure they mean well and are keen to help but using scare tactics is wholly inappropriate.  I can only speak from personal experience - I do not have high blood pressure, nor high blood sugar and my heart and lungs appear healthy otherwise.  I was panicked into taking statins and I honestly feel it was the worst thing I ever stupidly did in my life.  They are as others state, toxic poisons.  Mrbob has expressed it very well, they are akin to chemotherapy and it is most certainly a case of lets hope they dont kill you before the 'disease' does.  If you can avoid them do so at all costs.  There are a small minority of patients who don't suffer the horrendous side effects that the majority get but these really are the minority.  Most of us have been devastated by the ill effects, which include liver damage, muscle damage, hardening of the arteries, increase in the risk of diabetes and dementia - the list goes on.  As you have already experienced liver issues, I really would caution you to think long and hard and do lots and lots of research before you take statins - they do and will affect your liver function.  Some four years after taking them I am still in pain and have fibromyalgia.  Other than my hereditary high cholesterol I was very healthy and generally quite fit before taking statins.  
  • sankirk
    sankirk hannahbell35

    Posted

    Hello...sorry to hear of your labs.... I can only tell you of my experience... High cholesterol .... Familial, heterozygous.  Cholesterol...About 7 (from usa's stats).  Low triglycerides high LDH.(Bad kind). Workout consistently, normal weight, vegan for 3 years.  Was put on pravaSTATIN, 40 mg.  Pain in right side within 10 days...then intermittent flu-like symptoms, malaise, right arm and back pain until 2 weeks after I stopped the meds. It has a 77-hour 1/2 life...which is a very slow clearing rate.  I still have slight pain in right side.  Will never go on a statin again.  

    All this is to say, watch for side effects...and if they start, report right away and decide on continuing.  And the symptoms don't go away immediately. 

    some people have been on statins for years with no side effects.  

    Best wishes to you.

    sandy

    Best wis

  • lee12629
    lee12629 hannahbell35

    Posted

    Your doctor has very bad bedside manner . Maybe a second opinion would help?
  • mary98491
    mary98491 hannahbell35

    Posted

    I would reearch other GP's if not happy and change your doctor.........
  • hannahbell35
    hannahbell35

    Posted

    Thank you all for your advice. I'm really reticent about taking statins. Loxi thank you ... It's comforting to know someone else is in my position. Is this a disease then? All of my other bloods were normal but bp high sugars high and cholesterol high. My heart at the minute is also fine. My GP suggested that I wouldn't make 40 .. I'm 35 ... I'm obviously making some lifestyle changes but do you think that he's right and I am going to die immenently? I feel so anxious now I can't stop thinking about it. I feel physically fine and think than its hereditary more than anything ... Thank u again for all of your comments x
    • bill80656
      bill80656 hannahbell35

      Posted

      Hannabell,

       Statins are poison to me as well. I DO NOT trust doctors for one second. I do my own research now. We are very lucky to have these blogs and the internet to do research. I have had doctors tell me to not trust the internet information. That is total BS as well. They say that because information can be a threat to their "position" of power over us. Yes I know there is some BS that you have to watch out for but for heavens sake the medical sites from the hospitals, CDC etc are cutting edge information. 

        You know when I went in to see my cardiologist and told him about my side effects which included: night sweats, severe leg cramps, pre-diabetes, and my left arm hanging almost useless, no strenght in it and the same thing starting in my right arm and that I was not taking any of his statins anymore do you know what he said to me? He said, "well I would rather have you get diabetes than die from a heart attack".  What an idiot. I don't want to die from either thank you very much. Long story short I went home and did lots of research.

      Now I don't even care what my cholestoral levels are. I eat healthy organic foods and I exercise everyday. No more blood tests, no more drugs, and no more supplements or vitamins. It took over 3 months for all those symptoms to go away. 

  • lee12629
    lee12629 hannahbell35

    Posted

    What is an 8.7 reading? In the states we go by say for example..180.
    • loxie
      loxie lee12629

      Posted

      here in the UK Lee we are measured in single digits.  It used to be that anything below around 5 or 6 was considered ok.  In recent years at the influence of the pharmaceutical industry the 'recommended' healthy level before intervention has been lowered steadily and in some cases patients presenting with a reading of as low as 3 are still being pushed to take statins.  It is well documented that sufferers of Alzheimers for example have been seen to have very low cholesterol, around 2, which would indicate that not enough cholesterol in the blood is just as bad as too much.  The body needs good cholesterol to function properly.  The problem with statins is that they lower ALL cholesterol, good and bad.
    • lee12629
      lee12629 loxie

      Posted

      Thanks for explaining that. I have read some info on the net in regards to statins and alzheimers. My mother was on statins for many years after her heart attack. At around 80 she was diagnosed with alzheimers. The statins never took her coelesterol down very low,it still remained somewhat high,that being said,it doesnt mean that the drug itself didnt affect what happened to her. She also used to get awful back pain and sometimes muscle cramps. That was a long time ago. Back then we never even thought it could be from the statins. Wish we would have thought it could caus the symptoms ,she had so much pain. Looking back,i think the statins could have caused alot of her discomfort.
    • mrbob84
      mrbob84 lee12629

      Posted

      And from my experience, quite possibly her Alzheimer's.  

      The statins took my otherwise completely normal cholesterol down by a full third, depriving my brain of critically needed fats. I kept track of the various tests I had done along the way, and have proof.

      I had to get this from my chiropractor, not one word of it came from my cardiologists.  I have let them know I am not real happy about that.

      Memory problems are one of the side effects of statins, and IMHO eventually that would lead to dimensia, which looks identical to Alzheimer's, in my book.  

      My condolences about your mother.

    • lee12629
      lee12629 mrbob84

      Posted

      Thank you. statins were taken for so long,she also ate almost zero fat out of fear. I think it definitely could have played a part.
Back to top
Next

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.