High Cholesterol Support Group
High cholesterol is the presence of high levels of cholesterol in the blood. It is not a disease but a metabolic derangement that can be secondary to many diseases and can contribute to many forms of disease, most notably cardiovascular disease. If you have high cholesterol, join the community to find support and share your experience.
Just had blood work last week....got results today,no surprize.....high as usual,,,,,,been high for years,cant take any statins because of severe side effects........Now I want to know what part of statins cause severe side effects to me...dont Drs.understand........every Dr.I have to deal with acts like im just being a pain in their butt,by refusing to take them and so they catch an attitude.......Im thinking of getting a tattoo on my chest saying I cant take statins...maybe when they check my heart beat and keep on seeing it maybe just maybe it will penetrate their thick skulls...grrrr
HOWEVER, a couple of my friends have begged me to get back on them so that I didn't have a heart attack. I have no heart condition, and I take blood pressure pills with no side effects. DO I REALLY NEED THE STATINS? When I asked the doctor, he just said "Your only symptoms might be a heart attack"
There is no way to prove that you lived a single day longer. Its an unknown.
Millions of people taking statins and not one of them can confirm this reward in themselves. Not one.
If you elect to take them again, you will have confirmation they lower your cholesterol, and more than likely you will have confirmation they are killing your legs, again.
But you will never have confirmation they ever prevented a heart attack or caused you to live one day longer. Nobody will. Unfortunately that's impossible to know.
Concerning preventing heart attacks, we are left with taking the drug company and its network's word for it.
If you elect NOT to take the drug and later suffer a cardiac event, you may feel regret not taking it. But there is no proof taking the drug would have prevented that event.
Unfortunately many who take statins still go on to have heart attacks and strokes. Those people have absolute confirmation the drug failed to prevent an event.
These drugs are highly debated. It all comes down to who and what you believe. Then the choice is yours to make.
My cholesterol usually runs in the 300's. And I am 76.
http://www.chiro.org/nutrition/FULL/Kilmer_McCully_MD.shtml
If you have the MTHFR gene mutation, which is very common, it can drive up your homoncysteine level. The gene mutation makes it difficult for you to convert folic acid in food into folate your body can use. The treatment is a methylized folate that is inexpensive.
High homocysteine levels can also contribute to Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, anxiety, depression, irritable bowel syndrome and a host of other issues. The folate and B12 drives it down.
The test should be fairly inexpensive but if your doctor won't do it, you can get it through 23andme.