kathleenscanlan's Journal, 08 September 2016

awesome.... 

hells yeah.... 

Good for you. Do you think you'll continue you're LCHF diet or not? Lots of water is always great anyways. Good drop-you are doing great! 

High cholesterol in elderly people has a protective effect on the brain. Everyone on statins eventually develops dementia, and lowering cholesterol hasn't been shown to reduce mortality from heart disease. Be cautious if you start using them. Be alert to defects in memory and decision making. 

Gosh that sounds scary. 

Good job Kathleen  

Well done - everything I read about statins is not good 

I agree with LadyDenim 100% on the statins. The doctors keep pushing them My numbers are very similar to Kathleenscanlan. When I was young the doctor would always say your good cholesterol evens out your risk of stroke or heart attack so they never worried about my numbers. It is the same today as it was then and I am 68 years old. But the new doctors are taught to push statins. Actually seems like that is ALL they ever worry about! No statins ever for me and especially if they are causing muscle pain it may be a signal to stop them! It might be safer to check the blood pressure each day and to get Omega 3 into the diet. If a person can handle the effects of Niacin it is a much safer route for lowering the bad cholesterol. Losing some weight and getting some exercise are also useful. No where does it say you will NOT get a stroke if you take statins. But there are a host of ailments you can get from taking statins. We have the responsibility to inform ourselves and then decide for ourselves what we will take into our bodies.  

Agree completely. Dr put my mama on statins. Long story short, it tore her muscles (tendons) for her hips. Needed hip replacements sooner than later. Dr had to do a lot of fixing. Couldn't completely and mama has never walked right since.  

Slow steady weight loss is very, very good! I've been taking pravastatin for a number of years now. The Dr. switched me from something else that was causing the joint pain but Lady's info on the dementia is really troubling. A lot to think about here. 

ya, i'm weary but to make him happy ; i'll take the statins for a month and see how it goes. my DR is the type that likes to feel he is in control. actually he's a pretty sharp guy. atleast his head didn't spin off when i told him about my ketogenic diet and what i ate (eggs, bacon and butter) aha. oh yes i've been taking niacin myself for past couple of months along with fish oil 

My doctor is big on supplements but I'm not too sure he'd love the keto diet, he pretty old school. He has been after me for years now to take off the weight though so that part will make him happy and I know he never approved of the frozen dinners. I have to bite the bullet soon and have a blood draw which should tell a lot. 

Very interesting about the statins.....I've been on simvastatin for years now. And I've also noticed that my short term memory is a bit of a problem. When I mention this to dh or friends and family, they say, "oh, I have the same problem....it's nothing". I recall telling my mom the same thing when she said she was having memory problems. I didn't want her to worry. It was dementia.....broke my heart watching her deal with it. I wonder if stopping the statin now can stop the process if that is what I'm experiencing. Sorry for writing a book here....just never heard of the relationship between the statins and dementia. Thanks for all the valuable info. 

I just googled Statins Dementia and got a bunch of articles saying statins protect the brain and are not responsible for cognitive decline. The links supporting the connection between statins and dementia start on page two. They are on the "alternet." 

Your brain needs good fats. If you go too low in your cholesterol you starve your brain of what it needs to function. Your hdl lowers as well. Women and men need it well above 50. If not, libido, sleep etc suffers. We all are different. These studies that usually are backed by big pharma will be skewed to help them. Follow the money. I have had 3 strokes. Thank God I am able to outwardly function without visible signs. My family can tell the lasting effect it had on my brain. I do not think properly at times. If my stress level increases I sometime have mental blackouts. When I get tired my right eye droops something terrible. My phone has a location sharing for those times in case of the mental thing. Saying all this, my strokes did not come from cholesterol. Stress and my inability at the time to handle it caused them. Dr's tried to put me on the statins. I knew my body. If there is going to be a problem with medicine I am going to experience those problems. 2 of my sisters are the same way as is my mother. Yes genetics play a big part. When did cholesterol begin to be such a big problem? Was it when the increase of high fructose corn syrup came into being. Again started by Big Government to "help". I am not a conspiracies as such but we as a people need to wake up and begin thinking for ourselves. I question everything my Dr tell me. I research everything. I talk to others that have been there done that. At 62 years old, I have around the block too many times, seen too many things not to do the above. I tell people, my family, the Dr does not have to take care of you 24/7 365 if what he prescribes does immeasurable harm to you. He gets to walk out the door of his office and never think about it again. If he does an unnecessary procedure and you do not get off the table again he gets to go home. Ike I said been there seen it experienced it. Question, research, and talk.  

There's a good book on blood lipids, called Cholesterol Clarity, that explains it all and advocates of a LCHF approach. My lipid numbers and fatty liver disease have all straightened out to healthy levels since I went low carb. 

Thank you for chiming in, Normadale. There is nothing like the voice of experience. I am a health care professional, but my views were not born from nursing school, but from independent research and work experience. Seeing people take medication for years and never getting better. It's like a measured, controlled decline.  

Thank you for this information. I just trust my doctor to advise me appropriately. I don't always understand all the science behind the scenes. My doctor cut my statin dose in half about a month ago. I immediately felt relief from joint and muscle pain. Now this idea about mental clarity, decisiveness, and dementia is an eye opener. 😱 👁 👀 I have been wondering if there was any correlation between sleep apnea and dementia. It's time to start reading up on this subject matter. 

Lady in denim, I wish there were more people like you in the health care profession. It is like the blind leading the blind. MAHJOHN is contributor on FS. Just rad comments from him on cholesterol. Very, very informative. 

Really? I haven't seen Mahjohn on here in forever.