Has anybody on this forum stopped taking statins as a result of being reeducated?

(David Epstein) #1

has anybody on this forum stopped taking statins as a result from being re-educated and being on the KETO diet?

Hiya All and a Happy New Year to you…

So far I’ve been on Keto for about 3 months have lost about 20lbs and now not a type 2 diabetic.

Before the keto diet I was taking metformin. Now 20lbs lost my HbA1c is normal, and my Doc says I don’t need metformin.

I believe that my cholesterol levels are also normal (don’t know the exact numbers). So do I need to carry on taking simvastatin 10mg a day…

I have been taking statins for over 10 years and 3 years ago had a CABG x 3. My angiogram discovered a “very short LDA”. Which I believe is what contributed to my high cholesterol levels in the first place

In the UK the NHS keeps changing the numbers regarding to what is a good healthy value (this in it self makes me sceptical).

So has anyone stopped taking statins and if they did have you noticed any benefits? Or has your doc said your cholesterol is high get back on the statins?

Many thanks for your reply…

Getin dissy and feel very weak
(Carl Keller) #2

Dr. David Diamond PHD talks about statins in this video. He explains how a statin ad can advertise 24% risk of heart disease reduction while clinically showing a .4% actual improvement using a deceptive math formula called relative risk reduction. You take the difference between the statin group and placebo group and divide by the rate of one of the heart attack groups to arrive at a highly inflated success rate.

The explanation for this starts around the 35 minute mark.

(Full Metal KETO AF) #3

I stopped taking Lipitor almost 15 years ago against doctors orders. Still here and my cholesterol is not bad. Getting even better after starting keto. They were making me use it because I have atherosclerosis but my cholesterol was fine. They just wanted me to destroy my liver instead. All doctors do is prescribe poison in controlled amounts to mask our poor lifestyle choices. Many doctors still don’t believe nutrition has a big impact on most illness. And they get perks sometimes for prescribing certain drugs from the drug manufacturers. Get a second opinion if you’re not in total agreement with your current doctor. And maybe talk with him about reducing your dosage or weaning off it as a trial, checking blood work later on to see how it’s going without the drugs. I have eliminated about 1/3 of my meds in the last year. You may not need it anymore.

(bulkbiker) #4

I have decided to never take them through educating myself. Doctors have mentioned them before but I will always refuse. I really can’t understand the desire to reduce something that is essential for life through medication.

(Scott) #5

I watched that video too and the marketing was shockingly deceptive. It made me think that I could do much better treating with diet and have no harmful side effects. Total waste of money (satins) in my opinion.

(David Epstein) #6

My dilemma from after watching “Statin Nation “ is that Dr Paul J. Rosch stated that taking statin for people who have CHD or Heart surgery is OK, but for primary reasons statins are a waste of time…

“Statins reduce the risk of recurred heart attacks with patients with a history of a heart attack or a history of server CHD or surgical intervention. But that’s a specific indication… There is absolutely no evidence that it has any role in primary prevention given to healthy people, or even increased risk people because they have diabetes that it has any protective effect.

(Doug) #7

Yes - I quit taking a statin. Only took it for a year or so, then read several things that made me think I was likely getting no benefit, and probably risking some of the side-effects which can be observed. One statistic sticks with me - that it was only among people who had already had at least one heart attack that a reduction in risk was achieved with statins, and that there the risk of further heart attacks was only decreased by 1%.

#8

I stopped taking simvastatin after a number of years on it. Painful leg cramps at night, as well as finding research similar to what OldDoug reports, stating that the benefit was only documented in people that had already suffered a heart attack. My cholesterol was ok at my last blood test, but the doctor informed me that he was changing my scrip to reflect the new recomendation of 40mg per day. Didn’t bother to tell him I’ve been off for 2 years.

(Bacon for the Win) #9

My husband has. Just today we did the “I’m not taking statins” dance with yet another doctor. This doctor is the director of the big medical center we visited. Knowing we will never change how he thinks about the subject, husband just resorted to the old standby “don’t like how they make me feel.” Whatever. No one’s going to force pills down our throat.

(Thomas Louis Mueller) #10

I am off all my meds, which included astorvistatin. Cholesterol levels are at the same level they were with taking statins. Good Cholesterol went up, bad went down.

(David Epstein) #11

My main concern is not cholesterol levels as I believe that we the public have been conned regarding this fact. My main concern is that I would like my body to be functioning normally and that statins (I take 10mg simvastatin a day) stop other metabolic processes like the production of CuQ10.

We are all so controlled that it is difficult to make a decision.

I’m still obese and need to lose 50Lbs to get to a healthy body mass.

Do statins inhibit the Ketosis process?

My thanks…

(bulkbiker) #12

You may find this one interesting… Nick is always extremely informative…

(Sheri Knauer) #13

I personally have never taken statins, although my dr wanted me to start when he saw that my cholesterol level was over 300, lol. My husband, however, although he has never been strict keto, more lower carb, was taking 10mg of lipitor for over 10 years and he was convinced, by me, to stop taking it. Of course his dr wanted him to start up again when his cholesterol went up a bit (still relatively low and with good trigs and hdl), which he refused, so the dr insisted he see a cardiologist, lol. He did and the cardiologist suggested a vegan diet…um no. We asked for a script for a CAC test and it came back at a big, fat 0.

(Eric - The patient needs to be patient!) #14

I’m 65yo and had 4 way bypass when I was 48yo. I did not have a heart attack.

Recently had a nuclear treadmill stress test and pushed 10mets with no abnormalities. The cardiologist sad people my age never push 10mets.

The nuclear scan showed NO blockage.

I’ve been on simvastatin 10mg / day since my bypass. I have the apoe4 gene with says I have an increased risk of AD. In the last couple of months I have noticed some mild cognitive decline and it seems to be getting worse.

I’m full on strict keto (6 months) and was lazy keto for 3 years before that. I have minimal inflammation, eat multiple sources of Omega 3 FA weekly and avoid the bad nut and seed oils most of the time.

I read about and hear about studies that should 60+ year olds do better with higher cholesterol and statins can increase cognitive decline. I meet with my cardiologist in a month and want to be prepared to argue no statins.

Any advice you can provide me would be appreciated.

(Janelle) #15

I am on Atorvastatin and have been for a year. I had a trip to Greece in November and due to time changes, whatever, I just stopped taking them and stayed off for a month.

  1. I don’t track ketones. No change in weight loss. I know a month is not a long time but for the month I was off them, I still lost my slow and steady 1lb a week. No acceleration as I had hoped. I didn’t change much else. Kept to 20 whole carbs.
  2. They have improved my cholesterol numbers over the year I’ve been on them. I didn’t have super high numbers to begin with but was labeled high anyway and not knowing any better, I accepted my doc’s reccomendation to take them.
  3. I went back on last week and have had occasional leg cramps at night - the only noticeable side effect for me.

So, now I need to decide what to do. I have a primary physician and a weight loss physician (specializes in bariatric/obesity medicine). I’m going to ask both of them, coming in armed with studies. As a 50-year-old female, my concern is cognitive effects over time. I’ll report back what they say.

(Bob M) #16

It depends on whom you believe. Personally, I think the best idea about what causes heart disease is an error in coagulation and endothelial damage. The ApoE4 gene makes this more likely. I think LDL is simply a confounder, and not the root cause. If this is correct, then you really want to reduce inflammation, protect your endothelium, and perhaps lessen your blood’s ability to coagulate.

This is probably the best articulation of this theory:

Trying to argue against someone who believes in statins is going to be difficult.

(David Epstein) #17

Nicely explained… At the end a guest from the audience ask whether or not to take baby aspirin (which I do) Dr. David Diamond PHD said no… So that’s another med of my list…
Many thanks…

('Jackie P') #18

Hi! I have been keto for 8 months. I had been on statins for a number of years for a moderately high cholesterol. Since I have been on keto I have reduced my medications gradually. I am a Night Sister so I regularly get the staff to check my blood pressure. Once in the early days it was alarmingly low so I stopped my propanolol and candersartan. Then I stopped my Omeprazole. It took me a little while to get confident enough to ditch the statin but I have . I watched a YouTube video of Malcolm Kendrick The Cholesterol Hypothesis is wrong - Ten Key Contradictions. Made sense as I am a 60 year old woman and it seems Cholesterol protects me.
The only medication I now take is Apixaban which I was prescribed 2 years ago for atrial fibrillation and im a bit nervous to stop it . Bit ironic really as I am now eligible fir free NHS prescritions!
Good luck on your keto journey, I hope this helps .

(Bob M) #19

The problem with aspirin is that while it does help with heart attacks somewhat, the side effects are as numerous or more numerous than the benefits.

(Bob M) #20

This is what you’re up against when trying to convince a doctor to not prescribe you statins:

Did you know that doctors are monitored according to whether they prescribe medications? If I don’t follow the cholesterol guidelines by prescribing statins, insurers will send letters scolding me.