Got an update today from my Primary GP and in it she stated once again that she wants to put me onto a Statin. I’ve been refusing for a long time because my cholesterol levels are within the acceptable range.
I don’t have a cholesterol problem, yet I can’t get it through to this doctor that I will not now or ever take statins until I need to take them!! She keeps asking me what I’m afraid of… and tells me that they like all of their diabetic patients on statins… Well tough… that’s what I say.
I think it’s a big scam to get more money out of me… If I really needed it, I would take it… I’m not adverse to taking medication when it’s required, but when my test results show it’s not necessary… I don’t want it.
Mine pushed statins also & I refused. Yep, I heard the same line how all diabetics need to be on statins pronto. The first time I said I’d think about. The second time I said no. I think the doc who writes the most statin prescriptions wins a trip to the Bahamas:)
The woman said in a letter that I should consider taking them and then said that she has ordered the perscription and I should pick it up at the pharmasy… No way!!
Tomorrow she is going to get an email from me with some of the links to articals that prove why I do not need to take a statin… and a statement saying please don’t bother to order this drug until I feel I need to take it!
It’s good to see I’m not alone though in not wanting to take this unnecessary drug without a good reason.
I refused statins also and said I was following Dr Bernstiens advice. That is :…Get your BG, A1C, exercise and diet in line first and then worry about the statins.
My Dr finally agreed and said work on that first. I will be getting extra fasting blood tests this year to see how my lipids are doing.
In the uk my previous gp pushed for me to take statins, i refused also because my cholesterol was fine without, I suspect here in the uk gp’s are given a financial incentive to get all diabetics to take the drugs that the government guidelines say they should.
I am of the same opinion as is my endo that you shouldn’t be putting chemicals/drugs in to your body if you don’t actually need them :O) x
Maybe 40 years ago that saying would have been true, when doctors may have actually had more of a vested interest in taking care of their patients. But today, big pharma is allowed to advertise on tv, hang out constantly at the doctor’s office, and offer them all kinds of financial incentives and things when they prescribe you all kinds of medications.
Statins can be useful drugs, if your bad cholesterol is through the roof. But statins, just like many other drugs, have some serious side effects, and the Diabetic already has much to deal with in the war against their disease, without having to consider the effects of a medication, especially if they really don’t need to take, because they don’t have high cholesterol to begin with. Today, I would have to say, the person who does NOT act as their own physician, has a fool for a patient…and probably an even bigger fool, for a doctor who’s probably in bed with big pharma. In the year 2010, you HAVE to be your own advocate. If we weren’t, many of us might even still be undiagnosed as diabetics.
Mark, if I came off the wrong way, I am sorry. I was simply trying to explain why in this day and age, many people don’t just go along with everything their doctors recommend. While not every doctor is like this, a great amount of them are. I was not pontificating to you, nor was I trying to insult you or your doctor. I was simply using the analogy you yourself used with Denise (which I actually kind of found a bit offensive, but gave you the benefit of the doubt, anyway). I was not trying to call you, or your doctor a fool… just simply rewording your idiom, to state that we have to watch out for #1, because who else is going to? That’s all.
About 8 years ago my GP wanted me to go on regimen of mega doses of Niacin because of high cholesterol and I refused because of the side effects. After awhile she asked me to consider taking the statin, Lipitor. She explained to me that there is a beneficial interaction when taken with metformin. My HDL/LDL, triglycerides and A1C are excellent! I’m not saying statins are for everybody but you might see a bit of justification if there is a benefit.
A few years back I took exams in Biology… I have 4 years under my belt and the equivilent of an A level (English system)… I also have 3 years experience in research and worked with the medical field… so I’m not just some layman who doesn’t know what they’re talking about either… Nothing goes into my body that isn’t needed… I do all the research on everything I take… I make the final decision. Doctors are infallable too that’s why some people die when they are given the WRONG medication…
If we make the wrong decision, we only have ourselves to blame, but I don’t see the benefit in just blindly following what a doctor says because they are doctors… just like in any proffession you get good ones and bad ones. When your tests tell you that you DON’T need to be on a ‘dangerous’ medication, why should you take it just because the doctor says you should, because it might help you… If you go on the history of the family for heart disease, blood pressure, weight and other things that signify that you need to take these pills the take them… but when the tests and information show you don’t need them, then why take the risk?
I went on a statin on my doctor’s recommendation even though my cholesterol was fine. I had my doubts, but I trust my doctor - who I think is being overly cautious as opposed to unethical.
Sometime later I heard a discussion on NPR about the widespread presrcibing of statins in which a physician representative of one manufacturer said “everyone should be on statins.” Everyone? Red flags started popping up all over the place.
I’m trying now to find out if I can safely stop - do I just quit or do I have to wean myself off?
Denise, Well, if you have explained things to your present GP and she’s not getting it, have you thought about getting a new GP? Or perhaps finding a doc who is diabetic knowledgable. I mean they can only know so much about everything…and maybe that’s her practice using statins…BUT, NO is NO. There are many things my CNP has suggested to me, that I refuse, and have told her on numerous occassions that I won’t do. She marks it down, and that’s the end until the next time she feels the need to say something. You could tell her the next time, if you decide to keep her, that she can do one of two things, take your no, and note it in your chart that patient refused, or she can prescribe them and you just won’t take them. I’ve done that too. Not too smart, but when they won’t listen, what is a person to do…
Yes, I wouldn’t go cold turkey on them Terry… but I would insist that if there is any possibility off being taken off them safely and if your previous tests show that you didn’t need to take them and if you feel you want to come off of them then you should at least enquire if you can…
If you’re not having any ill effects from them though, I would stay on them because you may get a backlash if you come off of them and your cholesterol levels may rise higher than they were before you started on them.
I chose this doctor because she said that she was into working with people with diabetes… I think we have a bit of a power struggle going on though, so it may eventually come to the point where I will need to get a different one.
I read the link that Terry Keelan put up in the thread Statins for all ty’e 1’s?, what the Mayo Clinic had said about statins… http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/statins/CL00010 And the only thing I have in common with the reasons for taking statins is that I have diabetes… I don’t think that on just that reason I need to take them…
Thanks guys… it’s good to get oppinions on both sides of the fence… What works for some, doesn’t work for others… xx
Bottom line, its your health. You are in charge. It doesn’t sound like your doc is even listening to you and your wishes. She works for you, you don’t work for her. If she won’t listen to you, I’d find another doc. As long as you keep on top of your numbers, I don’t see why taking the meds now will help you.
