Important information about statins that I’m going to ask my doc about

Thanks! I took my first a few days ago and it made me pretty sick...just trying to healing from lymphocytic colitis and I am terrified to irritate my slowly healing digestive system! Based on your experience, I will try it again...

Thanks! I took my first a few days ago and it made me pretty sick...just trying to healing from lymphocytic colitis and I am terrified to irritate my slowly healing digestive system! Based on your experience, I will try it again...

Hi, I am 64 and with high cholesterol too. I have been a vegetarian for many years. I recently added salmon to my diet. My LDL was over 200. Total 266. I took my 1st statin yesterday. It was 5mgs. It did make me feel a little sick for a short while. But quickly passed. Was told it was hereditary too! Good luck with the other issues. I'm with you I take as little meds as possible.

Hello. I am a 68 year old female with very high cholesterol (almost 300) and have just been prescribed Crestor. My cardiologist said at this point, my high cholesterol is due to genetics and cannot be lowered through diet, just medication. I took my first dose yesterday. I am worried because I had also just been diagnosed with lymphocytic colitis (had it for 4-5 months now...) and now am concerned about more digestive upset (I am just now feeling better-maybe 3 weeks?) and of course all of the other potential side effects from taking Crestor. I have lost weight through all of my digestive issues (11 months) and I feel I am on the right track with my health, digestive issues, hopefully. I really don't want to add another medication/issue to the mix...any ideas? Thanks! Judi

Cholesterol has many parts to it.. Hdl, ldl, and triglycerides. These can be broken down as well.
Risk factors for poor outcomes, according to medical data, are coupled with high blood pressure, diabetes and other health issues. stress on arteries, as in high blood pressure, are damaged and plugged with many things, platelets, and plaque.. like mending a hose with a crack. The patch causes buildup inside of your arteries. Some can break off, causing a problem somewhere else in your body. Some can block the flow of blood.
Medications can lower your cholesterol but as well can cause side effects. Muscle pain and damage being common.
Sometimes, cholesterol can be brought to good values by changing your diet, and increasing physical activity, approved first by your physician.
Reducing triglycerides and the bad cholesterol can be done by many people by changing your diet. Hdl, the good cholesterol, is your friend.
Cholesterol in itself is not bad. It helps to make your hormones, and the membrane on the cells that make up your body. It does many other things, the list is long.
Doctors have seen patients bring down the bad cholesterol and raise the good by changing what they eat, and getting a little more physically active. I’m not saying to become a body builder. I’m saying get off the couch and move. Walk, get on an indoor or outdoor bike, clean the house.
If you read about eating a mostly plant based diet, this will bring down your numbers. It means eating fresh veggies, fruits and grains, as tolerated, and having a small amount of healthy lean protein compared to vegetables on your plate. Your plate should be 75% veggies and 25% lean protein. Just an example..Fruits have sugar but there are low glycemic ones..The results are startling to many. It takes a little time to see the results so be patient. Some choose to be vegetarian. I see you shaking your head. This includes excluding meat and poultry, but can include eggs, aged cheese and yogurt, and fish. Some decide to go full vegan which means consuming all plant based foods, but large amounts of it to get the body what it needs. Humans sometimes can’t extract all the body needs like animals do from plants, and lack essentials like vitamin b12, which must be taken. It is available in many non vegetarian items like meat and eggs, and added to processed foods. As we age, our ability to extract nutrients from foods has a decline. So following with a physician knowledgeable in this area is indeed helpful. A nutritionist as well is a great asset.
If you have high cholesterol, then it’s a good idea to discuss a plan with your doc. It can mean saying farewell to that 16oz steak at Peter Lugers. ( New Yorkers you get that!) and bye bye bacon, unhealthy processed foods full of things that aren’t really good for you. And no, eating a Big Mac with what they call cheese and bacon is not remedied by a bowl of Cheerios..But, one thing at a time. Start with a workup at your physician or cardiologist office. Talk with them. They will tell you that diet and activity is the most influential part of your health.
I’ve seen people take better care of their cars than their own body. Your body is the finest machine ever built.
Instead of a “ diet”, try to learn how to eat well forever. You will get to your bodies good weight without trying. Being at a good weight can bring about good health..Just by eating what your body needs. It can heal itself if given the right fuel. Really.
Small steps. Instead of canned fruits and veggies, go to the produce section. Buy fresh, and pesticide free if you can. Local and seasonal. Pasture raised meat, lean. No, not bacon. Fresh wild fish high in omega 3. Salmon, sardines, herring and more. Read up. Olive oil. Grass fed dairy.
You will feel better. Your future body will thank you. Please try.
Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food... Hippocrates.

Hugs of sympathy to Frenchie333 for what you have gone through with MCAS. Found out about it just now in my favorite place: Google.
You probably looked there also, to learn what can trigger it.

Regarding hair color; I learned blonds really do have more fun when I chose to change from rodent brown: age 19-24. It became sort of platinum blond, until the quality was stripped out. Back to my natural blah. Sixty years later most of that color has faded to the direction of gray. Now it really is effortlessly platinum blond.

Regarding chemicals, with WuFlu, one can get it through the eyes. Reading that led me to stop eye makeup for fear I might rub my eyes. So much for past glamor. I’m too practical, and more than that frightened of catching covid. Today I had Moderna #5, the third booster which is considered bivalent against omicron. A week ago senior dose quadrivalent flu shot. The timing of those came from my pcp. Preparing like a Girl Scout. No substitute for preparedness.

Now to make my favorite dinner. A big green salad tossed with blueberries salmon, etc; and pulverized organic tangerine peel, olive oil crushed with Meyer lemons, aged balsamic dressing. Wishing everyone well.

Thanks, Frenchie 333, for your kind affirmative responses. Congratulations for loosing 70 pounds and keeping it off. That’s so rare that the National Weight Loss Registry would like to hear how you kept it off.

Who knows, we could be related because endometriosis is a genetic disease. Medical experimentation for mine caused my weight to zoom from 120 to 170 in five months. At age 20 I had been an athlete representing America in several European countries. BMI 19.

A few years later a gynecologist prescribed triple dosage birth control pills—yes, 60 per month, non-stop for five months. That was in 1966 when each pill was 10x the strength it is now. Back then women were getting strokes from the 20 pill per month regimen. That’s when Dr. Charles Langmade said his absurd dose would cause my endometrial ovarian cyst to “slough off.” It did not work. Lesson: Question your doc! Look up the weird thing he is prescribing on ProPublica’s Dollars For Docs.
See if there may be a conflict of interest caused by a pharmaceutical company paying him to experiment on patients. Goodness that sounds frightening! It happens, though now docs must ask permission before testing on their patients. And the patients must sign a permission form. After a Doc recently handed me a 14 page permission form to sign, I walked out, never to return.

Now back to my fat story.
Instead I lost my cute figure and became a frump. At medically directed weight loss programs I met other obese women who had been through similar weight-inducing regimen for endometriosis. Same result.

Knowing how hard I had worked, I invested in an education and enrolled in an international annual Obesity Research conference as the only fat patient in the midst of a couple thousand slender physicians who made their living “off the fat of the earth.”
My UCLA clinical nutrition doc co-chaired the event. His PowerPoint was introduced by a photo of a work of art: my collage showing a neolithic Venus perched on a bathroom scales.

At the CME conference I learned that researchers were still discovering the many causes of obesity. Google Adeno-36, for example. Dr. George Bray announced that every weight-loss disaster to date which had first showed so much promise became a weight-loss disaster. He also said that fewer than 1% could keep the weight off. So Congratulations to Frenchie again!

According to Mayo Clinic’s Dr. Andre Acosta, my body is a “slow burn” phenotype. Yes? I really do have a slow metabolism. Skipping past the many things I could say, I’ll finish this before it becomes a Book and say, to confirm your experience, that because I avoid inflammatory refined carbs my bone-on-bone knees do not hurt either. And selecting foods high in anthocyanin helps as well.

Dear reader, if you have read all of this, all the way down to here, may I be the first to congratulate you. Thank you!
Wishing you courage on your own journeys!

Hey, raye! I agree with your WOW = Words of Wisdom!

I've never been diabetic but weighed 70 pounds more than I do today. Lost the weight with zero dieting, calorie counting, meetings, weighing foods. Going on 70 years old and I've kept the weight off for many years.

Gained the weight from triple female troubles: PCOS, endometriosis and fibroid tumors. Then I worked in manufacturing, sustained many acute and cumulative injuries that forced me to be sedentary. All this before we knew what we know now.

So, how did I lose all that weight forever with no dieting? I read a book. Not certain if it's still in print but worth seeking on Alibris.com, eBay.com, Amazon.com, et cetera.

Title: The Weigh Down
Author: Gwen Shamblin

Gwen eventually got married so sometimes you'll see her name as Gwen Shamblin-??? (her husband's last name/her new married name after the hyphen).

That book changed my relationship with food. Great collection of success stories by people who were inspired by Gwen's approach.

Goodness is meant to be shared so I gave my book away years ago. If I still had it, I'd ship it to you!

You're very wise to avoid all refined carbs for a variety of reasons. Despite my many injuries and my age, I suffer no pain/inflammation. How? I consume almost zero refined carbs. Not bragging, I'm on zero Rx meds. I do take two OTC histamine blockers but am now seeking natural antihistamines.

My motto? God's Pharmacy First! Yes, Mother Nature Provides.