Poll - side effects from statins?

[brdavies]

I'm in the category that statins are probably worth the risk at the moment. Currently taking a low dose of rosuvastatin, with the specific intent of dropping LDL down below 1.7, which is the point at which studies show it will tend to dissolve soft plaque in coronary arteries - my cardiologist is trying to reverse some plaque buildup that we know I have based on several heart scans, before trying more direct and invasive methods. Luckily I have a zero calcification score across the board, so no hardened plaque to worry about. The soft plaque is quite mild, and could be a direct result of high blood sugars over the past 3 or 4 years causing inflammation of cardiac arteries.

Coupled that with my new diet & exercise regime, and my lipids are now 3.4 total, 0.54 trig, 2.09 HDL, 1.03 LDL, which is a massive "improvement" in 2 months. It will take a few months to see an effect, but that should be enough to cause some change if change can be caused.

But you can believe I'm watching for side effects closely. If I get a sniff of any i'll drop them in a heartbeat. At least for me it's "Take this because we think it might fix an actual problem we can see" rather than "Take this because it seems like a good idea sort of on general terms."

So far after 2.5 months no side effects.

Edit: P.S. I should mention he's also got me on 300mg CoQ-10 supplements as well to cover its loss from the statin.

 

[donnellysdogs]

Good for the Coq10, most gp's don't mention them. Glad the cardiologist did.


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[sread81114]

Started on Simvastatin, cramps in calves and thigh muscles every night that would make me leap out of bed with pain. Stopped taking them and cramps stopped. Then started 20mg Atorvastatin, have cramps about 2 nights out of 7, not as bad but still not nice. Calf muscles always feel 'tight' though.


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[elliek69]

I have just ended a phone conversation with gp and im at my wits end! I have been taking various statins for years and have had a number of side effects. Why is it that gp dismisses my symptoms and leaves me feeling as if im imagining them? I have had severe joint and muscle pain and it is getting me down as I am so limited in what I can do. I have decided tostop taking statins for 6 months to see if there is any real improvement but I dont think he feels im making the right decision. Am I putting myself at risk?

 

[Totto]

I have just ended a phone conversation with gp and im at my wits end! I have been taking various statins for years and have had a number of side effects. Why is it that gp dismisses my symptoms and leaves me feeling as if im imagining them? I have had severe joint and muscle pain and it is getting me down as I am so limited in what I can do. I have decided tostop taking statins for 6 months to see if there is any real improvement but I dont think he feels im making the right decision. Am I putting myself at risk?

Why were you given statins in the first place? And what is your cholesterol breakdown now?

I have heard, but I cant say I know, that statins have very limited benefits for women. And I think the risk with severe pain that limits your ability to exercise has to be reckoned with too.

High LDL and total cholesterol can be a symptom of hypothyroidism.

 

[IanD]

I have just ended a phone conversation with gp and im at my wits end! I have been taking various statins for years and have had a number of side effects. Why is it that gp dismisses my symptoms and leaves me feeling as if im imagining them? I have had severe joint and muscle pain and it is getting me down as I am so limited in what I can do. I have decided tostop taking statins for 6 months to see if there is any real improvement but I dont think he feels im making the right decision. Am I putting myself at risk?

I stopped statins for the same reason 10 years ago I'd rather have a theoretical risk than be crippled by a drug supposed to be for my health. As far as the evidence I have seen, the risk is small, & the possible benefits are small.

BUT note - we are not health professionals, nor are we medically qualified - advice is given from experience & consulting technical papers.

 

[elliek69]

Why were yit was worth puttu given statins in the first place? And what is your cholesterol breakdown now?

I have heard, but I cant say I know, that statins have very limited benefits for women. And I think the risk with severe pain that limits your ability to exercise has to be reckoned with too.

High LDL and total cholesterol can be a symptom of hypothyroidism.

I was put on statins when the diabetic clinic decided it was worth putting all patients on asprin and statins. At the time my cholestrol was 4.9. While onstatins my levels came down to 3.8. I have decid3d to come off them as they may give me low ccholesterol but I am so imobile I have virtually given up all exercise. Some days I struggle to just manage basic daily activities

 

[elliek69]

I stopped statins for the same reais that I can hardly manage daily activities let alone on 10 years ago I'd rather have a theoretical risk than be crippled by a drug supposed to be for my health. As far as the evidence I have seen, the risk is small, & the possible benefits are small.

BUT note - we are not health professionals, nor are we medically qualified - advice is given from experience & consulting technical papers.

I torally agree with your thinking. My main reason for giving up on statins Is that I can barely manage my daily activities let alone exercise! I have been referred for physio therapy but im not sure it will help. My muscles are week and I have hardly any energy. I reckon taking little or no exercise is just as bad as having slightly raised cholestrol.

 

[Indy51]

You're the one who has to live with the side effects day in and day out, not your doctor. I think decisions about quality of life can only be made by the person involved and nobody else, no matter how many letters they may have after their name. JMO.

 

[Indy51]

Here's just some of the research I've found on the subject of women and statins:

http://www.whp-apsf.ca/pdf/statinsEvidenceCaution.pdf
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3303886/ - from the conclusion: "If our findings are generalizable, clinical and public health recommendations regarding the ‘dangers’ of cholesterol should be revised. This is especially true for women, for whom moderately elevated cholesterol (by current standards) may prove to be not only harmless but even beneficial."

Plus a couple of articles:

http://www.virginiahopkinstestkits.com/statinswomen.html
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1973295,00.html

 

[jack412]

I have just ended a phone conversation with gp and im at my wits end! I have been taking various statins for years and have had a number of side effects. Why is it that gp dismisses my symptoms and leaves me feeling as if im imagining them? I have had severe joint and muscle pain and it is getting me down as I am so limited in what I can do. I have decided tostop taking statins for 6 months to see if there is any real improvement but I dont think he feels im making the right decision. Am I putting myself at risk?

just because some side effects are very rare, it doesn't mean you don't have them

 

[donnellysdogs]

None of my health professionals believed either!! Its so frustrating, because I know that none of them officially reported to MHRA as they deny the leg muscle and heart/chest pains are statin related...


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[Scandichic]

Great post @Spiker !

I voted yes as I had severe but random muscle pains in my hands which completely cleared up when I stopped taking the statins.

Here is the position of Professor Rory Collins (who was the person who complained about the discrepancies in the recent BMJ articles)

"Professor Collins has said previously that evidence shows statins are “very well tolerated” by patients, with a small increase in diabetes and one in 10,000 patients suffering muscle weakness."

Full article here - http://www.independent.co.uk/life-s...-who-warned-of-drugs-sideeffects-9388337.html

Now, the total membership of this forum is listed on the main page here as 101,703 people. If we assume that every single one of those people have a) taken statins and b) completed the poll and that c) the complications people note above are muscle problems then according to the Good Professor 10 people (at most) would have ticked the complications.

The fact that at the time of writing 543 people have looked at this poll and more than 50% of those voting have had side effects is kind of weird if you believe the Professor; according to him 0.01% of those 543 would have had muscle problems or in effect none of them.

Remember the Watergate scandal and the inside informer Deep Throat's advice to Bernstein and Woodward to 'follow the money'. Sounds like that advice is still worth following...

Best

Dillinger

Brain fog. Found it quite frightening when I couldn't remember friends names. Stopped taking it. Can remember everyone's name now. It's quite impressive that this one man can sell his soul and we all reap the rewards. Why is he allowed to be so powerful

 

[phoenix]

There is another side of the debate which needs to be included if people and in particular women ( ref: Indy's post) are going to make judgements for themselves
There are trials that have included women with diabetes. (many of the older trials included very few women and women without diabetes do have much lower risks of CVD than men)
Unfortunately those of us with diabetes are more susceptible to CVD and women with diabetes are three times more likely to develop it than women without diabetes.
This net doctor article. summarises the recent trials . He also points out that some people have side effects and that statins to lower cholesterol are just one tool and that reducing other risk factors is also important.
I don't take them at the moment but I would consider it if my cholesterol levels rose (in fact they did recently and I would have started taking them but they fell again because it was actually due to untreated hypothyroid. I also took them for about 6 months when first diagnosed and had no side effects.

And if you would like to see the views of the latest arch villain, Prof, Sir Rory Collins, here is a very recent lecture warning though, it isn't a made for you tube video and you need full screen to read the slides.

 

[diabolic sister]

I cant sleep on simvastatin. Have stopped for the second time. Dreading telling my GP, she was aghast last time and looked at me as if I had a death wish. Well I will die from lack of sleep if I continue, and diabetics are advised to get plenty of sleep. Am still baffled by the whole thing 18 months on from diagnosis. :-(

 

[Kat100]

I voted no , for the moment I seem to tolerate them .....x

 

[stuffedolive]

I was doing lots of hard exercise when I was put on simvastatin so I didn't immediately notice the onset of muscle soreness/degradation - I just put id down to the exercise. However, I eventually realised that the soreness was lasting all week from one race to the next rather than a bit of DOMS lasting a couple of days. Also I saw my performances starting to fall off a cliff. Eventually I twigged and asked the GP for a creatine-kinase test, which I had after a 2 week layoff. The result was a level of muscle degradation similar to having just run a marathon!.
I now control my cholesterol successfully with a lowcarb diet, garlic and benecol drinks.

 

[oldgreymare]

Interestingly, even though I had high LDL when first diagnosed with Type 1 in Singapore my endocrinologist at the time suggested lower carb diet and exercise to control cholesterol. My current endocrinologist suggested statins but was OK when I declined and suggested that I may wish to try garlic. My HDL and trig levels are good. Also my hs-C reactive protein (inflammation marker) levels are low-normal risk.

There has been at least one literature review which concluded that statins have questionable value for post-menopausal women. Also some recent studies that have concluded the CVD protective effects of statins may not be related to effect on LDL (statins do not appear to impact HDL or triglycerides). But protective effects of statins may only be relevant to patients who already have CVD and benefit may be much less in older individuals - see http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/diabetes/treatments/statins_and_diabetes_001904.htm

 

[Spiker]

@phoenix good points and thanks for putting that point of view. I agree, I would take them if I could not control my important lipid measures (ie not just total cholesterol) and if I could find one without side effects for me (I have yet to try atorvastatin but had unacceptable side effects on simvastatin and one other). But I would do so as a last resort, conscious that the CVD protective effect is there statistically for the relevant subgroups, but the mechanism is unknown, and the effects of interrupting normal cholesterol metabolism are also unknown.

 

[wee_hun]

used simvastatin for 3 years. by the end of this time i was so sore i could hardly get out of bed. as my cholestorol was just over 4 and i was prescribed them as a precaution i stopped taking them. within a month i was back walking miles every day and haven't looked back