I take a daily fish oil supplement. It comes in pill form, and I definitely don’t burp it up at all. I try to eat fish, but I live inland and it’s difficult to get fresh fish here.
My internist & endo both pushed statins. I said no & am still saying no. My lipid profile is good & it seems unnecessary & risky.
The jury is out on the baby aspirin, which they also both encouraged. Hope I’m remembering this right, but daily low dosages of aspirin are helpful if you’ve already had a heart attack. They don’t prevent problems despite the blood thinning qualities. I’ll try to find the research I read to post it here. Dr. Bernstein also talked about risks of daily aspirin in one of his web casts. Something about how it can actually cause problems.
I take Omega 3 fish oil capsules. Never had a problem with them making me burp. I also eat salmon frequently. Keep forgetting to take flax seed.
Wow. This discussion surprised me. I have very low cholesterol and blood pressure (always have, even before my diagonosis with type 1 diabetes). My doctor never mentioned a statin or aspirin. I’ve been reading about Alpha Lipoic Acid and I’m considering trying that.
I take statin( and aspirin) every day since 2003, when I had my heart complications and my doctors ( cardio and endo) told me that if I had taken statin I would not get my heart complication. I hope you understand what I wanted to write because I don’t like grammar! Before 2003 my blood pressure was very good, my HDL,LDL, Tri, were very good. They said that all diabetics must take aspirin and statins. I don’t know if it’s really good for us but I take them. So today I take: 40 mg of statins, 10 mg of Ramipril, and 200mg of Acebutolol, and 75 mg of Aspirin.
The statins are not necessarily used to treat a present problem with your lipid profile, but to prevent future ones. I don’t know how you define “risky”, but the risks of statin use are very low and problems can be spotted quickly so the treatment can be stopped or adjusted.
Personally, I don’t want to wait until I have heart issues to act, if something can be done now to prevent or delay them. This is the same reason I take ACE inhibitors- they prevent and delay kidney disease in type 1 diabetics. I like my kidneys and don’t want to be on dialysis or facing a transplant.
NSAIDs like aspirin kill thousands of people per year. They are, in that sense, far more dangerous than statins. But the risk of injury or death from NSAIDs is mostly restricted to a subset of people with conditions that predispose them to these risks.
It wasn’t the usual risk of NSAIDs. Sorry, wish I could remember what he said specifically. Am going to try to find it.
The statistics for type 1 diabetes and cardiovascular disease aren’t pretty, but they also suggest that a customized type 1 diabetes cardiovascular disease risk model is very badly needed!! In 2006, researchers found that cardiovascular risk models are not predictive for patients with type 1 diabetes because the current risk models only exist for the general population, and for patients with type 2 diabetes. In addition, researchers at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, CA reported that the cause of cardiovascular inflammation in patients with type 1 diabetes appears to be autoimmunity, not the risk factors often observed in type 2 patients, including hypertension and obesity.
The 2006 study already noted (available at the online journal Public Library of Science) showed that elderly participants with diabetes were twice as likely to die from cardiovascular disease as non-diabetics, and that the risk was particularly high for patients who treated their disease with insulin injections. Researchers also found that participants who were taking insulin were six times more likely to die from infectious diseases or kidney failure than non-diabetic participants. Women treated with insulin had a particularly high mortality risk.
The researchers noted that their results were adjusted for factors already known to affect heart disease risk including smoking, alcohol consumption and cholesterol levels, which is indeed useful. However, their study failed to acknowledge whether they even examined whether there were any clinical differences observed between type 1 and type 2 diabetes. We do know, however, that only 194 of 5,372 participants (3.3% of the cohort) with diabetes treated their condition with insulin only, so we can probably assume this tiny segment represented patients with type 1 diabetes.
Earlier in 2006, researchers found that cardiovascular risk models are not predictive for patients with type 1 diabetes because risk models only exist for the general population, and patients with type 2 diabetes. In addition, researchers at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, CA reported that the cause of cardiovascular inflammation in patients with type 1 diabetes appears to be autoimmunity, not the risk factors often observed in type 2 patients, including hypertension and obesity.
The researchers noted that a major limitation of this particular study was the fact that participants on insulin may have had greater duration of diabetes since most patients with type 1 diabetes (which requires insulin treatment) are diagnosed at much younger ages than the typical type 2 patient. The editors also noted that elderly people often receive less-intensive treatment of risk factors for heart disease, such as high blood pressure and cholesterol, than younger people.
But perhaps even more important is the fact that it is probably time for researchers to do a comprehensive cardiovascular risk prediction model for type 1 diabetes because risk factors including younger age at diabetes onset and presence of diabetes complications are not considered in the existing models. Clearly, the existing models (and the recommended treatment protocols) do not appear to be the same for all.
This is likely compounded by the great variance in treatment for Type 1 diabetics over the last several decades. When studying elderly Type 1s, or people that have had it say, since before electronic blood sugar meters, can you really draw conclusions that are going to fit a child/teen/20/30 something Type 1 of today walking around with an insulin pump, CGMS, Symlin pen, ACE inhibitors, statins, etc. for the majority of their life as a diabetic?
If you injected beef insulin for 30 years with a needle you sharpened with a rock in your garage, and boiled your urine once a day to determine your entire insulin regimen, I don’t know that our outcomes will be very similar.
I’m going on a statin because of high cholesterol, its a genetic thing in my family. Yay for 2 cruddy conditions. I have taken a baby aspiring since becoming pregnant with my 2nd child, who is now 7. It prevented a 2nd case of pre-eclampsia, and I’ve just continued to take it.
I had someone else recommend fish oil recently. I took it at one time, but got tired of belching up salmon at 4 am.
My endo told me a couple of years ago that I was his only 40+ patient not on a statin. He highly recommends it for all T1’s, but due to my good fortune of very low cholesterol, he did not recommend it for me. I already take the insulin and levothyroxin for my hypothyroidism, so I was happy to not have to take one more thing (for now).
I came across a similar dilema about 2 years ago. My GP(who hadn’t been my Dr. for too long) said that I should be on a statin and ACE inhibitor. While saying this, he wrote me out 2 prescriptions.
I pointed out that all of my test results, including my heart and kidney, were in the Good range(touch wood). Why then do I need these drugs? He said since I’ve had Type 1 for so many years, it would be a Good idea as a preventative.
I didn’t cash the scripts in. Instead, I mentioned my GP’s advice to my Endo at my next appointment. My Endo said the opposite, that I didn’t need the statins and ACE inhibitors since I’ve had Type 1 for that many years without problems, my test results are always Good(touch wood) and my sugars have been mainly stable in the Good area for many years.
It wasn’t until this Spring that I decided to get the Altace script filled, just in case since I like my kidneys(and to make my GP a bit Happier =) ). I was put on 2 other drugs by 2 other Drs. around the same time for other reasons.
After using the drugs for a while I found myself getting really dizzy frequently plus nausea and loss of appetite. I did weigh 126 lbs. which was a Good weight for me. Now I weigh 109 lbs. and I’m trying to gain it back. Not impressed. My RA has been out of control which can cause weight loss but I did stop the Altace not long ago which stopped the dizziness and nausea. Although I only used the one type of Ace inhibitor, I will not be using another or a statin.
I have been using the 81mg. Aspirin for a couple years per my GP’s suggestion. I can’t see that little bit hurting anything. I have drank ordinary tea since I was a teen-ager(Good for the Lipids) 3 cups a day. I’ve almost always taken cod liver oil capsules daily since I was 5 and I’ve been athletic most of my Life. The last couple of years, I’ve been consuming about a handful of almonds or walnuts usually daily and a teaspoon of flax seed in between.
How do you know if statins are for you? I don’t like taking meds. it sucks. I’m already on insulin for type 1, and Synthroid
for thyroid. Now my doctors want me on a statin too. I’ve heard Bad thing from alot of people who have taken them. My cholesterol is in the normal range but i guess borderline for a diabetic. Is there anything i could do or take beside a statin that doesn’t have the scary side affects. I sometimes think that doctors are experimenting so to say on their patients. It seems like ever time i go in there they have a new drug to try. (It’s like going to a Government approved drug Lord). I Just don’t trust my doctors anymore and maybe it time to find one that i do.
I am a T2, A1c 4.7, and I get the same advice from my doctor, he wants me on a daily aspirin, a statin, and constantly checking my blood pressure even though it never goes over 120/80 UNLESS I am at the doctor’s office…
I think its a new standard page in the playbook.
I had heard of Type 1s taking statins prophylactically and asked my sister, who is an RN. She feels statins have side effects on their own and she would rather not start statins. Endo has not advised it; if endo advised, would have to reconsider. I say go for the fish oil, which is standard, along with Vitamin D supplementation. Sis insists on less than 30 percent fat per day in her diet, and most days she gets 20 percent fat per day. Type 1s are at higher risk of heart disease just by virtue of the diagnosis and heart disease runs in our family. We do watch this.
I have a Tri:60 HDL:34, LDL: 90 and A1c 6.0… but my SD is little bit on the higher side like around 75-100.
I never used aspirin before but was recommended aspirin a day and also a medicine for cholesterol. I was told that these were for prevention and for safety reasons.
Fish Oil is really healthy for body!!! I do that too.
I was kind of surprised but i guess its better to follow orders!!! But i do not take them regularly…kind of alternate day…
I don’t take any of it i cant take aspirin and i have fibro so taking zocor is a hard thing to try because it can cause muscle weakness.
Fish oil on a daily basis will not harm you and is in all vitiman packs these days. All the drug companies are looking for their future revenue and profits even in these hard times.
Not necessarily good to follow orders.
My GP put me on baby aspirin as soon as I was diagnosed. The endo said absolutely not & that aspirin is only recommended for people who’ve had heart attacks.
Very true that is why all of us need a whole team of doctors so they can get it all together
I was told over 50 years ago to take aspirin every day there were no statins.