The FastDay Forum

[Debs]

Hello All,

I am thinking about coming off Lipitor which I have been on for several years after my level was found to be 8.8. Despite diet changes I was unable to reduce it very far which led us to conclude that there had to be genetic factors involved. It is now 3.3 with statins, but I am not keen to keep taking them indefinitely.
Has anyone who has been on the 5:2 for a while come off statins and maintained low cholesterol levels?
As far as I know I have now risk factors in the family so I am not high risk particularly.
I gather it takes about a week for a low dose to leave the system so I thought I might give it a couple of months and get tested again.
Any thoughts welcome!

[carorees]

Just had a quick check and see that the half-life of the active ingredient is 20-30 hours, so if you stopped, you would have the equivalent of half a dose still working after a day and a bit, a quarter after 2.5 days, an eighth after 4 days and a sixteenth after 5 and a bit days. So, yes ifvyou test after a week you should get a realistic reading of your untreated levels.

When you do get tested don't fast beforehand because cholesterol goes up during fasting. Second, remember that it is the HDL cholesterol that is key to heart disease risk so you need not just the total cholesterol reading but HDL as well. The ratio of total to HDL should be under 4.5

Good luck!