Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire The doctor tried to talk me into statins today

All I know is that I have no medical training and my doctor does. Both of them, actually: family and VA. I'll take their advice over that of any internet intern.

I have played around with a number. The smallest dose keeps my numbers perfect, but I get the negative muscle side effects with daily use.

Nobody has mentioned big pharmacy pays Docs for prescribing them?

That seems silly. The advice giver/patient ratio is much higher here.

I was in for my annual physical 3 years ago, I was 65. And my doc said he was going to do a blood test, and "if the numbers are bad" he was going to put me on statins.
And I said "No, you are not going to put me on statins."

He said "If the numbers are bad I certainly will."
And I said, "No, I will not take them."

And that was that. Doc was astonished, this is way out in the country in North Carolina, docs around here are used to being treated like deities.
I worked in a hospital for 14 years and I saw doctors make all kinds of mistakes.

My brother in law took statins for 18 years and they have made him all kinds of sick. Symptoms of Parkinsons. And my sister and he went in to the doc's office 3 times, over the years, and complained about these symptoms, and the doc assured them it was not caused by the statins, and they believed him. They are not skeptical about doctors like I am.
Finally a year ago, they went to a new doctor, a young female MD, and she told them that the Parkinsons symptoms are caused by the statin drugs. This guy is so screwed up he can't work, he can barely walk, or speak a coherent sentence.

A lot of guys on this forum believe everything their doctors tell them. I feel sorry for these guys.

I don't know why you guys are so repulsed by the idea of taking a statin? It doesn't need to be an all or none mega dose. The wife and I both take a generic mini dose of 10 MG every night before bed. My physician sister said to just take a CoQ10 vitamin every morning to counteract any statin side effect with joint pain and I have none. The wife couldn't take her generic Rosuvastatin instead of the way more expensive Crestor until she started taking only 50 MG of the CoQ10. I get my Atorvastatin free because I get another blood pressure med. My last check up 8/19 has my total cholesterol at 121 and my bad LDL down to 55 from 115 10/16. What's it worth to you to not have a coronary event?

That reminds me, Rick Bin needs to add a lettuce hunting forum.

Yes calcification of the artery ----- cholesterol or more accurately calcium cholesterol---- and thats were the walnuts work, they regulate the calcium preventing CaCholesterol

Try Lovaza FDA approved, or high quality fish oil 1000 units, 4 times a day. and MCT oil . its an antidote not an anecdote




In answer to your rhetorical question, No doctors are not paid to prescribe anything. However PBMs at HMO get rebates by covering certain drugs over others.


as with all medical "cures" patient compliance and accepting their responsible in the cure is the biggest problem.

Yep, we get no kickbacks for prescribing meds. Pharma companies cant give us a freaking hamburger, while Congress gets theirs.

Years ago a drug co would host my wife and I for a free eye disease conference at times complete with swanky hotel, dinners, chauffeured limo etc but docs realize real quick their sales reps believe in the spiel they lay on us while we see first hand the results of the meds we prescribe and the tolerance our patients have to those meds.

F Congress.

Etoh, the fish oil is an antidote to high chol/triglycerides or to the negative effects of statins?

Well, that's quite a statement, which goes into the category that ignorance is bliss. I'm just amazed when the general public starts this "Doctors are dumb" stuff when actually they are among the brightest and well trained people on the planet and have guidelines from the absolute best information collected and available. That is not the internet BTW.

Admittedly, some are better than others and the key for any of us as patients is to find someone that you have good rapport with and that you feel they have your best interests in mind.

The idea that Joe the Welder knows more about medicine than his Internist or Cardiologist because he has the internet is just as absurd as the Internist thing they know more about TIG than Joe the Welder. Joe has 30 years and considerable training doing what he does. The standard of care for medicine comes from lots of research and lots of experience. I also have to bang my head on the desk when the non medical know-nothings start telling the world about all the conspiracies that "Big Pharma" has and who they pay off and how everything they have is either placebo or poison. Again, ignorance is bliss sometimes.

My dad and mom used to get taken out to the finest restaurants for three pound lobsters and such by drug reps back in the day. Yeah, they outlawed this practice some years ago.

Really? Are you serious?

I don't for a minute deny that big pharma lies to doctors to get them to prescribe things but to pay them would put both parties in jail under federal law.

I'm also an MD, but I do Neo...
my LDL was high, HDL high, Tris high. Total was about 260... I was recommended statins, I said no, exercised, got down to 199 - 220s... different doc said would marginally improve my cardiac risk. My biggest risk is familial.

I'm 40, lean, exercise, and eat a little better, so <1% risk. No statins, amd doing well.
Good call on your part

You don't understand. I kill the stuff that eats my lettuce.

If any of were to feel symptoms of a heart attack, would we go one here, and ask advise?

Or would we get to a hospital, and a doctor?

I take a statin. Haven't gone crazy and still pretty much do what I want.

I am an expert on my present medical condition. I have fired several specialists for glossing over, forgetting and outright overlooking peripheral issues that accompany my situation.

I get tired of having to remind drs to add 1 or more of a dozen appropriate additional labs to even my expanded panels.

I request 5 day holds on cultures beyond the 48 hour.

I have correctly diagnosed an occluded ureter in my transplant TWO times when the neph was pushing me for a biopsy one time. Another time was correlating an outlying parameter within my therapetic drug monitoring lab (which I also insisted upon) Excessive inability for my transplant to clear the anti rejection med is an indication of hydronephrosis, secondary to occlusion.

Every dr I meet wants to know my educational background, my current docs call me a 1%er. I call many shots and they don't resist me now (at least my current team).

When a dr only spends 4 mins with you in an exam room...red flag. Expect baffoonery.
PCP I have just lets me talk. I really have no use for a PCP, it's purely a formality that go for a lab slip for my dna/hla crossmatching monthly draws.

I scope other patients in the waiting rooms and talk with them, I'm astounded at how uninformed and go along to get along they are aka the Turnip Truck patient.

I have a bigger complaint with the blood pressure medications I take.

And let's acknowledge that most of that drug rep smoozing was "use our __________ (fill in your category of drug i.e Beta Blocker, statin. brand of hydrocodone, etc.) instead of Brand X". In otherwords, the drug version of "Buy a Silverado instead of a F-150". Both are trucks. Lobster was to get them to like the Chevy and recommend that over the Ford.