I was on a statin for years that worked well. Then they changed my BP meds, and had to change my statin. The new one messed me up something terrible. Incredible fatigue, light headed, etc. I stopped taking it, and all symptoms disappeared. I told my doc I was done with statins.
Why the recommendation?
My doctor wanted to put me on statins for cholesterol even though my cholesterol is a low normal....because I’m over 60 and some revised charts (probably revised with help of statin producers) say i should take them.
I told him I needed a more compelling reason to put that crap in my system...
Gotta weigh the potential risk/benefits and the risks are obvious while some of the benefits may not be.
Don’t use this as a reason - do some research on your own situation.
Here’s the ACTUAL truth.
You know that famous line, “All Men are created equal”?
Well it’s wrong.
We are all considerably different, as are the effect drugs have on each of us. My late Dad and his late brother both were advised to take statins. Over the last 20 years of their life they went through various different ones, with various different side effects and various different results. Neither died from heart problems.
I’m 70 and take nothing. I do eat right, exercise, and have always like oatmeal. All my numbers are “slightly elevated.” I’ve told my doctor flatly, “if I die, it’s on me, not you.”
His actual response was, “You’re seventy and you’ve had no problems, I wouldn’t change a thing. I see people with numbers all over the place, with and without drugs, and with completely different results. There’s obviously no one size fits all solution.”
I’m afraid that this is just how things are. We’re all different and we all react differently. Listen to all the opinions and ideas, but in the end, everybody really has to make their own choice - and hope for the best.
My best friend has hereditary high cholesterol. I’m talking like 350 at one point. She has paid privately from time to time to check for buildup. She did not want statins.
Finally she started to get some buildup so now at 55 the doctor wanted her to start taking a statin everyday. She started taking it once a week on Friday. On her next check she had lowered somewhere around 30 points. So she just takes one per week and exercises and eats right. As far as I know it keeps dropping.
Many articles on FR about statins already:
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/statins/index?tab=articles