You should always go to a healthcare provider you trust. If they can't or won't give you answers, try another doctor. Here is Mayo's take on stains. Note the comment on the rhabdomyolysis. That is supposed to be rare but I don't think I witnessed a cases in 50 years until statins were introduced, after which I witnessed about one case a month in our small population. I don't think it is a rare as they claim. Statins are known to cause CoQ10 deficiency, but how many other deficiencies do they cause that are not known? You probably wouldn't know if you had sticky platelet issues unless you have been tested for it, and that is rarely done except for risky surgical procedures. link
Thanks for that article. I never see anyone mainstream who says "high cholesterol ain't all that bad for you." I guess I shouldn't judge those who got vaxed, since I'm taking statins out of fear. I found this statement interesting: "Although liver problems are rare, your doctor may order a liver enzyme test before or shortly after you begin to take a statin. You wouldn't need any additional liver enzyme tests unless you begin to have signs or symptoms of trouble with your liver." I get a liver enzyme test every year, but thought it was actually supposed to be every 90 days. Sounds like they're trying to (a) make statins sound more benign than they are, and (b) save money. My doctor called back after speaking with a UVA cardiologist I saw when I had gone off my meds and my cholesterol went up (he did not call the other cardio guy I saw after my TIA.) They agreed that I don't need to take the aspirin...but then neither were involved in my "stroke." It's no big deal. I'm gonna go in for my annual checkup soon (got COVID disrupted) and see if I can get back to my 20mg of Lipitor without having to see another cardiologist to OK it. The UVA cardio guy I saw for cholesterol didn't discuss my diet or my lifestyle, both his Fellow and he looked at my numbers and said "Go vegan." There was no real guidance or info or literature given on how to do so, just "Go vegan." I gotta laugh at it.
I'm not sure what the recommendation to "go vegan" had to do with your health. Does he think a vegan diet will lower your cholesterol? I think that was a myth that was debunked awhile ago. Vegans are generally less healthy than moderate meat eaters from what I have read. Vegans are less likely to die of a heart attack, but more likely to die of cancer, so which would you choose? As you have discovered, there are several risks associated with statins, and, while they may have a place in addressing familial hypocholesteremia, I don't think they are indicated in most of those who are prescribed them. It is another case of Big Pharma, who control the medical studies in the Western World pressuring providers with studies that endorse their medications while ignoring or quashing those studies that show the opposite. It is totally up to you to decide what is right for you and to face any consequences of the decision. As one doctor said, "It was once the goal to achieve compliance in medicine, but now it is the goal to achieve concordance."
Cholesterol only comes from animal foods, so becoming a vegan or even a vegetarian would help to bring down cholesterol with no problem. I still eat meat occasionally, and have some dairy as well, but since I started the Starch Solution diet, my cholesterol had come down from over 200+ to about 180, and should still be going down slowly. My triglycerides are at 81 right now, and I have slowly lost weight over the course of the year, of about 45 lbs, and hoping to be down by 50 lbs by the end of the year. The reason that many vegans are unhealthy is not that they are not eating meat, it is that they are eating a junk food diet, the same thing that also makes many omnivores unhealthy. You could have donuts and coffee for breakfast, French fries and large coke for lunch, and peanut butter sandwich and candy bars for dinner, and be considered a vegan; but you would not be a healthy one.
Exactly correct, @Yvonne Smith. The information I have, which I believe I posted here before, is that there is generally too little fat in many vegan diets to process the fat-soluble vitamins that are required for good health. If you consume adequate coconut oil, olive oil, or any other lipid source, you should be fine, but as you my know, an awful of of vegans do not consume adequate fat. Ovo-lacto vegetarians naturally consume more fat. Potato chips and French fries do not have adequate fat associated with them to process antioxidants, but that almond flour cake posted by @Denise Happyfeet would be a good addition, since the almond flour has a good bit of oil in it and it is better quality. You just have to eat it frequently to get enough lipids you would have to use a vegan egg substitute to make it vegan.
I know my cholesterol responds well to diet because I was able to pound it down far & fast by cutting out meat and substituting beans & whole grains. But I was far from conversant in having a complete & healthy diet...I was solely focused on "that number." Goodness knows where my health would have been if I had done that for longer than 6 months. Of course, that was in the 1980s. When I went off of statins a few year ago due to loss of insurance, my numbers went up to: Total 295 HDL 53 LDL 226 Ratio 4.3 Triglycerides 98 Honestly, to see my Total approach 300 kinda makes me clutch my chest. "They" have successfully set my frame of reference. So I can judge doctors for not wanting to step outside of the lines, but neither do I. So where does one go for reliable info? Doctors (God bless the good ones) are sitting on a lawsuit bubble these days when they discover that a patient has high cholesterol. I cannot imagine one who would take the personal risk of not recommending statins when a patient presents high numbers.
The more dangerous stuff is the VLDL cholesterol; add HDL and LDL and subtract that from the total. I would agree that 295 is a little high, but if you can bring it down with diet alone, why worry about the statins. You also have to know whether the LDL number is measured or calculated. It looks like your calculated would be 222.4, so it may be measured. Then you have to determine what type of lipoproteins you have. That is why I brought up the apolipoproteins earlier. In any case, if you can bring down you cholesterol by diet alone, you may have a dietary issue. If diet (and exercise) do not bring thee value down, it is your natural value, and your liver is manufacturing cholesterol to bring the level up to what it "thinks" you need for brain function, hormone, manufacture, vitamin D production, etc. Statins reduce or shut down that liver function and will not allow the liver to bring the cholesterol to the level that the feedback system indicates you need for health. There are other drugs and supplements that prevent you from absorbing dietary cholesterol but do affect liver function, but they have their own set of side effects. Again, do what you feel is best and what your provider believes you need, but stay informed. The apolipoprotein analysis would be a good thing to ask about. It might help you make a decision.
@Teresa Levitt As my friend Charlie's ladyfriend admonished me for not going to my doctor for help with my messed-up hands today, after she told me how surgery had screwed up her fingers, I couldn't help but wonder why I should be encouraged to follow the same dubious routine she had. You are fortunate to not have been "pushed" into some sawbone's clutches. Frank