Statins!

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Any experience?

Female 32, non smoker, non drinker, about 3 stone overweight, fairly active

cholesterol was 6.9 on last test. LDL is 4.7, HDL 1.4 etc etc. my 10 year risk is low at less than 1 percent.

initially GP just suggested lifestyle changes but then more tests were done and it came back I have elevated lipoprotein A which is genetically determined and an independent risk factor for heart disease so a statin has been suggested.

I have some family history of young heart disease. Grandfather had first HA at 50, lived for the next 30 years with heart issues. Another male relative died in 50s of a HA however they had a lot of contributing factors which I don’t have.

I know I probably should but terrified of side effects? Anyone else been on them at a young age? I almost feel ashamed. Perhaps because my bad diet has contributed to my cholesterol but the Lp (a) is not changed by diet and is generally purely genetic.

I was quite young around 35 and I have a condition called hyper triglyceride something

I take rosuvastatin 10mg and fenofibrate 67mg and I have had no issues whatsoever

I started on atorvastatin but that gave me a gnawing pain in my tummy which was alleviated by taking lansoprazole but as I have to take this forever long term lansoprazole isn't good for you (don't know why 😂) so I was switched and it's all good

i recently had a 3 month trial at half dose but it went straight back up again.

I'm early forties so a bit older than you but statins were suggested to me as well, for the same reason. It was no surprise as it runs in the family and most of my female relatives have high cholesterol. I decided to tackle the weight instead, and started taking Mounjaro so I could sort out my diet without feeling utterly ravenous. I've lost a stone since July and feel so much better, though still overweight and I'm hoping to not need statins at all now once I get to a healthy BMI.

I know there are potential side effects to the jabs but there are for statins too, plus the extra weight I was carrying put me at risk of way more than just heart disease. (And in any case I haven't had any side effects.)

I know I probably should but terrified of side effects
Why?
All drugs have side effects but statins have a bad press. There was research done that showed the placebo group had as many "side effects" as those on the drug. They are tried and tested, taken by millions and reduce risk.

I take statins with no side effects.

I think that being terrified is overreacting. I take them with no side effects. Statin use is associated with a lower risk of dementia and if I am going to be terrified of anything, I am more inclined to be terrified of dementia.

Started atorvastatin a few months ago, no side effects whatsoever.

As per PP it's a bit silly to be 'terrified'. How about 'aware of the potential but will try it and see'? If you have side effects you can try another statin to find one that suits you better.

I was put on statins by a GP that didn't know me, he took me off hrt and put me on statins after a 10 min visit. This sent me into awful anxiety very fast so i managed to get a telephone appt with my regular gp who put me back on hrt.

By that time i had thrown all my statins in the bin and (over time) managed to reduce my own bp with beetroot juice and my cholesterol with flaxseed plus i took a stone and a half off.

Now i don't need statins. Lifestyle changes can work just as well in some cases.

I’ve been on statins over 20 years, my Mum died of a stroke and my Dad had heart disease and a triple heart bypass, that alone makes me want to take them. I tried to loose weight and eat more healthily first but there was no difference to my levels. I’ve had no side effects.

My cholesterol was 9. I’m slim, vegan, fit.
I take atorvastatin and I have no side effects.

Do they make you put on weight?

No.

So do I. Everyone's different though, so I can appreciate why the OP is asking.

Some recommend to take Q10 to reduce any statin side effects eg
www.naturesbest.co.uk/coenzymeq10/

I started taking statins earlier this year. I have been on anastrozole for 3 yrs after breast cancer diagnosis in 2021. My cholesterol increased from 5.7 to 7.1 as a result (no other changes ) but this is a known side effect of anastrozole.
My cholesterol was down to 5.2 within 3 months and is probably lower now.
Although my GP wasn't too concerned by the increase, because my 10 yr risk was still below 10%, the level at which they recommend statins, there has been recent research results which suggest that statins lower the risk of certain cancers and could be used as adjunct treatment in the future (lowering the risk of the cancer mortality0. So I discussed the research with the GP's pharmacist who agreed that it was a a sensible move.