Not sure what to do

My GP is anti HRT, she said with me being on HRT and having high cholesterol it was a bad combination, she said she had worked out that my percentage of having a heart attack/stroke (I'm 65) after 10 years is 14.4% and it should be 10% or lower, to be honest I think, after reading some of the info posted here I would rather go the dietary way and reduce my levels that way. I already suffer from low back pain and am concerned these statins might make me worse.If they were to cause any muscle aches etc does this happen quite quickly after starting them? if it does then I would definately stop them immediately and talk to my GP about diet instead. I have been reading about the 5-2 diet .. do you know if its worth a try? Thank you for your replies everyone, much appreciated!

Good point Jude - after prescribing me statins, not once did my doctor recommend my cholesterol tested again, neither did they offer me regular liver enzyme tests - which I now am informed is critically important as statins can cause irreversible liver damage in some cases.  They were on repeat prescription and when I decided to stop taking them, I just didnt bother refilling the prescription from the pharmacy, my doctors must note this on their system but not once did anyone bother to comment or request that my cholesterol be tested again - really not a satisfactory level of patient care.  After seeing the comment about HRT and increased cholesterol, I just did a bit of online research.  From info online from clinical trials etc., it would seem the reverse is actually true - ie that HRT reduces the risk of CVD (cardiovascular disease) and CHD (Coronary heart disease) in menopausal women - thus taking HRT is good news for your heart health and shouldn't therefore be responsible for elevated LDL (the 'bad' cholesterol).

Took a year before my side affects showed up i full force!

What kind of Hrt?

How do you take the HRT and if for menopausal symptoms did you ever try other remedies?   I was concerned about continuing to use the vaginal cream after the heart attack and checked with my cardiologist, who said that statistically the added risk was tiny.

You may not be able to improve your cholesterol levels with diet, but it's worth a try:  some people can and some can't.   From memory, the negative effects of the statins showed up after about a month, but my impression from this forum is that it varies from person to person.   For me, the muscle weakness and nerve pain were worse than the actual muscle pain, also the exhaustion and depression.   From memory, I don't think they all hit at the same time and certainly the nerve pain was very erratic:  tingling/stabbing/burning in different parts of the body, totally randomly with no pattern that I could work out.

I have no idea what the 5-2 diet is and if it's to lose weight I'm not the person to ask!   In spite of dieticians telling me my diet is fine from accurate & detailed food diaries, I haven't been able to get below 85k.  I was already on a healthy low fat low sugar high fibre "diet" so there was nothing I could change to affect my cholesterol levels.  

t would be a good idea to improve your eating habits (if they need to be improved) as well as trying out the statins.     

There's been controversy for years over HRT and heart disease.  It used to be said that because pre-menopausal women have much lower heart problem rates than men and the rates shoot up post menopause to equal men's, that oestrogen was protective against heart disease.

Subsequently it was realised that non human oestrogen (used to be from pregnant mares, I don't know if that's still the case) isn't as protective as normal natural human hormones, which makes sensebut I must admit I've left it to my cardiologist to keep up with the research and haven't looked into it for a while.

I hope you don't think I'm being pedantic, but your last statement lacks logic:   HRT could well reduce the risk of heart disease overall but still not affect cholesterol levels.

 

I just remembered when I read yr post that it did for me too BUT that was because I was taking St John's Wort for depression and it blocked the effects not only of the statins, but also of some other medication.

I'm still positive I included it in the list of medications I gave the cardiologist after the heart surgery & which he said were all ok to continue with, but he later said not, so who knows?   The St Johns Wort issue came up about a year later when I was in hospital with pneumonia, and the negative statins effects then kicked in (I think) about a month lafter I stopped taking the SJW, but in stages which I can't now recall, but I'm fairly certain were gradual and erratic.

I'll be honest, I havent done extensive research into HRT -v- heart disease.  My doctors refused me post menopausal HRT, even though I presented a good case as to its probable benefits to me.  Thus I didnt pursue it.  I merely 'googled' to see whether there was a documented risk of heart or vascular problems from taking HRT and the info I read said quite the opposite, that HRT in menopausal women, who as you say have an elevated risk, is shown to reduce CVD, CHD and improve lipid level and vascular health. Not my views, the views of the medical profession.

Are you talking pill or vagifem etc,which I believe pose an extremely low risk.

I spent quite a lot of money on CoQ10 while on statins, because they lower its production, but it made no difference whatsoever to the negative effects of the statins.   Apparently it does work for some people, but it didn't work for me.

In the US you can buy it at grocery stores and the price isnt bad considering the side affects it can keep at bay.

I took it until I couldn't afford it about a month ago:  I was buying it at a discount pharmacy for over AU$20 which was too hard to manage financially on a pension.  I honestly don't feel any different without it and when I was on statins it didn't help with the negative effects, although I know some people do find it helpful.

It seems to me that one of the many problems with statins is that they affect people in vastly different ways, ranging from no negative effects at all to permanent health problems, usually but not always from longterm use.    

I think it is supposed to supplement this being taken from your body from statins. Here I have found it for as little as 10 although my husband doesnt know much about it and hardly takes it. I never took it.

That's exactly what it's supposed to do:  it's an enzyme the body needs and which is depleted by statins.    Would that be US$10?  Don't know the current exchange rate but that's probably about the same as here.

I can't see the point of buying it if it's not going to be taken regularly:  I used to take mine with the statin so I didn't forget but as I said, I don't think it made any difference with me anyway.

Yes around 10 dollars and up. I wont ever know if it would help as i never took it,and my husbands been on statins for years and never took them. I asked my doctor way back when -about CoQ10,believe it or not he acted like he didnt know what i was talking about. I think alot of doctors recomend it now.

I've heard some cardiologists recommend it whenever they prescribe statins:  my bloke said in his opinion the favourable evidence wasn't yet conclusive but it certainly would do no harm ......."unlike the statins you insist I need to not die" is what I wish I'd thought to say at the time!

My heart attack was in October 2011 and I've had no heart problems since 

 

Glad you are doing well. Husbands was 11 years ago,so far,so good,accept for the foot issues,etc,at least no heart attack.