r/diabetes • u/Electrical-Cap-6449 • 14h ago

Rant Statins

I have been a type 2 diabetic since the age of 21. It is our family curse. Three years ago I suffer a heart attack due to stent thrombosis. I was put on statins which were suppose to help with life long cholesterol issues. I’ve been one and off them since I was 16. I was able to get off them when I lost a significant amount of weight and numbers were good. Since the heart attack I noticed my blood sugars were hard to control. Weirdly high numbers. I was desperately trying to stay off insulin but was getting to the point that I thought I couldn’t avoid it. A few months ago when I happen to pick up my refill the pharmacist cautioned me to avoid taking my blood thinners and the statins together since it would likely cause really bad aches and pains. This was something I had been dealing with for a while and chucked it up to the now infamous heart attack. At my next cardiologist appointment I mentioned it to my doctor and she had to look it up and was truly surprised that it was a side effect. She switched me to a new injectable cholesterol medication. I CANNOT BELIEVE THE OVERALL IMPROVEMENT IN MY BLOOD SUGARS AND HEALTH. Aches are gone, energy back to pre HT and better gut health. So if any of this sounds even slightly familiar to you please talk to your doctor. And don’t be me and assume it was all ‘normal’.

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u/Grouchy_Geezer Type 2 14h ago

I'm glad things things have worked out well for you.

I just want to comment there's no need to desperately avoid insulin. It's not a sign of failure or a punishment for being a bad diabetic. It's a valuable tool to treat your blood sugar to keep you healthy. It's more versatile than pills. It allows fine tuning that chunky pills can't.

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u/Electrical-Cap-6449 9h ago

Oh I totally agree with you but I’ve had issues with weight gain while on insulin. And then it becomes a thing where the more I take the more I need to keep blood sugars within range. I know I will exhaust all my options eventually since I have been a diabetic for the better part of my life, I will be 55 in Thursday. Did not mean to disparage insulin in any way. I know what a lifeline it is to so many.

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u/Grouchy_Geezer Type 2 9h ago

Sure, I understand. You know, there are several kinds of insulin these days. Should your doctor recommend insulin in the future, you might ask him to prescribe different one to avoid the weight gain.