Statins and GPs

My cholesterol has been 2.5 for many years. I had a stroke, apparently due to Covid, and the hospital put me on statins, BP tablets and some other things. "Standard treatment for anyone who has had a stroke", they said. I stopped taking the statins 3 months ago and my cholesterol is 2.8 now. The GP advised me to stop the BP tablets 2 months ago, and the average reading is 132/77 now. I only take essential medications.

Marydoll

Primrose many of us on Statins are not stupid, but have looked at the pros and cons and made an informed decision, appropriate to our medical needs.

Marydoll, I didn’t say anybody was stupid. Maybe you got confused because I said a GP told me I was very silly. I would never tell anybody they are stupid.

foxie48

Oh, if anyone has evidence that GPs make money by prescribing statins, please could you post as I can't find any!

There are so many of theses posts decrying statins, little statistical evidence, mostly anecdotal.

I had/a healthy lifestyle, it didn't prevent me from having COPD, RA and heart disease. Nothing I could have done, would have prevented suffering from them. My parents had those illnesses.

Oh, if anyone has evidence that GPs make money by prescribing statins, please could you post as I can't find any!

I take statins and don't have any side effects. As we age our ability to deal with fats decreases. OH had side effects from the first lot of statins he tried but has no problems with the one he takes now. I am not overweight, don't have high BP and have an active life style but the evidence, that statins help us. as we get older to avoid heart attacks and strokes, is overwhelming. Your choice entirely!

Primrose many of us on Statins are not stupid, but have looked at the pros and cons and made an informed decision, appropriate to our medical needs.

1summer

Very sorry this is another thread on statins but just wanted to vent my anger and frustration somewhere.
A year ago I had a health review and had to do some blood tests, the GP surgery rang me to say everything was fine. A month later I went to collect my blood pressure repeat prescription in the bag they gave me was a box of statins. I said to chemist a mistake has been made I don’t take statins. She said speak to your GP, I then spoke to doctors receptionist who said Doctor wants you to take them. I said I don’t want to take them and she said ok make an appointment to see GP. Both my parents suffered terrible side effects to statins.
I am angry with myself I didn’t but the following day my husband who was seriously ill was given a terminal diagnosis. I spent the next 4 months nursing my husband until he died. Due to stress, grief and difficulty getting GP appointments I didn’t go back.
Today I had my annual review and was shocked to be told cholesterol was total 3.5 HDL 1.8 LDL 2.8 - which is very good.
Of course I asked why I had been given statins and was told they have a something that computes my risk of heart disease and they calculate any health issues and it gives them a percentage number, anything over 10% is a higher risk. I was 11% and therefore given statins.
I am furious with myself and GP I didn’t get this information a year ago, I still will not take the statins though.
Got to lose 2 stone in weight instead which will bring my BMI down and reduce my risk.
Crazy situation but I feel they maybe overprescribing Statins.

Very sorry for your loss 1Summer.

GPs push statins because they get QOF Points for prescribing them which makes a lot of money for their practice. BIG money!

15 years ago a GP told me I should go on statins because my cholesterol was too high. I said I would go away and read up and think about it. She actually said “I think you are very silly. If my Chol. Was as high as yours I would go on them straight away.” I thought that was very rude and arrogant.

I spoke to a nurse at the same practice who had worked there almost all her career and was retiring. She said it was only in recent years that they started getting people in for testing. She said she met people who were so healthy that she had never met them before yet because they never needed a GP or nurse yet when tested they nearly all had what is now considered high cholesterol!

I read up, spoke to people on them including my Dad who suffered dreadful aching legs and confusion after starting them and a neighbour in her 70s who managed a third acre garden by herself and walked about 5 miles every day but felt so ill after going on them that she was mostly confined to her chair.

I therefore chose not to go on them and 15 years later am no worse without them. I am a damned site healthier than most of my friends the same age who have heart problems, new hips, new knees, hearing aids, cancers, etc. I will therefore carry on as I am.

Don’t let anybody push you in to having statins.

There is a family history of raised cholesterol in our family , despite that both parents lived to 86 and 96 ! I do take a low dose of statins as although only slightly raised and I eat well and exercise regularly I’m a bit overweight and have high blood pressure . It took several attempts at finding one that didn’t give me muscle pains. Maybe ask to try a different one as the cheapest is always tried first .

I think if I was in your shoes, 1summer, I wouldn't be taking statins either, and yes, your surgery were rather remiss in not giving you an up front explanation as to why they were being prescribed in the first place. In my own case, I've been taking statins for years, with zero side effects. I appreciate that some others have not been so fortunate.

1summer

Thank for all your responses, the Doctor did say in fact I was border line on wether I need to take statins. My weight is a factor but did say if I can improve my BMI and continue to have a healthy diet and lifestyle I shouldn’t need to take them.
She said my LDL and HDL were well within normal range. All the other tests done were also OK.
I am repeating blood tests next week so unless the have changed a lot I will continue to not take statins.

For somebody with high blood pressure and overweight, the recommended LDL is a maximum of 2. However, it depends on your ration of HDL and non-HDL, which includes triglycerides.

You don't need to take them, if you feel strongly about it.

swampy You can insist on being given any test results. I get mine automatically online, but before that I used to ask for a print out from the surgery and have all my blood test results going back about 7 years. Don't get fobbed off with a verbal comment.

Thank for all your responses, the Doctor did say in fact I was border line on wether I need to take statins. My weight is a factor but did say if I can improve my BMI and continue to have a healthy diet and lifestyle I shouldn’t need to take them.
She said my LDL and HDL were well within normal range. All the other tests done were also OK.
I am repeating blood tests next week so unless the have changed a lot I will continue to not take statins.

I stopped taking statins with GPs agreement as over time I was having awful problems with memory retention and cognitive issues along with dizziness and vision problems.
I am currently on three different medications all of which have the potential to cause the problems listed. I am reducing Gabapentin as I don't think it works for me now so have been tapering off for a few months with a view to ceasing altogether.
I am on other medication related to cancer which I need to take until 2027 but in the interim have been sent for a CT scan to make sure that nothing untoward is going on.
I had always raised objections to taking statins but was told that my lipids were on the high side so only agreed to take them if they were proven to be effective. Blood tests indicated that they were effective even though I was never given the numbers to check against previous results.
But since stopping the statins the cognitive issues have improved so I may use this as a good reason not to restart statins after the CT scan.
It seems the older we get the more medications are foisted onto us. DH has never had heart issues until a viral infection but now takes a raft of medications basically as insurance in the words of the consultant in case he has an issue - it does make you wonder how many of these drugs create more issues as he now has other issues arising from side effects.

lsummer Your LDL is actually quite high, which possibly rang warning bells. It would depend on your triglyceride level, especially as you have high blood pressure and are overweight.

If you don't want to take the statins, don't. Don't tick the box on your repeat prescription form. Nobody's forcing you.

I wish I had continued to take statins and not stopped because of muscle pains. Six months ago I had severe cardiac pain and was taken to a & e. Not a heart attack but have since been diagnosed with angina caused by arteriosclerosis. The pain from angina attacks are more severe than the muscle pain I experienced while taking the statin. I thought my risk was low. How wrong can you be. I am now taking a statin with no side effects. If the first one does not suit there are many others on the market to try.

Like Marydoll, I was prescribed Statins after a heart attack 10 years ago. At the time my cholesterol was 3 and I did more than 10,000 steps a day. I haven’t suffered any side effects from these particular pills.

Like sweets, really? Most people do not have any side-effects from them, and they DO prevent strokes and heart attacks. I know which I would prefer.

I don't take statins btw, as I don't need them. OH is on statins despite normal cholesterol levels due to family history and kidney function impairment- and no side-effects at all.

Life savers- and NO they are not given willy nilly like sweets.

Another side of the story. I have low chlorestoral, but after two heart attacks, take stains, prescribed by my cardiologist, to reduce my chance of yet another heart attack.
I have never experienced any side effects, despite having multiple drug allergies.
Every patient is different.

Very sorry about your DH it must have been a difficult time for you. Our doctors push statins a lot too much in fact I have continually refused then. People I know complain of aches and pains when on statins. I have osteoarthritis in several joints I cannot take medication for the pain. The last thing I need is more pain brought on by the statins the doctor gives out like sweets.

I was 11% too but refused to take them, having heard of possible side effects. . A while later the subject was raised again and my risk had increased a bit, but realised that an extra birthday or two adds risk automatically. I dont take them.
Though I have a healthy diet I also have weight to lose. Its been a lifetime struggle.
I am sorry about your husband.