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mazzie
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21-01-2011, 10:38 PM
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Re: Statins

I did the whole 'regular review' thing for a couple of years but nothing I did changed my cholesterol level. Apparently sometimes our bodies produce more than is healthy and diet is only a small part of the solution. It doesn't always have the desired effect. Saturated fat is the main thing to avoid and obviously a healthy diet helps in all sorts of ways but sometimes a little extra help is needed to lower cholesterol levels, namely statins. I'd much rather not be taking them but I don't really have a choice at the moment as a complete change of diet didn't help. I've been taking them for about a year now and there don't appear to be any side effects.
Joan
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22-01-2011, 09:56 AM
12

Re: Statins

Statins are a big con job. My siblings can't take them anyway - they get bad muscle side effects, but much research has shown that the need for them is usually grossly overstated.

Stay healthy, eat natural foods including natural fats (ie NOT transfats) avoid soy products and canola and anything processed. Cut down on carbohydrates, eat your meat, fish, cheese, eggs and veggies, and you should stay healthy.

Statins are extremely healthy for the pharmaceutical industry of course.
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stevmk2
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04-08-2011, 10:46 AM
13

Re: Statins

Originally Posted by Joan ->
Statins are a big con job. My siblings can't take them anyway - they get bad muscle side effects, but much research has shown that the need for them is usually grossly overstated. Stay healthy, eat natural foods including natural fats (ie NOT transfats) avoid soy products and canola and anything processed. Cut down on carbohydrates, eat your meat, fish, cheese, eggs and veggies, and you should stay healthy.Statins are extremely healthy for the pharmaceutical industry of course.
Forgive me for resurrecting this thread folks but I'm interested in this topic and I've been away from here for a while.
I had a cholesterol "count" last February (2010) of 7.5 apparently. My doctor called for numerous tests to be done and I had scans / x-rays, ECG, blood test etcetera at the local hospital. I eat a healthy diet yet my body produces more cholesterol than is normal. I also smoke.
(For those that don't know, the estimate from blood tests of cholesterol ingested in food form was less than 10%.)
The tests all came back with good indications; my lungs are pretty good considering that my doctor put "heavy smoker" on the form and the radiologist queried that.
The ECG confirmed that I have "the heart of a horse", and the request for that was also queried by the hospital and they clearly stated that I was not at risk from heart disease but that I should give up smoking - that's all.
My doctor, in his infinite wisdom, put me on Statins and although I queried it and argued, I eventually agreed to try them but I told him that if I had any problems at all I'd stop taking them.
Well I did have problems with increasingly painful muscle spasms, pains in the general kidney area.
The biggest shock was weight - I put on half a stone (7pounds) yet nothing I did or ate had changed and I do not eat much in the way of sweet things or crisps. I felt uncomfortable sitting down with what felt like a lump pressing up into my liver and that turned out to be my spleen pushing my liver up into the chest cavity - a Spanish GP diagnosed that - this was on holiday and we'd walked everywhere and I usually LOSE about half a stone!
The Spanish GP asked me if I had high cholesterol and I told him what the reading had been and he said that he could not understand why I was given Statins with a relatively low count because the symptoms I had indicated that they were damaging my liver and kidneys - so I stopped taking Statins.
I've recently taken an interest in the whole issue of statins and I'm increasingly worried now about some new reports emerging claiming that Statins inhibit Co-enzyme Q10 - a naturally-occurring compound in the body.
The real worry to me is that we lose the ability to produce Q10 over the years anyway and depleting in to very low levels by taking daily Statins could CAUSE a hear attack - the very thing we are conned into taking them for in the first place! There's also references to the possibility that Statins can also advance dementia, memory loss, cause brain damage and actually cause cancer.
OK, all a bit alarmist but having read-up on exactly what Q10 does I've decided to start taking supplements now and NEVER go near Statins again!
Any views out there? stevmk2
Uncle Joe
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04-08-2011, 12:07 PM
14

Re: Statins

Originally Posted by Mags ->
Yes, send it to me!
Join the queue Mags darlin'.

My Doctor prescribed Simvastatin (40Mg) for me some years ago. I took it for about 2 years, but, like many others, found that it caused pains in my legs. As a result my Doctor swopped me onto Atorvastatin (Lipitor - 10Mg). Have been taking them for the past 2 - 3 years without any side-effects at all. As for diet, as you all know I have a VERY healthy appetite and eat what I want.
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Meg
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04-08-2011, 12:57 PM
15

Re: Statins

Apparently I too have borderline high 'bad' cholesterol and the same with BP . My Doctor debated about giving me statins but I refused point blank likewise any medication for BP at this stage.

I eat a healthy diet lots of fruit and veg, fish twice a week, cook with olive oil. I do eat a little saturated fat in meat and dairy foods.

I absolute refuse to use that watery skimmed milk which is an apology for milk also 'healthy spreads' which I class as processed food and with what has recently emerged about hydrogenated fats and trans fats I am glad I stuck to my bit of wholesome unadulterated butter .

If I die from doing this so be it, at least there will have been an element of enjoyment in my later year. I have no desire to prolong my life to a stage where I sit in a room all day bored to death wearing a large sized nappy with a lot of other old folk .

I also purchased a little BP monitor (cost £15) so I can keep track of things myself without having to visit the doctor and sit in a room full of sick people with germs .
Uncle Joe
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04-08-2011, 01:31 PM
16

Re: Statins

Originally Posted by Meg ->
Apparently I too have borderline high 'bad' cholesterol and the same with BP . My Doctor debated about giving me statins but I refused point blank likewise any medication for BP at this stage.

I eat a healthy diet lots of fruit and veg, fish twice a week, cook with olive oil. I do eat a little saturated fat in meat and dairy foods.

I absolute refuse to use that watery skimmed milk which is an apology for milk also 'healthy spreads' which I class as processed food and with what has recently emerged about hydrogenated fats and trans fats I am glad I stuck to my bit of wholesome unadulterated butter .

If I die from doing this so be it, at least there will have been an element of enjoyment in my later year. I have no desire to prolong my life to a stage where I sit in a room all day bored to death wearing a large sized nappy with a lot of other old folk .

I also purchased a little BP monitor (cost £15) so I can keep track of things myself without having to visit the doctor and sit in a room full of sick people with germs .

Meg darlin' thata girl, full speed ahead and damn the torpedoes!!!
rueben
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04-08-2011, 01:39 PM
17

Re: Statins

The goalposts are forever being moved on what is an acceptable range for cholesterol levels. These can be affected by the body naturally making too much as well as diet and exercise. Trigs. are now taken into the equation as well as hdl+ldl lipids. What's important is to have a good level of hdl lipid as this transports ldl lipid out of the body.

I personally would try any other approach to controlling levels then only using drugs as a last resort.
I do take medication for high blood pressure but not before trying other methods to lower it eg. I am correct weight range, exercise, mostly eat healthily don't smoke but I still need medication.In my case it appears to be hereditary as it runs in the family. I did manage to lower it a bit and I believe that trying to help myself has kept me on a lower prescription than my doctor originally wanted to prescribe for me.
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stevmk2
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04-08-2011, 02:00 PM
18

Re: Statins

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I should point out that my BP is normal too, which is also why I argued against Statins in the first place - seems to me that GPs are putting people on Statins for little real reason these days.
A friend of mine collapsed in 2009 at work. He'd been put on Statins for at least three years before.
At the hospital he was rushed into intensive care and it was found that his liver was failing.
He was stabilised at Emergency and after a couple of weeks he was fit enough to go home but he was too weak to return to work and had to take a whole range of medications and pills but, before he was actually allowed to leave a doctor sidled up to him one day and advised him to stop drinking and smoking or he could be back or worse.
My friend doesn't drink or smoke so when he told them that they carried out a lot more tests and found the damage was due to Statins!!
He's off them for good now and lost another 10 pounds and looks so much better now. He's back at work now and I'm glad to say his cholesterol is normal and he now eats a very healthy diet too, which is better than the junk he used to eat!
As for me, I do have semi-skimmed milk, use olive oil only for cooking and spreads, drink cholesterol-lowering drinks, take Omega 3, eat Beetroot or drink the juice and I can count the times that I've eaten red meat in one month on ONE hand.
I'm trying to develop and appetite for fruit now because although I eat salads from April to October and eat plenty of veggies, I can't stand shop-bought, tasteless fruit so I'm trying tinned fruit in juice, NOT in syrup!
As for sugar or sweets in general, I'd rather have something savoury and I love Indian food and have it EVERY week - the herbs and spices in them are amazing with lots of good healthy benefits. stevmk2
rueben
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04-08-2011, 02:59 PM
19

Re: Statins

Originally Posted by stevmk2 ->
Thanks for the feedback everyone. I should point out that my BP is normal too, which is also why I argued against Statins in the first place - seems to me that GPs are putting people on Statins for little real reason these days.

My hubby had a high cholesterol number of 8.4 even though he has the blood pressure of a teenager. I on the other hand have high blood pressure and low cholesterol so the two don't always go together. Hubby was advised to take statins but I discouraged him in favour of self help. He was a smoker and did like eating a variety of foods whether they were healthy or not. He gave up smoking and eats a healthier diet which means a lot less manufactured food and more raw foods like fruits and salads on a regular basis. Cutting down the carbs has brought his bad trigs. down a lot his good hdl has raised slightly which is good but his bad ldl is hard to shift The thing that hasn't been mentioned much is exercise it helps to do aerobic exercise. I bought hubby a tread mill to get his circulation going several times a week.He does walk the dog regularly but it does not have the same effect as aerobic exercise. His cholesterol is down to 6.2 not brilliant but doc's seem happy with it and are not pushing statins now partly because of his low blood pressure.

As for sugar or sweets in general, I'd rather have something savoury and I love Indian food and have it EVERY week - the herbs and spices in them are amazing with lots of good healthy benefits. stevmk2
That's good you like spices as they are recommended especially tumeric. Keep up any good efforts to stay of drugs. I know they have their place but only as a last ditch.
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stevmk2
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04-08-2011, 04:54 PM
20

Re: Statins

I've been busy looking all sorts of things up and I found this: -
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/ar...ins-truth.html
OK, it's a newspaper article or "filler" when there's not much to "fill" column inches but it is interesting!! stevmk2
 
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