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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
Sorry this reply is so late. I have previously posted elsewhere about my experience with statins so apologies if you have already read this, I took simvastatin for several years despite having good cholesterol levels even before going on them. Everything was fine except for some pain in my fingers and hips which I didn`t associate with statins, what became the deal breaker for me was that I started to get arrhythmia EVERY evening! this quite frankly frightened me and, as simvastatin was the only vaguely heart related med I was taking, I got suspicious. I decide on a trial separation for me and simvastatin and within 3 days the arrhythmia had gone, within a month the other pains had also gone.....coincidence? Needless to say our trial separation has now become a divorce and, as you say , how many other poor sods are having their lives ruined and don`t know why?
 

Sorry if I sounded presumptuous, which is not what I intended...

However, if I may be precocious this time, I think you have hit the nail on the head of your cholesterol difficulties: exercise.

Three years ago my cholesterol was in the low 4's but the HDL/LDL/Triglycerides ratios were all wrong. The consultant told me that a modest increase in activity would reverse that.

It is also important to note that everyone has differing cholesterol requirements and that the guidance should be viewed as that - give or take a few percentage points - providing one is living a healthy lifestyle.

Since going LCHF-ish (with more veg), cutting out the statins and increasing daily activity, I've seen my cholesterol ratios drastically improve - even though there has been a slight overall rise in the total level.

Do EVERYTHING you possibly can to increase your physical activity on a daily basis and you will see a benefit (eg. park the car at the farthest point of the car park from the entrance to shops, restaurants, attractions, etc.; speed up your walking; take up cycling, etc. )

Best wishes,
Conrad
 
Was originally prescribed Simvastatin which caused terrible leg cramps especially at night. Changed to Atorvastatin and had no problems.
 
I took Pravafenix (pravastatin 40mg and fenofibrate 160mg) for 8 weeks. I suffered terrible back pain. This got so bad I could not stand for more than 3 minutes at a time. I have just stopped taking them and the pain is reducing rapidly. However I am on a medically approved diet (very low carbs) and have lost 7.5 kilos in 11 weeks so I am hoping that this will lower my cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
 
I sometimes wonder just how many times something is discovered, buried, then rediscovered before it becomes accepted in the mainstream? Side effects of statins being a major case in point.
 
I was put on 40mg atorvastatin. No warnings about side effects were given and no follow up. After 18 months I began to suffer from muscle pains and found out by my own research that the statin might be the cause. Then I developed polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR). This is a severe muscle complaint; I could hardly move to get out of bed! I stopped taking the statin and it took 18 months of steroids (and bone protection pills) to get me better.

The doctor then put me on 20mg of rosuvastatin. The muscle pains returned after a few weeks so I stopped taking them.

Later another doctor tried for 30 mins to persuade me to take statins again and when I absolutely refused put me an alternative. Forget the name (it was fibro something). I only got to pill number 4 before abandoning that too as the muscle pain was unbearable and getting worse with each dose.

As my cholesterol is 5, I've decided to live with it. It is made by the liver in response to bodily need, so I figure there's no point treating the symptoms; for me I treat the cause by a healthy diet and plenty of exercise.

Bob
 
I voted YES.
I had an angina scare about 15 years ago ( turned out that it was only scare ). Anywho, I was prescribed statins and beta blockers for a few months and I suffered from extreme muscle weakness and tiredness. Scare went away, meds were stopped and tiredness went away. Muscle weakness remained.

Subsequent to this, a year or so later I found out that I had CMT ( Charcot-Marie-Tooth ) disease. This disease has a side effect that causes muscle weakness and apparently statins caused quite an acceleration that cannot be reversed
 
Spiker said:
If you have used multiple statins, answer Yes if any of the statins gave you side effects. Sorry I should have added that as another choice.
Click to expand...
I also was pushed onto statins "as they reduce risk of heart attack" in fact after three days I had such severe muscle pains my wife thought I was having a heart attack, four years later and without statins my level last tested recently is 4.6
 

Not that good at listening are they? The British Heart Foundation created a graph of cholesterol levels against CVD, I know it's been mentioned on this forum more than once, unfortunately I can't find at now. Basically shows total cholesterol of 5.4 is some sort of optimum as CVD increases as TC goes above 5.4 AND below 5.4.
 
Indy51 said:
I sometimes wonder just how many times something is discovered, buried, then rediscovered before it becomes accepted in the mainstream? Side effects of statins being a major case in point.
Click to expand...

I'm guessing that Merck realised that their honesty about side effects as far back as 1990 could affect sales and therefore didn't even follow up with a product being put on the market. I'm angry that my GP lied to me as far back as the year 2000 although I don't suppose he knew although I couldn't have been the only patient complaining, he should have been more concerned about us patients.
 
I was on the lowest dose of Simvastatin once years ago. I kept forgetting to take it. Then a few years later tried again. It made my thigh muscles achey and weak. I stopped taking it. My cholesterol is a little high. My trigs are great.
 
Just to add: around 31:00 minutes he talks about the strong association of clotting factors like Fibrinogen and Factor VIII in death from CVD/stroke - more important than cholesterol apparently.
 
Having taken Atorvastatin and Simvastatin (because it was cheaper at the time) I'm well aware of the side effects that I experienced, they cannot be refuted because I know how I felt. My major concern at the moment are the long term effects which we may never be made aware of. I notice that there has been some research done suggesting that the aging process is affected. So, all those years ago, when I complained of thigh muscle pain and my doctor stupidly suggested it was old age (50s then), he may have been right, just that I was aging more quickly than I should have been.
I have a sneaky feeling that unlike the awful side effects of Thalidamide, I'll be long gone before the truth will come out about statins.
 
I've been trying to work out dates from various blood tests, but seems like I was on Crestor for maybe 9-10 months in 2008/2009. Strangely enough, I've since been diagnosed with two diseases that Wiki tells me may be related to statin use - interstitial lung disease and type 2. I doubt if I'll ever find out if the statin use was causative, but I'm really glad I stopped taking them instead of continuing. I have to wonder if I'd even still be here since the lung disease can be progressive and the stats on survival past 5 years out from diagnosis are not good.
 
There are so many drugs that have ILD as a side effect including the simple aspirin!! It is thought likely that there are more than the approx 350 drugs that are already known. There are also in excess of 200 types of ILD and the causes are not always drugs. It is unlikely that the cause of your ILD will ever be known.

Regards

Doug
 
Indy51 said:
I doubt if I'll ever find out if the statin use was causative, but I'm really glad I stopped taking them instead of continuing.
Click to expand...

That David Diamond video really is good. His explanation of how the figures they quote at you is brilliant. I understand now how ridiculous they are and much happier that I made the right choice 2-3 years ago, shame I didn't do it sooner, maybe I should have studied stats at school to a much higher level. His explanation has been an eye opener.
 
To whom it may concern I take 10mg Satin each day I must be the lucky one no side effects down to 2.2 1 Question please when is it recommended to take Satin morning or night?
 
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