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Poll - side effects from statins?

If you have used statins, did you experience significant side effects from using them?

  • Yes, side effects that made me discontinue or want to discontinue

    Votes: 164 65.1%

  • No, either no side effects or side effects I tolerated easily

    Votes: 88 34.9%
  • Total voters
    252
As mentioned before, I have been taking my daily dose of Simvastatin for over 10 years (or thereabouts), with no unusual, noticeable side effects. At 63 I expect my memory not to be as it was 30 years ago, and the pain in my shoulders started before Statins. So I must be one of the lucky ones.
 

Hi Rickman, welcome to the club no-one wants to be a member of - but hopefully we can give you the support you need. Generally our advice is from experience, & is not professional, medical advice. Here you get the benefit of experience together with matters members have researched in medical literature. Links are often posted.

If you have aches & pains since you have started taking simvastatin, then simv is the cause. Try stopping it. The muscle pains I was getting ended within about a week after I stopped. I then went to the Dr & he agreed that muscle pains were a likely side effect of muscle pains. He didn't offer me another. That was about 10 years ago. My total chol runs at about 5.5 & nobody seems bothered. The point is, cholesterol is needed by the body, made by the body & is a vital component for health.

Slow release metformin SR is much better tolerated - "Bolamyn SR" as Spiker suggests. Again, you can try stopping metf for a time. Both statins & metformin are drugs that have possible long term benefits that are sometimes out-weighed by immediate health problems - as you are finding. Many on the forum, including me, have found a low carb, increased fat diet is a good long term way of life for stabilizing blood sugar & minimising the effects of diabetes.

As you have found both drugs are causing you unacceptable problems, I suggest you stop both for a week or two (without further consultation of your Dr) & see if the problems go away. You will then know if they are to blame for the problems. Only then go back to the Dr & ask for a review.

--------------​

20 years ago, my total chol was 6.4. 14 years ago, when I was diagnosed with T2, it was 7.6. It fell to about 5.5 over about 4 years, when the Dr started me on simv. The major diet change over that 4 years was cutting out sugar, & eating more complex carbs. The last six years, I have been on a low carb diet, with increased fat. At 75, my health is excellent. I play tennis & table tennis at club standard.

Heart consultants find cholesterol in artery blockages, but AFAIK no-one has actually linked raised cholesterol to heart problems to a significant extent. It seems they are the main campaigners for chol control - they have to put right the problems of blocked arteries.
 
If the statin gives you pain all over I think you should stop them immediately and then ask your GP for a different one. That is, if you actually need them.
 
Anyone put on statins should have a blood test done 6-8 weeks afterwards. Aching all over is not good. Has your GP organised a nlood test as a follow up to you going on statins?
 
If you have high sugar levels in bodily fluids you will be prone to thrush. Bacteria love raised sugar levels. If you can get your sugar levels down to a reasonable level, thrush will go away. This applies to males and females. On the topic of statins, GPs are given financial incentives for getting their patients on statins. I refused this kind offer. I'm no expert on cholesterol levels and my readings were high. But what the DB nurses and doctors seem to overlook is that it is the ratio of HDL/LDL which is key.
 


STOP TAKING THEM, I had very bad reaction and found I was unable to walk to the shop, muscle weakness was unbelievable, felt my muscles and knee about to give way, I was only walking From the Car, went 2 steps had to turn back in case I fell over. Also muscles were painful. It's the absolute worst tablets ever prescribed for ppl, I urge anyone to stop before it too late and you become permanently disabled, Cholesterol can be treated with Porridge, oatmeal and Cooked tomatoes, even just a couple of teaspoons of tomato paste, the doctor laughs when I absolutely refuse these Tablets, he doesn't even argue with me. It took a while but I'm back to normal now
 
Interesting that on this poll the results were that over 60% of persons that took it had side effects when the official NICE say less than 10%????
 
@ my comment No.128

As promised I herewith report my progress coming off statins (Simvastatin)

1) No cramp in legs or thighs - 2) No aches or pains in neck and shoulders - gone - 3) no burning in calves during the night - pains
in elbows at night also gone - 4) pains in rib cage stopped - 5) pains in knee joints considerable lessened during walking

Will report in another 3 months or so and let members know if improvement maintained.
 
donnellysdogs said:
Anyone put on statins should have a blood test done 6-8 weeks afterwards.
Click to expand...
Is that just a blood lipid test, or is there something else they should be testing for too?

Thanks,
Kate
 
wizardo said:
If you have high sugar levels in bodily fluids you will be prone to thrush. Bacteria love raised sugar levels. If you can get your sugar levels down to a reasonable level, thrush will go away.
Click to expand...
Thrush is yeast not bacteria.
 
donnellysdogs said:
Interesting that on this poll the results were that over 60% of persons that took it had side effects when the official NICE say less than 10%????
Click to expand...
Interesting but not definitive. This is not a scientific survey and there is probably a.selection bias of people who have had problems being more willing to take part.

Still we have had good participation from both groups, and if the side effects were really only affecting 1/10 I greatly doubt we would be polling 6/10 reporting side effects, as we are seeing.

Is anyone aware of any research looking at whether diabetics as a subgroup do or don't have a higher incidence of statin side effects? @phoenix perhaps?
 
No idea
Agree on selection bias : other possibilities
1) people with diabetes are more likely to have higher cholesterol and also more likely to be put on higher doses which are more likely to cause side effects
2) people with diabetes do suffer from more side effects from the drugs and that is being shown here.
3) Nocebo effects, people on here tend to be those that monitor their condition. and try to find out about the drugs they are taking. If people know of a possible side effect, then they are more likely to say that they have experienced it and many do so even when given a placebo pill, (don't all shout, it happens and as Ben Goldacre says it is' yet another illustration of the remarkable power of the mind over the body'
I don't know if I linked to his article on his recent paper on statin side effects. It's worth reading just to show how difficult trying to find the truth is.
http://www.badscience.net/2014/03/s...ws-and-why-trials-transparency-matters-again/
 
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I had to stop taking atorvastatin because of horrible restless leg syndrome. Kept me up lots at night. Came of them and no probs since..looking for lchf to improve lipids. Will let you know next blood panel
 
After reading the comments on this thread, I have come to the conclusion that I have problems with Simvastatin. My calves and feet hurt all the time! My hands ache and my GP said it's arthritis! I think I'll stop taking them and see how I get on. I also have real memory issues which I have reported to GP, probably the statins!
 
I have been taking statins for 25 years now and without any side effects that I can link directly to them. I have had calf muscle pains and hip pains [still do ] but the cessation of the statin therapy of up to six months made no difference. My liver function is tested frequently and the results are always good. My short term memory is not what it used to be, but I think that this pretty common for the over 70 year olds. I continue to take 10 mg of Simvastatin/day. I had a heart attack 25 years ago and quadruple by-pass surgery 12 years ago. I was diagnosed as prediabetic 2 years ago.

Almost forgot to mention that the greatest improvement in my lipid panel came from the LCHF diet. HDL almost doubled and triglycerides plummeted.The 10 mg of Simvastatin keeps my LDL below 70 mg/dl which is in accord with my health fund requirements.
 
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Same with me on Simvastatin. Doctor changed it to Atorvastatin and I have been fine. Apparently they give us the cheapest generic drugs first to see if we tolerate them. Simvastatin notorious for these aches and pains.
 
I was controlling my diabetes with diet and my hba1c was 5.8 from an initial diagnosis level of 6.8. I was then prescribed Pravostatin and my hba1c went up to 7.2. After a few months I came off the statin after a few months due to having dizzy spells and not sleeping and my hba1c is now 42 and my cholesterol is down to 4.2 (LDL=2.3). If it was suggested that I go back onto statins I will probably refuse.
 

My husband has been on statins over 4 years. He isn't diabetic. About 3 months ago he started having sleepless nights. No matter what he did, he just could not sleep. He mentioned this to the nurse when he went for his over 60's annual review recently. She told him it was most likely the statins as this is a common side effect. She advised him to start taking them in the mornings rather than at bedtime (despite what it says on the instructions about taking them at night). He is doing this, and his sleep pattern has improved significantly. Whether the statins are still working as efficiently is another matter.
 
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