Type 1 and statins

S

sam98

Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Hi,

My specialist has offer to put me on statins as I've been diabetic for over 10 years now but I don't know much about this.

Does anyone have any experience with this? Is it possible to come off them at a later point?

I'm mostly skeptical about taking more medication if I don't need to but am not against it if it'll be useful.

Thank you
 
Statins are a bit of a hot topic here on the forum and indeed generally.

Statins lower high cholesterol, so they are not specifically to treat your diabetes, but the medics like us mature diabetics to have a cholesterol level below 4, because we are more at risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cholesterol will add to that risk.
I have personally declined statins at this time as I am pretty fit and healthy, I manage my diabetes to the best of my ability, have a good Time in Range and HbA1c and my Total Cholesterol (TC) is pretty static around 4.5 which is slightly over the 4 that they would like it to be, but by no means high. If my cholesterol level was 6 or 7 or higher I might reconsider or if it started to rise significantly, but it has actually reduced since diagnosis 5 years ago because I look after myself better now, so I don't currently feel that I need their help. I do ensure that I have plenty of fibre in my diet both from foods like fruit, veg and nuts but also fibre supplements like psyllium husk and chia seeds both of which provide plenty of soluble fibre and fibre is known to be beneficial for lowering cholesterol.

I think in your shoes, I would want to know my cholesterol levels in order to make an informed decision and also take into consideration your age and fitness and things like whether you drink or smoke and how well managed your diabetes is, as all those things factor in to your risk along with family history of CVD. ie did your parents/grandparents suffer with heart disease or stroke.

There is no right or wrong answer with statins, just what fits your personal circumstances. Unfortunately there is quite a lot of blanket prescribing of them without considering the individual and that is something that I object to which is why I make my own decision.
There are many people who take them with no ill effect and some who suffer side effects and either need to try different ones or stop taking them but generally, once you start taking them, they like you to continue unless there is good reason to stop.
 
As I understand it, NICE recommendations are that anyone with diabetes over a certain age “benefit” from statins.
A number of years ago, my consultant explained to me that this was based on studies of people who have any type of diabetes doing no exercise and, generally, overweight. At the time, there had been no studies to understand the benefit to someone like myself who exercises regularly, eats an healthy diet with lots of fresh fruit and veg, is not overweight and does not have a high cholesterol.
In recent years, I have a different consultant who offers me statins every year (even though he reads out that my records show I keep refusing them) because people with diabetes have greater fluctuations in their BG which puts extra strain on our hearts so the cholesterol target is tighter.
My cholesterol has been inching up very very very slowly and I just passed the “diabetes target” at my last blood test done by my GP surgery.
Like you, I do not like the idea of taking drugs for the sake of it when nothing is wrong with me. But I decided to arm myself with additional data at my next diabetes consultant appointment. I am now taking statins (with no side effects) and will have a blood test after 3 months to see the effect they are having.

(Sorry, I did not mean to ramble for so long.)
 
You’re only young so I’m surprised at that. I was/am uncertain about statins too so I started a thread about Type 1 and statins which you might like to have a read of:

Inka

Thread 'Type 1s - are you taking statins?'

I asked a question about the pros and cons of statins on the Statins thread, but I’m wondering if I’m unusual in not taking statins as a Type 1, so this poll is for Type 1s and asks about statins. Any comments or information welcome.

TIA

P.S - I’m only asking Type 1s as I’m Type 1 myself and so want to compare what other Type 1s do. Thanks 🙂
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In the end I decided not to take them. I’ll review that decision over time, of course. What’s your cholesterol?
 
helli said:
As I understand it, NICE recommendations are that anyone with diabetes over a certain age “benefit” from statins.
Click to expand...

I think the summary of evidence found benefit for T1s over 40 or over 10 years from diagnosis, whichever is the sooner.

Partly because we will inevitably had some glucose levels outside of the normal range (however hard we try). Which I believe can be a cause of inflammation. And I think also exposure to glucose levels below 4.0 (especially the nastier lows) aren’t great for heart health.

QRISK scores don’t really ‘work’ for T1s, but once mine got above 10%, I started on a low dose statin. Though I was quite a bit older than you at the time.

No negative effects at all for me. The only observable change has been that my lipid components are all now in the recommended slots. And from what I can gather the benefits build up over time, so “lower for longer” seems to confer greater benefit.
 
sam98 said:
Hi,

My specialist has offer to put me on statins as I've been diabetic for over 10 years now but I don't know much about this.

Does anyone have any experience with this? Is it possible to come off them at a later point?

I'm mostly skeptical about taking more medication if I don't need to but am not against it if it'll be useful.

Thank you
Click to expand...

If you need to take one then it's in your best interest to do so.

Point being if a specialist has told you that a statins is needed to prevent cardiovascular disease then they are best placed to advise this.
 
I have taken statin since diagnosis 16 years ago with no side effects.
My dose has increased overtime and still no side effects.
 
This is an interesting topic - I have been taking them for the past 18m (2yrs diagnosed as T1D) and had no problems or side effects at all - I am 49 - my cholesterol has never been high
 
I'm on them...all fine
 
sam98 said:
Hi,

My specialist has offer to put me on statins as I've been diabetic for over 10 years now but I don't know much about this.

Does anyone have any experience with this? Is it possible to come off them at a later point?

I'm mostly skeptical about taking more medication if I don't need to but am not against it if it'll be useful.

Thank you
Click to expand...
I've been on statins for two or three years now: I'm male and in my early 60s, with LADA. My view is that heart issues are such a big risk for men of my age (especially with diabetes) that it makes sense to take statins if I'm advised to. I'm fit and eat healthily and have never smoked but I'm not too proud to take statins if a medic advises me to. The footballer Alan Ball and Davy Jones of The Monkees were both regarded as very fit for their age - until they dropped dead of heart attacks in their 60s.
 
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