Lowering cholesterol - alternative to statins

[Marb67]

4 years ago at 48 I suffered a minor stroke, which came as a shock as I was living a pretty healthy lifestyle. High cholesterol and blood pressure were flagged up so put onto statins, blood thinning and blood pressure meds. After 4 years I decided to look into an alternative to Simastatins as I have read some scary things about what they can do to your body. One side effect I have is muscle pain when lifting, reaching etc. had a blood test to see if they were causuing the side effect but test showed clear. I told the doc I wanted to trial natural supplements in the form of red yeast rice which I have heard do the same as statins. I have been on them about a month ( 2 x 600mg in the morning) and just had my blood test results which show a significantly higher reading of 6.3 from the 4 that was read at my medical last year.

There will be two factors to consider

1) The red rice yeast hasn't had time to fully get into my system.

2) I have been taking 1200mg a day when the bottle dose suggests 4 x 600mg a day.

Going to see the doc tomorrow (easier to get a private audience with the Queen) and see if trialing them longer, at a higher dose for another blood test would be ok. Disappointed it has risen significantly but don't want to give up on them just yet as I really do not want to be on statins for life. I eat well and do not consume processed foods. I have been taking tumeric, cayenne pepper, garlic etc every day which is supposed to help flush out your arteries so a high reading of cholesterol might only mean its in your blood, not building up in your artery walls. I will just have to be careful as I don't want to risk another stroke. I got away with a full recovery last time.

Its also useless looking things up because the medical world seems to keep changing it's mind every 5 mins as to what is good / bad for you.

[veggiechicken]

Hope you have some positive results tomorrow, Marb.

[Marb67]

Just had the results today, its the doctor I am seeing tomorrow to see if I can trial a bit longer. Going to ea even more of my kale as it is supposed to lower cholesterol. Just interested to know if anyone else here has tried alternatives to statins with good results.

[veggiechicken]

I meant that the doctor gave you some positive encouragement tomorrow!
I know nothing about statins, sorry, but I do know about kale.

[Scarlet]

A couple of things to try is the cholesterol lowering butters...

Also Natural plant Sterols. They come in a tablet form.

Though if it's increased I would definitely follow your docs advice.

[Snoop Puss]

Hi Marb, really want to wish you lots of luck at the doctor's. But if you're one of the unlucky ones with familial hypercholesterolemia, you'll not be able to reduce your cholesterol by diet alone. So you may have to take medication, whether it's statins or red yeast, which as far as I can see contains the same active ingredient as lovostatin, for example. So you're either taking the active ingredient in prescribed medication or your supplements.

I'm terrible at taking prescribed pills and try to do without if possible. But in your case, seeing as you've had a stroke and the active ingredient is the same, I'd probably stick with the statins. It's likely that the dosage is far better controlled in the statins, giving better and more predictable results. That's only my penny's worth and I don't want to upset you, just want you to stay alive and well. Best wishes from me.

[Thelma Sanders]

My doctor recommended porage oats to cut cholesterol, replacing some meat with beans (soya is good but any beans are helpful) plus eating oily fish (tuna/salmon) twice a week. Also changing to the cholesterol lowering spreads and yogurts.
The only real change I've continued with is eating a fair-sized potion of porage nearly every day for more years than I care to think about
The most important advice he gave me, wasn't really what to add, but what to remove...saturated fats, found in red meat/bacon/sausages and dairy products and eliminate trans fats and fried food.....
Have you been doing that or just taking the red rice yeast?

[Marb67]

I certainly have been doing just that, Cut out all red meats, biscuits etc 4 years ago. Had porridge for years every morning. just depressing when you make so effort and still don't get the results. I have also read about red yeast rice having the same properties as statins but a friend swears by them reducing her cholesterol from 6 to 4.

[Thelma Sanders]

It's bad luck but producing too much cholesterol seems to be passed on in our genes, and even eating all the right things and eliminating the bad ones, doesn't always control cholesterol for some people.

[Marb67]

Yep, it's either a possible heart attack/stroke without statins or cancer/liver damage with statins. Either way the future is bleak

[SarrissUK]

I hope all goes well for you Marb and that you find a way to reduce the cholesterol levels.

[Marb67]

Thanks Sarriss

[Vince G]

Been on 20mg statins for about 8 years with no ill effects thus far. I would rather try and control the cholesterol through diet or a more natural solution, but as someone has implied above, it's a heredity thing for me, even if I ate leaves and dust for the rest of my life it wouldn't do the trick.

If that's the problem, you're best to go with what the doc says.

[Marb67]

I am on 40mg. A "friend" who believes in natural supplements tells me that 50% of people in hospital are there due to previous medications. Sending me scary articles about statins which is why I got onto trying the rice yeast in the first place.

[Runtpuppy]

Sorry to hear that, Marb. I hope you find the right solution for your cholesterol problem.

I know everyone you talk to will be offering solutions/options, but try cutting out/reducing sugar from your diet. It's going to be difficult because pretty much everything pre-made/pre-packaged has some sugar in it, but severely restricting it should help.

It might be one of those things you read and turns out to be nonsense, but from what I have understood, the fat in your blood is created by your liver when it has too much sugar to process. And sugar also damages the arteries, leading the body to produce cholesterol to cover up the damage.

Could be complete nonsense, like I said, so you might want to do your own research on this. However, cutting down your sugar intake can't possibly be bad for you.