Going off of statin?
winnie141
Posts: 211 Member
Had an interesting conversation with my doctor yesterday and I would like to hear opinions. I asked or rather I was curious to see if I could go down on my dosage of statin since I have lost a lot of weight and my age of course. He told me he wants me to go completely off of the statins for 1 month and then go for blood work and see where I am at and possibly go completely off of statin. I am not too sure about this as I know most diabetics are put on a statin as a safe guard, but I also know they can be dangerous...hence I was worried about my dosage being too high. For what it's worth the only side effect is dreaming too much but at least they are not nightmares like I had with one other statin. I don't know how to feel about this. The statin kind felt like a cushion (from the stress of possibly having a heart attack and stroke) but on the other hand it would be nice to take less medication. My husband is kind of concerned as he doesn't think too much of this doctor as far as diabetes goes with this guy...I think he wants me to see more of a specialist...probably not going to happen considering where I am living. And for what it's worth I can also go see my diabetic nurse, diabetic pharmacist, dietician regarding treatment. I also wanted to point out that I had seen this doctor a few months ago to do a skin biopsy....he was more concerned about his signature on my stitches rather than giving me enough stitches....I ended up in the Emergency room hemorrhageing (I was soaked waist down in blood). So my trust isn't very strong with this guy? I need advice!
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Well considering I have quite a bit insight into diabetes...I do KNOW that diabetes can't be cured...that wasn't the question lol...let me put it this way...if your doctor told you to go off of a statin ...would you consider it?0
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Reading what happened during your skin biopsy, I agree with your husband - I think I would find a different Doctor before discontinuing your statins.0
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DM2 is a chronic disease. It cannot be CURED. Many people have been able to put their DM2 into REMISSION with a LCHF diet. For non-diabetics an LDL < 100 is desirable. For DM2 patients doctors like to see LDL < 80. This is difficult without a statin.
Besides a statin taken at BEDTIME. DM2 patients should also take a baby aspirin, coq10, and an ACEI or an ARB. All at bedtime.
Just curious...why the ARB at bedtime? I take mine (100mg Losartan) in the morning but don't have any reason for taking it in the morning other than to divide up my blood pressure meds so I don't take them all at once.
Also, what does the coq10 do for diabetics?
I've been recently having similar thoughts with going off of my statin (10mg Lipitor) since my LDL has been around 49, HDL around 44, VLDL around 20 and triglycerides around 99. My next Dr's apt is in mid-December (along with another blood test) and if my #'s are still good then, I'll inquire about removing the statin unless there's some reason to stay on it. My last fasting glucose lab test was 96 but my A1C was still high at 6.8 (but that's way down from 11.4 back in February2015).
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Thanks for all the replies I REALLY appreciate the time you guys put in. I have decided to stay on it, and will discuss about decreasing it with my diabetic pharmacist in January (or sooner depending on the amount of refills I have left lol). I had seen a doctor initially at diagnosis but she has since left hence the doctor that was wanting to experiment with me going off for a month. @tszani what you said about going off of it for three months makes more sense than 1 month (one month isn't going to show anything solid) and I have decided I want to stay PERMANENTLY on a statin...there is a reason why they put diabetics on it in the first place. They wanted me on a blood pressure med as it was high at diagnosis (due to stress of finding out I had diabetes) but they held off thank goodness as my blood pressure is CRAZY low and I actually have problems blacking out. I have had to since up my salt intake (we are on a low sodium diet due to my daughters congenital heart disease) so needless to say I have been loving the pickles. Thank you all for the replies! ☺️0
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I hate to sound ignorant but what do the letters ARB stand for?0
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Lol I'm not sure! Hence I try not to use abbreviations. I'm assuming it's a type of medication0
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Those LDL targets sound very low to me. Are type-2's supposed to have extra-low LDL? Since starting a LCHF diet & losing ~40 lbs, my LDL has gone up significantly, but my Trig/HDL ratio is less than 1. After reading Dr. Stephen Sinatra's book, "The Great Cholesterol Myth", I would look into taking CoQ10 if you're on a statin. That book has also allowed me to live with my elevated LDL without stressing too much. I am not taking a statin, and hope to stay that way. I'm a pre-T2D. Sinatra says that only folks who should be taking statins are men with coronary problems. I hope to get an LDL particle size test done this year.0
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To get a better understanding of your levels without medication I can see where your doctor would like you to discontinue them for a month. It will take a couple of weeks to get the drugs out of your system to give them a true reading. They can then add it back onto your med plan at the right dosage. I know with my weight loss my dosages have all changed. If you don't know what they are you are probably not on them. Angiotensin II Receptor Blockers0
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I was put on a statin by my doc as well when I was diagnosed with T2, also told to take at bedtime (but i work shifts lol.. so bedtime is relative sometimes!) but she also put me on 200mg of CoenzymeQ10 (split in morning and night) because as she explained it to me, statins can cause muscle .. probs I guess is the only word I can come up with now lol... and your heart is a muscle .. and the COQ10 helps protect the heart. Not exactly a medical explanation, but that was how she explained it to me.
As for your doctor, I'm in Canada and I know things are a little different here with getting to choose a doc, but I have to say one of the key things that has helped me has been having a doctor who is genuinely invested in me and my health - and requires the same investment from me. It sounds like you may not have an option with your doc, but that you have some really good resources in the pharmacist, nurse and dietician - but I would say personally I would not stop any med without talking to my doc first...
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