\u201cI\u2019d rather die of a heart attack than feel the way I do.\u201d\u00a0 That is how I announced to Jessica on Tuesday that I had decided to stop taking statins.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was going to wait another week or two and give the new statin my doctor prescribed for me a chance, but after being miserable for the last month and feeling like a very achy shadow of myself, I decided to just stop and see if the statins are really to blame.<\/p>\n
This morning, jetlagged from a trip to Chicago for the American Diabetes Associations Scientific Sessions, I woke up at 4:25 a.m. and checked my blood sugar.\u00a0 It was 248, a result of a messed up schedule and eating too many carbs, including some beer.\u00a0 So instead of going for a run, I decided to go back to sleep.<\/p>\n
I tried to relax and sleep, but was totally wired. After 25 minutes of lying in bed I got up to run. I left the room at about 5:30a.m. I was in a good mood, optimistic, excited to run in in Chicago for the first time and I was wearing a new pair of running shoes. I felt like I was going to have a good run.<\/p>\n
I know it\u2019s too soon to conclude that the pain in my legs is a result of taking statins, since it takes a week or two to \u201cclean out\u201d the system, but I was hoping to start feeling better anyway.<\/p>\n
In the elevator I met a guy who was also on his way out to run. We started talking, trying to figure out how to get to the trail a long Lake Michigan. I asked if he was in town for the 73rd<\/sup> ADA Scientific Sessions.<\/p>\n He told me he was an endo and in town for a meeting with one of the large pharma companies.<\/p>\n \u201cHow far are you running?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not sure\u201d I said and then told him the shorter version of my statin story.<\/p>\n \u201cI totally disagree with the ADA about statins when it comes to type 1\u2019s,\u201d he said. \u201cUnless your LDL is really high there\u2019s no need for statins\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I\u2019m off statins my LDL goes to the 150\u2019s\u201d I said.<\/p>\n He told me he probably wouldn\u2019t prescribe them to me. He explained that all of the research on diabetes and cholesterol that the guidelines are based upon was done on type 2 patients, insulin resistant \u201cand type 1 is a totally different disease.\u201d<\/p>\n We ran a few miles together and then he turned back and I continued on my own, feeling good about my decision to stop taking statins, and feeling like maybe my legs are getting better, too.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":129,"featured_media":53098,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1501],"tags":[583],"yoast_head":"\n