Statins: To take or not take...

[kateincornwall]

I was prescribed statins about four years ago , on the basis that my cholesterol was too high . Since then, yes it has dropped but is this the statin or a better diet and exercise ? Having suffered from serious aching legs for all this time and being told politely to put up with it , I`ve decided to get tough, its my body and am sick of muscle pains .

 

[Dave E]

I have this week decided to stop taking Simvastatin of my own accord after 3 years due to ongoing issues of numbness in my hands and feet and aching legs. Interestingly after 3 days all the symptoms have all but gone.

I'm sure I'll get the lecture when I next go to the doctors but my cholesterol was never high anyway and it was"sold" to me as preventative.

As an active 44 year old I'm not ready to be crippled just yet thankyou very much.

Never again.

 

[Daphne917]

I was prescribed statins upon my T2 diagnosis. I took one as prescribed and honestly felt as if I were tripping on acid. It scared me a LOT and I was sick all night. I told my mom and a friend, both who told me some horror stories. I also did some reading on this forum and various links and said, "never again". At my next GP appointment, I told him I wasn't taking them and he argued with me (my cholesterol was only a *fraction* over normal and by the next appointment was completely normal.) He said not to listen to "people on the internet with no medical training who don't know what they are talking about." I told him that I wasn't taking them because of the reaction *I* had and *I* was responsible for *my* body. He said he was going to have to add my refusal to my chart so it was "in writing". I told him to "go for it!"

When I told my DN that I'd read that statins can raise BS levels in some people she was v dismissive and told me that I shouldn't believe everything that i read in the Daily Mail - her face was a picture when I replied that it was rom the statin manufacturers own website!

 

[nigelho]

My surgery tried me on statins a few years ago BUT LUCKILY I was very sick after 2 tablet and had a terrible headache.. GP stopped the sinvaststin and gave me another and that was worst. It made me extremely sick and needed powerful migrane type pain killers. NO MORE STATINS FOR ME.

 

[dawnmc]

My partner was put on statins, and he suffered a massive panic attack driving over the Woodhead Pass (google it). Obviously that was a no no, he stopped them.

 

[Clivethedrive]

I stopped taking statins early last year because of concerning reports I'd read and some symptoms I had, then in December I had a stroke so was put straight back on them....don't know where my thoughts on them are now.

Sorry to hear this ,hope your getting better, it is for each of us to decide .whwn my doc prescribed me statins he laughed and said " at least you'll not die of a heart attack! I still gave them up after taking them for 2 1/2 years , now feeling much better.

 

[kevinfitzgerald]

I feel like the odd one out here !

I was put on statins about 7/8 years ago after a couple of years refusing to go on them. I couldn't keep my cholesterol down so I decided to try them out. Virtually within a few days my levels were dramatically improved and I haven't had any side effects from taking them. Or nothing that I realise anyhow.

They appear to work for me.

Is there anyone else out there that also have positive experiences to share with reference to taking statins !

I really do feel like I'm the odd one out here !

KevFitz

 

[Pasha]

You are not alone, I have been taking them for well over two decades.

 

[noblehead]

I really do feel like I'm the odd one out here !

No your not the odd one out Kevin, we have had numerous posts over the years on the subject of statins and many a member have said they take statins and tolerate them well and see the improvements in their cholesterol levels, like most meds some suffer side-effects as where others don't.

 

[jack412]

there are millions of people that are fine on statins and it's unfortunate when there are side effects that cause them to be stopped

click ‘view’ right hand side
http://www.researchgate.net/publica...olled_trials_to_aid_individual_patient_choice

Results: Among 14 primary prevention trials (46,262 participants),

statin therapy increased diabetes by absolute risk of 0.5% (95% CI 0.1–1%, p¼0.012),

meanwhile reducing death by a similar extent: 0.5% (0.9 to 0.2%, p¼0.003).

In the 15 secondary prevention RCTs (37,618 participants), statins decreased death by 1.4% (2.1 to 0.7%, p<0.001).

There were no other statin-attributable symptoms,

although asymptomatic liver transaminase elevation was 0.4% more frequent with statins across all trials. Serious adverse events and withdrawals were similar in both arms.


Conclusions:

Only a small minority of symptoms reported on statins are genuinely due to the statins:

almost all would occur just as frequently on placebo.


Only development of new-onset diabetes mellitus was significantly higher on statins than placebo; nevertheless only 1 in 5 of new cases were actually caused by statins. Higher statin doses produce a detectable effect, but even still the proportion attributable to statins is variable: for asymptomatic liver enzyme elevation, the majority are attributable to the higher dose; in contrast for muscle aches, the majority are not.


this study looked at the history of 60,000 Diabetics after av. 2.7

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/landia/article/PIIS2213-8587(14)70173-1/abstract

retinopathy HR=0.6 [decrease of risk]

neuropathy HR=0.66

gangrene of the foot HR=0.88

diabetic nephropathy HR=0.97

[neutral..........HR=1.0 ]

diabetes HR=1·17 [increase of risk]



the way I look at it ..if nothing else take statin for neuropathy, retinopathy and gangrene of the foot

 

[kevinfitzgerald]

No your not the odd one out Kevin, we have had numerous posts over the years on the subject of statins and many a member have said they take statins and tolerate them well and see the improvements in their cholesterol levels, like most meds some suffer side-effects as where others don't.

Thank you noblehead.

It's just that since joining this fantastic forum I have only ever read personal stories on a number of threads from people having bad experiences from taking them.

Also just thinking that this could have an effect on some newcomers (already scared) deciding to go against medical advice and refusing to take them when infact they could actually be very beneficial for them !

Anyway I'm not that odd then

Thanks

 

[Dave E]

It took 3 years of feeling fine with me but eventually for whatever reasons the side effects started.

 

[Winnie53]

Jack, as always thanks for all the links. I'll take a look at them this weekend.

It's commonly reported that side effects are sometimes down played, ignored, and not reported by doctors, so I think it's important to sort out whether symptoms are related to the medication we're taking. This is a huge problem among our elderly, also the mentally ill.

One of the unwanted effects of taking a statin is that the CoQ10 pathway is blocked, which I believe means that the body is no longer able to make its own CoQ10.

Knowing this, if I decide to begin taking a statin when I see my doctor again in May, I will also supplement with CoQ10.

I appreciate all the reports of forum members experiences with taking a statin. It's important to remember if 17% of patients taking statins have side effects, that likely means that 83% are not.

 

[jack412]

I asked my heart specialist about the CoQ and he said it wasn't needed..because i have seen it recommended..at this point I'm not taking it, but I am on a low dose statin

 

[Daphne917]

One of my work colleagues started taking statins just before me and he has had no side effects and is still quite happy with them. Unfortunately it is not only statins that I've reacted to, both prescribed and over the counter, so I tend to be wary of new treatments anyway.

 

[Winnie53]

After more than a week of reading about heart disease, its prevention and treatment, I've decided to resume taking fish oil and to begin taking CoQ10. This 2010 article provides a reasonably good overview of the research on CoQ10... http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3096178/

I'm now moving on to learning about Vitamin K. Quote from the back cover of the book, Vitamin K2 and the Calcium Paradox (2012) by Kate Rheaume-Blue, B.Sc., N.D.:

"Millions of people take vitamin D and calcium supplements for bone health. But new research show that this actually increases the risk of heart attack and stroke because extra calcium builds up in arteries--the Calcium Paradox. The secret to keeping bones strong and arteries clear is K2, a little-known supernutrient that humans once consumed in abundance and that has been ignored by scientists for almost 70 years."

Additionally, in chapter 5 of the book, there's an interesting 4-page discussion of how K2 supplementation improves glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity.

 

[clairy clutterbuck]

My slim fit mother with no medical problems died suddenly at 70, 15 years ago, having been diagnosed 3 days earlier with high triglycerides and my tall slim brother had a heart attack 2 years ago at 53 and was diagnosed with same problem.

I went on statins three years ago as although my cholesterol was 4.8, it shot up to 5.8 at the same time the guidelines were reduced to the "should be under" level to 4 for diabetics.

I had concerns about side effects as my legs are stiff and achey as it is and my GP advised me to call the British Heart Foundation Helpline where I chatted (free of charge) to a coronary care nurse with 20 years experience for over an hour going all through my concerns, having read newspapers, articles etc and he eventually told me it was a "no brainer".He said side effects were rare but for most people Atorvastatin was the least likely to have side effects but was more expensive than Simvastatin so some GP's don't like to prescribe. But when I told GP this she said "no problem I am happy to prescribe Atorvastatin, but there are no guarantees with anything about side effects" . I've had no problems....

My cholesterol level is now 3.5

 

[jack412]

My slim fit mother with no medical problems died suddenly at 70, 15 years ago, having been diagnosed 3 days earlier with high triglycerides and my tall slim brother had a heart attack 2 years ago at 53 and was diagnosed with same problem.

I went on statins three years ago as although my cholesterol was 4.8, it shot up to 5.8 at the same time the guidelines were reduced to the "should be under" level to 4 for diabetics.

I had concerns about side effects as my legs are stiff and achey as it is and my GP advised me to call the British Heart Foundation Helpline where I chatted (free of charge) to a coronary care nurse with 20 years experience for over an hour going all through my concerns, having read newspapers, articles etc and he eventually told me it was a "no brainer".He said side effects were rare but for most people Atorvastatin was the least likely to have side effects but was more expensive than Simvastatin so some GP's don't like to prescribe. But when I told GP this she said "no problem I am happy to prescribe Atorvastatin, but there are no guarantees with anything about side effects" . I've had no problems....

My cholesterol level is now 3.5

as you would know, 3.5 is the min they recommend..I'm trying to get mine up to that, I was 3.2..the bad news was that my trigs were still 1.5.
I'm hoping it's the weight loss that is throwing my lipids out
low carb is said to be the best for low trigs

 

[clairy clutterbuck]

as you would know, 3.5 is the min they recommend..I'm trying to get mine up to that, I was 3.2..the bad news was that my trigs were still 1.5.
I'm hoping it's the weight loss that is throwing my lipids out
low carb is said to be the best for low trigs

Ohh my surgery said under 4 but then they could have moved the goal posts again!! I go for my breakdown on Wednesday, I got the results from the receptionist who was unsure of the ratios - she said 3.2 normal, 0.92 HDL and 2.3 LDL, total 3.5... se never mentionde trigs but like you it looks like my bad cholesterol is higher than they like so will have to see what she says.

 

[jack412]

Ohh my surgery said under 4 but then they could have moved the goal posts again!! I go for my breakdown on Wednesday, I got the results from the receptionist who was unsure of the ratios - she said 3.2 normal, 0.92 HDL and 2.3 LDL, total 3.5... se never mentionde trigs but like you it looks like my bad cholesterol is higher than they like so will have to see what she says.

edit the total was 3.5, my mistake your trigs are .6
http://www.hughcalc.org/chol-si.php