Cholesterol and Statin's
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Statin Medication for high Cholesterol ( moved from Main Board)
PipsMom
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I was reading the news and came across this article today. ....Word for word his symptoms mimic what I have been going through since I was put on Statin's....which I didn't want to start with but was constantly lectured by the nurse and doctor that really needed them for high cholesterol. ( in the 70's).
I had wondered when I first started on them was it drug related when my ankle bones would hurt so bad I can no longer walk any distance without great pain, night time is worse for that's when I take the pill....then it spread to toe joints,...while later it traveled up the leg to shin bones...actually yes it was the bone itself hurting.....my bad knees hurt worse now than ever...I take it at night so my existing leg cramps are much worse and very little sleep occurs due to the combined effect. Then my hip and back which is bad to start with got worse and worse....and now it's traveled up my spine into my shoulders...All the same symptoms...bone aches, muscle spasms, it's debilitating and I can't even sit without pains....
I'm making a appointment tomorrow for the quack while I'm there to have a 6 month blood test...I don't expect to be taken seriously anyway but I will go through the motions once again to see what's causing all this pain...Last time I got brushed off with PT which was useless.
Has anyone else experienced problems taking statins and what are your suggestions for reducing cholesterol without medication...so far ...
Crinkly
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Ah. Can of worms, this.
You may find this thread on a diabetes forum interesting. The numbers with pain and side effects from statins is quite shocking, while the supposed benefits are being questioned more and more.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/statins.102753/page-2
PipsMom
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Thank you for that link Jo, very imformative and was intrigued to keep reading again and again about the upper arm pain...one symptom I couldn't imagine was wrong with mine....now I know...yet another side effect.
I can't bear to go on in daily and night pain like I have experienced and will tell the quack..there's got to be another way but these Statin's have got to go.
I had 5 severe reactions to different BP meds and it took forever to find the one I wasn't allergic to, so I know a one size fits all tablet doesn't always fit every single person...
Very confusing all these reports I've read.....to know which ones lieing and are the pharmaceuticals just out to put the world on Statin's and make themselves rich at patient risks.
Missysmom
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OH my gosh Crystal how awful. Can you just go off those pills anyway? Think I would do that. My dad had high cholesterol and he ate oatmeal and brought it down very low, just with that. Mine is creaping up again too was over 200 this time so I'm gonna start back to my oatmeal again, works Everytime mine gets high! I can't eat the stuff plain so I can tell you the strawberries and cream version Does work to lower it too! 
Keeping you in my prayers. Hugs 
Sunlite
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Crinkly
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Some people see improvements/reduction in side effect syptoms within days of stopping taking them. Others it can take weeks or months. And some are left with permanent muscle weakness. Supplementing with Q10 can help recovery, I understand, but that isn't widely accepted by the medical profession.
When you go to the doc I bet he will ask you to have blood taken for a cholesterol test (for comparison before and after dropping your statin). If he does, make sure it is a fasting cholesterol test. If the test is not done after 10 hours fasting, then it will have a higher result, and not be a good comparison. Also ask for a print out of the test results, or get patient access online. Since April, all English doctor's surgeries have been required to offer patient access to their records via the internet on a secure website. Either way, you need the breakdown of your cholesterol result to make sense of it. HDL, LDL, Trigs. The Total Cholesterol figure is meaningless without the breakdown.
Hope that helps. 
PipsMom
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Great imfo Jo, thank you. I'm due for another fasting test tomarrow, so this one wil be my third. Said something about low elevation with my kidney number and they keeping a watch pretty close on that. Will get a print out too...thank you so much
Sophie's Haven
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Sorry your having to deal with such issues........being in pain like that is enough to keep your blood pressure high. I won't lecture as you well know how I feel about prescription drugs but the advice of eating oatmeal (try Julia's overnight oatmeal) and baking some muffins with ground flax seed or even toss them on a salad will help with your cholesterol.........get off the statins.......Hope your able to find some results soon.
Pawz4me
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Bone and joint pain are pretty well known side effects of statins. My MIL had to switch around to a couple of different ones before she found one that didn't cause pain. DH takes a statin but has to be extremely careful -- he started taking them in his late 20's (familial cholesterol issues) and developed liver issues. He had to come off of them and stay off for many years before his cardiologist tried him back on a very low dosage every other day. That has worked well for him. But because he wasn't able to take statins for years and still can't take a normal dose and he's dealing with a hereditary/genetic cholesterol problem he has to take many other medications. He's on WelChol, a prescription EFA supplement, a prescription niacin (both much more high potent and "pure" than what can be purchased OTC) and several other things that I can't remember. Thankfully he has a very good cardiologist who has a special interest in cholesterol and has been very good to work with him over the years to try to figure out a regimen that worked for him with no (and then a very low dose of) statin medication. DH hates taking pills with a fiery hot passion. He'd love to be able to take just one statin daily and forget about the handfuls of other stuff he has to take instead.
PipsMom
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Thanks everybody...you all have been of more help than you'll ever know
Summerangel
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Jo-Anne
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I do hope you will be taking seriously at the doctor today..over here they say if you are a certain age ohww but you are in your menopause 
everything is caused by that..what do you know. Heard a mediterenian diet could help. And walnuts! just like oats are a good thing they say..hugs.
ParadiseTzu
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I have had high cholesterol for years. Last blood test it was 267. I have taken Crestor before and it lowered it down to 150 in 3 months BUT I also lost 10 pounds. Good you might say, but I am 5'5" and typically weigh around 110 so when I got below 100 lbs I looked really bad and stopped taking the meds. This was about 5 years ago, I have only been able to gain back up to 103 since. And I have an annual physical every year with the required blood test. Cholesterol stays high but I tell the Dr I am not taking any more meds. This past year he recommended a herbal supplement, said it had gotten good results, Red Yeast and Rice. I have not tried it because I read some reviews and it may cause liver issues. So its just fyi, you might want to read up on it.
Crinkly
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I am of the opinion (taken from some recent research) that higher cholesterol is actually protective, in older women.
If you look at All Cause mortality rates, they are lower for women who are older and have higher cholesterol. Plus, since no statin trial has ever focused on women, and men and women have different cholesterol profiles, and different heart disease rates, no statin trial has ever proven to be of benefit for women. Plus (don't know any of your ages, ladies, so this is just an observation), there is no proven benefit of statins for anyone, male or female, after the age of 70.
Here is a summary of a range of research, all showing the same trends. This is only one, of many, such articles and pieces of research that have emerged in recent years.
http://vernerwheelock.com/179-cholesterol-and-all-cause-mortality/
and this is a cut and paste of their concluding paragraph:
Without exception all-cause mortality is highest in those with the lowest levels of Total Cholesterol (TC). In older people those with the highest cholesterol have the highest survival rates, irrespective of where they live in the world. The picture which emerges is totally consistent. The research which triggered the concern about heart disease was based almost entirely on middle-aged men and was restricted to heart disease. But what is so striking about all the studies cited here is that when the focus is on older people, which is when the vast majority deaths occur, and on all-cause mortality the perception of the risks associated with cholesterol are reversed. It is also highly significant that these results do NOT conflict with the research on middle-aged men and heart disease. The data from Honolulu confirm that in those involved in the study with low cholesterol there was a low death rate from heart disease but crucially the incidence of cancer was relatively high and demonstrates why it is vital to consider the big picture. The emphasis on TC and LDL cholesterol as risk factors was based on a complete failure to do so. There is absolutely no logical justification for advising people to lower their TC or their LDL cholesterol. On the contrary all the evidence which is now available indicates that that the higher the better. The results for women are quite exceptional and show consistently that those with the highest TC values invariably have the greatest life expectancy.
By contrast, we can be reasonably certain that the cholesterol lowering strategies which have been applied have not resulted in any benefit and probably have been damaging to health. In particular, the rationale for the use of drugs such as statins is totally destroyed by the evidence presented here. All the indications are that cholesterol is beneficial and the higher the better!
It really is astonishing and irresponsible for the authorities to continue the various programmes which still use TC as a risk factor for heart disease and push cholesterol-lowering strategies. It is time they were abandoned because they are not achieving anything positive and are almost certainly doing more harm than good, not to mention that there are a sheer waste of valuable resources.
The amount of evidence for this argument is really building up, but so far the news has not made it through to the doctors who still push statins like sweets.
@PipsMom you may also find this article, from the same website interesting.
PipsMom
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You have exceptionally out done yourself Jo with these articles and fact links. Big thank you once again...I go to see the quack next week as well as my blood tests results will be back by then also for review.....and without exception I will request my medical files and inform him I have been off the statin since last Thursday....Today being the 5th day I'm just beginning to feel the benefits....the last two nights have been relatively much better and less leg cramping....the burning sensation from the ankle down has subsided totally. My back is still bad but not near the pain level I was experiencing just last week and the pain in my right arm has disappeared...Statin's are definately not for my body as one by one the pains are lessening.
I am currently compiling and ordered a diet list of foods to naturally improve my cholesterol and over all health. I'm taking big steps to turn my well being totally upside down. Wish me luck
Thank you again for the imfo as it helps me make up my mind that I can do without them and still be healthy.
Jo-Anne
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Thank you for sharing these articles..interesting..I`ve read quit a few but these I didn`t know yet..
PipsMom
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On 26 July 2016 at 10:33 AM, Jo-Anne said:I do hope you will be taking seriously at the doctor today..over here they say if you are a certain age ohww but you are in your menopause
Your right JoAnne..it's the same here also. My man doctor doesn't have the patience nor interest to take any health issues seriously....I also get the ....Oh it's only menopause...Twice I fell through the cracks of notification when I needed to seen by the doctor after blood tests we're suspicious or my blood pressure was any high..... Only a sticky note left in my file did they know they had slipped up and not notified me. It took requesting a female doctor to get a girly problem fixed...I have no faith what so ever in our system. Being in the hospital after surgery is a scarey event also...that's another story.
My husband had his heart attack over 2 hrs ago...yet he is not followed up regularly....His usual appointments are only yearly and only then all they do is ask him.."Well how do you think your doing?" Then Ok...here's some more of your regular pills...go away for another year..It's shocking how they brush off the over 60's....He has definite heart issues still occurring but they are calm to let go on without addressing the issue and we get the feeling they just want you to die and not make a fuss.
I guess I'm so critical because I'm from the States and use to a better health care...yeah it did cost there but at least you don't get brushed off when you got serious health issues
Sophie's Haven
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PipsMom
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Crinkly
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I've had similar issues.
don't trust them to remember checks, read test results properly or give any decent info any more - too many mistakes. I now take total responsibility. Read up on meds and contraindications, check test results are in range, book my own checkups.
It's the only way i believe it is done properly.
Missysmom
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Crinkly
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On 26 July 2016 at 0:40 PM, PipsMom said:.the last two nights have been relatively much better and less leg cramping....the burning sensation from the ankle down has subsided totally. My back is still bad but not near the pain level I was experiencing just last week and the pain in my right arm has disappeared...Statin's are definately not for my body as one by one the pains are lessening.
It would be SO WONDERFUL if your pain disappeared as the statins leave your system!
I really hopes it makes a difference for you. Fingers crossed.
Pawz4me
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In our family we've seen all sides of it -- it seems like the docs are quick to brush off a lot of stuff that could potentially be serious and definitely has a big quality of life impact, or on the other extreme they want to micromanage some little thing that really doesn't seem that important or to have much of an impact on quality of life. It's very weird.
ParadiseTzu
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PipsMom
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On 25 July 2016 at 2:30 PM, Sunlite said:I hate when you are given pills to fix something but the side effects are worse than the actual thing you're trying to fix...
Oatmeal and ground flax are great for lowering cholesterol.They also say red wine and dark chocolate....hmmmm....I could just live on that!
When they show commercials on TV about different medications, the list of side effects always leave me thinking " oh my gracious , how much longer is this list"!
laketzu
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(IP: 71.7.83.18) · ·
I'm a little late to the party, but hope you are listening to your body and getting off the statins. I second what was said about high cholesterol isn't necessarily a bad thing. There is more and more research that is showing triglyceride/hdl ratio is a better indicator of health issues than total cholesterol. And if you really want your mind to be blown, read "why we get fat" or "grain brain". Eating fat and cholesterol has gotten a bad wrap, and sadly to our healths demise. Wishing you wisdom in your health choices!
PipsMom
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Another article about Statin's in the news and not to take them....it may help some people .....just not me. I feel better off them
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