Simvastatin caution

[Maryannonsilk]

If you Google Cholesterol Con it makes it clear that far from being beneficial very low cholesterol numbers are dangerous ...
Because I won't take Statins I am viewed as a non compliant patient at my practice ... Without Statin intervention my total count was 3.2 ... Statins would not have made sense in my situation any way

[Superchip]

I reckon that the writing is on the wall for statins, there is so much clinical evidence that this evil drug actually does so much more harm than good, although not to the balance sheets of the pharma's.
I wouldn't touch them with a bargepole.

Superchip

[etmsreec]

I really hope that Superchip is right and that the present plague of statins is over. Atorvastatin certainly did my brother-in-law no good. He's not diabetic but the GP seems to have automatically prescribed them to him. It's left him struggling to walk where he was very fit and very active before.
Thankfully, neither my diabetologist nor my GP see any point in putting me on statins. My cholesterol is ok and I'm on enough medication that I'm not keen on picking up anything else!

[dethleff]

Took Simvaastatin for many years, no problem. Then the cripling leg pains started, read no end of complaints about this drug
so I stopped taking them, leg pains eventually went.

Strange thing I told my Dr I had stopped them,You know what he said .............nothing.

[borofergie]

Yep - statins, some BP drugs and Metformin all have hair loss as a side-effect. We can't win! It would seem logical that the original substance that statins are based on might have some of the same side-effects, so watch closely.

Glad I came off the metformin then. Hair is at a premium on my head.

[JMM]

I had the same trouble with 40mg Simvastatin. I found I was getting leg cramps, so I stopped them for a week and the cramps stopped too. After trying several other brands, I am now on Ezetrol and don't have any trouble at all.

[Indy51]

I really wish doctors would stop treating risk factors while giving hopeless advice to people living with real diseases like diabetes. It is way past time this statin con was over and done with

[viviennem]

Yep - statins, some BP drugs and Metformin all have hair loss as a side-effect. We can't win! It would seem logical that the original substance that statins are based on might have some of the same side-effects, so watch closely.

Glad I came off the metformin then. Hair is at a premium on my head.

It's getting that way for me too! It's okay for you - bald men are sexy!

Mmm - Yul Brynner . Why is it that all the men I fancy(ied) are dead?

Viv

Tee hee! I've just derailed my own thread! Sorry, folks.

[Defren]

Yep - statins, some BP drugs and Metformin all have hair loss as a side-effect. We can't win! It would seem logical that the original substance that statins are based on might have some of the same side-effects, so watch closely.

Glad I came off the metformin then. Hair is at a premium on my head.

It's getting that way for me too! It's okay for you - bald men are sexy!

Mmm - Yul Brynner . Why is it that all the men I fancy(ied) are dead?

Viv

Tee hee! I've just derailed my own thread! Sorry, folks.

Naughty girl Viv

I was fine on Simvastatin, as soon as I went onto Atorvastatin my hair started to fall out and not in little bits either. It's about 6 weeks since I stopped taking them and my hair is still coming out.

[mylife]

I took mysel off simvastatin in June 2011 although my GP would not agree with the research I had done into leg camps and serious problems walking. Clearly the GP's are under orders to prescribe them and will not (or not allowed to) recognise the side effects. In an attempt to improve my walking and muscle strength I started taking CQ10 supplements (120mg) daily. Now after 15 months I am much stronger, muscle aches have gone and I can walk again. Speaking again to my GP he still does not agree with me and says that no medical trials have been done on CQ10. But I quess that this is simply because the supplement is not on any prescription list as they cost a lot more than simvistation. Didn't I read that statins cost just £16 per year to prescribe ! OK so supplments are expensive but what price freedom from pain ? But if they had trialed latest strain of cheap statins we would not have been put in this position in the first place !! Didn't I also read in the press that the NHS plan to prescribe statins to everyone over the age of 50 ? Well by the time they all reach 60 I wonder how they will feel ? What really bugs me is that the alternatives to statins are considered too expensive and therefore are not prescribed, when I challenged my GP on this he just ignored me !! I thought GP's are here to help !! The trust in mine is disappearing fast !!

[metalmagpie]

I had to give up Statins because of the usual problems, plus provable damage to my liver. I have been on Metformin since. Yesterday my Doctor prescribed for me Ezetrol. She reckons it works in a different way and my be better for me. Time will tell but ti may be worth asking your GP is Statins are NBG. (I should mention that all the possible side effects of Ezetrol are similar to those of Statins)

[viviennem]

I had to give up Statins because of the usual problems, plus provable damage to my liver. I have been on Metformin since. Yesterday my Doctor prescribed for me Ezetrol. She reckons it works in a different way and my be better for me. Time will tell but ti may be worth asking your GP is Statins are NBG. (I should mention that all the possible side effects of Ezetrol are similar to those of Statins)

Check Duane Graveline's website (spacedoc.net) to see what he has to say about it. Mind you, he's biased!

Viv

[xyzzy]

I started taking CQ10 supplements (120mg) daily

The cheapest place by far to buy CQ10 is from puritans pride. This is an American company but it has a .co.uk web site to order from. You can get six hundred 120mg caps of CQ10 for the same price as Holland & Barrett sell thirty as. The product is in identical packaging as you get in the UK so in sealed containers etc. They will take around 10 days to arrive and you may get caught by customs who will demand an extra 15% but even that still makes them far far cheaper than anywhere I found in the UK.

Hope that can be of some help.

[dwibley]

I stopped taking Simvastastin over a year ago now. All it did was cause me abdominal cramps, upset stomachs, nausea, itchiness & rashes which all disappeared when I stopped taking them.

Personally I think statins should only be offered to people with higher than normal cholestorol levels and not people with normal levels like myself. Far too many side effects in my opinion.

[Hopeful Alfie]

Some 5 years ago my GP said my Cholesterol was about 6.7 so he prescribed Simvastatin but I literally came out in spots, so I stopped taking it. I had heard that porridge brings down cholesterol, so I began having it for breakfast - with nothing else but skimmed milk, water and some Splenda. Down came my Cholesterol to 4.2. So I have continued this harmless "natural medication" since then. OK, so some would need to monitor its effect on the BS, but I would recommend others to try it in case it work for them too.