Do you have high cholesterol?? Did you decide to take statins and if so why? or why not?

[Owl9to5]

Mine is high, 7. Ratio of 4. But my triglycerides are low. Blood pressure low. Blood sugar normal. I don't smoke, not overweight. I eat very healthily with my cholesterol in mind. I walk everywhere. Mindful of gut biome, eat in a 8 hour window. There's nothing else I can do.

does high cholesterol in isolation matter? 2 thirds of people who have heart disease have diabetes or pre-diabetes. I don't. Not everybody who has a heart attack even has cholesterol?

Statins have so many awful side effects.

I don't want to argue with a doctor because of youtubers saying that statins are a con. But on the other hand, how much do you trust a doctor? always? blindly?

How old are you?
i resisted all the way from my 30s. But take them now and worry about the damage by not taking them sooner.
My doc said it was familial as my dad had high cholesterol.

My DH didn’t have high cholesterol, blood pressure or diabetes, nor overweight, but still had a heart attack necessitating a triple heart bypass. He is now on statins, medium dose 40mg, 2 blood pressure meds plus Asprin. I had high cholesterol, improved my diet and exercise, but it didn’t change my levels, so GP advised taking statins, low 10mg dose, but I do have family history of heart disease and my Mum had a stroke.

My cholesterol is higher than yours. It used to be even higher and is slowly coming down. Healthy in other ways, don’t drink or smoke, not overweight etc. I have thus far resisted statins. Too many side effects and too much big Pharma influenced pressure from GPs hasn’t persuaded me it’s worth it.

I did (notice past tense) have high cholesterol.
I was advised to take statins as
a) I had a cardiac episode
b) my propensity to produce too much cholesterol was inherited
c) my parents had died young from heart problems, they weren’t diabetic or prediabetic

I trusted the consultant and haven’t looked back. How many consultants advise on YouTube, OP?

I couldn't get my familial high cholesterol down by any means other than statins.

My GP recommended them, consultant confirmed GP's opinion, so I'm on them.

I've had no side effects, nothing at all.

My sleep has been affected since being on them annoyingly.

Mine is high but I haven't agreed to statins yet but I may reconsider. My GP said making dietary changes would only reduce levels about 25% at best as mainly it is down to age and genetics.

Depending on your age, you could pay for a cardiac calcium scan to assess whether your arteries have calcium (hardened remnants of soft plaque).

Any score over "0" indicates some level of coronary artery disease.

That would inform my decision as statins have been proven to reduce the risk of heart attack in people with CAD, independent of elevated cholesterol.

I've been taking them for nearly twenty years. I have familial high cholesterol and taking them has got levels down to normal. I've never had any side effects at all. My dad also takes them, he had some muscle pain when he started taking them so the doctor switched him to a different type and he has no side effects now.
Why not start taking them and reassess your decision if you start to have side effects?

If you know or can find out your QRisk score then this decision aid is very helpful (assuming the statin is for primary prevention ie you haven’t had a heart attack or stroke etc in the past)

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng238/resources/patient-decision-aid-on-should-i-take-a-statin-pdf-243780159

My cholesterol was 8.9. I’m slim, fit, eat only plant based, don’t drink, etc. I’m under the care of a hospital lipid clinic and I take statins. I’ve had a scan of my arteries and I have some plaque build-up in them, so it’s really important to keep my cholesterol down. I have no side effects from statins.

I’m still waiting to hear from the lipid clinic. But there’s a long wait.

This is the cardiac calcium scan I referenced in my above post.

Very useful in determining your risk.

I wouldn't be afraid to try statins out. My dad and my grandmother are on statins, so it's obviously a familial genetic thing because they are both skinny. I'm also on Ramipril due to high blood pressure. I like my gran have Hashimito's which can predispose you to high cholesterol and high blood pressure. Gran had several strokes as well as my auntie. I'm happy knowing that I'm doing something to try to prevent this.

I have familial hypercholesterolaemia. BMI, blood pressure and blood glucose all normal. I don't smoke, I eat healthily, I exercise regularly.

I take statins and have no side effects whatsoever.

I would absolutely take statins but my cholesterol is 5(ish). I take a baby aspirin every day & my cholesterol is normal despite lots of cheese, chocolate & Prosecco! The Dr is horrified but my mum & Gran both did this too.

I was prescribed them a couple of years ago & have been taking them with no side effects at all. My Dad - built like a racing snake - takes Statins, and his dad died of a Stroke in his 40's. Obviously it's a family trait.

I'm on them. No side effects. One of my friends is a vascular professional and I trust her. I'm glad to benefit

I had cholesterol of 7.5 ish but decided against statins.

Reasons:

I have familial high cholesterol but zero familial heart disease or heart attacks.

I am slim, lifelong non smoker, no other risk factors.

My HDL to LDL ratio is excellent. In fact my LDL is normal, it’s my HDL that is high.

Some evidence that statins trigger diabetes especially in petite women (ie me); I already have a higher likelihood of diabetes due to PCOS and GD so don’t want to increase the risk further.

I have now brought my cholesterol down to 6.5 - I think through exercise.

I was just about to say this so thanks. My situation was high cholesterol for many years despite an otherwise healthy lifestyle. I refused statins just because I wasn't happy to take them, stubborn me! I developed Atrial Fibrillation a couple of years ago and was put through every cardiac test under the sun, one of which was the cardiac calcium scan - the result of which was Zero.

I am in my sixties and as the cardiologist said " you do NOT have heart disease, so something else will get you!" The Afib is probably inherited as my mother had it as had my maternal aunt. Both of them had strokes, but the Afib was undiagnosed. I was lucky that mine was diagnosed and is treated with beta blockers. I don't have to take blood thinners as I had a procedure that prevents or substantially prevents stroke in Afib sufferers. Lucky me again!

I was surprised to see that despite many years of high cholesterol there were no calcium deposits at all. I am not so sure that statins really work anyway, but each individual makes his/her own choice about taking them and whatever people think is best for them is good.

It can trigger diabetes??

@Pinkfluffypencilcase Statins can raise blood sugar and, particularly in women, raise the risk of T2 diabetes. It's not a huge increased risk, but it is an increased risk.

Pitavastatin is one that doesn't appear to impact blood sugar levels very much (if at all). There may be others by I don't recall off the top of my head. They're not all the same.

Yes, it can trigger diabetes. This risk is acknowledged even by pro-statins authors, see links below. It seems to be a particular issue for people already at higher risk of T2 (which includes me). It’s a question of weighing this risk against the heart risks, for each individual.

<a class="break-all" href="https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/diabetes-complications/statins-and-diabetes.html?CDC_AAref_Val=www.cdc.gov/diabetes/library/features/Statins_Diabetes.html#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/diabetes-complications/statins-and-diabetes.html?CDC_AAref_Val=www.cdc.gov/diabetes/library/features/Statins_Diabetes.html#

https://www.bhf.org.uk/what-we-do/news-from-the-bhf/news-archive/2015/march/researchers-say-men-taking-statins-at-increased-risk-of-type-2-diabetes

Yes I take them. I decided to follow the advice of my cardiologist after having a nice big heart attack. Statins don’t just lower cholesterol, they stabilise any plaques in arteries. Heart attacks are often caused by a bit of arterial plaque breaking off, and our body creates a clot to ‘fix’ the rupture (the liquid fat behind the rupture causes the clotting factors to all gallop to help.

I went straight onto maximum dose, 80mg. No side effects.

There’s a family history of t1 diabetes. I’m also v short.
im on atorvastatin. Low dose.

you’re right it is about weighing up risks.