Last year, my insurance required I change Cardiologists. He wanted new nuclear imaging of my heart, along with the chemical stress test. Same results as the catheter test 10 years earlier. No blockages, no evidence of heart attack, ejection factor maintained at 55, slight calcification in one valve. I discussed the statins with him, and he had a graph on his computer to input my no, giving back an odds of heart attack, and how the odds changed when I improved my health, or had drug therapy, etc. Of course, there are no guarantees. So I asked my PCP why, since only people who have previously suffered heart attack appear to benefit from statins, he had put me on them, when i derived no benefit? He said good question. We feel there is some therapeutic value. I’m cynical, and my thought has always been that it is wallet therapy, not my health.
Edit: I think it warrants mentioning, many many of the drugs we are prescribed cause weight gain. My weight soared from 255 to almost 360 as more and more drugs were prescribed. I often wonder if the drugs helped my conditions, or hastened new complications as the list, and my waist expanded.
Has anybody on this forum stopped taking statins as a result of being reeducated?
Eric I would tell you this, doctors cannot force you to take drugs or have treatments that you don’t want or feel you need. You sound like you took your second chance and turned things around, congratulations on your treadmill test. I have been through this kind of stuff for years over different medical issues and it’s important to remember that we always have a choice and say so about our heath treatment.
Plus of course the side effect of elevated blood sugars when taking statins? Statins have been blamed for causing T2 diabetes in some…
Interestingly enough, I developed type II after being on statins for a little over 2 years. Chicken or the egg?
This 
I quit taking Atorvastatin after learning about statins and cholesterol. I don’t intend to ever start up again. My doctor is unaware as I go to the dr. as infrequently as possible. I will probably go for a physical and blood work in the spring, but will not be going back on statins regardless of test results.
Many thanks for all your input. So I’ve decided to stop taking statins. My cholesterol level is low anyway, so I assume that the reason I’m taking them is because the NHS is so obsessed with stats and prevention that they believe that a wonder drug will keep their costs down. I have not had a heart attack just a CABG x 3. I do get painful muscle aches in both shoulders and have been told it’s either arthritis or rotary cuff syndrome. But the funny thing is that it started when I was put on 100mg of statins after my CABGx3. I did challenge the Doctors at the time but no one said it’s the statins. So now I’m gonna find out. I’ll be getting my annual full blood test in 4 months from now so by then we will see what’s going on with my bloods etc
How long have you been taking them? 100mg is a pretty big dose ?
Edit to add sorry just seen you have been on them for 10 years… it may take a while to feel the benefits I have heard anecdotally after such a prolonged exposure.
I was on simvastatin 20mg for about 6 years… one of my blood results (I believe to be a muscle enzyme keratin) sky rocketed so they changed my statins to atorvastatin. So I was then on 20mg of atorvastatin for about 4 years. It was only after my CABG x3 that they increased the dosage to 100mg and then when I complained about shoulder ache they then drop the dosage from 100mg to 10mg and also changed me back to simvastatin. So I’ve been on 10mg simvastatin for 2 years.
I have read it will take quite a while for this stuff to get out of ones system. So let’s see what will happen.
I took Crestor for about 3 months and stopped not because of “re-education”, I didn’t know anything about keto back then, but because it was effecting my memory, I’d say down by 5% but enough for me to toss them.
I have worked in the medical industry for 10 years so I know how the the sausages are made. Not all that glitters is gold shall we say. So I find it rather hard to take advice from Dr Joe Average.
I respect Drs Phinney, Volek, Westman, Noakes, and others I’ve recently discovered in the keto world - they are outstanding.
Ivor Cummins (engineer not dr) has great info on cholesterol …
Phinney talks about some possible benefit at 5mg so it isn’t totally clear cut. But I would seriously questions statins.
My mother’s memory has gone south rather badly, 40mg Lipitor, we’ve taken her off those, now she can remember noticeably more.
Sorry if I’m incoherent, past my bed time …
I’m going to revise my statement. I’ve been back on Atorvastatin for 9 days and I hadn’t weighed this week.
I’m going to actually taper off again.
- Leg cramps continue.
- I’m up 4lbs this morning without other changes. In fact, I’ve been reducing fat - no MCT, 1 tbsp of cream, not 2 since I’m in this for weight loss and I think I’m more fat adapted.
- I wear contact lenses (multifocal since I have better than 20/20 near vision and the correction for distance screws with my ability to see small text). Anyhow, I feel like my vision has changed in the 4 months I’ve been on keto anyway but since I went back on the statin, I’ve noticed a huge change while driving. It’s concerning me and I’m not willing to have to go in and change my expensive contacts if this is statin caused.
I don’t base anything after a one month or one week period but it’s got me wondering. Found this. Interesting.
They “lowered” your numbers. Whether or not that’s an improvement is another story. I’m leaning heavily towards the thought that our bodies are smart, and know how much cholesterol to make if we give it the proper fuel. I find it difficult to believe that suddenly mankind has developed a statin deficiency. 
“It is impossible to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”
—Upton Sinclair
These videos of lectures by David Diamond might prove interesting:
Recent papers by Diamond and Uffe Ravnskov:
Popped into my doctors and asked the receptionist for my cholesterol levels. Very kindly gave them to me. However these results are from May/2018 a good 6 months before I had even contemplated Keto or even heard of it. Since November to now I have lost 23 lbs and classed as a Type 2 Diabetic in remission. My hb1ac is normal.
Serum total cholesterol level 4.3 mmol/L
Serum triglycerides 1.1 mmol/L
Serum HDL cholesterol level 0.9 mmol/L
Serum LDL cholesterol level 2.9 mmol/L
Serum Cholesterol/HDL level 4.8
To be quite honest I do not know what these things mean… Anyone understand there meaning…
Found this…
Looks like I’m OK… My triglyceride to HDL ratio 1.1\0.9 = 1.2 mmol/L which is a bit high but my other readings are fine… So why am I on Statins?
Many thanks in advance…
Uffe is one of my favorites. This is the first book I read in this area, written by Dr. Ravnskov:
It’s no longer in print, but you can read it at that link.
Good question about statins - you have to make your own choice but many people are opting out. 1.2 is actually a pretty darn good Triglycerides/HDL ratio. 2 or less is usually considered “good.”
How long have you been on statins? As I mentioned, my numbers changed once on statins to something acceptable for my doctor. Off of them, my numbers were not. So the statin may be changing that number to something “acceptable”. What were they before statins? Or did I misunderstand that you are taking them?
Your numbers changed. Did your health get better or do you have less chance of death?
Here’s a discussion about a study that estimated the numbers of extra days of life (remember: statins only delay death, they don’t prevent it) you’d get if you took statins for the rest of your life:
Results: 6 studies for primary prevention and 5 for secondary prevention with a follow-up between 2.0 and 6.1 years were identified. Death was postponed between −5 and 19 days in primary prevention trials and between −10 and 27 days in secondary prevention trials. The median postponement of death for primary and secondary prevention trials were 3.2 and 4.1 days, respectively.
Primary = you’ve already had a heart attack; secondary = you have not had a heart attack.
Not great results.
Ugh…reversed those. Primary = not had heart attack already; secondary = had heart attack already.