Laboratory results are the most effective way to know if Statins are lowering your cholesterol.

Statins are indeed very effective in lowering the chance of death from cardiovascular difficulties.

Your body. Your choice.

Knew Too Many
 

I have known so many that have had serious side effects from Statins that I think it is a serious health problem for all. If you read and listen to the tapes on the web site that was generously provided by one of the TOV readers it is hard to ignore their warnings. It is critical that you and not your Dr is responsible for your health and care. A lot of Physicians (some friends of mine) take great vacation trips paid for by Drug Companies. Of course they are influenced by some..I know I am completely independent for my thinking when considering medications for
myself. All should read that Website the reader provided and then balance that with your thoughts and do what your conscience suggests.:ho:

I think this is a pretty good article on the subject.
Statins: is your doctor at the heart of the 'Great Cholesterol Con'? - BizNews.com

Take Metamucil every day. Seriously , Dr wanted my husband to take meds for his cholesterol and I had him Start Metamucil, his cholesterol dropped 80 points in less than 3 months. If you don’t like the powder you can get capsules.

My husband has mixed hyperlipidemia which is a genetic disorder and high levels of trigylcerides in cholesterol. He was on Crestor for more than 15 years and started to have side effects. The Crestor contolled his high triglycerides and cholesterol well but his hands were shaking, his memory got really bad and he developed protein uria. He talked to his doctor and rather refusing any statin they talked about options. The doctor allowed him to come off of Crestor for six weeks and then ran a blood pannel to see what he looked like with only a controlled diet. All his numbers which had been good on Crestor after six weeks of being off Crestor were bad. So the doctor advised trying half a dose of Crestor for six weeks which he did. Then more blood work was done. There was an improvement but the triglycerides were over 500 which is not good. So then we talked about other types of stantins. So he stopped Crestor and began a six week trial of Lipitor. It has been a month and in 2 more weeks he is going in for more blood and urine. The side effects on half a dose of Crestor and on the Lipitor are gone. The issue is half a dose of Crestor did not work as it should. We will see how this trial of Lipitor does,

My question is why is it all or nothing between you and your doctor? Maybe a smaller dose of medicine will help. Or maybe a different stantin will help. If you have a genetic disorder like combined hyperlipidemia, hypertriglyceridemia, defective apolipoprtein B-100 or hypercholesterolemia you will likely die without treatment by massive heart attack or stroke. These diseases use to cause people to drop over. Diet alone won't get rid of these conditions and for those who have them statins are a life saver. They have some new injectable medications that help the liver absorbe more LDK which lowers cholesterol Paluent and Repatha can help but you sometimes still have to take statins. I don't understand why take it or else and why you can's talk about other options or if possibly you are not open to any other options. There might be more to this.

Find another doctor. You can easily control cholesterol with diet by just cutting all sugar and keep carbs below 50 per day. You will loose weight and feel much better. Do some research on Keto and Ketones.

I respectfully disagree.

Go see Dr. Mariella. He is a more homeopathic type of doctor but if you are unwilling to change your habits to a better diet and exercise routine you might need cholesterol drugs as there may not be a safe alternative. Some folks are genetically predisposed to high cholesterol but most are not. That means that if you are not predisposed you have to take charge of yourself and your diet if you can’t or won’t then you may need to find some way to get control and unfortunately medication may be your only choice. Good luck with your issue.

I can't take statins or other types either. I go to U of F, my cardiologist put me on REPATHA an injectible every 2 weeks. It has been amazing, no side effects and my cholesterol has dropped a lot.

Studies have shown that taking statins for five years extends one's life by 4.5 days. Most people quit after two years due to pain and other side effects. You may want to read this: Everything You Know About Cholesterol Is Wrong. And this: The reality is, total cholesterol is a poor predictor for assessing heart attack and stroke risk. Studies have found that there might be no association between high total cholesterol and heart attack and stroke risk. AHA Announces Coconut Oil Is Unhealthy: Here's Why A Functional Medicine Expert Disagrees | Dr. Will Cole Conventional medicine doctors are paid by big pharma to prescribe their products. The doctors want us to be proactive in our health, but that means doing what they say. They don't really like it when we educate ourselves and ask questions.

I'm currently participating in a study for cholesterol. The product is made by Gatorade (Cholesteraid) and is not a statin. So far no side effects.

The physician is totally within his rights. The only requirement is that he give you sufficient time to find another doctor. Usually 30 days.

...

Let me first say that I'm on board with your thought processes. I wish I dealt with more patients that had your mindset of wanting to take back some control over your healthcare. Having said that, as a pharmacist I can directly speak to the statement in your post that I highlighted.

United Healthcare is not unique in "requiring" pharmacies to contact patients about various things including using statins if you are diabetic regardless of your cholesterol levels. It has become a standard of practice in the industry overall to put diabetics on statins to help in the prevention of cardiovascular disease which often occurs as part of the disease process. To put it simply, insurance companies dictate certain standards of care, such as this one, with which pharmacies must comply or it risks not being paid the full amount for medication dispensed. I'm sure doctors are under the same kind of pressure to comply with certain standards dictated by insurance companies in order to get paid for their services. IMHO, the result of insurance companies dictating reimbursement based on the standards they set has taken away much of the individuality of treating patients because we professionals are forced to follow their protocols. I believe this has led to a great disservice to patient care and a lot of frustration in healthcare professionals across the board. As I said, this is the simple version. It's really much more complicated and as often happens with regulations, there are both good aspects and bad.

Again, kudos to you for listening to your body and speaking up when you feel something isn't right for you. We are not all made the same so medications will not necessarily react the same in every body. Hope you find a new doctor who meets your needs.

This thread has been enlightening to me in many ways.

Remember
 

We should always remember we are responsible for our health/body, etc. Not the Insurance Companies or the Doctor. There are billions dollar's available to be "cherry picked" by both of these groups and we are the trees where the cherries are. I have dealt with these groups thru 3 very serious cancers, one that was fatale and have experienced the good and the bad. Always remembering we are responsible for the care and treatment and not the Dr and Insurance Co. I think this thread is terrific as it causes many to think about the medical portion of their life and consider all sides. This is a good example as to why TOV's is so valuable to our community.:bigbow: