High cholesterol/high blood pressure

Well, @CariadAgain, I'm confused as to why you posted because it sounds like you've made your mind up to reject the medication?

mabon1 sometimes we need information and ideas and different thoughts and research to make decisions.

We may decide to accept the level of risk or not.
We still need to get an idea about our level of risk.
We may need to reassess the risks we are OK with year after year.

Please don't assume those of us who don't take the medication instantly are wasting the time of doctors. After all they arent necessarily "more knowledgeable" than we are about our own bodies.

As my GP said, he only knows about statistics. About the info "per thousand" or per million.
We don't really have personalised treatment as yet.

I think u are getting a rough ride on here . You have seen a specialist but ultimately it’s your body your choice. Gain as much information as you can then the decision made is informed . I can understand where you are coming from with fear of side effects. I held off on an important drug with support from my out there doctor. Another may have been more forceful. I’m on it now but it’s me that has to live with the fallout not others . I started it when the time was right and he accepted that .

Aveline

It's no big deal to quietly take prescribed meds for what's left of life. If you're not going to take them just stop wasting NHS time.

Agree with you I have been taking Thyroxine since 1995 and the dose is adjusted occasionally depending on the blood test result. No point in (trying!) * to see a doctor if you don't take their advice.
* getting more difficult to get a face to face appointment these days.

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Aveline

Fair comment.
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To CrazyH - I totally agree.

Hmm a member of my family applied a “take it when needed” approach to blood pressure medication, had a massive stroke and died sooner than they might have.
By all means make your own decisions but bear in mind strokes, and indeed heart attacks can be very disabling which has consequences for your loved one’s. Not to mention that more medical intervention may be needed if you end up disabled.
If you aren’t going to follow clinical advice given by qualified professionals please stop taking up time at the cardiology clinics as there are long waiting lists!

I don't understand the original post. It sounds as if Cariadagain has a big support network who would be there to provide personal care for the rest of her life if she has a stroke. Most of us are more considerate and value our independence!

I take statins as they were recommended by my GP. I don't feel quite myself when I take them but I'd rather not have a stroke or heart attack. They're preferable to death.

If you don’t want to be resuscitated you can discuss a DNACPR with your GP so they and the ambulance service know you don’t want to be ‘brought back’

You can also decline regular reviews from your doctor. It’s an offer of care not a summons. A naturopath might be better suited for you?

Some people suffer side effects from some statins.
Not all people, not all statins.

This is something only you can decide what to do. I didn't take statins because I had ill effects from them and then a new drug came out which I could take. Having seen people who lead much poorer lives once they have a stroke, I am going to keep on taking those tablets. If you think you can take the risk of a poor quality life for the sake of not swallowing a pill, don't take one. You will only have yourself to blame but do give the Dr's a break. The NHS is at breaking point with people who do want to be proactive with their health waiting for long time to be seen so don't take away their chance if you don't want it.

Why are you wasting the time of doctors who are far more knowledgeable than you are, who are hard pressed? If you want to die of a stroke or a heart attack just ignore their advice you silly woman. Have you lived with someone who has had a stroke or heart attack which has left them disabled? It's hard work looking after disabled people.

Yes, I agree that it is entirely up to Cariadagain to choose whether or not she takes the medical advice given. What I think offends quite a few posters is her attitude towards those who do choose to follow the advice given and who do choose to take the medication offered.

Of course there are potential side effects to any medication, but the vast majority of people suffer none or few and if they do, their medical professional will discuss alternatives.

Her dismissive attitudes to others and the NHS, and her somewhat boastful comments is what causes upset, I believe.

Yes Cariad has a right to refuse medication/ treatment. It's her boastful attitude to others and her dismissive attitude to the NHS that I don't like.

I watch 24 hours in A&E on tv and saw a lady bought in having had a minor stroke. She had been prescribed tablets for high blood pressure but didn't want to take them. had a minor stroke which fortunately she recovered her speech from...... takes the medication now.

I have been following this post with interest. Of course Cariad is entitled to refuse medical advice / statins or other medication . What I fail to comprehend is why she finds it necessary to make a song and dance about it! Quite simply Cariad don't take the medical advice but please don't take the moral high ground about it.
I take statins , have all my vaccinations and follow medical advice, I am very grateful for it too!

I can only say that I have taken blood pressure pills and statins for 20 years with no effect except lower blood pressure and cholesterol. I now take an anti coagulant which, so far, is successfully keeping me alive. I don't know why the OP is so horrified at the thought of someone trying to resuscitate her. Unless she is in a hospital the chances of it being successful are quite low anyway. A friend of mine who is a nurse was thrilled when she saved a man who had a cardiac arrest in the street, because the success rates are so low.

I'm not criticising CariadAgain for her different choices, but for her aggressive attacks on people who (according to her) don't make up their own - as though they are stupid and somehow she is morally superior because she rejects conventional medical advice. I don't really understand why anybody would make the effort to do that. Just do what you think is right for you and get on with it without making a fuss.

CariadAgain hasn't decided for herself after being given medical advice. From her posts, it would appear that she has made up her mind whatever medical advice she is given.

Finding out the risk to yourself and using the NHS to do yhat is OK as far as I can see.

I have had several investigations over the years - especially around my arthritis (taking up valuable consultants time) but all this adds to our understanding - whether we take the advice or not.
Sometimes I'm happy to take a risk. Some risks seem too high for me.

I know you may have gone now CariadAgain but we don't all think you are doing anything wrong by using the NHS to find out what they think and then decide for yourself.

We all have a right to reject treatment you know.
I have rejected treatments over the years - both drugs and procedures.

I don't think it's fair to jump on CariadAgain because of her different choices.

CariadAgain I note that you are leaving this thread. For the life of me, I don't know why you started it in the first place. And, yes, as others have said, please don't waste the time and money of the NHS.

CariadAgain Nobody is trying to make up your mind for you. However, I do find your comment that few people make up their own mind ignorant and patronising.

FWIW I take statins and meds for high blood pressure. Before 2017 I had this idea that I didn't want to take meds, so I didn't. I stubbornly thought that I could control my own body, but it turned out that I couldn't.

I had a heart attack in October 2017. I was blue-lighted to Papworth Hospital, where I had a stent fitted. I will never forget lying in that ambulance being told I was having a heart attack and thinking that I wouldn't make it to the end of my journey. The para-medics rang my daughter, who was in tears about it. Fortunately, I did make it and I'm still here to tell the tale.

I made up my own mind that I didn't want to go through all that again in a hurry and that I still had more living to do. I was advised to take meds (including some in the short-term) and my cholesterol and blood pressure have been well within a normal range for years.

That was my choice! Nobody twisted my arm to start taking the meds. I was very happy to have all the help I could - and still am. You've made a different decision - and that's really up to you, but I agree with others that if you don't want the treatment on offer, I wish you'd stop wasting NHS time.

PS. I now take Exemestane, a hormone therapy drug which has been shown to cut the risk of developing secondary breast cancer. I'm quite happy to take that too. I don't see that refusing it would somehow make me morally superior and worthy of self-congratulation.

I've heard of people taking statins for a short time and then coming off them - but side-effects from that being lasting.

So - nope...certainly not "self-sabotaging" - but very conscious it is MY decision and my decision alone what path to take (despite the "haters" on here - who just seem to want me to conform!). I guess people who make up their own minds are unusual still (well twas ever thus I guess...).

Thought never occurred to me that there would be other people who would "hate" on me and try to make up MY mind for me. Right now - I guess some amongst them would condemn someone here I'm friendly with that found out she has Stage 4 cancer. There's quite a few of us following her quest to handle this - and no sign of anyone condemning her for making different decisions to what she has made. She is "following her own path" with grace and elegance - and people being supportive to her. I rather admire the way she is so open about it all/making her own decisions etc and, at the same time, she's clearly on one of those Swedish death cleanses. She finds out the facts....deals with things sometimes the conventional way...sometimes a more "alternative" way and she's quite a lesson to us all.

Oh well - at least I know that there are a noticeable number of people out there (eg on here) that will try and make MY decision for me and then stamp their little feet and have a tantrum when it's clear I do know it's MY life and MY decisions. For all decisions - one needs the fullest facts one can get - rather than being bullied into automatically taking the route someone else wants you to do.

I shall leave this thread behind now - I don't want further conventional thinkers to come along and "have a little shout and a little bully". I know now there are people like this out there.

Are you maybe self-sabotaging, op? If that is the right words?
Think something bad medically is bound to happen at some point, so why bother taking pills?

Would you consider taking statins for example, for a short while?
I dont know enough about them to know how effective that would be.
But you could go on them, and then stop taking them at some point?

I suppose, CariadAgain that some of us have had a healthy diet and lots of exercise etc and still can't fix things.

I've never liked meat. It was easy for me to be vegetarian. Always home cooking, no (almost no) cakes and biscuits etc. Nothing much bought in.
Still swim 50 lengths 3 times a week.

But I can't change my genes. I've had arthritis since I was 14. I've inherited genes that make my heart vulnerable and it's always irregular.
My BP is higher than "they" would like.
Nothing else.

I managed to be "healthy" until I wasn't! Untill my stroke I took no medication. I have read loads of studies now (via Google scholar) but it was ultimately the fear of my family having to bear the burden of my choices that made me think I needed to take medication. I am taking the lowest dose statin - basically for them.

Low cholesterol reduces my risk of another stroke by about 20% - of course nobody knows what my risk is to begin with... My cholesterol was just over 5 - now it is around 2.

My anticoagulant also reduces my risk by about 20% - but I've been taking this since my stroke.

My BP is "acceptable" at home but scary everywhere else.
Some recent studies show that "White coat syndrome" is not as benign as previously thought. I am watching this area of study.

The stroke was a massive jolt. I normally prefer to fix things if damaged and then stop. I was /am disappointed about taking medication longer term.

This is where I am now.
I do truly understand your reluctance.
The everydayness of a drug regime was miserable - certainly at first... and is still often upsetting. I don't always take the statin - maybe 4 times a week. Whilst my cholesterol is low my GP and I are both ok with this...
He is happy for me to have very frequent blood tests to keep an eye on it.

...but as I said earlier, taking drugs is ultimately a gift of love from me to my family.
This makes it easier to tolerate it.

I hope you find a way through.

You ungratful. woman. Medics give you their time and advice only for you to ignore it. I had a cholesterol decades ago, it was 9.8. I have been taking the recommended dose because my Pa, Uncle and cousin died of heart attacks at between 52 and 60. I suggested to my sister that she do the test, not quite as high but 8.9.