What do you think of Statins (or HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors) for lowering cholesterol?
1299batman
Posts: 23 Member
Statins (or HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors) are a class of cholesterol lowering drugs. There are so many side effects and I have a new doctor who wants me to take this drug. There are tons of side effects. Thanks for your comments.
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I am not a doctor, nurse or in the medical field in any capacity, so this is just my opinion.
Personally, I won't take them. Both my parents have been on them for a long, long time, and both are having cognitive issues, and other side effects. Not a fan of big pharma and making them richer at the expense of our health. I spend a lot of my time taking care of my mother now, and have to run to doctors with her far too often for tests to monitor her liver and kidney function because of the statins.
My personal experience is this, I had a Cardiac catheterization done years ago, my general cholesterol levels are 210, which they have been since the doctors started testing for it, it never changes, and the tests came back all clear. so if you ask me, the numbers do not necessarily mean arterial buildup is present. So, whenever I get that chat with the doctors, I tell them no statins.
I do agree to try other natural treatments, like fish oil, exercise, and diet.
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I am not a doctor, nurse or in the medical field in any capacity, so this is just my opinion.
Personally, I won't take them. Both my parents have been on them for a long, long time, and both are having cognitive issues, and other side effects. Not a fan of big pharma and making them richer at the expense of our health. I spend a lot of my time taking care of my mother now, and have to run to doctors with her far too often for tests to monitor her liver and kidney function because of the statins.
My personal experience is this, I had a Cardiac catheterization done years ago, my general cholesterol levels are 210, which they have been since the doctors started testing for it, it never changes, and the tests came back all clear. so if you ask me, the numbers do not necessarily mean arterial buildup is present. So, whenever I get that chat with the doctors, I tell them no statins.
I do agree to try other natural treatments, like fish oil, exercise, and diet.
Thank you for your response. I agree. A few years ago I was one of the coaches for my kid’s soccer team. The other coach was a USC graduate who was in the pharmaceutical sales biz. He gave samples to doctors and hospitals to promote his brands. He told me that even if he does this for a living, he wouldn’t give these meds to his family. The side effects are too risky.0 -
I have been on statins for quite some time as part of a post stroke regimen. I am low dose. I have not had any issues thus far. My liver enzymes were elevated recently but were normal on a retest. My beloved neurologist retired recently and I have to get a new one. I am going to see if he thinks I need to continue all my meds, can cut some or what. I would be happy to stop taking meds altogether but suspect I will at least need my blood thinner. Sometimes the potential side effects are worse than the condition you are being treated for. However, if diet and exercise is not enough to lower your cholesterol to reasonable levels, and that is often the case, I think you have to try some drugs.0
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I am with kikarten. Family history of dementia, so not going there. Got mine down with change in diet and exercise.0
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I've been on a low dose since a heart attack 18 months ago, one stent, full recovery. I'm in the target group best served by statins, late 50's male honkey. I have no side effects, and work out in a serious manner. They're not popular with everybody, but like daily exercise, my choice in the matter is dead or follow the program.0
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My concern is that the medical community (I'm lumping doctors and big pharma in this) are trying to reduce all of us to a number - and it's not just about numbers. My ex-husband had low cholesterol numbers, really low, and he had a heart attack at age 40 due to blocked arteries. Based on the numbers they would never put him on statins before the heart attack. They put in two stents and put him on statins. And now he is dealing with other health issues, and I'm betting it's the statins.0
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I have also been on statins for a few years. It is one of my goals to get off them completely. I have been doing 3 month blood checks, just cut my prescription in half again in August and if my numbers stay good, I'll be completely off them in November. My doctor also acts like it's no big deal and says I'm such a low dose, but I've been pushing to eliminate them.0
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my husband was on the for a month but has really bad leg pain that he went off. With diet and exercise he's been able to keep his cholesterol at a good range. Have you tried lowering it through diet and exercise? When I cut down (way down ) sugar and carbs and included lots of fiber in my diet my cholesterol went down.0
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I have been on stains for 14 years. No adverse effects I can identify. Maybe I am here writing this because of statins keeping my cholesterol under control. I am not a big advocate of too many meds but for people who need it and do not suffer adverse effects these can be a very helpful drugs. We are individuals not statistics but it pays to at least consider these drugs if they are helpful to you.0
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Prescribing medicine is not the first thing my doctor tries for a problem. Over a year ago she told me I had high cholesterol. She wanted me to modify my diet which I will admit did not last that long and I started taking niacin daily. This has worked for me.0
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My doctor prescribed them to me and I refused to take them for two reasons: one is my levels were not that high and two the side effects of statins. I would rather lower them through diet and exercise.0
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I, too, am not a doctor. But to me, a big question is "what's the nature & severity of your personal health problem, and how does that weigh against potential side effects". You haven't said whether you've had major health problems, or whether your doc is pushing drugs for a more minor numbers problem. The detailed patient info for the drugs should show the actual reported incidence of major side effects. (No, that's not perfect. But it's better than anecdotes.) I'd say, take a look at the side effect incidence, and try to quantify your related health risk factors if you don't take the drugs. How do they stack up?
My personal anecdote, FWIW (not much, IMO):
My doctor wanted to put me on statins a couple of years ago when my numbers were as follows: Chol 253, Triglycerides 402, LDL 156, VLDL 80, HDL 43, and Chol/HDL ratio 5.9. At around this time, my blood pressure was tending to be 140/80 and above (though not far above). My lipid numbers had been bad(ish) for years, but they'd been trending worse, and this was a big jump. I was 60-70 pounds overweight on a 5'5" frame. On the plus side, I was reasonable active (350-500 calories of reasonably intense cardio most days - I'm a rower).
I felt like I'd lost enough cognitive ground to chemotherapy back in 2000-2001, and my cognitive skills are extremely important to my sense of self-worth and identity. So, I refused the statin, and started trying to improve my numbers. Through changes in diet, without substantial weight loss, I was able to get my blood pressure generally down around 120/80, and my lipid profile, while still not in the desired ranges, improved substantially. During that period, the guidelines were relaxed for recommending statins, and the doc stopped arguing with me (much).
At my last blood test, a little less than two months into serious weight loss (down 20 pounds or so), I was at chol 192, triglycerides 126, LDL 128, VLDL 25, HDL 39, ratio 4.9. Not fabulous, but everything in the normal range except for HDL being a point low.0 -
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Well, my concern for this drug is no longer a concern. A lot has happened since I have posted. I'm to have open heart surgery tomorrow.0
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Hope all goes well tomorrow.............I've been sending prayer since yesterday, but just remember......you're Batman!!0
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1299batman wrote: »Well, my concern for this drug is no longer a concern. A lot has happened since I have posted. I'm to have open heart surgery tomorrow.
I will remember you and the surgical team in prayer. Please let us know how you make out. We will all be pulling for you.0 -
'Sending good thoughts. Hope that all goes well.
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saying a prayer!0
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I've been on statins for years with no side effects. Good luck with the surgery.0
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1299batman wrote: »Well, my concern for this drug is no longer a concern. A lot has happened since I have posted. I'm to have open heart surgery tomorrow.
Good luck, you are probably in surgery as I am typing. Hoping to see a good update soon.0 -
A few years ago a Doctor that I was going to had taken a test to see if my cholesterol was high because I had been over weight for some time. When the test results came back he wanted me to take a statin, I do not remember which one but my answer was this, " Give me two weeks to get my cholesterol down and if I can not get it down then I will try the medication." I went home and I eat so many vegetables for lunch and dinner and in between, then I eat oat meal with a banana for breakfast every morning. I STOPPED eating cheese and ice cream. No one told me what to eat and not eat I just used my common sense and wait with it. When the Doctor did the second test my cholesterol was normal. I had eaten a big bowl of ice cream the night before I went into the Doctors office when the first test was taken so I think that played a part in my test results because I have not had another bad test result sense then. Keep in mind I also eat other health foods in that time not just the veggies and oat and fruit. I hope this helps.
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Best of luck to you Batman! Hope all is well.0
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I hope we hear from Batman soon.0
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Me too0
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Checking in to see if Batman has any good news for us.0
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I just saw a post from him, he just got home from the hospital, is sore, but doing well.0
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Well he posted a 26 minute walk, so he must be doing pretty good!0
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That's Batman for 'ya!!!!! Thank goodness he's okay!!!!0
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Good to know, thanks for the update, Bill!0
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