Statins and The Athlete Part 2

A few months a go I published a blog on the effects of statins on the athlete. I shared with you a little secret of mine (that I have high cholesterol) and have been on statins my whole life. With doctor approval we decided to go off the medicines. I couldnt help but wonder how my body would feel with out it.

About  1 month after going off the medicine, I DID start to feel noticeable differences. I felt I recovered quicker and my body didnt have its normal aches and pains. Obviously I would still be sore or tired when I had hard workouts, but I didnt have the achy joints I used to. I started to see myself get faster and not hurt as bad at that faster pace. I was very happy with my decision to go off the medicine.

Then it was time for a 3 month check up and I went to get my blood results redone. Now, lets be real here. I have been on medicine my WHOLE life. Do you really think my cholesterol was going to stay the same with out it?? OF course not, I expected that it would go up slightly until my body remembers how to clear the cholesterol on its own again.

So what happened?? Well:

I literally almost cried. How could I eat so healthy, live such a healthy lifestyle, but have numbers so OUTRAGEOUS. On the bright side, my "good cholesterol" or HDL, did go up. In fact my good cholesterol was very high and made my doctor feel comfortable enough that I wasnt going to drop dead. Good cholesterol is a factor of living a healthy lifestyle--eating healthy fats, and working out. My Bad cholesterol, or LDL, on the other hand. Yikes.

However, This is what my medicine used to control. It only makes sense that it would go up.  So what was our decision?? We decided to give it another 3 months. It only makes sense that my body would still need more time to figure out how to rid the cholesterol in my body. I also began taking a supplement called red yeast rice, coq10 and fish oil. They are supposed to act as cholesterol lowering agents without the statin. I was willing to give anything a try, as long as I didnt have to go back on my statin. I clearly dont want to have a heart attack either, but I really want to try to see if I can stay off these meds.

I will go back for my next 3 month checkup in December. I am hoping for the best. However, I recently came across this article which talks about how doctors are FINALLY starting to look at other life factors and not just numbers before prescribing cholesterol lowering medicines. I hope that they continue to urge a healthy lifestyle and that everyone takes their health seriously. Have you had your blood checked lately??