Cholesterol

[Enfys]

Was asked to see doctor today following some blood tests last week. It appears that my cholesterol had gone up and he explained how they have a “scale” to ascertain if patients are at risk of heart attack/stroke. This depends on age, other health issues and what medication one is on. It seems my risk has gone up somewhat so he wants me to try statins to bring the cholesterol down.

i really didn’t want to take any more tablets but took his advice as I guess he knows best. He assured me that if I have any adverse effects I can stop taking them immediately and see him with amview to trying a different one. I just wondered if anyone else was taking statins and if so what results they gave.

DH has been on a low dose for years, more as a precaution because of his type 1 diabetes. Thanks for reading 🙂

[Oma]

I'm on them have been for years . Keeps mine down and I have never had a problem with them thankfully
Dr seems happy to keep me on them . They are a low dosage though

[Gemini]

I am not on these myself Enfys, but have a couple of friends who are. My mum is on them too.

As you say, we need to take the Dr's advice but make sure we keep them informed about any problems we may have with them. Hopefully they will do their job and suit you.

I was initially unhappy about having to stay on BP meds, as I was in my 40's. I lost a quite a lot of weight and upped up my exercise (which was quite good in those days anyway) but depite that after a trial period off them my BP went up, so back on the meds I went. A very wise friend said to me that it was much better to take little tablet than have a stroke. When you look at it like that, it's an easy choice!

[Mimi]

OH has been taking atorvastin for 4 years now . As he takes this with other meds it is hard to say if it has given him any side effects. When he first started taking his cocktail of meds he did suffer from constipation but that soon passed as I changed his diet and now he is fine with no problems at all.
His cholesterol reading has improved greatly from taking statins
Enfys hope this helps

[Plantaholic]

I know a friend of mine did have side effects from one so do as the doctor said Enfys, give them a try and stop if they don't suit you. I presume there are several that the docs could prescribe.

[Nanto2girls]

Me and hubby were taking simvastatin.
When i was diagnosed with high blood pressure last year,they changed mine to atorvastatin.
Neither of us have had any side effects.

[Nana]

I have taken Atorvastatin 10mg daily for a few years now. Thankfully I have had no side effects Enfys. If they don't suit you just let your doc know. Good luck.

[Oma]

Im on Atorvastatin too seems these are the standard ones these days
Gem wise advice from your friend shes right xx

[Enfys]

Thank you everyone, I will give them a go and see what happens. Luckily I have the option to change if they don’t suit. Aren’t we lucky to have all these tests available to hopefully find any potential problems.

[Daisy]

Enfys - yes I agree. We are lucky to have such good preventative care. I've also been on them for some years, and over that time the 'threshold' for prescribing them has got lower and lower. I'm on 10mg Simvastatin and have had no side effects, also if you do forget to take the pill one night it won't cause any problems.

I get a two month prescription because it's easy to find you've suddenly run out and our surgery can take 3-5 days to issue a new prescription.

The only downside I've found is that you shouldn't eat grapefruit - I think it negates the effect of the medication.

[Glammanana]

I have taken statins for 4yrs now after a rise in my readings I take atorastatin and have had no problems,my reading has been about 3.5 ever since I also take other meds so really can't tell if there have been any side effects but I have not noticed anything untoward.