Statins please share your experience/knowledge

pably15

both my husband and I took them for quite a few years...tried different statins because of muscle aches and pains....hair started thinning, memory got bad...but the thing that made us both stop them was when we were both told we had type 2 diabetes, my blood sugar was 11.5....I then started reading about the effects of statins..and raised blood sugar was one of them
I stopped them and my bloodsugar is normal now , I'll never take them again...nor will my husband...

Well done. I don’t worry about cholesterol levels and think you need higher values when you get older

An emotive subject. Tried statins 15 years ago and caused horrendous muscle pains. Stopped them and my GP at the time wasn’t in favour of them. Not all GPs think they are good. I strongly believe as you get older, over 70, cholesterol and LDL rise for a reason, to keep you alive. jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2628968#:~:text=Statin%20therapy%20may%20be%20associated,conditions%2C%20injuries%2C%20and%20arthropathies.&text=These%20disorders%20may%20be%20particularly,to%20physical%20deconditioning%20and%20frailty.
I’m 74, have well controlled blood pressure, no other heart issues. Statins do cause muscle problems, heart is a muscle, other users and a family member have now got heart failure which is on the increase. You have to way up the evidence and discuss with your GP. I’m in a low carb high fat diet and this has reduced my weight and body fat%

I do wonder if a lot of the fuss over taking Statins is because its the first time many people are asked to take a tablet every day when the don't actually feel ill, after all preventative medicine is not something that featured when people my age were growing up and young adults.

Katyj

Hi. Just an update my friend got a print out of her results. The bad cholesterol, sorry don’t know the correct term, was 4.4. Overall cholesterol 5.7 She’s thinking about starting a low dose statin.

More than 4mmol/L of bad cholesterol (LDL) is considered high, especially if her triglycerides are high and her HD low.

Hi. Just an update my friend got a print out of her results. The bad cholesterol, sorry don’t know the correct term, was 4.4. Overall cholesterol 5.7 She’s thinking about starting a low dose statin.

Patrick Holford has a degree in psychology and a diploma in nutrition from an organization that he set up himself. He makes his money from diet books and supplements. Surely if you have a good diet you don't need supplements? I'd rather believe proper medical research than some self appointed expert.

Ben Goldacre has always been very critical of "Big Pharma" for not being transparent enough about side effects from medications.

Nevertheless, this is what he says about statins:

"Some people get a bit melodramatic about statins, as if they're being forced down our throats: the evidence shows they reduce your risk a bit if you're at high risk of a heart attack; they're less helpful – but still a bit helpful – if you're low risk; and if you decide you don't want to take them, after being appraised of the evidence, well, that's easy, don't take them."

I'm not arguing against that and I'd rather listen to Ben Goldacre than Patrick Holford.

Primrose53

Katyj

This thread caught my eye as I’ve just had a friend on the phone 68 frantic with worry. She had a text message from her surgery after having bloods taken on Monday to say could she make an urgent appointment to see the Dr.
When she rang she spoke with the nurse only to be told her cholesterol is very high 4.4 and she’ll need to start tablets immediately. I can’t understand it as my cholesterol last year was 5.7 the nurse left it up to me to decide if I wanted to start tablets I declined said I’d wait and see what this year brings.

That’s not “very high”!

A few years back a nurse at our surgery was retiring that day. She had worked there for decades. I discussed statins with her as I had been told I needed them. She said “don’t bother.” She said as it was her last day she felt she could say as she liked not as she was told to say.

She said over all the years she had worked there the goalposts had constantly moved as to how high was too high for cholesterol. It used to be much higher. In recent years the Practice had been inviting patients in for blood tests to check their levels. What she discovered astounded her. She met elderly patients who had been on the GP lists all their lives but were so healthy she had never even seen them before. When they were tested just about all of them had what was considered high cholesterol yet were as fit as fiddles! Her job was to suggest statins to them. This is a large rural Practice where people live to great ages.

Sorry, but I think NICE knows more about all the research from millions of patients than a nurse does.

Katyj

This thread caught my eye as I’ve just had a friend on the phone 68 frantic with worry. She had a text message from her surgery after having bloods taken on Monday to say could she make an urgent appointment to see the Dr.
When she rang she spoke with the nurse only to be told her cholesterol is very high 4.4 and she’ll need to start tablets immediately. I can’t understand it as my cholesterol last year was 5.7 the nurse left it up to me to decide if I wanted to start tablets I declined said I’d wait and see what this year brings.

It depends on other risk factors. Total cholesterol has been replaced by non-high density lipoprotein cholesterol, which includes triglycerides, as the primary target. It could be that your friend has high triglycerides or risk factors you don't have. Your friend should ask for all the components of her test.

Primrose53

growstuff

People like Patrick Holford rely on people turning away from mainstream medications and swallowing his pills and paying for his nutritional advice. He's got a flipping nerve claiming that GPs are getting rich from prescribing statins.

But they are!

Patrick Holford is richer from peddling his "nutrition" books and pills.

GPs prescribe statins, the most researched drug in the world, because they save lives, which is their job.

growstuff

People like Patrick Holford rely on people turning away from mainstream medications and swallowing his pills and paying for his nutritional advice. He's got a flipping nerve claiming that GPs are getting rich from prescribing statins.

But they are!

Katyj

This thread caught my eye as I’ve just had a friend on the phone 68 frantic with worry. She had a text message from her surgery after having bloods taken on Monday to say could she make an urgent appointment to see the Dr.
When she rang she spoke with the nurse only to be told her cholesterol is very high 4.4 and she’ll need to start tablets immediately. I can’t understand it as my cholesterol last year was 5.7 the nurse left it up to me to decide if I wanted to start tablets I declined said I’d wait and see what this year brings.

That’s not “very high”!

A few years back a nurse at our surgery was retiring that day. She had worked there for decades. I discussed statins with her as I had been told I needed them. She said “don’t bother.” She said as it was her last day she felt she could say as she liked not as she was told to say.

She said over all the years she had worked there the goalposts had constantly moved as to how high was too high for cholesterol. It used to be much higher. In recent years the Practice had been inviting patients in for blood tests to check their levels. What she discovered astounded her. She met elderly patients who had been on the GP lists all their lives but were so healthy she had never even seen them before. When they were tested just about all of them had what was considered high cholesterol yet were as fit as fiddles! Her job was to suggest statins to them. This is a large rural Practice where people live to great ages.

People like Patrick Holford rely on people turning away from mainstream medications and swallowing his pills and paying for his nutritional advice. He's got a flipping nerve claiming that GPs are getting rich from prescribing statins.

Primrose53

www.patrickholford.com/advice/how-gps-are-paid-to-prescribe-ineffective-drugs/

This explains the topic very well.

I don't suppose that has anything to do with Patrick Holford peddling his own potions! Have they been researched exhaustively, as statins have been?

www.patrickholford.com/advice/how-gps-are-paid-to-prescribe-ineffective-drugs/

This explains the topic very well.

Big Bertha, like you I have been contacted by the practice pharmacist, he advised me to take stations. My cholesterol level was 6.4. I agreed and have started on 20 mg a day. Only had four , so fingers crossed there will be no side effects.

lizzypopbottle

growstuff will you look back at my post of yesterday at 14.10? I can't quote great tracts of his book for copyright reasons but his main premise is the danger of the plethora of medications that older people are often prescribed, including statins, and the drawbacks of individual drugs coupled with the interaction of some, hence the title, 'Too Many Pills'.

That's no reason to refuse or stop taking any prescribed medications, without a proper review and relevant tests.

lizzypopbottle

growstuff will you look back at my post of yesterday at 14.10? I can't quote great tracts of his book for copyright reasons but his main premise is the danger of the plethora of medications that older people are often prescribed, including statins, and the drawbacks of individual drugs coupled with the interaction of some, hence the title, 'Too Many Pills'.

I know.

I wonder why the lower doses didn't work and you need more higher dose??

growstuff

Presumably you have liver function tests. If all three say the same thing, I would think they know what they're talking about.

I'd like to think so, but then I was assured it was "stress" for over a year.
I do have regular tests and blood tests now, though.

growstuff will you look back at my post of yesterday at 14.10? I can't quote great tracts of his book for copyright reasons but his main premise is the danger of the plethora of medications that older people are often prescribed, including statins, and the drawbacks of individual drugs coupled with the interaction of some, hence the title, 'Too Many Pills'.

Presumably you have liver function tests. If all three say the same thing, I would think they know what they're talking about.

I take them, and I have cirrhosis.
According to the gp, the gastroenterology consultant, and the pharmacist at my GPS, it's OK for me.

That's why I'm wary, because all info says not to take if you have liver issues.

If people already have liver damage, they shouldn't take statins. You should have a liver test before starting them and every 12 months, according to the NHS.

I had a blood test regularly as I have Haemochromatosis which can affect the liver
When the nurse was taking the blood she asked if I was on stating.i said no.and she said I won't bother doing the liver test then as it's not needed.
She seemed to forget I needed the liver test anyway and it was the only one I needed
My Dr was not pleased so it seems statins do affect your liver .as do lots of medications.but liver MUST be checked if on Statins