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Per the Mayo Clinic, "Lifestyle changes are essential for reducing your risk of heart disease, whether you take a statin or not." Unfortunately, we live in an age when many people just want a pill to "fix" them without making any other changes. If you do all you can to live a healthy lifestyle and still need meds, that is one thing, but that tends to be the exception rather than the rule.
Completely agree with this. I've been able to get my BP down quite a bit via daily exercise, plus shedding a few pounds and improving diet, and drinking hibiscus tea every day. If I am able to drop another 10 pounds I might not need the tea anymore and may be in the normal range by next checkup. If not, I'll only have to go on a small dose of BP meds which (according to my NP) is safer and has less side effects than a larger dose. So even if exercise and lifestyle changes don't work 100%, it's still worth it to be able to take lower med doses with less potential problems.
I've questioned those so called numbers for years now. We are NOT numbers and the medical world came up with numbers so they can push their drugs. The more one goes to doctors to get their numbers done, the more one leaves with a new script. I suppose they are good guidelines for some issues but how did people survive before the numbers game.
Cholesterol was NEVER a word in my parent's lives and now so many on the wonderful drugs to lower cholesterol which we need in our bodies and our brains for sure. Why so much dementia, maybe too low cholesterol now in our population.
Did your parents talk about cholesterol in their lives. Both my parents lived into 90's and hardly took a drug.
If not, I'll only have to go on a small dose of BP meds which (according to my NP) is safer and has less side effects than a larger dose.
I find that blood pressure medications have no side effects. (at least the two that I take which are Lisinopril and Metoprolol Succinate Extended Release) They are not in any way like statins and the side effects of statins. No comparison at all.
In a good number of cases, one needs to try various blood pressure medications and combinations of two BP medications to have optimal effect. And proper dosage.
There is nothing 'unsafe' about blood pressure medications, with proper dosage.
(some will or may disagree)
Last edited by matisse12; 06-19-2019 at 02:21 PM..
I find that blood pressure medications have no side effects. (at least the two that I take which are Lisinopril and Metroprolol Succinate Extended Release) They are not in any way like statins and the side effects of statins. No comparison at all.
In a good number of cases, one needs to try various blood pressure medications and combinations of two BP medications to have optimal effect. And proper dosage.
There is nothing 'unsafe' about blood pressure medications, with proper dosage.
(some will or may disagree)
I quoted what the Nurse Practitioner told me. But hopefully I'll be able to get it down a bit more to where I don't need any meds.
I've questioned those so called numbers for years now. We are NOT numbers and the medical world came up with numbers so they can push their drugs. The more one goes to doctors to get their numbers done, the more one leaves with a new script. I suppose they are good guidelines for some issues but how did people survive before the numbers game.
Cholesterol was NEVER a word in my parent's lives and now so many on the wonderful drugs to lower cholesterol which we need in our bodies and our brains for sure. Why so much dementia, maybe too low cholesterol now in our population.
Did your parents talk about cholesterol in their lives. Both my parents lived into 90's and hardly took a drug.
When I go to the doctor for a check-up, my numbers are always good, so I don't leave with prescriptions. That may change someday, but it won't be because I stopped exercising or started eating tons of fast food thinking that things like cholesterol don't matter, when numerous studies clearly show that they do.
I've questioned those so called numbers for years now. We are NOT numbers and the medical world came up with numbers so they can push their drugs. The more one goes to doctors to get their numbers done, the more one leaves with a new script. I suppose they are good guidelines for some issues but how did people survive before the numbers game.
Cholesterol was NEVER a word in my parent's lives and now so many on the wonderful drugs to lower cholesterol which we need in our bodies and our brains for sure. Why so much dementia, maybe too low cholesterol now in our population.
Did your parents talk about cholesterol in their lives? Both my parents lived into 90's and hardly took a drug.
In answer to your last question- yes. Mom made very good doughnuts when I was a kid but quit years ago. They were not fanatic about healthy eating but ate very little cheese, fried food and fatty meats, and Mom stopped baking her cookies and cakes except for special occasions such as Christmas gatherings. (Ah, I remember her Potato Chip Cookies, made with crumbled potato chips and powdered sugar. Grease, sugar and salt- it doesn't get any better than that. ) Both were physically active. Dad is 88, has been on statins for decades with no side effects, and had stents placed a few years ago- he's also had bypass surgery (20+ years ago). His mind is pretty clear- not what it was, but he's 88. Mom had a pacemaker and died of breast cancer at 85. I do believe that the intervention helped them but their surgeries (pacemaker, bypass, stents) were driven by SYMPTOMS, not numbers. Same with DH, who also had stents- both he and Dad noted that they were getting "winded" more easily and they had blocked arteries.
At some point when the new guidelines for use of statins came out, a podcast I listened to ("Sound Medicine") interviewed a doctor who noted that those guidelines would indicate that half the population over 60 (I believe it was 60) should be on statins. That's crazy.
OTOH, I saw the devastating results when a dear friend of mine, who was teddy-bear shaped and had a high-stress job that didn't allow him time to exercise, suffer a serious stroke at 64. He knew he had high BP but wasn't getting medical monitoring and turned out to be diabetic as well. This is a guy who personally did all of their car repairs and was building their dream house in his spare time. They had to sell it, he quit work, and 15 months later his speech is pretty good but he'll never drive again and his life is forever changed. Now, of course, he's on a load of meds. There's a price to neglecting your health.
That's why I'm my own doctor first and foremost. So much info on Dr. Google for us to grasp and work with. Last thing I want are the toxic drugs. And they are toxic. Very often when I get labs and some numbers are in the low or higher ranges, I do my own work to find out why and go from there. So yes, I guess those numbers mean something but before the modern medicine explosion MOST people didn't run to doctors like today. I'm older than most here so I do remember that.
I believe there is just about a supplement or more for every drug. If all else seems to fail, then the drug. It's worked for me. Now to avoid surgeries.
One has kidney issues, google kidney issues and alternative help --- and one gets some answers or a place to start.
I told my doctor I did not want to take any more pills for high cholesterol. She didn't try to talk me out of it; she knew the history of not tolerating them at all.
She asked me about a DNR. I told her what I had read somewhere here..... that I wanted one but wondered about medics in ambulances, etc. who worked at saving people because that was their "rule."
She gave me a form that essentially told any rescuer that I had a DNR and to honor it.
She appeared to be OK with what I said and the decisions I have made.
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