Friday, December 7, 2012

Statin Question

I really don't want to take medication that is long-term.  The doctor was convinced (and may still be) that I should take Statin because of high cholesterol and diabetes.
 I don't think I'm diabetic because I am not on medication but am controlling my blood sugar with diet.  I'd like to say diet and exercise, but that is more a thought than a fact.
I told him I don't consider my cholesterol to be high because my ldl doesn't have "high" next to it on the lab report.  My hdl has "high" next to it and the total number is 203.
So he felt he should share with me the information that diabetics who took statin suffered fewer heart attacks and strokes.  I asked if a cardiac CT for Calcium Scoring could indicate that I didn't need to take statin.  He said yes, or it could indicate that I should have been taking it for the past ten years. 
So I took the CT scan.  My number was 7.2 which is minimal evidence of plaque.  The nurse was relaying this information via phone.  I asked if my decision to not take statin was reasonable.  She agreed that she thought it was.
The side effects of drugs are different for different people.  I didn't want to take the chance that I would be one of the ones who suffered all of them.
So I was pleased with my ct scan.

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