Have you gone off of statins? If so, please come on in, I've some questions

Yes, systemic inflammation is my biggest issue, and I would be in hell if it weren't for the supplements I take.

I found a book called "The Great Cholesterol Myth" and then found this video I'm going to watch now, one of the authors of the book. I dunno if it's the same book you're talking about, this one is over 200 pgs long, but I'm thinking I'm going to find the same thing all over....it's not good for the body to take it's "grease" away.

Thank you for the lead on the book, lovey....




[link to www.youtube.com (secure)]

I couldn't tolerate statins at all and they didn't give me "good numbers" either.

LOTS of fish oil will bring down triglycerides, which are probably a lot more dangerous than cholesterol.

I'm on an injectable called Repatha now that doesn't seem to cause serious side effects in me - everybody's different - and normalized my lipids (except for triglycerides) right away. The down side is that it's really expensive, like $100 per scrip expensive (copay). But, again, your mileage may vary. Taking 5 grams of fish oil a day, cutting out all seed oils, and using animal fats in cooking took the triglycerides down to almost acceptable levels.

Something's gonna get us all one of these days, but I'm hoping it's not soon!

Last Edited by Kamchatka on 08/04/2022 09:40 AM

No, Ive never been on any statins thou after reading our intro post my mind went straight to "the cholesterol myth".

Here are a couple of links to get you started.

[link to www.thehealthytruth.com.au (secure)]

[link to www.foodmatters.com (secure)]

As for the smoking: Ive been a smoker on and off all my life. Lately I have decided to treat the "smoking/nicotine" as medicine. I do my best to only have 3-4 cigarettes(RYO shop bought tobacco) a day, in other words, I've cut my smoking back by more than half. There are many great links on GLP about smoking, let me know if you want to look at some and I can dig some out form my favorites for you.

&

Thank you! I'm just waking up, so I need to straighten myself up....

I see your vids interview is with Jonny Bowden, too. Heh, I want to see what the plan they have is.

Thank you for posting....

One word "Niacin"

My doctor wanted me on Statins. After taking them a few days, I had bad side effects of muscle cramps to the point I couldn't do my work. I stopped them and would not take another Statin. I'm using other supplements now and trying to lose weight. I'm about 20 lbs overweight. By eating correctly and cutting out a lot of sugar and carbs, this should lower my LDL and fend off borderline diabetes...



I don't take any drugs until I thoroughly research them with their side effects. Then have a consultation with my doctor. this is true with any new drug he wants to prescribe to me...

I dunno why I had only one artery 100% occluded, and the rest all clear, save for that little artery, which was only occluded 30% at the time of the heart attack over three years ago. It's only increased by 20% in over three years.

I asked about that my last visit to see Melinda - cardio PA - and she said they don't know why only one will get all clogged up, and the rest remain good.

I mean, I was told the heart attack was due to smoking cigs, but it sure seems to me like there would be more evidence of occlusion all over my arteries if the cigs were the culprit.

My cardiologist suggested, but I have refused to take statins over many years. I had an appointment Monday. He looked at my blood work results, and said my cholesterol is better than it was years ago, but I should be on a statin med. He even commented that I was against taking it years ago (must be in their notes!)

I said, "Make it low dose."

I picked the prescription up yesterday. Didn't open it. I just might return it after reading this thread! lol

Last Edited by nutmeg on 08/04/2022 09:55 AM

If it's a cheap generic just keep filling the script and don't take it. Keeps both of you happy.

No, I had the full and complete heart workup done because I need a colonoscopy, and my doc wouldn't do one without knowing I wasn't going to die on the table while he's doing it....his exact words. My doc is a thorough freak, lol.

I had a chemical stress test done, Holter monitor for 24 hrs, the angiogram, and an echocardiogram.... just so I can get a colonoscopy, which I may not end up doing.

I'm just about finished with getting bad news, and I just want to live while I'm alive. Quality of life means something different for me than others. Quality of life means me being happy, and not me going to doctors, having this, that, and the other test done, having meds shoved at me, and fighting about that....it's fucking exhausting trying to deal with the medical community as we get older, and our bodies are giving up.

I mean, I was recently diagnosed with an incurable lung disease which is going to take me out sooner than later, so why find out about all else that might be wrong, ya know?

And so youse guyses know, this lung disease has jack crap to do with smoking, and even stopping smoking won't make it better....and that's per the pulmonologist, and his words exactly.

I just want to live happily until I exit the planet.

And yes AC, please do tell me how it's going for you, and I'll do the same.

Thank you, lovey....

Yeah, I'm no doctor also, but I'm tellin' ya, this muscle mass loss is crap. I'm really hoping I can get it back.

I can't tell you to take it or not take it, but I am regretting taking it....but again, I had that massive heart attack, and I was scared to death. I did what I thought was for the best, like my docs were telling me at the time....seriously, I was about an hour away from dying, had they of not gotten the stent put in.

I cut my simvastatin in half last night, will again tonight, and will taper off until I'm finished in a week to two weeks. I'm going off of it. Period.

Yes, I'm going to be ordering some niacin, for sure....

One more anecdotal story. My niece had to have a physical to remain on her husband's health insurance policy. Her cholesterol was borderline but high. She's an ex-athlete in her 40's in great shape. They asked her to take another test in 2 weeks. She drank Metamucil every day for those 2 weeks. Cholesterol was well within in normal range.

Cholesterol pffftt.

I get away with not taking meds by saying I’d like to first try correcting it by diet and exercise, so he/she makes that note and says to come back in 3-6 months for retesting which I don’t do. I now have insurance that doesn’t pressure me for annual visits so I like that.

OP, I quit 15 years ago, the recovery is very slow, still feel the effects but I have improved instead of continuing to decline.

My numbers were almost down to zero, I quit abruptly and I didn't notice any bad effects from quitting.

If your doctor has a problem with stopping the poison, fire the doctor.

The choice is yours. I decided a fatal heart attack was preferable to the suffering.

Think about it, your heart is a muscle.

How are you with math now that your brain is poisoned?

The forever chemicals are known to increase cholesterol. Look up PFAS, PFOA, C8, Teflon, they're everywhere in everything and they're forever.

Thank you for your response and I do understand about quality not quantity.
I pray all goes well for you and yes the medical crap gets sicking.
I will keep you updated and thanks for making this thread. You never know who it can help.

Muscle or long life? Your choice. Statins have helped me outlive all my ancestors life spans and my heart is in good shape with very little buildup for my age. My brothers who did not start.the statins as young are indeed clogged like our ancestors. Fortunately they are on them now and may still have longer lives.

Is this a drug I should cut back on slowly, over time? Or can I just stop it cold turkey?
I had a heart attack in Jan. 2022. The
cardiologist put me on statins, it made me so weak
and lacking any energy---I kept complaining about it.
I didn't have the energy to do anything. If I lost
my ability to live a 'full life' and all I want to do
is sleep---what good is this drug? That's what I told
them after maybe a month or two. He took me off it!

I don't want to throw my body into any kind of a crisis.
Nothing happened after coming off of it
to me. It was a relief. I only took a few, but still,
nothing felt off. My heart didn't have issues.
I felt better.

If you've taken statins, has it reduced your muscle mass?
It reduces your energy level so I can see
why your muscle mass is reduced. I don't lift
weights or anything like that. I have no proof of
it reducing my muscles. I look the same.

If you went off the statins, were you able to rebuild the muscles?.....it's not a permanent thing, right?
Once you come off it, your energy level
is normal again. That's all I can tell ya!
I really felt drained everyday I took a pill.
I'd rather die than live my life always wanting a nap.
I don't give a crap what they say. They want us lazy, no
energy, drooling and wearing depends for our senior
years. I said 'fuk that' and feel I made the
right choice. My life is not pills. I am on pills
for a year but they are very small amounts due to
the side effects they caused me. I barely have
anything going on. My plan is after a year to stop
these pills. It's four pills and an aspirin a day.
2 of them are 1/2 pills. They say you have to
take them for a year at least.

The ones I took are Prevastatin, the least amount

of that drug you can take---and I still felt weak!

It my opinion, we have to 'know' our bodies are

recovering after a heart attack which means we need

to resume our regular activities. If those are diminished

with pills you're taking---we must complain and stop.

I hope you get the help you need from a reliable source.

But always be true to yourself. You're life is so important.

You MUST be happy and satisfied with what you're doing

or life won't be fun.

Also, I had 1 artery clogged 100% and two others,

1 was 20% and another was 30% clogged. Why? I love

eating snacks and drinking milk. I drank A LOT OF MILK!

Ever since I was a kid. I had one stent placed.

It's only issue is when it's cold, my chest area

on my heart hurts. I hate that! But, last I checked

my cholesterol is very low and my health is 100%.

I was getting healthier before the heart attack though.

Why do carbs make me happy? Just because I was raised on them?....hmmm, is it really about comfort food, or do carbs trigger some kind of feel good response?

The later is the truth of it. The thing is, there's the thing called the sugar crash, which I know has us walking around all lethargic all the time.


SO, this is my plan....heh, and they're listed in the order of least difficult to most difficult (for me)--


Off of the statin, STAT!

I'm ordering niacin and fish oil. At least the fish oil isn't expensive. If they had insurance that covered the cost of supplements, we wouldn't need as much insurance for pharma meds.... but they know that.

I gotta haul my white and shiny hienie back onto my trampoline, and start bouncing for my heart and entire body health.

....and I gotta stop all carbs. I've radically cut back on glycemic index spiking sugar, but I still love breads and pasta, although I haven't been eating those hardly at all because of the gluten intolerance I've developed (got damn, what a nightmare my body has gotten to be).

What I've found in the past is the singularly best type of diet to be on is one wherein I do not eat carbs with protein, and eat fruit on its own.

The carbs and protein both require different stomach acids, and one is released, while the other isn't, and I think it's the stomach acid for carbs that's released first, and then the protein doesn't get its acid, and can basically rot in the digestive tract....bleckie. I think that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but that's what I've read.

I have such a touchy and sluggish GI tract, I take digestive enzymes anytime I eat, just to help with the process.

So, no mixing of carbs and proteins, and this way I'm not suffering from a lack of carbs. A baked potato stuffed with copious amounts of broccoli and a light cheese sauce may not be the best for me, but something like that once a month would kill my craving for carbs, and it's certainly not the worst thing for my body.

I can be HAPPY while eating this way. I've done it before long time ago, and I dropped weight like crazy, and I remember feeling better. My body wasn't in a constant struggle just trying to digest the food I was putting in it, much less all the other processes it is tasked with.

This gluten free diet is just killin' my joy. I can't stand gluten free baked goods. I was a chef, I've even won an award for a pie I created, and I can't make a f'n good gluten free tasting anything baked good. It has literally just about made me nutz trying to bake something decent gluten free. I'm giving up on it. I've tried for over a year, and I'm finished with it.

Fortunately, I've found a flour that's supposed to be good for gluten intolerance, and I'm also going to order that when I order my two supplements. And yes, I understand about why there is so much gluten intolerance in folks now, so no one needs to explain that BEAST to me.

[link to nutritionfacts.org (secure)] - Everything you need to know about heart health and many other diseases.

[link to en.wikipedia.org (secure)] - Read about this guy and buy his book.

Do not follow your cardiologist about how to avoid heart disease. They only know how to do prescriptions and procedures. The drugs will damage you and the procedures are all only temporary fixes.

Twenty-two years of cardio experience. I have fired six cardiologist.

I have been a patient for Afib in Cleveland clinic - best heart hospital in the world.

Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn treats some of Cleveland Clinic cardiologist with food.

Do your homework and heart disease goes away.

Milk, too. I just love milk, but ALL indicators are that I shouldn't be drinking it....including my guidance freaking out about me drinking it, and it is so rare for that source to freak out about something concerning a food. I mostly have to basically find my own way regarding my health, although I will get info here and there, and moreso lately.

Heh, the day of the night I had the heart attack I was so very stressed, and I wanted to drink and have a GLP music party that night to relax, and blow off some steam. My guidance spoke up and told me not to do this....like DO NOT PARTY TONIGHT! We argued, and I went ahead and ignored the warning....massive heart attack....DERP!

That won't happen again....

After all, I do have a lung disease, and milk produces mucous, but I think it's even about more than that now while reading about it and watching vids. Dairy is not necessarily good for a body.

I've cut back on my milk intake, but completely giving it up is difficult.

Lol, why does life have to be such a struuuugle....

Last Edited by cosmicgypsy on 08/04/2022 11:58 AM

Thank you for your response, lovey....


Thank you to all of youse guyses....heh, please know I'm lovin' on all of ya for posting, okay?

Not a single post from any of you is going to waste....

would any of you take a drug, med, or vax if a side effect was going blind?

read the information closely for clues.


eye changes could mean losing vision.
read between the lines of what they say or talk also.

Agreed - Why go to the doctor when you don't feel ill. Thats where sick people are...

I take only one omega 3 200 a day. My dr recommends one gram a day, but I have only been taking one capsule a day.

Heh, I just got an email from Vitacost with a 20% discount for my next order until Aug 23.....

I do so love-love Vitacost....

The thing about Omega 3's is that one of those omegas cause inflammation. That's just something I've read a number of times on GLP, and I really have to watch my rate of inflammation.

I'm just going to get cod liver oil, and be done with it.

Oh another thing that helps cholesterol are plant sterols, you can get them in small drinkable yogurts from Aldi or they are found in oats (porridge) and elsewhere. If you have a test coming up hit the yogurts+porridge a couple weeks before and you will see results.