I stopped after only four months. The effects were awful (and no, I had no muscle pain, just a raft of other complaints). I felt my doctor was experimenting on me after noting a high triglyceride count ("Off the charts," she said). After stopping, the effects disappeared. That was over 20 years ago and no doctor since has ever recommended their use and my triglyceride count is not of worry.
People need to change lifestyle and what they are eating. They need to quit sugar and bad seed oil . Next they need to increase good oils and fats into their daily diet.
You mentioned that if a patient cannot tolerate statins, a patient may have to consider another therapy to minimize the risk of ASCVD. All the literature that I could find on the PCSK9 inhibitors demonstrates that this class of drugs does an excellent job of lowering LDL-C. However, since we know that lowering LDL-C does NOTHING to minimize the risk of ASCVD/MACE, why even consider PCSK9 inhitors because they offer NO anti-inflammatory effects whatsoever?
@@JMK-vo8pv Yes, I'm suspicious of all cholesterol-lowering drugs for that reason, with the possible exception of a person with severe Familial Hypercholesterolemia, in which case something like bempedoic acid might help. The most effective therapies for most people are probably exercise and diet programs.
Exactly! Just because a drug does a great job of what it's supposed to do, but what it does is of no benefit to our health, why take it? Our goal should be for minimal -- or NO -- drug use, eat healthy, get regular exercise, fresh air and sunshine, live as happily as possible until our time is up.
I did not discuss it with my Dr cause after showing her my side effect list (including blanking out and burying a cd in my tomato patch) and she said she'd give me another one...I told her she did know it caused diabetes and that shut her up. I then tapered off and end of story. I'm in a different state and found out I'm a lean mass hyper responder.
Any alternatives to COQ10 -- like foods? I am pretty sure those pills will kick off my heartburn. I am gearing up for a trial of 5 mg Crestor on alternate days. Have dodged statins for 15 years, but at age 70 I'm starting to see plaque on CIMT, and CAC is 0.51. (Not trying to fix LDL of 200 but will track inflammation markers, especially those Bale and Doneen cite.)
I understand that organ meats (beef liver, for example) is high in CoQ10. Fatty fish such as salmon, sardines, and trout, and nuts such as pistachios are also high in CoQ10, though I'll have to research how much one would have to eat of these to get 200 mg. Probably quite a bit.
Your doctor is not inclined to agree for you to stop taking statins. I was taking 1200 mg a day of red yeast rice. I got my doctor to accept my desire to use this instead of conventional statin medication. The more I researched red yeast rice capsules, I concluded the side effects are no different than usual statin meds.
Yes, the problem with RYR is that it may contain Lovastatin (Mevacor) so it's really a statin. When RYR is scrubbed of this ingredient, then it's less likely to have any effect on cholesterol. See: ua-cam.com/video/EVBoRWSfAPE/v-deo.html
IF the benefit of taking a statin is lowering inflammation then IMO it would be useful to know their inflammation level via hsCRP before one stops taking a statin. HsCRP is non-specific (a cold could drive it higher, etc.) so take higher levels (>3) with a grain of salt. The other “benefit,” at least according to Dr. Brewer for a low dose statin, is to calcify any soft plaque. No idea how long that takes. Some influencers say never take a statin without taking coQ10/ubiquinol.
Yes, I think hsCRP needs to be taken several times over a few months to get an idea of what is normal for the individual. Also vaccines can temporarily spike hsCRP, and in my case there was an increase during an episode of Transient Global Amnesia. I spoke with Dr. Brewer fairly recently and he encourages getting a CIMT to determine a patient's soft plaque burden. He notes that calcifying soft plaque may lead to an increase in CAC score. I believe this would normally be a bad thing if taken out of context but if it represents stabilization plaque it may be a "lesser of evils" sort of thing.
@@mystatinfreelife Exercise can create inflammation so I always stop exercising 2 days before getting hsCrp measured. Jeff Volek, years ago, titrated carb levels and showed the lower the carbs, the lower the inflammation:) Gum disease can increase inflammation. So there are things other than statins to try if one’s hsCRP is above normal.
Russ, thank you for video. I am glad that i never started on Statins.
I stopped after only four months. The effects were awful (and no, I had no muscle pain, just a raft of other complaints). I felt my doctor was experimenting on me after noting a high triglyceride count ("Off the charts," she said). After stopping, the effects disappeared. That was over 20 years ago and no doctor since has ever recommended their use and my triglyceride count is not of worry.
People need to change lifestyle and what they are eating. They need to quit sugar and bad seed oil . Next they need to increase good oils and fats into their daily diet.
You mentioned that if a patient cannot tolerate statins, a patient may have to consider another therapy to minimize the risk of ASCVD. All the literature that I could find on the PCSK9 inhibitors demonstrates that this class of drugs does an excellent job of lowering LDL-C. However, since we know that lowering LDL-C does NOTHING to minimize the risk of ASCVD/MACE, why even consider PCSK9 inhitors because they offer NO anti-inflammatory effects whatsoever?
@@JMK-vo8pv Yes, I'm suspicious of all cholesterol-lowering drugs for that reason, with the possible exception of a person with severe Familial Hypercholesterolemia, in which case something like bempedoic acid might help. The most effective therapies for most people are probably exercise and diet programs.
@@mystatinfreelife Thank you, Russ, for another excellent, thought provoking, video!
Exactly!
Just because a drug does a great job of what it's supposed to do, but what it does is of no benefit to our health, why take it? Our goal should be for minimal -- or NO -- drug use, eat healthy, get regular exercise, fresh air and sunshine, live as happily as possible until our time is up.
@@ssa8479 I like what one commenter said on another channel: "Do No Pharm"
@@mystatinfreelife Good one!
I did not discuss it with my Dr cause after showing her my side effect list (including blanking out and burying a cd in my tomato patch) and she said she'd give me another one...I told her she did know it caused diabetes and that shut her up. I then tapered off and end of story.
I'm in a different state and found out I'm a lean mass hyper responder.
Any alternatives to COQ10 -- like foods? I am pretty sure those pills will kick off my heartburn. I am gearing up for a trial of 5 mg Crestor on alternate days. Have dodged statins for 15 years, but at age 70 I'm starting to see plaque on CIMT, and CAC is 0.51. (Not trying to fix LDL of 200 but will track inflammation markers, especially those Bale and Doneen cite.)
I understand that organ meats (beef liver, for example) is high in CoQ10. Fatty fish such as salmon, sardines, and trout, and nuts such as pistachios are also high in CoQ10, though I'll have to research how much one would have to eat of these to get 200 mg. Probably quite a bit.
Your doctor is not inclined to agree for you to stop taking statins. I was taking 1200 mg a day of red yeast rice. I got my doctor to accept my desire to use this instead of conventional statin medication. The more I researched red yeast rice capsules, I concluded the side effects are no different than usual statin meds.
Yes, the problem with RYR is that it may contain Lovastatin (Mevacor) so it's really a statin. When RYR is scrubbed of this ingredient, then it's less likely to have any effect on cholesterol. See: ua-cam.com/video/EVBoRWSfAPE/v-deo.html
IF the benefit of taking a statin is lowering inflammation then IMO it would be useful to know their inflammation level via hsCRP before one stops taking a statin. HsCRP is non-specific (a cold could drive it higher, etc.) so take higher levels (>3) with a grain of salt. The other “benefit,” at least according to Dr. Brewer for a low dose statin, is to calcify any soft plaque. No idea how long that takes. Some influencers say never take a statin without taking coQ10/ubiquinol.
Yes, I think hsCRP needs to be taken several times over a few months to get an idea of what is normal for the individual. Also vaccines can temporarily spike hsCRP, and in my case there was an increase during an episode of Transient Global Amnesia. I spoke with Dr. Brewer fairly recently and he encourages getting a CIMT to determine a patient's soft plaque burden. He notes that calcifying soft plaque may lead to an increase in CAC score. I believe this would normally be a bad thing if taken out of context but if it represents stabilization plaque it may be a "lesser of evils" sort of thing.
@@mystatinfreelife Exercise can create inflammation so I always stop exercising 2 days before getting hsCrp measured. Jeff Volek, years ago, titrated carb levels and showed the lower the carbs, the lower the inflammation:) Gum disease can increase inflammation. So there are things other than statins to try if one’s hsCRP is above normal.