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Friday waiting room - Statins

ShrewShrew
edited March 2009 in Other Football and Sports
Just wondering , how many people on here are on them , and how has it, if at all. affected their general lives, fitness and cholesterol levels.

My family has hereditary high cholesterol , and despite good fitness and diet my cholesterol is pretty high , I have a natural aversion to medication so your thoughts would be appreciated.

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    ShootersHillGuruShootersHillGuru
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-432395/Statins-truth.html

    interesting stuff
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    ShootersHillGuruShootersHillGuru
    More relevent perhaps

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/4573728/Millions-of-statins-will-go-to-low-risk-over-40s.html
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    _MrDick_MrDick
    I've been offered them but refused. I'm trying to get my Cholesterol down by diet.
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    ShootersHillGuruShootersHillGuru
    Read the telegraph link above ValleyMc
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    ShrewShrew
    Ta for the articles, there is so much information out there, and a lot of it conflicting, even the connection between high cholesterol and heart disease is questioned by lot of people.Overall, I dont feel I have much to lose by trying for a few months and seeing how I feel and what effect its it has had on my system.
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    DaggsDaggs
    What i don't understand about that article is, it says it would cost 34p/month ???????? To whom?
    In England, and that's where we are discussing, because health is a devolved issue. A prescription costs £7.20/month!
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    DaveMehmetDaveMehmet
    I've been taking them for years.

    I'm diabetic and was prescribed them as a precaution, not because my level was high.
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    stilladdictedstilladdicted
    Share your concerns re medications. OH also has familial high cholesterol levels. Did the full on diet/exercise/tea stuff and was pretty facist about it. No red meat at all, no pork, no dairy fat, eggs, shellfish chips, roast tatties, and replaced by full mediterranean largely veggie diet. Not overweight. Levels came down to 5.5 -6.5 but taking statins as well then put them back into normal range at a steady 4.0 -4.5. I think when there is the herditary component, which is not that common, statins seem to be the way to go cos lifestyle and diet alone just doesn't seem to be enough, at least that was our experience, and it gets worse as you get older unfortunately. It's not just the cholesterol in these instances, it's the accompanying high lipids, so there are extra higher risk factors which the 'normal abnormals' don't have, if you see what I mean. OH has had no side effects, and taking statins (and aspirin) daily is now just a way of life. Hope this helps.
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    ct_addickct_addick
    I had fairly high cholesterol 230 mg/dl over here. I exercise fairly regularly but what I did was start eating oatmeal or Oat bran for breakfast and avoid eggs,cheese etc. and Salad for lunch. I take a teaspoon of cod liver oil a day but the magic stuff is Niacin. Take 500 -1000 mg a day as a supplement. Take a look at the book 'The New 8 week Cholesterol cure' by Robert Kowalski. I swear by it. Statins will ruin your liver and I have already done a decent job of that. By the way I got my cholesterol down to 180 mg/dl (below 200 mg/dl is the guideline over here).
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    ShrewShrew
    Cheers again for the comments. Yp me too on the diet regime, also taking cod liver and lecithin which i guess has a similar effect as niacin also doing disgustin soya instaead of dairy. My cholesterol started as a massive 13 a year ago is now down to 10 but still huge so i think i will do the statins and try and support my liver as much as possible for a while at least.
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    ShootersHillGuruShootersHillGuru
    If you like shellfish and have heard that you need to avoid them it might be worth looking at this link.

    http://www.shellfishandcholesterol.org/

    Also its proven that eating Macadamia nuts reduce cholesterol levels.
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    LatimerLatimer
    Shrew, it is imperative that you take statins (probably 40 to 80mg simvastatin) and possibly ezetimibe if offered as you have familial hypercholestrolaemia. Other lifestyle measures such as exercise and diet are important too.

    Daggs the cost to the NHS of simvastatin 40mg is £1.34. The £7.20 charge is an NHS levy in other words another stealth/indirect tax, it bears no correlation to the cost of the medicines. The average item dispensed in my pharmacy costs £9.10 for your info. Only 10% of prescriptions carry an NHS levy the rest are exempt from payment due to age, DSS benefits or long term conditions
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