GPs, Cholesterol, Statins and Lifestyle Changes

[kel]

try to out-doctor a doctor.

You are extremely lucky if you can trust your doctor.

My 'doctor', I mean the last ones I bothered going to see, repeatedly prescribed harmful medications. Absolute nightmare, all my trust is gone. I am not talking about one incident, but several over the course of about 8 years. Every single time, this poisonous shit made the symptoms worse in the long run and caused nasty side effects. That and they tried to get me to take statins every single time I went there, statins!!! Only a complete idiot would take that shit, it may reduce your chances of having a heart attack by about 1% but it increases your chance of developing ALL other degenerative diseases by something like 70%. Avoid at all costs, that shit is not good for you, I call them cancer gateway drugs! Nasty nasty!!!

In response to the second or third time they tried to push these drugs onto me I spent serious time following all the guidelines to reduce cholesterol. All of them. Religiously. For 6+ months and went to get tested again - they said my cholesterol went UP!! And thought that would convince me to take the statins... I said I am sorry, but this raises more questions than it answers and until you can explain why following the advice to reduce cholesterol doesn't work or how exactly statins work, I am very wary and very suspicious... they could not explain either! They collapsed in a puddle of incompetence and said, well we can only follow the NICE guidelines otherwise we open ourselves to litigation - revealing themselves to be the frightened impotent dumb parrots that they are!

So, I decided that the 36% chance reduction I could get by STOPPING SMOKING far outweighed the dubious, unsubstantiated, highly questionable 1% benefit of taking statins,,, so that was what finally made me stop... I suppose in a roundabout way I have my doctor to thank for that, but not really!

 

[BrianTL]

You are extremely lucky if you can trust your doctor.

Sorry to hear that, sounds like a nightmare honestly. I'm still looking for that "great" doc myself. My last one failed me pretty bad - missed a diagnosis, even though I specifically asked him to test for it... unforgiveable to me

Unfortunately seen way too many doc's mess up, GF's mom basically screwed up for life with no way to help make her more comfortable due to a botched surgery. On top of that they had prescribed meds to help, but like you, they were actually making it much worse.

I hope you're able to get your stuff addressed!

 

[kel]

The thing is, I did address my stuff, myself... what the docs couldn't fix in years and spent so much wasted time, energy, resources, etc. on, I solved with lifestyle changes. I imagine the same is true for a lot of people and their ailments, without wanting to discount anyone's personal experience of course.

For example, I see a significant number of people poisoning themselves every day with the food they eat... the food that is promoted in the supermarkets, the stuff that is absurdly inexpensive to make, but that is sold at eye watering profit!

A good rule of thumb is, don't have anything your grandparents would not have had; although I imagine pretty soon that is going to have to be shifted to great grandparents!

 

[His_Highness]

I've been lucky with my current primary care doctor. I switched to my current doctor after the doctor I was using developed a hearing problem. The hearing problem seemed to occur whenever I was speaking I was placed on a statin and began having muscle pains that I hadn't had before and the only change in my regimen was the statins. The doctor admitted that my symptoms are known to occur when someone isn't tolerating a statin but that it rarely occurs and I'm probably psychosomatic or the soreness was just due to aging. He said I should keep taking the statin for another month and see where it takes me....it took me to another doctor.

Switched to my current doctor who suggested I stop taking the statin and try a "natural" approach to reduce my bad cholesterol. The natural approach was to take a natural supplement (Forgot what it was) and if that worked out we could discuss continuing or trying another statin that was closer in the way it worked to the natural supplement. The natural supplement worked. After 6 months the doc suggested the statin that worked like the supplement because it was free thanks to insurance. Switched and it worked great.

Trying a lifestyle change or a natural supplement is the way my primary care doc prefers to start out before prescribing things and he's gone this route several times with me now. He's told me multiple times he doesn't like to prescribe things when a lifestyle change could work because they all have side affects.....BUT the most important thing about my current doc.........he doesn't just hear me ..... he listens. He took me off aspirin therapy years before the study that showed aspirin therapy could be harmful, believes cannabis has its place and when I told him how much I drink he said I should cut back but as long as my tests keep coming back normal he's not going to push it. Hard to find a doctor like that....he's a keeper.

 

[kel]

We're wandering off topic, perhaps the mods would be so kind as to move this discussion to a new thread GPs, Cholesterol, Statins and Lifestyle Changes - or something along those lines?

I know so many people who have adverse reactions to statins, some quite debilitating.

I don't know this website or the people who write these articles, but this sums up a lot of the things I found out about cholesterol and statins, theres a lot of references, I haven't checked them all. Make your own mind up:

Dangers of Statin Drugs: What You Haven’t Been Told About Popular Cholesterol-Lowering Medicines

By Sally Fallon Morell and Mary Enig, PhD

www.westonaprice.org

Curiously, athletes tend to do less well with statins than sedentary people....

Also, since I last did a lot of reading about this there seems to be a lot more results about statins reducing the chances of cancer. I had to dig.

 

[kel]

Cool... new thread for this stuff... thanks mods!!!

Re. oils, I avoid margarine and similar because they are horrendously bad for you!

Animal fats; lard, dripping, goose fat, butter, etc. are good for you - so long as you don't go stupid!

Olive oil, coconut oil and rapeseed are all good here too.

This is my feeling anyway, I also figure if I die young because somehow mysteriously it DOES turn out that these fats raise cholesterol and IF that is somehow associated with an increased risk of heart attack... at least I will have lived the years I have enjoying the GOOD STUFF!!!

Who the fuck want's to eat margarine, in any of it's hideous forms?

 

[His_Highness]

The doctor I ended up leaving said "Everyone should be taking a statin. They may as well put it in the water like fluoride". The doctor I'm using now only suggested the statin because I had high blood pressure, seriously high bad cholesterol readings and a family history of heart attacks and high blood pressure in conjunction with my good eating habits and exercise.

In other words...the first doctor would prescribe statins for everyone and the one I use now only prescribed cholesterol mitigation because I was doing all the right things without a statin, my father had his first major heart attack at 52 and what I was doing on my own wasn't working. Again...my kind of doctor.

 

[kel]

To me this just says that doctors are saying humans are broken and they can fix it with a pill, nooooooo don't pay too much attention to the immense profit the pharmaceutical industry makes!

Statins are the single most profitable drug ever made, although I guess that could be changing with covid.

Do statins really work? Who benefits? Who has the power to cover up the side effects?

Earlier this week, the Chair of the British Parliament Science and Technology Committee, Sir Norman Lamb MP made calls for a full investigation into cholesterol lowering statin drugs

www.europeanscientist.com

I gave it some thought, I looked at the figures, even the figures that the people who were repeatedly trying to psychologically manipulate me into taking it were providing and it simply doesn't add up. Why risk long term severe illness for the sake of a tiny percentage of a risk reduction that may not even exist at all.

We all have to make our own decisions on these things and I think it incredibly important to respect other peoples decisions.

Do you take CoQ10 as well? Sold as a food supplement, I find it gives me a spark!!

Ubidecarenone

Ubidecarenone | C59H90O4 | CID 5281915 - structure, chemical names, physical and chemical properties, classification, patents, literature, biological activities, safety/hazards/toxicity information, supplier lists, and more.

pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Other supplements I have taken great care over, I am reluctant to take anything that isn't essentially a foodstuff, as we get older I believe we all need all the help we can get and I find these to be extremely beneficial:

Fulvic Acid Minerals - this is just a mineral supplement, all the stuff that is less available in the food we eat. I don't take it all the time, but if I ever feel tired or like I can't be bothered a dose of this of an evening means I wake up the next day feeling much more chipper.

A toxicological evaluation of a fulvic and humic acids preparation

Humic substances are ubiquitous in soils and waters. These complex superstructures are derived from the decomposition of dead plant and animal matter …

www.sciencedirect.com

Magnesium - this stuff is essential for so much! Just do it!!! Also instant relief from any cramp - if you ever get cramps, seriously get some transdermal magnesium spray and use it - you can thank me later

Office of Dietary Supplements - Magnesium

Magnesium overview for health professionals. Research health effects, dosing, sources, deficiency symptoms, side effects, and interactions here.

ods.od.nih.gov

Really obvious stuff:

Vitamin-D - surely I don't need to point to a random article for this!!!​

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A general multi-vitamin - again, speaks for itself.​

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Cod liver oil - again, if you are over 50 and not taking this, do yourself a favour ​

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Good quality salty for cooking, seasoning.​

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Probiotics. Preferably in the form of naturally fermented foods.​

Finally...

Lugols Iodine - this is the only one I take that isn't strictly a foodstuff, maybe? I mean to say I understand it should be taken with caution. It is the one I am least sure about, but I believe most people are deficient, it is definitely needed and I take small quantities every so often and a bit of a top up.

Oh and I guess Cannabis / CBD = pretty sure I don't need to convince anyone here of this one hehe

For healing I take vitamin-c in the morning and MSM in the evening; this helps the formation of collagen which is needed for building all cells, again a no-brainer! It's just food, but concentrated and highly available. No need to be drinking bone broth

I can't think of anything else! All good stuff.

Disclaimer: Do I need to say that you are responsible for your own actions? Well, I just said it anyway, check with your doc if you're not sure!