Is it really important to take medicine?i was thinking of controlling it by diet control and excercise?and possibilities of risk i am 33 year old male, i am pure vegetarian, recently i found out my cholesterol is 258 with hdl 40 and ldl 178, my triglyceri

You : You should discuss this with your doctor but a 2 month period off Atorvastatin poses no significant risk. By the way, these statins are very safe and have been proven to reduce heart attacks and deaths. High cholesterol and diabetes (you appear to have both) increase the risk of heart disease and stroke over many years. 2 months will not make a big difference. There is no question that exercise and weight loss are the best treatments for most of what afflicts you. Even on a vegetarian diet a person can be overweight, have fatty liver, high cholesterol and diabetes. Keep you doc informed. And good luck on your efforts.

While : While improving your diet is definitely worthwhile, you aren't going to get your cholesterol down adequately without medication with the numbers you quoted. Dietary changes typically lower LDL by 15-20% or less; 30% is the best you can hope for under the most rigorous of circumstances. If you are already eating a vegan diet, your results will probably at the lower end of the range. You need to lower yours by about 50%, given that you appear to be diabetic. A two month delay in starting medication probably won't hurt you, but it's a bit of a waste, as it is virtually impossible to lower your cholesterol sufficiently this way. Statin medications have benefits that go beyond just the LDL numbers. Many experts recommend that all diabetics take statins, regardless of their LDL level.

Try a statin: This is serious business. Vegetarianism is the moral high ground but its proponents make claims that are simply not true. When you control for vegetarians having other healthy habits, the benefit disappears for longevity and all major disease categories. Diet has much less effect on cholesterol and heart risk than genetics, though exercise will help some. Follow your physician's best advice.