Thank you everyone.
My cholesterol has been high for a few years and I fight every time about the statins. It has come down from 8.3 a few years ago to 6.6.
My mum had higher cholesterol and was out on a statin aged 83. She said they made her head feel funny and stopped taking them, shortly after this she developed Alzheimer’s. There may, or may not be a connection but to me I cannot see it any other way and many years before I also was diagnosed, did lots of research on cholesterol. I also know that many cardiologists are changing their minds about the use of statins and the causes of heart disease, which I won’t bore you with here. I also worry, that as a pre diabetic, well controlled though diet, statins can increase the chance of diabetes and also for a fit and active 63 year old the thought of muscle and joint pains and being unable to run, exercise and go for long walks would leave me depressed.
I digress.
Chop suey. My HDL is always low and my triglycerides are always a little high but I have discovered that the blood pressure medication that I take, Propranolol, causes the lowering of HDL and rises in triglycerides by around 25%, so I am on a reducing programme at the moment which is long and hard as I have been on it for 38 years, more than half my life! So hard it has increased my anxiety and it may be that I will have to try and find a better beta blocker if I can’t beat the anxiety ( blood pressure has remained low throughout the withdrawal)
I am a very fit and active person who walks, runs, treadmill, dance…….. and an agile 63 year old, size 8/10, eat a good diet ( low carb to control diabetes), so I can never understand why I have an issue with cholesterol. I have tried plant sterols, through tablet form and it makes little difference, which is why I thought I would try the red rice yeast this time.
Through diet and exercise I have managed to lower my weight, reduce my blood pressure, put my diabetes in remission but the control of cholesterol defeats me.
No, I won’t take the statins. Through my research about them, I have spoken with many people who have suffered severe side effects, some have remained permanently debilitated, with joint issues, kidney damage and diabetes, long after stopping them.
Did not take the red yeast tablet today. Not sure what to do about it really.
Thank you all for taking the time to reply.
