[TNLAKEPANDA]

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.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by TNLAKEPANDA

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.

[tmbromley]

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.

[Sedlecky]

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.

[itzfun]

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.

[debcork]

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.

[skyking]

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

[John_W]

...

[Abby10]

Originally Posted by queasy27

I truly do sympathize with the doctor's side of things, but I'd also expect a bit of forebearance on their part.

The difficulty is that "not forcing me to take medication" isn't a good way to find doctors. This is my 5th internist in 9 years -- three of them left TV and one I left because of excessive wait times and error-prone office staff. I'd hope to find something who's willing to work with me as I try to take back some control over my health care after a couple of stressful years on the medical merry go round. I'm tired of the paperwork and repeat testing and having to start over and explain everything again with someone new.

I absolutely dread going to the doctor these days and get quite anxious (blood pressure up!).

United Healthcare even contacted my danged pharmacy and had them call me to say I needed to take statins. Like, really?

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.

[graciegirl]

This thread has been enlightening to me in many ways.

[PennBF]

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.