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So been to see the nurse today to have my bloods done again and have been told i now have to start taking statins as my cholesterol levels are 6.6. Seems since being diagnosed with T2 in november that every time i get my bloods done there is something else found that i need treatment for. Is a reading of 6.6 high? Reading so much negative comments about taking statins, have had very little side effects with taking metforim so hoping the satins agree with me aswell.
So been to see the nurse today to have my bloods done again and have been told i now have to start taking statins as my cholesterol levels are 6.6. Seems since being diagnosed with T2 in november that every time i get my bloods done there is something else found that i need treatment for. Is a reading of 6.6 high? Reading so much negative comments about taking statins, have had very little side effects with taking metforim so hoping the satins agree with me aswell.
Glad you seem able to tolerate Metformin. GP's seem to want Diabetics to have cholesterol below 4, or a non-diabetic below 5. But cholesterol production is a function of the liver, and all bodies work differently. Many people are able to take statins with no side effects, but some people like me, can't, and following a low fat diet didn't work. I then tried for 18 months with 3 different statins, so at least I gave it a good go. My GP has now marked my notes as "severely reactive to statins". One thing my GP did say was to take a cholesterol lowering drink first thing each day. Brand leaders are Benecol and Flora ProActiv, but I use Tesco, Sainsburys, Morrisons or Aldi own brand. Much cheaper and just as effective. I went from over 7 to between 5.1 - 6 which is a good reduction.
Dont really know tbh just got told my cholesterol level was 6.6 which was to high so would need to start taking statin, i will do some more research for sure before i commit to taking them
A total cholesterol level of 6.6 is above average for people in the UK I believe (which is about 5.5 I think?).
Additionally, people with diabetes are at increased risk of heart problems (partly because of the increased glucose variation and other metabolic pressures that diabetes can bring). Targets for total cholesterol in people with diabetes are to aim for 4.0 or below, with less than half of that as LDL.
I put off taking statins for years (with a total cholesterol hovering around 5.8), but I’ve started on a low dose in the autumn, and now have all my component parts of my lipid panel meeting the guideline amounts. And I have had no negative effects from the statins at all.
I’d suggest giving them a go, and see how you get on. the vast majority of people have no side effects at all.
Dont really know tbh just got told my cholesterol level was 6.6 which was to high so would need to start taking statin, i will do some more research for sure before i commit to taking them
My cholesterol levels at diagnosis of type 2 diabetes were in the 7s but when I started to lower the carbs and up the fats my levels are in the low 5s which I am happy with as an older woman
Carol
Apologies, I was remembering appointments from a few years back.
The link that @travellor posted is a better summary, and suggests to aim for a 40% reduction of non-HDL from baseline (and noting where QRisk3 underestimates risk as in T1) rather than an arbitrary figure which is the same for everyone.
Why nonsensical? It most likely comes from pooled clinical trial data (from all the currently available sources) and aims to provide a good benchmark for HCPs to know when to increase therapy, and when to maintain it as it is working well enough.
At least that’s the way guidelines generally evolve. Take the current sum of evidence in the literature, and condense it into something workable that offers the chance of better outcomes than what came before (eg the below 4 and below 2 which I remembered from earlier guidance)
I’ve split these newer responses about cholesterol and statins into their own thread @Chartom3 - so they don’t get muddled with the earlier newbie’s intro thread 🙂
There are always a lot of threads about Statins and Cholesterol and we all post our various favourite bits of current presentations about them but I thought it might be handy to have them all in one thread. I meant to put this together soon after the get together in Birmingham (sorry @Debandez)...
So been to see the nurse today to have my bloods done again and have been told i now have to start taking statins as my cholesterol levels are 6.6. Seems since being diagnosed with T2 in november that every time i get my bloods done there is something else found that i need treatment for. Is a reading of 6.6 high? Reading so much negative comments about taking statins, have had very little side effects with taking metforim so hoping the satins agree with me aswell.
My cholesterol levels at diagnosis of type 2 diabetes were in the 7s but when I started to lower the carbs and up the fats my levels are in the low 5s which I am happy with as an older woman
Carol
I have a similar experience but not as significant a drop but still a reduction despite eating significantly more fat and lots of saturated fats but maintaining low carb. Mine was 5.2 and consistently come down over 4 years to 4.2. I am happy to refuse statins at that level or even my original level in the 5s to be honest. If I went above that, I might reconsider. That is my personal choice, plus to me it would be ethically wrong to take statins when I eat a high fat diet and my low carb high fat diet agrees with me and has improved my health and wellbeing. To me that counts more that the Qrisk.
I have a similar experience but not as significant a drop but still a reduction despite eating significantly more fat and lots of saturated fats but maintaining low carb. Mine was 5.2 and consistently come down over 4 years to 4.2. I am happy to refuse statins at that level or even my original level in the 5s to be honest. If I went above that, I might reconsider. That is my personal choice, plus to me it would be ethically wrong to take statins when I eat a high fat diet and my low carb high fat diet agrees with me and has improved my health and wellbeing. To me that counts more that the Qrisk.
This has been discussed before.
Moving from a fairly rubbish diet, and cutting the cholesterol risers, even with an offset for high fats but good fats, is still a clear benefit.
And 4.2 is definitely good.
