Cholesterol worries

Concern, not concrete! Statins, not station. I should proof read!

The only food you have to avoid is grapefruit because it affects the way it works

Oh!! I hate grapefruit anyway! ?
Lat time I really watched what I ate and gave up my beloved butter, spent money on benevolence, had a starving blood test and the cholesterol had gone up! I was most disheartened and stopped bothering with good food.

Benecol.

Well it depends what result you want really. Statins will bring your cholesterol under control although you may have to try one or two and get the dose right (it's different for everyone). DH has been on them for years as he has an inherited condition and he is fine but as he has got older the dose had to be doubled as it was going up again despite eating healthily. If you are prepared for healthy eating and you like it as he does that's fine and dandy but if going without your favourite foods is going to make your life a misery its not worth it although you could cut them down a bit and try to up your fruit and veg to ensure the 5 a day.

Mine is 6.8. I eat no red meat and have not done so for decades; ditto eggs (hate them) or butter (use cholesterol lowing spread); I eat fish at least 4 times a week and lots of fruit, veg, salad. And still my cholesterol is high; possibly related to my now perfect mobility which reduces my exercise.

It is familial I think. But as my BP is low and and my BMI is normal I do not take statins, as the computer says my risks are low. I am guessing that at some point I will have to consider statins, because there is no other way for me of stopping it rising.

Thank you for the advice. I like vegetables but my partner will only eat peas. I'll have to put myself first from now on!

Depends also on ratio of 'good' (HDL) to 'bad' (LDL) cholesterol and triglycerides.

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Aren't they sayaing now that they would like every adult to be on statins as they protect the heart or something. My cholesterol was 7 last year. The GP gave me 6 months to get it down. I did more walking and drank Benecol drinks and had porridge every morning. Cholesterol came down to 6.6 (I eat reasonably healthy and am not a fan of cakes etc). The nurse just said come back in 6 months. My sister's cholesterol was 7.2 and she was put on statins as our mother died of a heart attack at 58. Not sure why they haven't put me on them.

Mine is probably still over 9, the same as it was 10 years ago. Fortunately I had a Dr then who knew exactly what was/ is going on with drug companies and statins, so I was not put on them.
Some years ago one of my closest friends had 2 heart attacks. Prior to these she had always had very low cholesterol. After the attacks she was automatically put on statins. Almost emmediatly she had pains in her arms and legs. I begged her to stop taking them but she pressed on to the extent where she couldn't walk 200 yds down the road, she stopped taking them and returned to good health.
Some time later I went with her for her check up with her cardiologist ( I was with her in his surgery) she told him that she had stopped taking the statins. He said * good\* and keep off them.

Anya is absolutely right. You need to ask what the ratio of good to bad is. A "cholesterol of 7.3 " means absolutely nothing.

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I'll ask about the good to bad ratio too. I'll add it to my list of questions. ?

What most people forget is that much of medicine is an art not a science and when it comes to things like statins we all react differently to them and while many doctors are wildly enthusiastic about them there is plenty of evidence that a lot of people have serious side effects

DH was prescribed statins as he has high blood pressure but he has yet to be prescribed one that doesn't make him feel seriously unwell, and as his GP is offhand about trying alternative formulations, DH simply stopped taking them. He collects his prescription and sorts through and chucks the statins (he takes everything else). Two years later, despite regular check-ups and blood tests, his GP has yet to make any comments on his cholesterol levels and so, presumably, they are within acceptable limits without taking statins.

That's interesting, Monica. What sort of unwell did he feel, so I can look out for that. I'm starting to feel sluggish anyway since last Spring so don't want to feel worse!

Wot It is some years now, but he had muscle pains and just generally felt very under the weather and permanently tired.

Thanks, Monica.