Cholesterol levels

I had not heard of lipids until the person I know has been told to see the GP pharmacist.

I am now completely confused as to what I would be putting in my body. and also worried that if I had side effects that there would be no way of stopping them for 6 months..

Good point about them then being in for 6 months.

Pascal30, my worries exactly, the injection is a gene modifying one and I'm a bit concerned like you, it was the lipid clinic that have recommended to my gp I have them, I will be interested in the outcome of your visit.

Bridie22

I read that research yesterday Monica, I have been recommended for the new twice a year cholesterol lowering injections, I have spent days researching different articles and I'm more than ever confused about which decisions to make, such conflicting advice !

Iam going to the lipid clinic soon with a view to having these injections.. My pharmacist described them as being similar to the covid injections and that they are different to statins. I am now completely confused as to what I would be putting in my body. and also worried that if I had side effects that there would be no way of stopping them for 6 months..

I read that research yesterday Monica, I have been recommended for the new twice a year cholesterol lowering injections, I have spent days researching different articles and I'm more than ever confused about which decisions to make, such conflicting advice !

I had high cholesterol for years until finally coerced into taking statins. I then had a series of brain scans that showed that apart from one small area my arteries and veins were clear of any thickening.

There is also research coming from reputable research institutes that the link between high cholesterol and clogged arteries may not be as strong as we have believed. Michael Mosley, in one of the Sunday papers reported that the BMJ had recently published a peer reviewed article on this subject.

My cholesterol was 6.1 last September, it’s now 4.5 after taking statins, I’ve had no side effects from them.

Shantygirly
I Trump your Dr with a consultant 😀
I was in his surgery with my friend for a follow up after her op.
He said i see your taking statins her reply was i was but I’ve stopped as I could hardly walk
His reply was and keep off them He didn’t elaborate, he didn’t need to.

It’s now been reduced to 5%. Catch all?
Yes, it seems like it, but I guess there's a reason somewhere.

I'll try it with a 24 hour average when I get a chance.

What I should say, is that I didn't enter the BP they could either be like 220/180 or 120/65 which makes it meaningless.

growstuff

Joseann

I'm 9 5% according to that.

I'm surprised, I must admit, given the fluctuation in your blood pressure which you've mentioned before.

It just asked if I was on BP medication, but not what the elevated readings were. Maybe it assumes the GP has things under control with treatment?

9.5% ? Well done. It used to be over 10% before the pressure to take statins was put on and at that time I was 11% so turned down the offer.
It’s now been reduced to 5%. Catch all?

growstuff

NICE now recommends that everybody with a risk score over 5 is offered a low dose statin. The operative word is "offered" - you don't have to accept the offer - just say you don't want to take them.

To get a score of under 5 and female, you have to be under 60 years old, with nothing.
Over 60 and you are 6%, as far as I can work out.

If over 60, and male, you are 10% risk, even if dont tick any other box.

I'm 6%.
The person who I was talking about would be 6% too, as far as I know.
So if she is offered something, which I think she will be, I may send her the link. She can make her own mind up what to do.
I suspect she will do what the Pharmacist advises. Which is fair enough I think?

NICE now recommends that everybody with a risk score over 5 is offered a low dose statin. The operative word is "offered" - you don't have to accept the offer - just say you don't want to take them.

Joseann

I'm 9 5% according to that.

I'm surprised, I must admit, given the fluctuation in your blood pressure which you've mentioned before.

silverlining48

I have just done the risk test thanks growstuff and have a 17% chance of heart attack or stroke. I take no meds, have none of the health contraindications apart from being overweight and am nearly 76. I don’t think 17% risk is too bad…..
According to the nhs website people over 75 with no contraindications should be started on statins so I am still confused.

The British Heart Foundation (and some others) dispute whether the NHS advice is right. It's up to you really. Losing some weight would reduce your risk, but there's nothing you can do about your age and older people are at higher risk of cardiovascular disease anyway.

I know this sounds brutal, but I think your average life expectancy is about 82 or 83 (higher if you're otherwise healthy), so there's quite a high risk that you'll die of something within 10 years anyway. If you're really against taking statins (and don't believe that everybody has side effects), it's your right to refuse them.

No GP can make up your mind for you. All he/she will do is tell you what your risk is (which you already know) and tell you that NICE recommends that you take statins, but you can say you've thought about it, done the risk assessment for yourself and decided that you accept the risk - and, let's face it, you have over 80% risk of not developing cardiovascular disease in the next ten years.

PS. Don't do what some people do, which is accept the prescription and not take the meds. Firstly, it's a waste of the NHS's money and, secondly, the GP might think the meds aren't working and prescribe something even stronger.

9.5%

I'm 9 5% according to that.

silverlining crossed post - both along the same lines of thinking.

Thanks for the Qrisk calculator link growstuff. Interesting.

I'm sceptical about being suddenly jumped on at 65 years to take statins because if I put in the one and only YES answer on that list, all it does is just increase my risk exponentially every 10 years or so, which is pretty natural to my way of thinking. Understandably I can't expect to have the same risk level 40 years later that I had when 25 years old, but as nothing else has changed about me, (Hypertension was actually discovered at 20), I see it as very much a push to put every older person on medication just in case?

I have just done the risk test thanks growstuff and have a 17% chance of heart attack or stroke. I take no meds, have none of the health contraindications apart from being overweight and am nearly 76. I don’t think 17% risk is too bad…..
According to the nhs website people over 75 with no contraindications should be started on statins so I am still confused.

My friend's cholesterol was 11 some years ago. She was put on statins 40mg. The lowest her cholesterol has come down to is 7. She said she can't understand it as she is vegetarian. I'm not sure what that has to do with it.

Years ago I had a cholesterol check and it was about 6. the doctor recommended statins and I refused.

Out of curiosity about a year later I was at the GP's and I asked if I was going to have another test. (I had been hoping a few diet changes had helped) He asked me why and when I told him he said his was 7 and it was nothing to worry about, he wasn't going to take statins!

silverlining48

Exactly growstuff. I was expecting a telephone appointment with the gp, so assume he was from the surgery he didn’t say. but to prescribe statins over the phone he shoukd have had more information with him.

I have it on my to do list, but to get in touch with the surgery isn’t easy these days,

No pharmacist would have rung you up out of the blue and prescribed statins. It would have been a clinical pharmacist attached to the GP practice or possibly a pharmacist the GP has some kind of arrangement with. In either case, it would have been because something in your records flagged up that you have high cholesterol and NICE guidelines recommended statins.

I'm not sure that anybody can give you your risk of having a stroke. The figure usually given is your risk of having any cardiovascular disease, eg stroke, heart attack, angina, etc.

There are various "tools" to work that out, but the one commonly used is called QRISK 3. It might have been updated since 2018, but this is a link to the 2018 tool, so you can work out your risk for yourself:

www.qrisk.org/index.php

This is a leaflet about interpreting the score (percentage):

www.hornchurchhealthcare.co.uk/appointmentstest-referrals/tests-investigations/cardiovascular-risk-score-qrisk3-patient-information-leaflet/#:~:text=This%20means%20that%20you%20have%20between%20a%20one%20to%20two,in%20the%20next%2010%20years

NICE recommends starting statins for anybody with a risk of developing cardiovascular disease within the next ten years of more than 5%.

To be honest, you don't really need to see a doctor if you have the results of blood tests, your blood pressure and know your weight etc. The GP practice must provide you with the results in writing, if you request them.

Once you've worked out your risk of developing cardiovascular disease within 10 years, it's up to you whether you accept the risk and do nothing or accept medication and/or advice you're given. The GP wouldn't be able to tell you anything different.