New geezer, longtime lurker

[Bill Quick]

I've been combing them into green dreadlocks. Hardly noticeable now.

[Mr. Bingley]

lol

[Gene61]

I got the blood numbers and some other test results from my doctors - not great news. Good news: blood sugar is back below 100, thank you Coach Rip. Bad news: cholesterol is high, as it has been for years, but the calcium score test was over 200, showing moderate coronary artery disease. I've been arguing about the stupid cholesterol meds with the MDs for years, but now it looks like I'm going to have to yield on that.

The latest studies show that lowering cholesterol using meds doesn't help lower deaths from all causes unless you have had a heart attack. I don't know how your calcium numbers would play into that. It's very clear that getting your blood sugar under control is as important (or more so) than lowering your cholesterol. (Congrats!) You might look around on the web among the paleo diet crowd for more info. Here is the final installment of a ten part series on Cholesterol by an MD of the "Ancestrial Diets" persuasion. Nice summary.

http://eatingacademy.com/cholesterol...sterol-part-ix

[Bill Quick]

Thanks for the link to Atia's blog!

[SteveL]

Have you tried a low carb diet to help not only control blood sugars but also small LDL? A low carb diet which is also followed with good fats (olive oil, coconut milk and oils, bacon yes I said bacon, avocados) will really help.

[Skel]

I'm concerned about muscle loss associated with them, a possible side effect. Anyone taking statins? Any thoughts about it?

Yeah. I was on 40mg Simvastatin for a while and got tremendous joint pain, particularly in my elbows; though that could have been pull-up related. I saw my doc who put me on 10mg Lipitor and that seems to have helped, though I have a tendency to blame any tendon or muscle pain on the things and end up not taking them and self medicating with sterols until it goes away.

Your doctor should start you on the smallest dose and titrate up to see how you cope, though not all of 'em bother. If they trouble you then swapping from a water to a lipid soluble statin may help.

[Bill Quick]

Take CoQ10 with your statins. That will likely help with your muscle pains. http://www.healthline.com/health/coq...tinsMeetCoQ105

I take 80mg of Atorvastatin, and I take 300mg daily of CoQ10 (buy it at Costco).

[Skel]

Take CoQ10 with your statins. That will likely help with your muscle pains. http://www.healthline.com/health/coq...tinsMeetCoQ105

I take 80mg of Atorvastatin, and I take 300mg daily of CoQ10 (buy it at Costco).

I'll give it a try - just ordered 60*100mg tabs from e-bay.

Though according to this article my occasional statin holidays might not be a bad thing:

http://www.pharmatimes.com/Article/1...in_dosing.aspx

[flatcat]

Thanks all, for continuing to discuss. I appreciate the advice, and will keep after it.

The best numbers I ever had were when I was on a low carb diet. Maybe I'll get back into that.

What I need is to snap out of it and apply some self-discipline.