How to stop taking statin drugs

[ElDorado]

I already wrote some posts here, but now I'm looking for some advices from similar experiences. In July 2010 I had heart attack (50 yrs old and got one stent) and at that time my TC was 252, LDL 180, HDL 25, CRP 6. Before heart attack I've been taking medicine for blood pressure for 7 years and at the time of heart attack I had heart rate 80 - 85.
Very soon I've searched and found works from dr McDougall, dr Ornish and so on. So i became strict vegan and in 6 month lost about 25 kg and my results with 20mg Crestor were for doctors totally amazing - TC was 54, LDL 28 and HDL 40. Since then they cut my Crestor to half and I take 10mg on daily basis. Also I cut off all other medicine cause my BP is regulated and my heart rate is naturally 56 - 60.
Now I'm still strict vegan of course and my results are stabilized to TC 90, LDL 54 and HDL 40. It is obvious I can't raise my HDL anymore cause it is naturally that way and it raised to my best results. Of course I forgot to mention that I walk a lot and practice yoga on daily basis.
As I read more and more frightening articles about Crestor and statins ( even FDA admitted it ) I would like to get rid of that of course. My cardiologists is not cooperative in this he thinks I have excelent results and should keep on this way.
Does anybody have experiences how much will numbers raise if I stop taking crestor? Should i try it step by step? Anybody taking Crestor not on daily basis but every 2-3 days or something?

Thank you all for answers in advance!!!

[shell-belle]

Your TC is 90 now? And your cardiologist won't take you off Crestor? My husbands TC went to 125 and his cadriologist took him off his statin drug.
Then it went up to 130 --in 3 months-- but that is still very good. Maybe you need to find a new cardiologist?

[ElDorado]

Your TC is 90 now? And your cardiologist won't take you off Crestor? My husbands TC went to 125 and his cadriologist took him off his statin drug.
Then it went up to 130 --in 3 months-- but that is still very good. Maybe you need to find a new cardiologist?

Well I agree with you partially. I visit cardiologist just to have information and opinion about my health state. Not to take everything he says for good. I made a decision already I'm just trying to get some experiences and opinions. Thanky for that!

[ETeSelle]

Uh yeah--your TC is SUPER low. Talk to the doc about going off. You can always go back on if your TC skyrockets (but I'll bet it won't!).

[miraculous]

Yes I agree, I think you should try a new cardiologist.

[Donna R]

my cardiologist wants me to take a statin because he says it reduces the risk of another heart attack or stroke. so it's not just the TC count they consider. I took Zocor for a month. then stopped that so he prescribed pravastatin which I took for a short time then quit. he wants me back on it. I said no but that I would think about it. will see what my TC is next month. but with high triglycerides it's said the TC isn't really an accurate count.

it's not always easy to just change cardiologists and they pretty much all think the same way!

[jay kaye]

You had (have) a CRP 6 which is high for the inflammatory marker which is probably why your Dr. want you to stay on the statins. Statins improve or lessen the inflammation that is damaging your arteries and my be part of the reason why you had your MI. It is not only about the cholesterol level. Your CRP level needs to be under 1. High CPR levels tend to mean high levels of inflammation, which makes LDL-filled plaques more likely to burst and block arteries. This WOE should help you get there unless there is some other underlying medical condition such as a chronic infection going on. For that reason your desire to get of the statins may be premature.

Your HDL number is very good at 40 given the low total. I would worry about it, but you can get it higher with hard aerobic exercise.

J

[ETeSelle]

Your HDL number is very good at 40 given the low total. I would worry about it, but you can get it higher with hard aerobic exercise.

Why would you worry about it? Here is Dr. McDougall on HDL cholesterol:

http://www.nealhendrickson.com/mcdougal ... pufav5.htm

More on cholesterol, statins, etc:

http://www.drmcdougall.com/med_hot_cholesterol.html

[Santos446]

Why would you worry about it? Here is Dr. McDougall on HDL cholesterol:

http://www.nealhendrickson.com/mcdougal ... pufav5.htm

More on cholesterol, statins, etc:

http://www.drmcdougall.com/med_hot_cholesterol.html

I think Jay meant to write "wouldn't worry about it" rather than "would worry about it"

[jay kaye]

Why would you worry about it? Here is Dr. McDougall on HDL cholesterol:

http://www.nealhendrickson.com/mcdougal ... pufav5.htm

More on cholesterol, statins, etc:

http://www.drmcdougall.com/med_hot_cholesterol.html

I think Jay meant to write "wouldn't worry about it" rather than "would worry about it"

Thanks Santos, I mis-typed. I wouldn't worry about HDL 40 being to low when there was such a low total.

J

[didi]

RE: Statins do more than just lower cholesterol. They reduce inflammation too which could prevent those filled plaques from bursting. However, it is very likely the experience of cardiologists that just about all of their patients are on the SAD. Having just gotten out of the hospital after suffering an MI and v fib, I can assure you that reforming diet is probably the last thing on your cardiologist's mind. Witness what food is offered to patients recovering in the ICU and cardiac care unit--All kinds of meats, cheeses, eggs, oil soaked dishes, rich desserts, breads from refined flours, chips and dips etc. So if people recover better on statins is it any wonder?

It is entirely possible that patients will recover better and prevent inflammation with statins while eating a plant based, low fat diet and apparently studies have shown that recovery is best with diet and statins, but I do not think that at this point anyone knows for sure. No one does it so what do they have to compare the SAD to as far as recovery is concerned? However, even Dr. Esselstyn says in his book that it is better to use a statin because he wants to drive the TC very low. So it looks like even the champion of zero fat, meat, eggs and dairy and all plant based eating is on the side of statins. And while he and others tout the plant based low fat diet, it is seldom mentioned that Esselstyn too uses statins and his program for reversing heart disease should more accurately be called the plant and statin diet.

Didi

[f1jim]

I must disagree. I have heard Dr. Esselstyn speak many times and my sense is the statins are used in his landmark study because they are the "standard of care" with most cardiology patients. He is quite clear the healing and reversal do not come from the statin drugs but from the diet and lifestyle modifications made by the individuals. I believe he believes that not using statins in serious heart disease cases would invite consequences he does not desire. Dr. Esselstyn is the last person I would use as a model for promoting pharmacology.
His patient, with whom he is proudest, his colleague Joseph Crowe, achieved the best results without the use of statins.
The story on statins is just emerging and the ongoing revelations about muscle damage, both the frequency and extent, is only now being learned. I advise those taking statins to visit Dr. Michael Greger's website at nutritionfacts.org and watch his videos on the subject of statin use and muscle damage. It's eye opening and frightening given the millions taking these drugs. Knowing what I know and my own personal experience with them I would avoid their use by any means possible.
f1jim

[didi]

I got the cardiologist to prescribe pravastatin as Dr. McDougall recommends and to lower the dose to 20 mg. I will see in two months the result of this. If my cholesterol and LDL go low enough I will ask to be taken off the statin.

However, here is what Dr. Esselstyn says in his book, Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease: Why not just use the diet for a number of months and add the cholesterol reducing drug only if it is needed to force the cholesterol below the 150 mg/dL threshold? With severe coronary disease we don't always have the luxury of time. It is essential to start the healing of the endothelium, that vulnerable inner lining of the coronary arteries, as rapidly and completely as possible. Used as adjuncts to the nutrition plan, these remarkable statin drugs help do just that.

He goes on to say that seeing your numbers plunge has a psychological benefit. He also says that without diet, it was reported in a study in the NEJM that within a couple of years one fourth of those on statins alone had coronary events or died.

If he has changed his mind about statins since the book was written I would be interested in knowing.

Didi

[f1jim]

Dr. Esselstyn is pretty good about responding via email. It might be worth it to just ask him. It may be just my perspective but I think I recognize in his talks the message of importance of the various pieces of the puzzle. I'll be sure to ask him at our latest event in Pescadero, CA on July. He will be there with his wife, as well as Rip and his wife. Should be a spectacular weekend.
f1jim

[didi]

I am a person who has a hard time making up her mind. Right now I am not taking pravastatin because I noticed my blood sugars climbing even though my diet is better than ever. I have read that even though there is no muscle pain when taking satins, it is possible that damage is being done. The thought occurs to me that if there is any possibility of muscle damage that the heart is a muscle. Do I think too much?

Didi