I started taking CoQ10 about a week before stopping my statins. I’ve read it can take longer to work though. I’m at least going to finish the 90 days worth I bought but so far not noticing anything.
Current plan is no statins for 3 months but making a few changes to consume a little less saturated fats.
In 3 months for my next blood panel we’ll see where that gets me. Before statins I was LDL around 145 so if I can get that down to 115 or better I’ll be satisfied I think. I’m only making changes I think I can keep to indefinitely not just 3 months.
I’ve alternated CoQ10 and Ubiquinol, which is more bioavailable but expensive, for as long as I’ve taken statins without muscle or joint discomfort. I was without a prescription for a bit and took Red Yeast Rice as a statin alternative and stopped the others. After a short while I experienced weakness and pain in my legs so started back on my daily supplements and the weakness went away. I’ve not read about the supplements relieving joint pain vs muscle wasting, but it might be worth researching. As we know, MDs are often less knowledgeable about and/or not comfortable suggesting non pharmaceutical options.
My personal opinion regarding cholesterol is that it is not well understood. There are many doctors who question the assumption that LDL cholesterol is the cause of heart disease. In fact, if you use the cardiovascular risk calculators, they don’t even have you enter your LDL, only total cholesterol and HDL values. One way to really get an idea of your risk is to get a coronary artery calcification (CAC) scan. The link below takes you to a risk calculator that takes the CAC score into consideration if you have had a scan. There are a lot of technical presentations on the Diet Doctor website (https://www.dietdoctor.com/) that go into details on cholesterol and CAC scans. Cholesterol is very complicated. The AHA now recommends getting a CAC scan to better define your risks. My personal opinion is that high LDL is not THE cause of heart disease. My LDL ranges between 170 and 195 because I eat a keto diet and I do not take statins. I got a CAC scan with a result of zero - the lowest you can get. That puts me in a low risk even with my high LDL. I would recommend getting a CAC scan before deciding to take any statins. It is interesting to note that studies of people over 65 have shown that those with high LDL live longer. (https://www.mesa-nhlbi.org/MESACHDRisk/MesaRiskScore/RiskScore.aspx)
