I would not take a statin. I am a woman and statins have never been shown to increase longevity in women nor in the elderly. THey have have only been shown to slightly improve chances in middle aged men with pre existing heart disease and even then, the trials went only for a few years. One was even halted prematurely, maybe because those on statins were expperiencing a statistically significant rise in cases of diabetes. Statins also cause muscle damage which is sometimes even permanent. And many have experienced cognitive disfunction and/or impairment. When you think about it, cholesterol is needed throughout the body for proper function. The brain needs lots of cholesterol and so do the muscles, so it's no surprise that a drug that impairs production of cholesterol will have side effects throughout the body. These days, doctors are happy to prescribe statins because each time they do, they get a kick back from the manufacturer. Also consider that although cholesterol is correlated with some diseases, a causal link has never been found. Just as white blood cells are correlated with infection, that does not mean white blood cells cause infection. The white blood cells are actually there to help. It may well be the same cholesterol as cholesterol has also been found to actually fight germs in the bloodstream. I personally would not take a statin unless there was more credible evidence for them actually working effectively. But as it is, diet, exercise, and healthful living have been found to have far more influence on health and longevity than do statins and also statins have serious and sometimes lifethreatening side effects over time.

There was a meta-reasearch study released this week stating that statins should probably not be prescribed for those not obviously at risk for cardiovascular disease.

http://www.cardiologytoday.com/view.aspx?rID=79704

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/opinions/view/opinion/Wonder-Drug-Statins-May-Be-Dangerous-6659/

If you no longer have high cholesterol, you should talk to your doctor about getting off them safely.

Yes. I was on Lipitor for a while. Then I went Paleo and my cholesterol levels fell off a cliff, so I discontinued it with my doctor's blessing.

Statins like Crestor affect the level of different lipids, and also seem to have a positive effect against inflammation. There are risks associated with statin therapy specially in large doses, specially problems at the muscles. Since I am not a doctor and moreover I know nothing about your particular risk factors I would never advise you one way or another. But you should also know that sometimes statins are overprescribed, I mean that often the effect that you are looking for could be attained either by a much better diet (like Paleo) or by lower levels (dose) of statin, which are often effective with less secondary effect.

You've probably already read enough about statins if you're considering coming off of Crestor. If not, here is a great article by Dr. Mercola that discusses why we think "high" cholesterol means a total over 200, what statins do, and the likelihood that they'll actually help anyone.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mercola/the-cholesterol-myth-that_b_676817.html

I was taking Crestor until November of this past year and decided to take myself off to see what happens.

-I should find out in the next week since I'm due for a biometric screening at work.

I decided to stop taking it since:

-My diet has vastly improved since going paleo in March 2010.

-I've dropped 45 lbs since going Paleo (Approx 215 to approx 170).

-I've added muscle at the same time.

-My cardio conditioning has vastly improved in that time (via HIIT).

-I think a lot of the statins may have really negative side effects...worse than the effects of having elevated LDL cholesterol (which may or may not be a bad thing...still appears debateable---my intuition tells me it isn't a bad thing, by itself, but then again I had $50 bucks riding on the Pats...).

My biometric screen is tommorrow so I'll post my stats here tomorrow evening.

Hi Doris (above): As promised, here are my numbers (they finally showed up last week):

-Triglycerides: 48 -Total Cholesterol: 198 -Cholesterol to HDL ratio: 3.5 -HDL Cholesterol: 56 -LDL Cholesterol (Friedewald Equation): 132 -LDL Cholesterol (Iranian Equation): 103 (I calculated the last one myself using an on line calculator)

I think a statin in this circumstance is probably over doing it.

I don't think I'll be changing anything. I'll stay off the statins. Total cholesterol is reasonable, triglycerides are very low, HDL is good, LDL is mildly elevated...I think I'll take my chances.

If you do take a statin, be sure to take lots of CoQ10 (statins deplete it).

If you have not started to take a statin, please get a second and third opinion.

Statins can also wreck your memory.

Check out http://www.spacedoc.net/ The site is run by Dr. Duane Graveline, MD (a former astronaut who was on a statin, and stopped taking it. Any alleged benefit can be far out weighed by the side effects. This site has lots of good information.

I was taking statins and it has really bad side effects. i was suffering from memory loss. you can read more about statins side effects at: http://statinssideeffects.co.uk

I took one several years ago and I had to quit taking it because it was raising my CPK level too high and causing muscle fatigue and soreness. This was well before I became a paleo eater. I'm glad I quit taking it back then after all I've learned about statins in the last year or so. It wasn't doing anything to improve my numbers. Eating lots of animal products and staying away from sugar and grains has done the trick.

uberbulldog,

Statins s*ck. They don't do what the drug manufacturers purport that they are supposed to do -- prevent heart attacks. Crestor is highly associated with increasing risk of diabetes Type 2 and kidney failure.

http://www.fathead-movie.com/index.php/2011/01/20/bad-news-for-statins-is-good-news/

Additionally they affect cognition and testosterone (which like all sex hormones and cortisol and vitamin D, is a cholesterol derivative). Low sex hormones are associated with all-cause mortality, cancer, depression, boys-becoming-girls and heart disease.

-G

It sounds, judging by the weightloss at least, that you have made some very positive changes to your diet. If you are following the Paleo model and eliminating sugar, grains etc I'm sure your blood profile will come back much improved. But regardless, don't get railroaded into taking a statin, the dangers far outweigh the perceived benefits. IMO. Good luck..

Really good articleon Cholesterol posted on twitter by Chris Kresser - http://chriskresser.com/blog/5-reasons-not-to-worry-about-your-cholesterol-numbers/

I had a stroke early this year (age = early 30s) and have been on simvastatin since then.

I had a horrible diet for many years leading up to this but had been eating low carb / paleo diet for a couple of years since turning 30. My cholesterol numbers were fine even without the drug (total < 200, ldl < 100) according to the doc but he wants me on it because of some alleged reduction in inflammation. They weren't able to find a clear cause of the stroke to point to.

He referred to studies that show decreased chance of 2nd stroke in people like me when they take statins. It sure doesn't seem to make sense when reading the counterarguments against statins, but I'm scared shitless to go against his instructions.

Both my neurologist and primary care doc want me on it. I've talked to a family friend who's a cardiologist and he wants me on one as well.

I haven't noticed any negative side effects yet but I worry quite a bit about the talk of memory/cognitive problems.