My cholesterol was 207. My LDLC WAS 135. Apo-B 107
I had exhausted all of the natural solutions that I knew of. I was on vitamin K, ie Super Booster...soluble fiber
Niacin as well as a good diet and exercise. I don't eat red meat.
There are natural health advocates that will recommend small dose statin use at times. William Falloon , head of LEF comes to mind. A small 10 mg dose every other day has improved my numbers without any noticeable side effects.
It seems to me that many of the reported side effects of higher dose statin use ( some as high as 70 mg daily ) mimic what one would expect from CoQ10 depletion. Muscle fatigue , myopathy, CHF.
I also am on HRT, including testosterone and DHEA ..
Sounds like you were being diligent.
LDL-C at 135 is not good.
Total cholesterol means little, as a study showed that senior women with the highest total cholesterol lived longest - but the drug companies have managed to make billions by making cardiologists think that statins are required when total cholesterol is 200. Nonsense!
A total cholesterol of 207 is not a reason to take statins, while some cardiologists would push that on a patient.
When you say vitamin K, please think in terms of vitamin K1 being a different nutrient than vitamin K2, either MK-7 or MK-4, which is the only K that has been shown to reverse arterial plaque in rats - but not humans yet.
K1 has no effect on arterial plaque and almost all multivitamins contain ONLY K1 and most of the time when vitamin K is mentioned people are referring to K1, which is useless for cardiovascular purposes.
The best reference work I've read on K's, "Vitamin K2 and the Calcium Paradox," suggested that optimal dosing of vitamin K2 (MK-7) is 240 mcg/day, where MK-4 dosing should be 15 mg three times a day.
MK-7 has a half life of three days, where MK-4 has a half life of 6-8 hours, so one can take MK-7 once a day where MK-4 should be taken three times a day.
I don't know whether the truly lose dose of statin that you're taking causes much damage, but for me I don't want to ever take statins.
As I said, it sounds like you're been diligent AND prudent and found what works for you.
Certainly, your current numbers are excellent.
Edited by mikey, 27 September 2013 - 02:58 AM.