Statins

johanna, my GP won't tell me off but I'd just like to know how I'm doing.

One thing that bothers me about statins being available over the counter is that I have an annual liver function test. What about those people who simply go to the chemist and buy it?

johanna I hope not. After 18 months of indecision from orthopaedic surgeons (none were willing to operate because he was a high risk) my husband had a bilateral hip replacement in March 2011. Finally free from excrutiating pain he was able to walk almost normally and continued to improve up until and shortly after his transplant. I really fear for his sanity if his mobility deteriorates any further.

merlot
It is your liver that produces the cholesterol. But , if you like the taste of Benecol, why not?
In your previous post you state that you would like to know your level before you go for your next check up.
Is that because the medics tell you off? They should not, you know.

Thanks Jo.

The plant stenols in Benecol products are supposed to coat the 'bad' cholesterol in the gut and prevent it being absorbed into the blood stream. I think that's the easy peasy explanation so I'll go with that. I use Benecol Light spread and have one of the yoghurts at lunchtime. Very tasty. I have to watch the calories though

Yes nfk it does.
When my OH told the GP there was no way he would /could continue with the statins, the GP prescribed OMACOR. It is a 100% natural supplement, but very potent. It is manufactured in Scandinavia.
Available with or without prescription, I think.

Someone I know has controlled his cholesterol with Benecol products. Apparently they do actually work. Anyone here know better?

That seems a bit strange, NfkDumpling - I thought doctors were supposed to check cholesterol levels as a matter of course, and to actually refuse you a test when you had requested one.....

I asked my doctor for a cholesterol test and he refused saying I was healthy enough. So I live in blissful ignorance! I do take Omega 3 but that's because I've heard it may improve my lousy memory - and I think it may have. Possibly. Do I take it that Omega 3 lowers cholesterol?

Well yes - but still. I'd rather take advice from a qualified Doctor than a hairdresser. Nothing wrong with hairdressers as such, but they don't quite have the same training, do they?

When they first appeared, statins were hailed as the new aspirin - everyone should take them as the benefits far outweighed side effects, which were said to be few and mild. And as noted in the original post, the medical profession has renewed this call for the over 50s. But years after they became widely prescribed, we find out that it's not so simple - nor is aspirin without some potentially serious side effects. And while - yes - I would choose baldness over a stroke, it's never that black and white, is it?

Regarding hair loss, I've had more sensible advice from two hair dressers than I have from the NHS consultant. The only supplement I take (and have taken for years) is Omega 3 and I now (on the advice of my hair dresser) take a super strength multi-vitamin "in case". The hair dresser said to drink lots of water as it's so necessary for good health and most people do not drink enough. She also advised a tablet or two of gelatin every week. Who knows if any of this helps, but it all makes sense and doesn't cost much (unlike the widely advertised hair loss tablets, etc).

I think the bottom line (sorry - cliche) is not to take any drug as a "precaution", but obviously, if it's a genuine aid to better health, then be guided by your own instincts as well as your doctor. And don't froget that doctors are still PRACTICING medicine!

I take statins with no side effects as far as I can tell. My father had several heart attacks and strokes and spent the last 8 years of his life with severe dementia as a result. I don't mind dying of a heart attack but do not want to put my children through that experience again.
Surely statins for all over 50s would cost less than all the treatment for heart attacks and strokes?

sook
I think you will find that after many years of Statins the "damage" to the muscles may be permanent.
I hope jeni will back me up on this. Because my knowledge is only from rummaging here ,there ,and everywhere.
Good that the 2nd transplant was successful.

Does anyone know if the home testing kits for cholesterol are any good? My cholesterol is very high and I'm working hard at getting it down but I'd like to know how I'm doing before my next check up.

My DH was prescribed statins over 10 years ago. I don't recall his cholesterol being particularly high and he doesn't have a family history of heart disease. He did however have a failing kidney transplant so we assume that it was part of the cocktail of drugs he was given to keep him as healthy as possible.

He has recently been diagnosed with myopathy (following his 2nd succesful kidney transplant) and the first drug to be withdrawn was Astorvastin as this was thought to have contributed to this condition. I have to say that so far it hasn't made a difference and he still has weakness in his upper legs and arms. In fact his legs are so weak that he can barely shuffle along and is unable to carry even lightweight items. He is currently waiting for an appointment for a muscle biopsy. His renal consultant told him that statins can cause muscle problems or depression.

While he was taking the drug his cholesterol was approx 3.5 it is now 4.3. I would be very reluctant to take statins but I do take Omega 3 oil capsules daily (along with a low fat diet) and they have increased my good cholesterol and lowered the bad.

When OH took statins for a while he had a loss of strength and also his moods were awful - his brother was exactly the same - they both felt dreadful all the time so eventually both stopped taking them.
A friend in France tells me that there are a great variety of statins there which can be prescribed - here OH and his brother were both only offered two types.

YankeeGran how sad. You have my sympathy too.

You have my sympathy - and yet. If the choice is a/ some hairloss b/ a stroke
I know which I'd choose.

YankeeGran I understand just how you feel. It is silly to let vanity matter so much but it doesn't stop us from doing so. When I was a young woman I became desperately ill and seriously in pain. I had to have two lots of emergency surgery, my lungs drained daily (gosh that hurts) and spent several weeks in an intensive care unit. I coped okay with all that but the one thing that reduced me to tears was that my hair – never much of a crowning glory at the best of times – started falling it out in handfuls.

On the advice of my GP, I began taking a low dose statin because of my family history of heart disease. That was about 10 years ago and as far as I knew, I had no side effects.

Then, about 2 years ago, I noticed that my hair was thinning - and when I looked again, I could see my scalp around the crown. Although there is male baldness in the family, none of my female relatives suffers from hair loss. I saw an NHS hair loss specialist who did extensive blood tests, which revealed nothing out of the ordinary. Then she asked me if I took statins and said that they are implicated in hair loss. First time I'd heard that, but I stopped right away.

Maybe I'm putting vanity over health but my cholesterol levels are only slightly raised and I have a healthy diet/lifestyle. On another thread I asked for advice about wigs as I think it is coming to that. What re-growth I have is not keeping pace with the steady loss of hair. It's not the stuff of life and death but it IS distressing!

I have been on minimal dose of statins and aspirin for a number of years due to minor cardiac problems. I lost my mum at 60 to a heart attack and two of my grandparents at 63 to heart attack/stroke. Wish statins could have been available to them. If I suffer from side effects, I don't notice them. I rather foolishly took my first dose before reading the instructions. If I had read them I would have noticed that I mustn't drink grapefruit juice with statins! My feet swelled up and became a lovely baby pink! Funnily enough I don't like grapefruit juice much but was very thirsty that day and picked up a little carton. I think the Dr should have warned me, but no harm done. I don't think the over-50s should be prescribed statins automatically.

To have everybody over 50 on statins is a daft idea, for sure. But it's important everyone over 50 has their cholesterol assessed + blood pressure, blood sugar - and then make a decision on balance. If you have heart problems or diabetes, your cholesterol should be under 4, otherwise under 5.

It seems a shame that the prospect of side-effects (normallly minor if any) should put off people from taking a drug which can prevent heart disease and strokes- on balance there is no contest.

tanith If everyone over 50 in the entire country – with an ageing population – were taking statins every day, it could be a nice little earner.

I wonder if the medics recommending this have considered another "side effect". People with an unhealthy lifestyle who are more susceptible to heart disease and strokes might think that taking their daily pill is enough to protect them and so make no attempt to lose weight, take exercise, give up smoking etc.

Statins for both of us with no side effects whatsoever. The prospect of a stroke or heart attack just make it a no-brainer for me. I have Type 2 diabetes and under-active thyroid, and OH kidney damage and heart problems - the alternative is much much worse. We know so many people who refused and died of heart problems far too early. It is a very small price to pay.

I agree that it is often easy to blame the drug for natural ageing. I hate taking drugs but I was advised to do so by somebody I totally trust and I know really loves me.