After 6 months low carb no Vytorin.

Age 54
Total Chol - 299

Weight - 171
hdl - 94
LDL - 194
Trig - 55

Previously with Vytorin:
Age 53
Total Chol 161

Weight - 208
hdl 75
LDL 86
Trig - 150

Should I get back on it? What would your doctor say?

If a doctor prescribes a statin for a person who hasn't had a heart attack, you have to give statins to 250 (or so) people before it prevents 1 heart attack.

So, are you the 1 in 250? Maybe, if you have an APO E4 gene.

Here's another one for you: Medical journal editors brand statins as ‘without known benefit but with definite risk’ for most

look at your triglycerides. Triglycerides are the true marker in diabetes and yours are well under 100. That tells me that your LDL is the large fluffy kind. YOUR LDL is probably incorrect since this number is generally estimated. Request an accurate LDL so that you can better assess your health needs.

So, feel like risking cancer or Lou Gehrig's disease or diabetes to make that number look better?

When half the people who have heart attacks have high cholesterol... and half have low cholesterol? But high triglycerides; that's the marker for heart attack. And yours is lower on low carb!

I certainly would not. But then, I'm a woman, and there's absolutely no studies showing any benefit for women on statins under any circumstance. Yet they would push them on me, anyway.

Don't. The risks are great, and the benefits unclear.

But does anyone have a doctor that agrees?

If you had Dr. Davis, cardiologist, he'd most likely agree, Dr. Briffa, Dr. Eades, etc.

If your doctor disagrees is it because their pharma provided education tells them to?

My physician is a fan of low carb and does not favor statins.

Google "Vytorin Lawsuit" or "Vytorin class action"

My total cholesterol was 267 last time; trigs like 60. MY DOCTOR said higher cholesterol is protective as we get older, since my ratios are good, and he's not suggesting statins.

Here's an interesting snippet:

The cholesterol raises both LDL and HDL negating the effects of higher LDL (if there is any).
http://rawfoodsos.com/2011/09/22/fo...w-and-critique/

Have you had your thyroid checked?

http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/co...ort/170/12/1024

"This literature-based meta-analysis did not find evidence for the benefit of statin therapy on all-cause mortality in a high-risk primary prevention set-up."

As for my doctor, he pushed my mom into going into statins about 5 years ago, so I'm guessing he would tell me I need to go on a statin, but I would be non-compliant given the fact (as others have pointed out) that it can lead to diabetes amongst other things.

Thanks for all your replies. I'll be seeing my doctor in a couple weeks. It will be interesting to hear what he has to say.

but the lawsuit was about price. ( ie they cost more, but did not have any proven benefit over cheaper statins)

Your tryglicerides are better on low carb than on Vytorin.

Have you had a NMR test? It will give you a better picture of our LDL. You need to know if the majority of your LDL is Particle A or Particle B.

But, really, tryglicerides are a bigger indicator. Low carb is working great for you!