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Not sure what to do

Posted , 7 users are following.

pat11500
pat11500

Hi . Just had the results of a blood test. All ok except for high cholesterol. Doc not happy because i am on hrt and she has put me on Atorvastatin. Having read some of the posts here they have quite a few side effects.. does anyone know the current guidelines on these tablets. I dont mind taking them but if they cause aching muscles and nausea, then i dont fancy living with that!

1 like, 59 replies

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  • wayne1962
    wayne1962 pat11500

    Posted

    Hi Pat. I am a survivior of statin ingestion over two years, weaning myself off them about 6 months ago. I am still dealing with side effects, though am feeling much better than I ever did while I was obeying the doctors. My health was fine until they started their experiments on me.

    I would strongly suggest you look at tweaking your diet (using psillium husks, oatmeal) and exercise habits to manage cholesterol before submitting to the ingestion of statins. Apart from the physical risks - aching muscles, nausea, hair loss, liver problems - there are other more insidious complications that can result: memory loss, alzheimers, arthritis to name but a few. Muscles aching can be warning of the onset of rhabdomyelosis, which is an incurable muscle disease.

    Cholesterol production in the liver increases as we age. Don't get hung up on numbers. Best of luck to you.

  • pat11500
    pat11500

    Posted

    Hi Lee, my levels are 5.9 to be honest i dont think that is too bad. My HDL is1.2 and LDL is 3.6. I have definitely decided to not take statins and control it with diet.
    • loxie
      loxie pat11500

      Posted

      good choice Pat.  Work on raising your HDL by sensible diet and exercise etc., and cease worrying about LDL levels, they will reduce naturally if the HDL is elevated.  To be honest 5.9 really isnt high, although the pharmaceutical industry with their dubious control over prescribing practice would now have us believe it is.
    • lee12629
      lee12629 pat11500

      Posted

      In the US we go by different numbers,like 200,so i dont know what your numbers mean.
  • sankirk
    sankirk pat11500

    Posted

    Go to Youtube, find Statin Nation, read the review... Folks... this looks like it reports valid data saying, we are really concerned about what pharmas tell us to worry about.  It has results that are surprising and make you wonder why they are not more well known.  I am so happily off the statin that was causing me such pain and eating healthy.  not worried about my cholesterol in the least.  
    • pat11500
      pat11500 sankirk

      Posted

      I am shocked by the presentations. This is terrible that pharmas are feeding the public all this BS! Thank god I didn't take the statins. Thank you for sharing the links.
    • sankirk
      sankirk pat11500

      Posted

      So glad you saw it... They must be so frustrated to have this info and not be able to get it past the pharma blitz. I'm grateful it's availableAnd am so happy not to worry
  • lee12629
    lee12629 pat11500

    Posted

    I always look up updates on statins,lately there are arricles stateing they can do wonders for all the things they were supposed to caus in the past. I dont believe any of it,in my opinion most the research that is pro statin is funded by big pharma. I personally know of at least 5 people that quit taking their statins because of issues. We need research studies that are not influenced at all by doctors with ties to drug companies!
    • jude65855
      jude65855 lee12629

      Posted

      These articles should give full details of the research studies and who paid for them:  if they don't, I'd be ignoring them
    • pat11500
      pat11500 lee12629

      Posted

      Just spoke to my GP. Told her i am not taking the Statins because i dont want to risk the side effects. She said I now have to be VERY aggressive with my diet. And if my levels have not come down after the next blood test she is not happy to prescribe HRT. From what i understand now, saturated fats are a friend not an enemy and can raise the good cholestorol. I will try benecol products as well.
    • loxie
      loxie pat11500

      Posted

      Hi Pat, instead of forking out a fortune on overpriced plant sterol/stenol products - just keep your carbs to a minimum.  Carbs are more of a culprit in raising cholesterol than fats are, even butter!  Watch out too that some so called cholesterol lowering spreads and yoghurt drinks contain trans fats - they are to be avoided at all costs.  It's easy to get swept away by clever marketing and 'wonder foods' but if you research which countries/cultures have low cholesterol levels you will see their diets are naturally healthy and make common sense really.
    • lee12629
      lee12629 pat11500

      Posted

      Well,i still dont know if you are talking the pill form of hrt or what. Petsonally id seek a second opinion on the hormone replacement therapy. I am considering taking vagifem or premeran cream. My cholesteral was higher then yours and my gynocologist didnt blink an eye. I also dont think your reading was that high but im not a doctor,just my opinion.
    • pat11500
      pat11500 loxie

      Posted

      Hi Loxie.. that's great advice, thank you. GP advised Benecol, which i believe from programs I have watched is proven to work. Japan sounds like its got it right. So more protein/veg and fruit.. I really need to find a diet which I can easily follow.. with a smaller % of carbs. Do you happen to know the healthy proportions? I love wholemeal bread a little wholewheat pasta and potatoes, so these have to be reduced. Many thanks to you and everyone here for being so helpful :-)
    • pat11500
      pat11500 lee12629

      Posted

      Hi Lee.. I am using Evorel Conti patches (13 years) I was advised strongly to wean off a few  motnhs ago,  which I did, very slowly and my symptoms came back with a vengeance!. I saw another GP at my practice (the one that wants me to take statins) and although she told me she is not a fan of HRT, prescribed them for me. I have read the new N.I.C.E guidelines and it is safe to take it as long as your blood pressure is ok (mine is) It is hard to argue with a GP who is not up to date with guidelines and who act, it seems, as puppets to the Pharmas.. My GP who I have seen for years actually told me that if I not come off my HRT  (and I quote him) .. "The men in black will come after me" ... if that very strange comment were true, surely that would be the policy of the whole practice,, it's riduculous that some prescribe and some refuse... 
    • lee12629
      lee12629 loxie

      Posted

      Id go low fat and low carb,although some fats are very healthy,so do have fat in your diet. Weight control is also huge,so loseing weight would help if you are over wieght,after the holidays,i need to lose weight. Also enjoy life,its too short not to have treats now and then,none of us know what will caus our death,heck a person could be hit by a bus,so dont not live your life out of fear either.
    • jude65855
      jude65855 pat11500

      Posted

      Surely he was joking????   I don't find it ridiculous that doctors have different opinions about various medications:  in fact, it would be far more suspicious if they all thought the same.   It's up to us to take responsibility for informing ourselves and deciding which doctors we want to trust, they are only ordinary fallible human beings just like the rest of us, not gods or goddesses
    • lee12629
      lee12629 pat11500

      Posted

      My mom died at the age of 87 i believe she started the premarin pill around the age of 50. I think she took them well into her older age. She had a hysterectomy, no cancer though.
    • pat11500
      pat11500 jude65855

      Posted

      Nope, he was quite serious. And that is what I found ridiculous about the whole approach.. (as pertains to my personal situation) I think I feel that a lot of GP's are not up to date with the latest guidelines and even though we do our research it is not easy to convince an outdated GP. I agree that across the board it is good that there are Doctors that are well informed.. I dont think it has anything to do with being fallible they have a duty of care .. and taking on board my own research and experience recently I find it unsettling. 
    • jude65855
      jude65855 pat11500

      Posted

      Did you ask him what "men in black" he was talking about?  Sorry, but I still think it had to be a joke!  Surely no-one wd expect anyone to believe there are men in black checking what medications we take????
    • lee12629
      lee12629 jude65855

      Posted

      I think he was referring to people maybe in the funeral business..egads
    • jude65855
      jude65855 lee12629

      Posted

      Oh, I am slow sometimes!   Not so different to my former gp telling me I was risking another heart attack if I went off statins.  She didn't mention it again after I told her I'd rather risk that than continue living with the negative effects the statins were giving me.    That's 2 or maybe 3 years ago now and I haven't had another heart attack!
    • lee12629
      lee12629 jude65855

      Posted

      I felt so lousey i wanted to enjoy my life not feel 20 years older. You arent slow,some doctors just have no bedside manner and say stupid things.
    • loxie
      loxie lee12629

      Posted

      my GP said something very similar when I first had my cholesterol reading come back as 9 and he wanted me to take statins - he said I was a stroke waiting to happen and I'd be lucky to not drop dead before leaving the surgery - true.  I was so scared I couldnt get to the pharmacy quick enough to get my issue of 'poison' - been made to believe I'd die otherwise.
    • lee12629
      lee12629 loxie

      Posted

      He sounds like a doctor to be rid of. Mine never argued with me,you are the boss not the doctor and its your body. They should not be scareing aomeone when there is no proof anything will ever happen. You might way out live him.
    • pat11500
      pat11500 lee12629

      Posted

      I agree. What an awful thing to say, scaremongering! I wish you and all here very long and happy, healthy lives :-)
    • jude65855
      jude65855 lee12629

      Posted

      I meant slow because I didn't realise that's what the stupid doctor meant!   The phrase "Men in "Black" reminded me of the stories about visits people say they get after alien abductions!

      I'd love to know how many doctors take statins for their cholesterol issues and are they somehow immune from the negative effects?  GPs may prescribe medications I don't want to take, but it's specialist doctors I've found to be the most arrogant, often including their treatment of GP's.

      The cardiologist told me at one stage that I had to give up eating yoghurt and when I asked why he just said something about recent studies and to just stop eating it.   I googled it later andi t was some tiny research survey which I decided to ignore.  If I ever go back to him I'll be asking where I'm supposed to get calcium from in my diet, given that I don't drink dairy and eat only a small amount of low fat cheese.  He'd already told me after the heart attack to stop taking calcium supplements.   I guess osteoporisis isn't as bad as another heart attack, but so far I'm not experiencing either.

       

    • lee12629
      lee12629 jude65855

      Posted

      I am from the dairy state in the U.S my husbands doctor never told him not to drink milk or have dairy.
    • jude65855
      jude65855 lee12629

      Posted

      That's because it's easier for them to prescribe statins for cholesterol issues rather than suggest their patients change their diets and also easier for the patients if they're the lucky ones who don't experience negative effects from statins
    • lee12629
      lee12629 jude65855

      Posted

      In this state doctors wouldnt dare say no dairy lol
    • jude65855
      jude65855 lee12629

      Posted

      What, not even for health reasons?  Lots of people on here complain about doctors being beholden to "Big Pharma":  are they beholden to Big Dairy in your state?  That's a real worry: have all the lactose intolerant people moved elsewhere?

      I do eat some dairy, esp yoghurt daily, but I'm also aware cows milk is perfect for baby cattle but not necessarily for humans.   I don't know about the Native Americans, but the Indigenous Australians had no milk producing animals and they were healthy before invasion.

    • lee12629
      lee12629 jude65855

      Posted

      I believe a low fat ,low colesterol diet includes low and light dairy products,some even believe 2 percent is healthy .
    • lee12629
      lee12629 jude65855

      Posted

      Oh and we have lactose free milk right in the grocery store.
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