I don't want to take Statins. Advice please.

I have no idea how this all works with GPs, but I am sceptical about these computer generated advice sheets to take statins the day you hit 65.
My cholesterol is always around 3.5 but it took a bit of a leap after a month in France eating butter, croissants, cheese and reached 5.0. No face to face discussion, but a letter. So why take something unnecessarily without proper investigation. How many people does this happen to?

Well my experience here. I was out on stations after a referral because of a problem I had. The aches and pains I had before have not increased, and don't feel I have had any unwanted side effects.
If there are problems with statins in pregnancy then this is probably something that ought to be addressed by would be mothers or newly pregnant women, it isn't something I feel affects me, being in my late 60s with no ovaries and no man either
There are different stations and another one might not have those side effects.
Always good to eat a good diet with as little sugar as possible, and fairly low carb, this is good for many conditions too

Thank god you are out there Primrose 53, I was beginning to feel that I was in a parallel universe!! Those of us who are sceptical about statins are NOT saying that those who need them shouldn't take them. Nor are we "smug" because we are lucky to be healthy or so clueless as to infer that someone who has multiple health issues has brought it on themselves, I would never think that. I believe our health is down to many factors; genetic inheritance from our parents, life style, stress, our environment and yes, at the end of the day the sheer luck of the draw. To all those out there who are struggling with health issues I truly wish you the very best.

RedRidingHood, I’m with you on occasionally finding those ‘some posters’ rather smug, as though their good health is entirely down to them.
I have RA, started drug treatment when I was 43. Within a month I was back doing my usual 3 mile walk , having found getting downstairs in the morning a challenge in previous months.
The treatments carry risks, usually similar to the risks associated with untreated RA
My husband lived an active, happy life, followed all the advice on lifestyle, last year he was diagnosed with stage 4 metastasised cancer. He engaged with palliative treatments. He died 6 months from diagnosis.
It’s random, not always due to ‘lifestyle choices’

Chakotay

growstuff

Chakotay

Grantanow

There's a lot of loony nonsense talked about statins. Millions of people take them every day and so do I with no ill effects whatsoever.

@Grantanow it is certainly not looney nonsense, when my husband was 60 he started to have aches and pains, he couldn't walk without the aid of 2 sticks, obviously he went to his GP who could find no reason for his lack of mobility and pain, it was only when I saw him take his Statins and read the bumph in the leaflet that I saw it might be the side effects of them he stopped taking them and the pains stopped within a week, a few years later a new GP wanted to put him back on them he refused he was referred to a Lipid Consultant to totally understood his reason for stopping them (obviously even some medical professionals believe the 'loony nonsense') my husband is now 74 and has no mobility problems at all.

And I wouldn't be so sure that millions take them without any problems either, I was at A Christmas lunch where everyone was over pension age, we were talking about them and one man said he got so fed up with his GP insisting that he had to take them and his aches and pains were due to old age, so he just gets his repeat prescription and flushes them down the loo, about 6 people at the lunch admitted to doing the same, I bet they are not the only ones either. I doubt very much if the NHS actually know how many people take them without side effects and neither do you.

So why don't these people report problems? Why are they wasting money by flushing the meds down the toilet?

Nobody is forcing anybody to take anything. If these people have a heart attack or stroke, it will be assumed they are taking their prescribed statins. Why don't they be honest, so that researchers have more accurate statistics?

No wonder some people think there's a waste problem in the NHS!

@growstuff did you actually READ my post I specifically mentioned that he had been to his GP who told him he had to take them and his aches and pains had nothing to do with taking them but due only to old age and nothing more reporting the problem did not help him as he was being ignored, and that is very common

Yes, I read it.

Whatever his GP says, all he has to do is not authorise any repeat prescriptions. He doesn't have to follow the GP's advice.

Primrose53

So we have now established that GP Practices DO make huge incomes from treating people with “high” cholesterol including prescribing statins. We have seen in black and white how they are encouraged to maximise their income through QOF Points which translate into income for their practices. It’s all above in black and white. It’s not misinformation and it’s not “rubbish”.

We also know that GPs are paid per prescription issued. last time I looked they got just under £1 for each prescription. Can’t check now as am on way out.

There will always be people who won’t believe anything because they don’t want to, even if they see it in black and white.

How do they think these GP “businesses” make money? I was recently in a high street pharmacy and was offered a health check which I accepted. A few weeks later I was at my GPs for something else and she said I was due for a health check. I said I had had one and she was most put out that I didn’t have it at the surgery. She said “we could have had that income instead of them.”

Where is it in black and white? Not in the link which has been posted.

My cholesterol is below average as is my blood pressure but because I am borderline Diabetic my nurse wanted to put me on statins. I refused

It s very difficult when you rae on the right side of a line not to sound congratulatory, simply because those on the other side will always assume t unless proven otherwise.

Until recently i was on the healthy side of the line and like so many did the sums, considered the issue and decided against statins. Then I had a medical incident. Statins were prescribed for very good reasons and I am happy taking them.

I think all of us are like that. We consider the reasons that any drug could be prescribed and if there is good reason we take them and if there isn't we do not - and if circumstances change we may change our decision.

Medical authorities are too ready to prescrbe pills for every potential problem that we do need to watcch and check what we are given and why.

jenpax

My cholesterol is below average as is my blood pressure but because I am borderline Diabetic my nurse wanted to put me on statins. I refused

That's your right, but the nurse had a duty to follow NICE guidelines by recommending statins.

MOnica The last time I went to see my GP with a problem and asked for treatment, he said to me, "Putting any medication in your body is a poison and will have some side-effects.There are three medications I could prescribe, but I wouldn't give two of them to my own mother, so I'm not giving them to you." When I asked about side-effects, he said that he knew they work, but he couldn't predict side-effects and I should stop them if I was bothered about anything.

I always question any treatment, medication and other forms. I've always felt that I've been involved in a joint decision and I don't understand why people don't just refuse, if they don't like something.

^ And I wouldn't be so sure that millions take them without any problems either, I was at A Christmas lunch where everyone was over pension age, we were talking about them and one man said he got so fed up with his GP insisting that he had to take them and his aches and pains were due to old age, so he just gets his repeat prescription and flushes them down the loo, about 6 people at the lunch admitted to doing the same, I bet they are not the only ones either. I doubt very much if the NHS actually know how many people take them without side effects and neither do you.^

I very much doubt that millions of people are doing this, why would they not say “no thank you, I will not be taking them”and take the prescription from the repeat meds list. Absolute waste of money, people like you are costing the NHS a fortune.

How does it work with other medical matters when it would be assumed that you were taking Statins?

"Ongoing management
CHOL001. Percentage of patients on the QOF Coronary
Heart Disease, Peripheral Arterial Disease, Stroke/TIA or
Chronic Kidney Disease Register who are currently
prescribed a statin, or where a statin is declined or
clinically unsuitable, another lipid-lowering therapy
14 70-95%
CHOL002. Percentage of patients on the QOF Coronary
Heart Disease, Peripheral Arterial Disease, or Stroke/TIA
Register, who have a recording of non-HDL cholesterol in
16 20-35%
the preceding 12 months that is lower than 2.5 mmol/L, or
where non-HDL cholesterol is not recorded a recording of
LDL cholesterol in the preceding 12 months that is lower
than 1.8 mmol/L"
www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/PRN00289-quality-and-outcomes-framework-guidance-for-2023-24.pdf

The above is taken from the QOF , there is nothing about doctors being paid to prescribe statins, they get paid for doing the health check regardless of whether the patient is prescribed statins, declines statins or does not require statins. The QOF is an important part of primary medical care, high BP and high cholesterol don't usually cause much in the way of symptoms but both can cause disease and death.

buffyfly9

Thank god you are out there Primrose 53, I was beginning to feel that I was in a parallel universe!! Those of us who are sceptical about statins are NOT saying that those who need them shouldn't take them. Nor are we "smug" because we are lucky to be healthy or so clueless as to infer that someone who has multiple health issues has brought it on themselves, I would never think that. I believe our health is down to many factors; genetic inheritance from our parents, life style, stress, our environment and yes, at the end of the day the sheer luck of the draw. To all those out there who are struggling with health issues I truly wish you the very best.

Back again buffyfly9

Agreed. I have never said that people should not take statins and I don’t think you have either. It is entirely up to the individual. There are thousands of sceptics like us out here!

As for being smug, that’s not me either. I am fortunate to be in good health for my age but have many friends who are not. I believe it’s down to luck of the draw myself. my parents lived to 86 and nearly 97 but never smoked or drank and you would have said my Dad looked 10 years younger until he went on statins and then he aged massively.

I smoked until nearly 20 years ago so I have nothing to be smug about. Genetic counselling has revealed I am at med-high risk of developing bowel cancer but I don’t worry about.

As I said earlier, 20 years ago I was told to go on statins and I refused after doing my own research but that was my choice. I’m still here and well so to me that proves I didn’t need them. I’ve saved the NHS a lot of money too.

I actually believe a lot of GPs are coming round to the idea that not everybody benefits from statins because years ago when it always flagged up that I had refused statins. Some doctors asked me why, others tried again to persuade me but now when it flags up they either don’t mention it or say it’s entirely my choice.

Thank you foxie48. GPs are paid for the health checks and not for prescribing.

growstuff

buffly Were you a practice manager in England? What you have described just isn't true.

buffyfly9

Over to you! 😝

Genetics play a huge part in health outcomes. My late husband died at just 56 and started being diagnosed with various health issues when only in his early 40s. I have led exactly the same lifestyle as he did, recent tests show my liver is fine, my spirometry test was normal (despite smoking for more than 35 years) and my blood test was fine as well. I have high blood pressure (family history) under control with medication, acid reflux again under control with medication and that is about it, barring HRT for menopause symptoms. I am overweight, albeit slowly losing it, get plenty of exercise but have an erratic diet, as well as drinking too much. It really is a complete lottery.

I was reluctant to go on them but have had no problems. The only thing I have done is start taking a Co-enzyme Q10 supplement as I read that one's levels drop with age and statins make it worse.

growstuff

MOnica The last time I went to see my GP with a problem and asked for treatment, he said to me, "Putting any medication in your body is a poison and will have some side-effects.There are three medications I could prescribe, but I wouldn't give two of them to my own mother, so I'm not giving them to you." When I asked about side-effects, he said that he knew they work, but he couldn't predict side-effects and I should stop them if I was bothered about anything.

I always question any treatment, medication and other forms. I've always felt that I've been involved in a joint decision and I don't understand why people don't just refuse, if they don't like something.

Well said. I’ve refused statins several times. I’ve also refused treatment for osteoporosis as these can have dreadful side effects too. It’s my body, my choice.

It has to be your decision but my husband took them for a few months and they made him very ill, that he could not get out of bed so stopped taking them and that was 12 yrs ago and he has been fine since. He changed his diet and eats more organic veg/fruit and meat. My cholesterol was high so I looked for advice and got told garlic is great for the heart and cholesterol so I have raw garlic every day or put it in food. I went back to the Dr a few weeks later and she said my cholesterol was fine. It has been reported by top Dr's that statins are not good for you. I would avoid and try and change your diet. Oh and grapefruit juice and coconut water are good for you too!

Oh and you should read a book by Dr Vernon Coleman who was a GP for years and he said that for every 10 patients in hospital, 8 of them are put there by their GP. He is very much against these tablets.

www.vernoncoleman.com/aboutstatins.htm

I've been on a high dose of statins, for a fair few years now, because my cholesterol was through the roof! The dosage is about to be lowered significantly because my cholesterol seems to be back to normal. My GP told me that after a year of taking a 'maintenance' dosage, if my cholesterol remains normal, I can come off them completely. So I'm not sure why your GP has told you that once you're on them, you can never come off? And as I say, I've been on a high dose for a long time and have never had any problems at all! I didn't even get any temporary side effects when I first started taking them, as I have with other medications. I tend to take stories from those who "know loads of people who's had bad effects" with a pinch of salt. Scaremongering at its worst. But, as others have said, I would just return to your previous healthy diet and see how that goes first because it's probably just the sudden influx of fat and sugar that caused the surge.

Ilovecats2

It has to be your decision but my husband took them for a few months and they made him very ill, that he could not get out of bed so stopped taking them and that was 12 yrs ago and he has been fine since. He changed his diet and eats more organic veg/fruit and meat. My cholesterol was high so I looked for advice and got told garlic is great for the heart and cholesterol so I have raw garlic every day or put it in food. I went back to the Dr a few weeks later and she said my cholesterol was fine. It has been reported by top Dr's that statins are not good for you. I would avoid and try and change your diet. Oh and grapefruit juice and coconut water are good for you too!

It's also been reported by hundreds of top doctors and scientists in peer-reviewed articles that statins reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Your body, your choice!

Ilovecats2

Oh and you should read a book by Dr Vernon Coleman who was a GP for years and he said that for every 10 patients in hospital, 8 of them are put there by their GP. He is very much against these tablets.

www.vernoncoleman.com/aboutstatins.htm

The first paragraph of Vernon Coleman's Wiki page says it all for me:

"Vernon Edward Coleman (born 1946) is an English conspiracy theorist, writer, novelist, anti-vivisectionist, anti-vaccination activist and AIDS denialist who writes on topics related to human health, politics and animal welfare. He was formerly a general practitioner and newspaper columnist.
Coleman's medical claims have been widely discredited and described as pseudoscientific."

I was originally prescribed statins by a consultant cardiologist at Papworth Hospital, where people know more than most about heart conditions. I prefer to believe people who know what they're talking about than some crank who once worked as an agony uncle for The Sun.

Growstuff: for the final time: I worked in a GP practice in this country for 25 years, the last years as the Manager. Why do you refuse to accept that GP's receive a prescription fee each time they write one.? I am not saying that GP's are sitting at their desks deliberately writing spurious prescriptions! I have sorted and counted thousands of prescriptions at the end of every month and sent them for pricing for years! It's all part of their income, like over 75 health checks, baby immunisation targets etc, they are all paid for if those targets are met. GP's are self employed, if they don't meet their targets they lose money. There is nothing wrong in setting targets in principle but if you ask most GP's if they like their target driven job you would hear a few swear words. Why do you think they are leaving general practice in droves? While you are at it ask a few GP's if they take statins, you might be surprised by their answer.