My Doctor and Statins page

[Photoguy66]

I've been low-carbing for about 4 months. Last labs indicated HDL 33, LDL 155, VLDL 23, Trigs 84. I was surprised that my HDL didn't increase, but my trigs dropped from 116. I know I need more exercise and I'm not a big veggie at all, but so far I've lost 40 pounds and feel great for the first time in 20 years.
Anyway, my PCP wants to start me on statins now to lower my LDL. Do I need to find a different doctor?
TIA for any comments.

[bryanccfshr]

He can want to all he want's but you don't have to accept it. let him know you are pursuing a solution through diet and exercise and have no intrest in taking statins. Doctors are not are as subject to group think as any other profesion. Stand up for yourself. Doctors cannot order you to do anything(unless you are institutionalized. )
He will either continue to treat you or refuse to if you don"t do what he thinks you should. Mim what you think and he will want to monitor situation. But take charge of your own health. Most people don't challenge their physicians so they are used to simply prescribing becasue most people want pills to fix their problems

[RitaRose]

LDL is calculated, not measured. If your trigs are below 100, they can't calculate it using the same method that they use for everyone above 100. Your LDL is not as high as you think.

MDA thread on calculating LDL

Online LDL Calculator

[Photoguy66]

I definitely won't be pushed into anything I don't want to do. And thanks for the calculator!

[Photoguy66]

Thanks for the calculator thread link, Rita Rose. I never knew that LDL was only a calculation.

[Stevenhamley]

During weight loss more triglycerides enter the blood stream, to package them up more LDL particles are made leading to incidental increases of LDL-C, when triglycerides increase HDL-C tends to decrease. Wait until you have stopped losing weight and check again. The Iranian formula calculates less cholesterol than the Friedewald the further below triglycerides at 100 you go.

so far I've lost 40 pounds and feel great for the first time in 20 years.

Say this and the doctor should be more patient and accommodating

[emmie]

I'd be more concerned about the low HDL than your LDL right now. Your HDL should be at least 40 but preferably much, much higher.

Do you supplement with fish oil at all? HDL is 'protective,' and anything less than 40 is worrisome.

[Issabeau]

I just did my own research, for several days now because I had a similar blood result (LDL).
Listen up...this is important...statins do NOT affect LDL especially their pattern.
Once your triglycerides drop below 70 the pattern turns from B to A which means fluffy...which is GOOD.
Do not take statins when you're on your way to better health you will mess with your own body's healing thats currently going on.
Tell the doc to shove the statin up his whole-grain eating ass.
HDL will also go up once your fluffy LDL are done repairing your tissues...which could take over a year.
HDL is nothing more than LDL coming back to the liver...it is used LDL = HDL.
The same ambulance that leaves the hospital comes back to the hospital when the job is done. LDL (the ambulance) does not bring the damaged tissue (the patient) back to the liver (hospital) for repair...instead LDL will stay and be part of the new building block.

Stick with PB and you will see much improvement. Some people are genetically meant to have higher running HDL/LDL, while others (depends on origin of Grok) run on a much lower number...that is normal. You don't have to have 80 HDL...45+ is fine.

[HillsideGina]

Issabeau, thay's cool info. Do you have a link to your source? I want to start arming myself - husband and I just went for our physicals and should have our results mailed to us soon. Doc has been wanting to put hubs on statins for a few years. But that's not an option as far as we are concerned.

You can definitely tell the doctor you do not want to take statins, or anything else you disagree with. I told mine I would not take Cipro last year. She wasn't happy about that and tried to pull some authoritarian voice on me about it. I held fast. Turns out I didn't need it. I haven't taken an antibiotic in a long time now.

[Grizzz]

Photoguy,
I have been on statins for a number of years and knew about muscle pain and atrophy. Over the last few years, I have been increasingly experiencing more muscle pain and weakness but I thought it was just old age, being a fat boy and lack of exercise. I starting eating about 90% Primal (not knowing what Primal was at the time) since February, started exercising five days a week in July and went Paleo/Primal in mid September. Losing 40 pounds and exercising didn’t seem to help the muscle pain, so I started researching statins. I learned that statins are also suspected of causing sleep problems as well as cognitive problems, both of which I have also been experiencing. I emailed my doctor that I wanted to get off the statins and why, that correcting these quality of life issues were more important than what little good statins actually do, but he suggested putting me on another brand of statin. I told him that I wanted a Lipid Panel done to see if I even still needed statins. I had the lab work done and lowered my Total Cholesterol from 163 to 154 (<200 acceptable), increased my HDL from 38 to 48 (>40 acceptable), LDL from 70 to 86 (<100 acceptable), VLDL from 55 to 20 and TG’s from 275 to 101 (<150 acceptable). I emailed my doctor that I stopped the statins based on the lab results and quality of life issues. He emailed me back agreeing, but to let him know in a month about these issues. The first night off statins, and every night since, I started sleeping 6 to 8 hours a night, where previously, I would sleep 1 to 2 hours and be wide awake until mid day. After a few weeks, I have noticed less muscle pain, even after exercising. It will take a while of working out to see if I gain any strength back. I seem to be having less memory problems, but it is probably too early to say if it is the statins, killing too many brain cells in a younger life, or just getting older (I’m 67).

One of the best books that I read, to help me make an informed decision to confront my doctor with, is Gary Taubes “Good Calories, Bad Calories”. It’s quite technical, but very informative and eye opening.

Good luck.