I made the decision yesterday to unilaterally stop taking Lipitor. I’m 79, and losing short-term memory rapidly. I’ve never been one to take supplements because my mother taught us to eat, and provided, real food, even though it was not always easy. Fresh fish are expensive, so I don’t have a work-around for that.
I had just this morning watched Joe Rogan’s YouTube interview with Dr. Aseem Mulhatra on statins, and the doctor mentioned side effects that might could be attributed to statins, and this was among them. Many of the community peoples’ comments included memory loss as a consequence of taking statins.
May I take this opportunity to tell you how very, very much I enjoy and learn from you and Dr. Bret on Darkhouse? Ihave the sweatshirt to prove it, and look forward to wearing it this winter, hoping to elicit some curiosity and conversations.
I was put on anti-depressants (off label) for insomnia as a young mom. My daughter was about 18 mo. old, so sleeping through the night reliably, and she had just weaned herself from nursing. No one told me that insomnia could be caused by the hormonal changes associated with cessation of nursing. I was also never told that these drugs are dependency forming. I was not told about any side-effects at all, nor was I given any counsel about lifestyle changes I could make that would help. After many years of "set and forget," I began to question what I was doing with these drugs and tried to taper with the advice of a medical practitioner. Even w/o going "cold turkey," I still suffered horrifying withdrawal that completely upended my life for a while. Honestly, I have never felt worse. I had to go back on the meds because I could not live with the withdrawal. That pretty much ended any trust of pharma and much of my trust in the medical field in general. I am on my second tapering attempt now, and it has taken over a year to decrease from 50 to 12.5 mg. The final stages involve taking a liquid form of the antidepressant so I can taper mg by mg. I had to research on my own to find a psychiatrist who specializes is helping people get OFF meds and use other means to control their depression/anxiety, etc. Naturally, none of this is covered by my insurance so I'm paying entirely out of pocket. I'm one of the lucky ones. To anyone reading this, if you encourage people in your life to get off SSRIs, please know that without adequate support and a plan to go VERY slowly (especially if one has been taking them for longer than 6-9 mo.), the withdrawal can be deeply unpleasant and distressing. I'm not saying don't do it, but proceed with caution and lots of research.
Let’s see a Pharma company makes one drug, funds fraudulent studies to prove the drug is a miracle drug and then demonizes other options? I feel like I have heard this story before.
The heart group is aptly nicknamed A-Ha! (As in “A-Ha: that’s who’s responsible for this total mess in healthy heart recommendations.”) Wonderful column, Heather. It’s been a long time since I’ve trusted anything the FDA or the CDC or any other of the alphabet-soup agencies approves of. If something says, “not approved by the FDA” I figure it’s not only probably safe but also effective. The world is truly upside down. Same with the jab - which I was admittedly really nervous about at first so decided to wait for at least three months to see how things went since Paul Offit told Peter Attia that he (Paul) was going to wait that long. Then I heard that New York city’s Krispy Kreme shops would give one a free donut for the rest of the year if you showed your vaccine card and I just knew the jab was more than just a way to keep our health. Nothing I’ve heard or read since has changed my mind. And most of my ability to stay away from all that nonsense has been because of you and Bret and Dark Horse -I can’t thank you enough.
For those concerned about statins, I highly recommend Dr. Malcolm Kendrick’s book The Clot Thickens. Solid science and great wit, not a bad combination. Like Heather’s column here!
Thank you for this. Herbal medicines face a similar issue. "Science" tries to pinpoint what "they" believe works and do "the science" with that single ingredient. When it doesn't work, they shout, "it doesn't work, trust us, we know!" They refuse to step back and look at things as a whole. I can go on and on and on. Thank you to both you and Bret. You two have helped to keep me sane the past few years.
Oct 3, 2023·edited Oct 3, 2023Liked by Heather Heying
Without ignoring the thesis of this piece regarding the Pharma machinations, I am inclined to believe the Ray Peat metabolic health folks who have long warned about the danger of PUFAs, including Omega 3s.
In their quest to make sure we all "trust the FDA/Medical Societies/Public Health they seem to be making it MORE obvious to not trust anything they promote. That is, if you have critical thinking skills and any common sense!
The trouble with science is that it is so messy and hard to understand. Better to go with the marketers. No equivocation there! I get to feel good about myself INSTANTLY, no research required!
@Doomberg wrote about an allegedly ground-breaking cancer medication a few months ago. Seeing something fishy (pun intended) the team came up with a framework to evaluate such claims.
my doctor tested both my husband and I this past spring for our annual whatevers and one of her recommendations based on the results is that we needed more fish oil. I've never thought about this whole thing around fish oil, but I can definitely see how this may all be bs.
Hi Heather, unrelated to your post but related to your podcast my husband seems to have also had the Covid bout Bret has had recently. We are both unvaxxed but had continued ivermectin prophylactically. He tested negative but all his symptoms lead us to believe it was Covid. I did not get it although we live in a small condo. I think my vitamin D was much higher as I was spending LOTS of time in the sun without sunscreen this year and unfortunately his work does not allow the same benefit. His sore throat had cough lingered for almost 2 weeks despite a round of daily ivermectin and the other supplements. We also live in WA so it was intriguing to me when I heard Bret’s story on your podcast and I’m assuming you didn’t get it either. Any thoughts on why? When we had it in 2021 we all got it (us and our daughter) and we were living in a much larger home. Lastly, thank you both! Your podcast and Natural Selections are weekly blessings.
Yep. You are right. Who can a guy trust. I trust you two a lot. One of the many things I love about you two is that you admit when you are wrong, update, AND admit it.
On topics like this, you may want to check out Examine.com. They are actually more nerdy than you two and that's hard to do. They spend less effort on opinions and more effort reviewing and cataloging studies. I'd be surprised if you don't find them honest actors.
There is by the way another pharma fish oil called Lovaza which also contains DHA ethyl esters, the advertising looks very similar - without the stink lines on the fish. "The most common adverse reactions (incidence >3% and greater than placebo) were eructation, dyspepsia, and taste perversion." It seems to be off-patent now.
Dosage is 4 capsules a day, 120 capsules cost $881+ according to a quick google. Maybe compare that to the local Sushi place and avoid taste perversion.
I made the decision yesterday to unilaterally stop taking Lipitor. I’m 79, and losing short-term memory rapidly. I’ve never been one to take supplements because my mother taught us to eat, and provided, real food, even though it was not always easy. Fresh fish are expensive, so I don’t have a work-around for that.
I had just this morning watched Joe Rogan’s YouTube interview with Dr. Aseem Mulhatra on statins, and the doctor mentioned side effects that might could be attributed to statins, and this was among them. Many of the community peoples’ comments included memory loss as a consequence of taking statins.
May I take this opportunity to tell you how very, very much I enjoy and learn from you and Dr. Bret on Darkhouse? Ihave the sweatshirt to prove it, and look forward to wearing it this winter, hoping to elicit some curiosity and conversations.
I was put on anti-depressants (off label) for insomnia as a young mom. My daughter was about 18 mo. old, so sleeping through the night reliably, and she had just weaned herself from nursing. No one told me that insomnia could be caused by the hormonal changes associated with cessation of nursing. I was also never told that these drugs are dependency forming. I was not told about any side-effects at all, nor was I given any counsel about lifestyle changes I could make that would help. After many years of "set and forget," I began to question what I was doing with these drugs and tried to taper with the advice of a medical practitioner. Even w/o going "cold turkey," I still suffered horrifying withdrawal that completely upended my life for a while. Honestly, I have never felt worse. I had to go back on the meds because I could not live with the withdrawal. That pretty much ended any trust of pharma and much of my trust in the medical field in general. I am on my second tapering attempt now, and it has taken over a year to decrease from 50 to 12.5 mg. The final stages involve taking a liquid form of the antidepressant so I can taper mg by mg. I had to research on my own to find a psychiatrist who specializes is helping people get OFF meds and use other means to control their depression/anxiety, etc. Naturally, none of this is covered by my insurance so I'm paying entirely out of pocket. I'm one of the lucky ones. To anyone reading this, if you encourage people in your life to get off SSRIs, please know that without adequate support and a plan to go VERY slowly (especially if one has been taking them for longer than 6-9 mo.), the withdrawal can be deeply unpleasant and distressing. I'm not saying don't do it, but proceed with caution and lots of research.
Let’s see a Pharma company makes one drug, funds fraudulent studies to prove the drug is a miracle drug and then demonizes other options? I feel like I have heard this story before.
The heart group is aptly nicknamed A-Ha! (As in “A-Ha: that’s who’s responsible for this total mess in healthy heart recommendations.”) Wonderful column, Heather. It’s been a long time since I’ve trusted anything the FDA or the CDC or any other of the alphabet-soup agencies approves of. If something says, “not approved by the FDA” I figure it’s not only probably safe but also effective. The world is truly upside down. Same with the jab - which I was admittedly really nervous about at first so decided to wait for at least three months to see how things went since Paul Offit told Peter Attia that he (Paul) was going to wait that long. Then I heard that New York city’s Krispy Kreme shops would give one a free donut for the rest of the year if you showed your vaccine card and I just knew the jab was more than just a way to keep our health. Nothing I’ve heard or read since has changed my mind. And most of my ability to stay away from all that nonsense has been because of you and Bret and Dark Horse -I can’t thank you enough.
For those concerned about statins, I highly recommend Dr. Malcolm Kendrick’s book The Clot Thickens. Solid science and great wit, not a bad combination. Like Heather’s column here!
Thank you for this. Herbal medicines face a similar issue. "Science" tries to pinpoint what "they" believe works and do "the science" with that single ingredient. When it doesn't work, they shout, "it doesn't work, trust us, we know!" They refuse to step back and look at things as a whole. I can go on and on and on. Thank you to both you and Bret. You two have helped to keep me sane the past few years.
My Goodness, that mineral oil placebo group was thoroughly abused. Shameful.
The increases in interleukin-6, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, and 48.7% in interleukin-1β?!
"Not so fast, buster." Inflammation overload!
48.7% % for a pro-inflammatory cytokine? Wow...
They ought to have know this would happen with mineral oil. Oh, that's right. Silly me. I'm sure this was by design.
Again, shameful.
Without ignoring the thesis of this piece regarding the Pharma machinations, I am inclined to believe the Ray Peat metabolic health folks who have long warned about the danger of PUFAs, including Omega 3s.
Here's Georgi Dinkov (Haidut) on the subject:
https://raypeatforum.com/community/threads/pufa-are-potent-immunosuppresive-agents.39389/
*edit* - lol @ Endnote 3 - Dr. Demento!
In their quest to make sure we all "trust the FDA/Medical Societies/Public Health they seem to be making it MORE obvious to not trust anything they promote. That is, if you have critical thinking skills and any common sense!
The trouble with science is that it is so messy and hard to understand. Better to go with the marketers. No equivocation there! I get to feel good about myself INSTANTLY, no research required!
@Doomberg wrote about an allegedly ground-breaking cancer medication a few months ago. Seeing something fishy (pun intended) the team came up with a framework to evaluate such claims.
1. Who is involved?
2. Where was it published?
3. Where are we in the scientific process?
4. What is the scientific context?
5. What can we expect next?
https://doomberg.substack.com/p/hold-my-beer
my doctor tested both my husband and I this past spring for our annual whatevers and one of her recommendations based on the results is that we needed more fish oil. I've never thought about this whole thing around fish oil, but I can definitely see how this may all be bs.
Hi Heather, unrelated to your post but related to your podcast my husband seems to have also had the Covid bout Bret has had recently. We are both unvaxxed but had continued ivermectin prophylactically. He tested negative but all his symptoms lead us to believe it was Covid. I did not get it although we live in a small condo. I think my vitamin D was much higher as I was spending LOTS of time in the sun without sunscreen this year and unfortunately his work does not allow the same benefit. His sore throat had cough lingered for almost 2 weeks despite a round of daily ivermectin and the other supplements. We also live in WA so it was intriguing to me when I heard Bret’s story on your podcast and I’m assuming you didn’t get it either. Any thoughts on why? When we had it in 2021 we all got it (us and our daughter) and we were living in a much larger home. Lastly, thank you both! Your podcast and Natural Selections are weekly blessings.
Yep. You are right. Who can a guy trust. I trust you two a lot. One of the many things I love about you two is that you admit when you are wrong, update, AND admit it.
On topics like this, you may want to check out Examine.com. They are actually more nerdy than you two and that's hard to do. They spend less effort on opinions and more effort reviewing and cataloging studies. I'd be surprised if you don't find them honest actors.
Interesting- I tossed all supplements about 10 years ago. I prefer food source.
There is by the way another pharma fish oil called Lovaza which also contains DHA ethyl esters, the advertising looks very similar - without the stink lines on the fish. "The most common adverse reactions (incidence >3% and greater than placebo) were eructation, dyspepsia, and taste perversion." It seems to be off-patent now.
Dosage is 4 capsules a day, 120 capsules cost $881+ according to a quick google. Maybe compare that to the local Sushi place and avoid taste perversion.