High Cholesterol: What should we think about statin drugs?

I’ve been taking a medication to keep my cholesterol down now for a little over seven years. In 2005, the roller coaster effect of trying to diet the numbers away just did not work for me. The 20mg of Zocor ( simvastatin) I was prescribed that year was doing the trick in the beginning along with a regiment to eat an oat based cereal for breakfast. I lowered my over all levels 100 points in the first four months. This was working. My doctor said the low dose of Zocor alone would not have done that and I was advised to keep eating my breakfast cereal mornings. What should we think about statin drugs? I wish I knew.

I was still fighting with my weight gains and finding it a difficult task to stay away from fat filled foods. My body hurt and my legs ached after several hours at a stand up job I should have been use to. Was it the new job I had just started? Was it the pounds I had packed on the two and a half years I was away from the work force? Or could it be a side effect I saw documented for the prescription drug Zocor? I really was not sure and neither was my doctor. I managed to lose a few pounds that first year, but old habits are hard to break and being a farmer’s daughter I still craved dairy products which are a big NO NO for anyone fighting their weight or high cholesterol. Well, a couple years later my husband and I knew better, but indulged in a daily ice cream treat. When my cholesterol was checked it had went up. I was prescribed a double dose of Zocor (simvastatin). I now take 40 mg of the drug. My husband who hadn’t had a problem with cholesterol before, but who is a heart patient, had a high level as well. He was prescribed 20 mg of the same drug to be added to the several heart medications, he takes.

Four years later it’s 2012. I’ve dropped nearly 40 pounds after getting serious to lose weight. I knew the weight was giving me problems as to the aches and pain I was experiencing. My cholesterol levels are excellent, but I still take 40 mg of Zocor (simvastatin). Although my leg pain is less of an issue, I still have it from time to time. I can’t help but blame it on the cholesterol pills. One big problem is once you start taking these medications you can never stop them. It’s a regiment for life. I knew this from the beginning, but the danger of heart attack or stroke because of high cholesterol levels was a more concerned issue to me. I have a family history of high cholesterol and heart disease. I lost my dad to it.

I am aware of the muscle weakness associated with statins and I have been advised the risk of heart attack should outweigh this concern. I only wish I would have known about the extra aches and pains associated with statins being a far more hassle than skipping fat filled meals. With new studies being released every year I truly wish I would have gotten serious years ago about a diet plan to lower the cholesterol naturally. I know billions of people are being prescribed statins everyday most likely they too did not get serious on trying to lower cholesterol the natural way. Doctors are said to have pushed these drugs way too soon on many patients seeking a quick fix to lower cholesterol. After all I’m living proof it does work. Second thoughts are a bit late for me, but for those who have high cholesterol that haven’t yet had to take statins I can tell you, you’ll regret not pursuing alternatives to bring the levels down. I hope my own misjudgment can help persuade those reading this article it’s worth following a better diet plan first. Fat does not have to be your calling card. What should we think about statin drugs? I wish I knew.

The following articles are some examples of recent studies and some done last year. More research is needed to assume anything. For those of us taking statins I hope we have no more alarming issues associated with them.