Reply With QuoteYes we did buy the no added sugar one too in an attempt to be healthier than usual.Originally Posted by Kingstepper
I love porridge.
But made with milk and with a bit of butter in it.
Probably less good for cholesterol.
Yes we did buy the no added sugar one too in an attempt to be healthier than usual.
What have they added in place of sugar? Usually not great.
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They haven't added anything. It's natural fruit sugar from the raisins. Stop being muesli-phobic.
Genetics has a huge part to play in your levels.
According to the lipid clinic I have one bad gene so if I don’t take Rosuvastatin 5mg at night & ezetimbe 10mg in the morning my levels get into the 7 - 9 range, with them mid 3’s
Two bad genes & your f##ked!
The standard ones that they started me on made my joints & muscles ache hence appointment to the lipid clinic for the good stuff.
Fair enough.
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Actually this is a good reason to be (commercial) muesli-phobic.
The concept of muesli is brilliant. But by all means make your own. The concept is good, it’s the way it’s commercialised that spoils it.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
I disagree re: psychosomatic affects.
I had several joint pain which was improved by dosage change and statin type.
I’m the wrong person to defend muesli…haven’t eaten it all my life but bought a pack recently to try to get into it.
Anyway I have no idea what they add or not. But it states no added sugar and ingredients are below. Well known brand. I’m sure it’s the worst out there and not the ultra organic best you can buy, etc.
Sorry for the thread tangent OP.
Ingredients:
Wholegrain Wheat (43%), Wholegrain Rolled Oats (37%), Raisins (15%), Skimmed Milk Powder, Milk Whey Powder, Roasted Sliced Nuts (2.0%)(Hazelnuts & Almonds), Salt.
How do you know it wasn't psychosomatic?
As Kingstepper said, a psychosomatic pain is entirely real. So my comment was not dismissive of the pain, but on the public reticence linked to statins. Walterwelk being the perfect example.
Furthermore it is entirely possible that you are one of the few who had adverse reactions but as you said there are others that do not generate the same side effects.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
The first time I thought about the side effects was after reading your post, I’ve felt as if I’d been run over by a truck most days and put it down to January blues after have a full on Christmas and getting bloody old. I agree that psychosomatic pain is real and that is the reason I don’t often read the phone book long list of possible side effects listed.
I will call the GP on Monday.
I’m as sure as someone stating it is. My point is the opinion it’s psychosomatic is just as valid as me saying, in my case, it wasn’t. I didn’t have any prior expectation of an issue and couldn’t move. The endocrinologist confirmed.
I couldn’t walk with the first tablet and dosage. Had full blood screen and a change in tablet and smaller dosage and then no problems.
But I wasn’t reticent, I’m indifferent to it.
I eat healthy, enjoy my steel cut oats, etc. In my case, it’s hereditary and my father has had a heart issue so I get everything checked 6monthly basis with full health screenings.
I don’t believe I triggered a physical reaction through anxiety or expecting an issue because at the time I simply wasn’t aware of the potential issue.
Edit: this may be of interest on side affects. I won’t summarise as it would be an extract and introduce bias.
https://www.bmj.com/content/348/bmj.g3306
Further edit: the above is from 2014 and I’m certain there will be lots of later articles.
Last edited by joe narvey; 12th February 2023 at 00:12.
Agree with this. I'd add that there are quite a few studies which demonstrate the benefits of every-other-day [EOD] dosing, since the half-life of statins is long: i.e. if you take a statin every other day you are taking 50% of the med (which will plainly help if you are someone who is genuinely experiencing side effects) but getting nearer 80% of the benefit of the med.
I can vouch for this - having read that (and of course discussed it with my GP) I switched to EOD dosing, and my levels stayed much the same.
Ah, I thought Simvastatin was the cheap one / GP choice. Either way, is there a consensus out there of any one statin being broadly the best?
Why not just take a lower dose every day?
Because I'm already on the lowest manufactured dose!
(In the US the answer might be a different one: EOD dosing gets talked about a lot over there as advantageous because the meds are expensive and if you can halve the pill intake you double how long your pill stocks last.)
Okay, but if this is a common scenario surprised lesser doses aren't marketed.
My full heath MOT continued with a CT scan of my heart for my calcium score, and a CT colonography. These are all provided through my employers BUPA coverage every 5 years once you are over 50.
My calcium score is zero. As calcium is a component of plaque that lines the arteries, so this appears very good news. So my blood pressure and cholesterol can be raised, but with a zero calcium score it appears my risk of a heart attack is very low. So, I will continue to improve my diet, but nothing else is required.
On the other hand my CT colonography highlighted a diminuitive 5.6mm polyp in my rectum. Apparently 25% of people my age have them. Looks like this is going to have to come out, and I am being referred to a gastroenterologist. I have read they don't take any chances even though in the vast majority of cases they don't progress to anything. The screening has done exactly what is required of it, and I am pleased, even if I have to endure a minor, but unpleasant out-patients surgical procedure going forward.
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Absolutely. The only thing I suffer with (and then it's only occasionally) is a terrible chest pain right where my heart is. It started in 2018 when my ex-wife tried to get me sent down by making up massive lies.
It's linked to anxiety and nothing more. I've had it checked out several times, including once at a walk-in centre when it was actually happening - nothing wrong, no problems, not physical. Feels like a heart attack (or what I would surmise a heart attack feels like as I've not had one).
The pain, which is sometimes very intense, is completely in my head.
Bizarre thing the body/mind combo.
A comment about reactions to commonly prescribed medication.
During Covid, in a telephone consultation, a doctor prescribed Atorvastatin & Amlodipine in what he admitted was a 'one size fits all' and 'everybody should take statins' response to my home-tested high blood pressure.
I took them and felt dreadful. Not only physically - I had swollen ankles - but also generally - I felt really miserable. These reactions were not psychosomatic.
I am 54 and worried about my heart. Both sides of the family have significant history of heart disease and strokes. My Mum and Dad both have hypertension and my Mum is on warfarin.
So when I was told my blood pressure is on the high side of normal and my LDL bad cholesterol was high, and trending higher since my last visit, I was getting worried.
Having the CaT scan of my heart and finding there was zero calcium build-up in my heart/arteries and I am officially, to my great surprise, very low risk. Certainly helps me know that I will not need any drugs.
I had mine as part of my BUPA health screening package, but for some on the forum it maybe worth researching this and enquiring about it. Looks like if you shop around (and don't go to Harley Street!) they can be done privately for around £250. At least you would know your risk factor, and you may find out like me thst you have no plaque in your arteries, but are still worried about hypertension and high cholesterol. Also avoids taking unecessary drugs.
I'm off for a good old Sunday fry up, lol.
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How do you know? (genuine question)
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Post Covid, you need to get to the bottom of this and the blood pressure etc.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
I know nobody is really interersted, but I thought I would update in case anyone searches this going forward for more information on bowel polyps, colonography and colonoscopy.
I was referred to a gastroenterlogist given the bowel polyp detected by my colonography. They don't take any chances these days and anyway I wanted the polyp out. He said a 10mm polyp has a 10% chance that cancer cells are present. At 6mm the chance in negligible, I presume becuase a 6mm polyp on a volume basis is only around 20% that of a 10mm polyp.
He said that even though my polyp was is my rectum, the best proecdure is to undertake a colonoscopy from the cecum to the anus. I thought in for a penny and in for a pound. He would cut and collect the polyp for histology.
I had really worked my self about the propsect of a few feet of garden hose winding its way up, right, up, left, across and then down to review the rectum, descending/transverse/ascending colon.
You get well sedated and the procedure took about 30 mins. Only at two points did I feel any pain which felt like strong wind pain which was gone in a few seconds. Otherwise I felt nothing. During the last few minutes I decided to watch the procedure on the TV which the Consultant was using.
At the end he said you have no polyps at all and your recto-colon is normal. Apparently the CT colonography can given false results which it did this time.
But, as bowel is the third biggest cancer killer (and I have some form for another big C a long time ago), I was pleased to have my whole colon visually scanned to give me piece of mind, even though it turned out to be a false alarm.
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Fantastic coverage from your employer there.
I had AXA in a previous job and they denied any claim possible apart from prescriptions.
Yes, I have to give it to my employers generous coverage. Not just the screening, but also for no quibble follow on procedures.
I have used it twice now. One for a frozen shoulder (sounds innocuous, but it is the most pain I have ever experienced, bar none) and now this.
And as you become a gentleman of a certain age, a little more fettling is in order.
As my Mum reminds me, health is wealth.
That's awesome news that all remains well. Must be a huge relief.
I lost my father to Colon Cancer 14 years ago and I'm long past the age where I was supposed to be having annual screens for it - for some reason I'm terrified of receiving bad news on health matters and would rather just ignore it rather than have check ups. Stupid I know.
Your attitude is the same as the vast majority of blokes, including me when I was your age-ish. A mix of fear plus invincibility.
I had a flat lump on my right nut 17 years ago, just like a one pound coin had been stuck to it. Through my warped sense of sweeping it under the carpet, I managed to convince myself it was normal (it most definitely was not). I delayed presenting to a doctor by several months, and in that time lost my chance that removal of my right nut alone was curative. It had now hit the lymph node superhighway and I had a significant secondary mass in my back. At the same time my kids where 5 and 2, so not a great time in life for it to happen, but when is?
Right bollock removed, chemotherapy and then major abdominal surgery followed with the anxious 2 year wait to see if it would reappear somewhere else. You can probably understand why I am a lot more proactive in getting screened now.
Us blokes are rubbish. Don't ignore an symptoms and if you believe screening will benefit you. What is their to lose. I can testify that prevention is most certainly better than cure.
Quite a few threads on the big C in the G&D at the moment, which only brings home the benefit being wise about your own body. Wouldn't wish my experience on anyone. It is the mental stuff the really fooks you over as winner takes it all.
Wow. Just wow. What a nightmare that must have been for your whole family, particularly with young kids too. Fully understand why you have changed approach now and I agree us blokes are absolutely rubbish with these things.
It can’t have been easy for you to lose your Dad to cancer when you were relatively young, and also assuming your father was not old either.
That sounds awful and if that isn't enough to motivate a few that maybe sat on a problem I don't know what will... good to hear you got through that ...
My dad died of cancer aged just 64. He had suffered with MS for decades and his symptoms were dismissed as MS effects ...
I have been having a Prostrate cancer check every 2 years since his death ... look after yourselves chaps ... no-one else will ...
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