Who takes Statins?

Homesteading & Country Living Forum

Help Support Homesteading & Country Living Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Spikedriver

Spikedriver

Awesome Friend
Neighbor
HCL Supporter
Joined
Nov 27, 2017
Messages
8,538
Location
Midwest
After my recent scare concerning my heart, I saw another cardiologist. My cholesterol is 191, so not too bad, but the ratio is off. Bad cholesterol is a little high. The heart doc wants me to go on Statins. But I keep hearing how they make your life miserable with aches and pains. Can y'all tell me your experience with them before I start taking them?
 
I was taking them but told my doctor I was stopping. She said it was up to me because I was borderline needing them.
Years ago the Seattle Times ran a story called Suddenly Sick.
It will irritate you at just how corrupt the medical system is.
"What can go wrong when the drug industry influences what constitutes disease, who has it, and how it should be treated."
The Seattle Times: Suddenly sick
 
I used to take a statin until I changed to a whole-food, plant-based (WFPB) lifestyle. In fact, I took two blood pressure medications, two Type 2 diabetes medications, and one cholesterol medication (statin). Five prescribed meds in all. Today, I am prescribed to take 0, nada, nil, no medications. Not only that, I went from almost 300 lbs to 215 lbs. My doctor is in awe. My physician periodically asks me talk to some of his patients about my lifestyle change.
 
phideaux said:
My total cholesterol was around 240 after second heart attack 21 years ago.
After trying 4 or 5 different statins , finally found one that didn't have side affects.
Total cholesterol for past 18 years is 115-120 consistently.

I'm fine with the right one.

Jim
Click to expand...
I've been taking one daily for over 20 years. When I started, cholesterol was over 225.
Under control 6 months later and good ever since.
Last pit-stop: Total cholesterol=126, LDL=66.
Joint pain with the statin: Some days they hurt a lot and some days barely at all.
Joint pain without the statin: Some days they hurt a lot and some days barely at all.
But Jim is right, it took me 2 tries to find one that didn't make me totally miserable.
Try 'em all if you have to.

Just for @Spikedriver : If you get it under control early you won't ever have to take the 'bad stuff'.
My dad got busted for 'felony' high cholesterol (320) and had to take 3 meds just to keep it out of the stratosphere. One of those was Warfarin. That is bad stuff!

Statins ain't fun, but compared to heart-attacks, stents, bypass-surgery, or strokes, not that bad :rolleyes:.
 
Last edited:
I take Atorvastatin after my stent a year ago. I can't say I am a whole lot acheir than I was. I just thought I was high mileage for 58. My co worker gives me a hard time. I asked have you ever been cliff diving at midnight? Well I have so give me a break. 😏
 
Cascadian said:
I take Atorvastatin after my stent a year ago. I can't say I am a whole lot acheir than I was. I just thought I was high mileage for 58. My co worker gives me a hard time. I asked have you ever been cliff diving at midnight? Well I have so give me a break. 😏
Click to expand...
That's what I take.
Passed the nuclear stress-test squeaky-clean a few years ago. :thumbs: No stents or heart problems for me!
And I am "high-mileage" also. Worn-out joints hurt when you get older... because of wear.
BTW, I do NOT recommend anyone take a nuclear stress-test! It's 1950's technology.
Don't make me post my video of why not!
go crazy.gif


On topic: Know your cholesterol numbers, and keep them under control. It's too easy compared to playing 'spin the wheel' with the reaper.
 
Last edited:
phideaux said:
Atorvastatin 80 mg a day, keeps the plaque away.

Jim
Click to expand...
😍
I only need 20mg per day. The stuff works!:thumbs:
Whoever said we couldn't use 'peer-pressure' on @Spikedriver ?

Public Service Announcement: Get your cholesterol under control, and make libs cry for decades to come!
biggrin.gif

Edit: Still piling on; guess how much my co-pay is for a 90-day supply of Atorvastatin? $0.00 .
 
Last edited:
I have genetic elevated cholesterol and triglyceride.

The first blood test I had that showed elevated triglyceride was taken when I was 22 years old.

I am on two medications (Rosuvastatin and Fenofibrate). My blood chemistry is now very healthy and various tests show my blood vessels are not accumulating plaque.

The key with statins and indeed most medications is to find a doctor who will work with you to minimize the dose you need to control your condition.

Too many doctors just put patients on the maximum dose and call it good. Statins have side effects and those side effects are maximized when people take the maximum dose (who woulda thunk it huh).

With some experimentation, we found that I needed only 5mg of Rosuvastatin per day (which is 1/8 of the maximum dose).

Combined with 145mg of Fenofibrate per day, I don't get any side effects.

The drug companies encourage doctors to apply the "more is better" approach - but you need to find a doctor who believes that "just enough is the optimum".
 
Hardcalibres said:
I have genetic elevated cholesterol and triglyceride.

The first blood test I had that showed elevated triglyceride was taken when I was 22 years old.
Click to expand...
The triglyceride test is only accurate after 24 hours of fasting.
It basically tests to see how much gas you still have in your gas-tank when it is empty.
Don't freak out.
I got my numbers checked one time after eating 3, egg-salad sandwiches for lunch.
I wanted to see how bad eggs affected your cholesterol since they are so bad for you :rolleyes: .
Cholesterol numbers were fine, but triglyceride was predictably over 500.
I don't have high triglyceride levels... but I had a full tank of gas that day:thumbs:.
 
Supervisor42 said:
The triglyceride test is only accurate after 24 hours of fasting.
It basically tests to see how much gas you still have in your gas-tank when it is empty.
Don't freak out.
I got my numbers checked after eating 3, egg-salad sandwiches for lunch one time.
I wanted to see how bad eggs affected your cholesterol since they are so bad for you :rolleyes: .
Cholesterol numbers were fine, but triglyceride was predictably over 500.
I don't have high triglyceride levels... but I had a full tank of gas that day:thumbs:.
Click to expand...

Yep - the blood tests I do are after fasting.

Without medication my cholesterol is quite high - but my Triglyceride is at about world record levels.

Some doctors I know have never seen higher triglyceride results than mine - and it is a family trait.

Without medication, I actually start to feel bad - so, far from giving me negative side effects, the statins actually make me feel better.
 
I take atorvastatin 40 mil. but doc told me to increase to 2 tablets a day, I haven't ... My great- granddad lived to be in his 80s-90s, he ate lots of pork, lard, all that stuff ... I guess back then they never even though about cholesterol... .. I have been on this for 12 years...
 
One of the main side effects of statins is muscle weakness. Stopped taking them about 10 years ago. In my early 40s I would squat down for something and then not be able to get back up. Didn’t know what was going on at the time, till I did some research. I didn’t know that CoQ-10 supplements would help prevent it.
 
Nope, not me. I told the doc I was done with my blood pressure meds and my pain meds.
I am too young to have to take drugs to get around.
 
kd4ulw said:
One of the main side effects of statins is muscle weakness. Stopped taking them about 10 years ago. In my early 40s I would squat down for something and then not be able to get back up. Didn’t know what was going on at the time, till I did some research. I didn’t know that CoQ-10 supplements would help prevent it.
Click to expand...
Just know your numbers and keep them under control.
Some people have to do nothing.
Some people only have to watch what they eat.
Some people only need a small amount of a statin to get their numbers good.
Some people, a medium amount works, some a higher amount is needed to get their numbers down.

One thing is certain: walking around with 250 - 300+ cholesterol for years, when it is so easy to control in this day and age, and suffering the consequences, is brain-dead.
brickwall100.gif
(see: massive stroke)
 
Last edited:
SheepDog said:
Nope, not me. I told the doc I was done with my blood pressure meds and my pain meds.
I am too young to have to take drugs to get around.
Click to expand...
High blood pressure is generally a long term killer. There can be short term death due to it - strokes, etc. - but generally it causes damage over a period of many years. Taking meds to control it "while you are too young to take drugs" is what keeps you alive when "you are old enough to take drugs".
 
Haertig said:
High blood pressure is generally a long term killer. There can be short term death due to it - strokes, etc. - but generally it causes damage over a period of many years. Taking meds to control it "while you are too young to take drugs" is what keeps you alive when "you are old enough to take drugs".
Click to expand...
But controlling weight, diet, and exercise is more effective for BP than meds and doesn't have bad side effects. I realize some people can look like the picture of health and do all the right things, and still have high BP or cholesterol. But I already take enough meds. I'd rather be rid of them. My cholesterol is borderline. My good cholesterol is very good, my bad is just too high. I'll give Statins a shot, but I'm not afraid to give the doctors the finger if they're hard in me...
 
Spikedriver said:
But controlling weight, diet, and exercise is more effective for BP than meds and doesn't have bad side effects. I realize some people can look like the picture of health and do all the right things, and still have high BP or cholesterol. But I already take enough meds. I'd rather be rid of them. My cholesterol is borderline. My good cholesterol is very good, my bad is just too high. I'll give Statins a shot, but I'm not afraid to give the doctors the finger if they're hard in me...
Click to expand...

As we learn more and more about chronic ailments like High BP and Cholesterol/Triglycerides, the more research indicates that the biggest risk factors for those are genetic.

For many people with those genetic predispositions, lifestyle factors like weight, diet and exercise are at best, mildly relevant.

There are a significant proportion of people who develop those ailments, who cannot lifestyle their way out of the problem.

The idea that types of foods (in particular) can cure health problems has largely been indoctrinated into Americans by a couple of generations of marketing used by makers of "health foods".

People should look at these ailments as a physiological malfunction (which is what they mostly are).
 
Haertig said:
High blood pressure is generally a long term killer. There can be short term death due to it - strokes, etc. - but generally it causes damage over a period of many years. Taking meds to control it "while you are too young to take drugs" is what keeps you alive when "you are old enough to take drugs".
Click to expand...
I don't want to derail the thread topic but I struggled with HBP for years.
When I thought I was in hot water, a visit to my dad showed what real HBP was.
He ran his: 240/120. And that was with meds.
I found out mine was caused mostly by stress.
I got rid of the people that caused me anguish when I retired and down it went. :thumbs:

Back on topic: Doctors usually go overboard with meds because they are afraid to be accused of 'not doing enough'. They tend to reach for the Magnum first.
REMEMBER! You, the patient, have the final say on everything!
On my last pit-stop they said they weren't doing the PSA test.
I told them, oh yes you are!:waiting:
My PSA was .66
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top