Help - Simvastatin!

[Reetpetite]

Hi,

Was diagnosed yesterday with T2 and given Metformin 500mg and Simvastatin 40mg to lower my cholesterol which is 5.3. I was not happy with taking the statin but my doctor said it was to prevent my cholesterol from getting any higher and would help guard against all the usual problems associated with high cholesterol.

Took Simvastatin last night and this morning have vertigo (spinning sensation), nausea and slight diarrhoea. I am now worried about taking the Metformin because I believe this can also have similar side-effects and I don't want to compound the problem.

Will stop taking the Simvastatin until I can see my Doc after the bank Holiday but I wonder if anyone else has had a similar problem. I will take the Metformin tomorrow if the vertigo and diarrhoea disappear.

I was supposed to be going out with a friend today and really looking forward to it but have had to cancel because of these side-effects

 

[totsy]

hya,
there are quite a lot of people who cannot tolerate statins, myself included, i felt awful and dr changed them to ezetimibe which ive had no side effects from, take the metformin and see your gp about simvastatin

 

[Iolanthe]

I was prescribed this a week ago, but said I did not want the prescription. I did some research on it and found it seems to be the first drug that doctors prescribe for cholestrol, it is also the cheapest! Some people seem to be able to tolerate it quite well. However it is absorbed in the gut and if you have had problems in this area in the past it can set it off. There are other things available but they are more expensive. Some docs just prescribe things to tick the NICE and PCT boxes. One of the reasons, I refused this is because there was no consultation with the doc it was just prescribed ( you will see from my other entries the battle I am fighting). One thing I am learning from this forum, is that you do need to fight to for you what you want, so don't take no for an answer and make sure YOU get what YOU want. Grrrrr :twisted:

 

[Spiral]

Food medicine is a much underplayed tool to help people, even in the NHS. I despair when I see what is actually on the menu for in-patients in hospitals :cry: I does not promote good health and wellbeing.

My dad was T2 and had many of the problems we get, he was also very reluctant to take any medication. His diet was pretty rubbish and he didn't manage his diabetes well, but someone told him about the benefits of oat bran and he made no other change to his diet than a bowl of oat bran porrigde in the morning (made with skimmed milk) and his cholesterol dropped between 3-4 points is a relatively short time. I started having daily oat bran when I got my first cholesterol results which was a little too high and within about 6 weeks I'd brough it back within the normal range.

Now I don't know how this fits with whatever diet you follow, but I find it quite pleasant, pure oat bran porridge has a consistency something like wallpaper paste :shock: but I have porridge made 50/50 oat bran and jumbo oats. I make mine with water most of the time and add stuff to it like almonds and some fruit

 

[Reetpetite]

Thanks folks for all your comments and help - I'm feeling a little less dizzy but its still there - as I said will visit doctors next week. Hopefully, it will be gone by tomorrow.

Thanks also for the advice about Porridge and Oatbran - have included this in my diet this week because I read somewhere else that this is good on several counts - ie. releasing blood glucose slowly and also helps lower cholesterol.

Thanks to you all.

Rita

 

[fergus]

I think you're right to be sceptical about statins, quite frankly.
I've yet to see any evidence of benefit to women in particular in taking them. The only evidence in their favour appears to apply to men over 50 who have already suffered a heart attack.
Higher cholesterol levels seem to be associated with greater life expectancy in women!
While the benefits of statins appear dubious at best, the side effects can be very apparent quite quickly.
I was sent a prescription for statins simply because I passed the age of 40. No cognisance of the fact that my cholesterol levels are significantly better than my GP's! I gave the 'script back to him 'cos his need seemed greater than mine. :lol:

fergus

 

[Trinkwasser]

I was sent a prescription for statins simply because I passed the age of 40. No cognisance of the fact that my cholesterol levels are significantly better than my GP's! I gave the 'script back to him 'cos his need seemed greater than mine. :lol:

fergus

hahahaha classic!

Yes they actually get paid for having a sufficient percentage of patients on statins. As you say they are good drugs for a specific subset of patients. The rest of us can make hugely significant changes to our lipids with diet (well not you Type 1s, you generally don't get the free gift of dyslipidemia like us Type 2s, but you can still make *some* improvements.)

FWIW I had some bizarre and rare side effects from Atorvastatin and none at all with Simvastatin. It lowered my LDL without affecting the toxic trigs and HDL levels, diet did that.

 

[fergus]

Good point Trink. As the statins have a lowering effect on LDL only, and do nowt' either to lower trigs or raise HDL, CHD risk can be reduced much more effectively by simple dietary changes.
And no, not the dietary changes the FSA are recommending :roll:

All the best,

fergus

 

[Iolanthe]

And of course they are the cheapest one. I have been prescribed a drug called Cholestagel, this is actually for Bile acid malabsorption, which I actually suffer from but Cholestagel is also a bile acid sequestrant , that is also used to lower Cholesterol. Unlike statins, it is not abosrbed by the gut but in the intestines binding bile acid using cholesterol. It is much more gentle and effective. It is very new and my consultant who looks after the malabsorption for me prescibed it but had to get permission from the PCT. Even with this backing it took me 6 weeks to get a prescription for it out of my GP. And even though it does actually lower Cholesterol, I was still left (without consultation) a prescription for Simvastatin ???!!!! Errrr :lol:

http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/medicines/100005161.html

 

[Trinkwasser]

Good point Trink. As the statins have a lowering effect on LDL only, and do nowt' either to lower trigs or raise HDL, CHD risk can be reduced much more effectively by simple dietary changes.
And no, not the dietary changes the FSA are recommending :roll:

All the best,

fergus

The exact opposite seems to work well . . .