Why take statin post stroke?

(Jillian ) #1

Hi guys!

I have had a rummage through the forum and I can’t find the answer to this - I’ll try and keep it brief…

  • Feb 2016 hubbie (age 45) had a stroke and was also diagnosed with T2DM and high blood pressure.

  • Dishcharged from hospital after 7 weeks with insulin, metformin, blood pressure meds, statin, clopidogrel (no dietary advice obviously :slight_smile: )

  • We discovered LCHF / keto (via facebook) and he has now come off insulin but has not lost a huge amount of weight and blood pressure has not really dropped. Sooo…

We are trying to get him off meds gradually and do not really understand why he is on the statin. We were told by the hospital that it was to ‘smooth’ the blood vessels to prevent a further event but I have not found any evidence to confirm this. His cholesterol numbers are all in a ‘good’ place (according to the NHS) so we would like to approach the GP for permission to stop it.

We feel that the statin may be causing problems such as slowing down the recovery from the T2 and muscle problems such as bad cramps and leg tremors (not stroke related as in both legs) at night. He has had such bad sleep that we feel this might also be preventing his recovery.

If anyone can direct me to research / evidence about the mechanism of action of statins with regard to post stroke care (or has any other experience to share) I would love to hear from you so we can approach the GP with confidence.

Many thanks :smiley:

#2

I can’t provide any statin research, but I can say that hopefully your hubby is doing moderate levels of protein. Which is 1-1.5g per kg of lean body mass, (80-120g) per day on average.

Also, I believe a statin would hinder ketosis a bit because your body uses all those cholesterol types to transport the energy retrieved from fat stores to the body. The statin decreases this…which would restrict energy retrieved. Just a thought.

(Jillian ) #3

Hi Powertrix, thank you for your reply.

We aim for about 90g protein but I think he usually goes over (probably not over 120g though - he’s 6’2" so hopefully should be ok).

That is my fear with the statin - he still gets really hungry so I don’t think he has managed to get properly fat adapted yet. I work with pharmacists and have asked them to explain why he should be on a statin but all they could answer was that clinical evidence seems to prove that it can reduce the changes of a second event. When pushed on mechanisms of action they didn’t know…

#4

Sounds like good protein levels to me. I would say approaching your GP to get off of it is a good choice. Especially after the weight loss.

Have a listen to this 2KetoDudes podcast. I’m trying to recall, but i think Dr Aseem Malhotra discusses that statins make a really…really small difference. I believe the example he used that was that if you took two people who were going to die in 5 years and gave one a statin and nothing to the other, the one that took the statin would only live 4 days longer. Then he makes the point if 4 days is worth the five years of taking it.

(Jillian ) #5

That was a good episode - I think it was that that got me thinking about the statin properly.

Hmm, I think I need to do some more digging - I’ll try and source the documents that Dr Malhotra based his comments on for a start and go from there :slight_smile:

#6

The leg cramping and tremors at night may be an electrolyte issue. After a while on Keto I developed the same thing. First I added a Magnesium Glycinate supplement, next added Potassium Citrate. The problem continued until I began drinking a salt solution about 1/2 hr before bed. That finally took care of it. No more cramping or “crawling”, twitching leg.

I make a concentrated “pickle brine” of 1T salt for each cup of water, then add pickling spices and some dry dill weed to give it a little flavor. I pour out about 1/4 C (through a tea strainer) and add water to taste. I like it very diluted. It’s actually a very pleasant drink.