Statins

[Maz2]

Yes, it was only 4 to begin with, GP said it was for preventative reasons that I took statins. Same GP put hubby on Statins because he was 60???? crazy!!!!

Disagree entirely with being given meds just because of age. I think you should only be given them if you are high risk or have medical problems. That seems to be the way our GPs work.

 

[Maz2]

The problem with trials is that they have to be paid for, Trials that investigate negative effects somehow don’t get funded and so rarely get done. They become theories that are easily dismissed.

Trials are expensive, and a few hundred or thousand people who complain about side effects aren’t really worth it when you have something worth millions of dollars and doesn’t seem to bother most people.

In the final analysis it probably doesn’t matter and it’s up to the individual to make their own decision even if this can be hard when confronted by professionals, who often aren’t taking these drugs but have bought into the results.

I suppose there are always going to be some people who are going to react badly to medication and the companies, medics etc just go with what works for the majority. I have a friend who has had to come off statins yet her husband has been on them for years with no problems.

 

[Maz2]

I have a long and odd history with statins. When I was first prescribed them I had no problem for over a year, then the particular type of statin was changed for cost reasons. A month or so after taking the new type of statin I had a lot of problems. These were extreme enough for me to stop taking them and refusing to do so; the problems vanished.

I then had at least a decade of being badgered by different doctors to take them again and was even sacked by one specialist because of my resistance. About 5 years ago my partner developed a heart problem and was naturally prescribed statins. She didn't, and still doesn't, have any noticeable problems with them so I thought I'd give them another try. I did, with the ones that I had previously tolerated and the same problems came back. I am now taking a very low dose of a statin that is considered less good but I can at least tolerate with the only side effect being occasional pins and needles.

Most people have some side effects from statins but they are slight. If that's the case then they are worth it, I think. As with most things medical this is a personal thing. I depends upon your level of cholesterol and your tolerance of statins and you should decide but decide from a point of knowledge and experience not just resistance to the idea of taking more tablets. You can only know if statins affect to adversely if you take them.

If you refuse you will be challenged about this at every meeting with a doctor so you need to do your research and be ready to argue your case. The ones I take are Rosuvastatin which are considered old fashioned and not as good as the latest Flashy Floyd ones but they work sufficienly well for me and they keep the docs at bay. I don't personally approve of the way statins are prescribed like aspirin, and thereby hangs a tale, but that's a different thread.

Wow, that was harsh by the specialist. I think you are right the patient has to decide in consultation with their doctor and weigh up the pros and cons. I would rather take a statin than have a stroke having seen the damage it caused to my late Mom-in-Law.

I recall chatting to my ex boss once at the hospital when I worked in the NHS. He is a surgeon and I was talking about avoiding dementia. He said with vascular dementia watch the cholesterol, blood sugars and BP and take meds if you are told you need them. He knew I was very resistant to medication. Alzheimers he felt no one could be really sure about that one.

I think there are some people who are anti-medication and anti-vaccine and will always argue against anything. That is their right, of course. It is their health.

 

[snowball12]

Disagree entirely with being given meds just because of age. I think you should only be given them if you are high risk or have medical problems. That seems to be the way our GPs work.

My GP hasn't caught up with the rest of the world!!!! Lol

 

[Jasmin2000]

As you say most of the people concerned probably had risk factors for Type 2 diabetes anyway, statin or not statin.

No they didn't, most had risks of cardiovascular disease, which includes diabetics, but the vast majority of over 200,000 individuals tested in clinical trials were not at risk of Type 2.

Disagree entirely with being given meds just because of age. I think you should only be given them if you are high risk or have medical problems. That seems to be the way our GPs work.

But if age is highly correlated with risk then it's the same thing. The risk of cardiovascular disease increases proportionally with age and men are more likely to develop it earlier, hence the statin recommendation.