Oldvatr
Expert
Thanks.Thought I'd help & put the link in to that particular thread.http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/statins-good-or-bad-what-does-the-research-say.90050/
-
Guest, the forum is undergoing some upgrades and so the usual themes will be unavailable for a few days. In the meantime, you can use the forum like normal. We'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »
Poll - side effects from statins?
- Thread starter Spiker
- Start Date
Mike d
Expert
... or potentially shortening them or making your life miserable or both.
Oldvatr
Expert
Think Positive. I reckon that we diabetics will blaze a trail with our diets that will make statins obsolete. Evidence is gathering as we speak. I will find out myself soon.
Mike d
Expert
I don't take them (6 months was enough for me as I was highly suspicious of them and been off statins for over a year) though I do agree they might well become obsolete at some point. My positive was that I knew what they were doing to me and decided to take control of my own life. The fact that fit doctors take them to protect their cholesterol is completely irrelevant and many many do
That is NOT a rule that necessarily applies to the rest of us who have conditions outside of poor / compromised cholesterol levels and I won't give them any further thought. Pushing this line that they're good for you is ridiculous in the absence of incontrovertible proof of no side effects. Nothing is absolute ... I get that ..... and whilst some "seem" to benefit, a lot more do not. I might have an axe to grind, but I've learnt a lot along the way and for me, no way known.
ConradJ
Well-Known Member
Well said @Mike D ; I'm in the same boat - after 12 years of them with no discernible benefit and various issues linked to side-effects... since cutting the carbs I've seen dramatic improvements in my cholesterol and glucose levels and, to coin a song, " I can see clearly now " (no longer suffering from ' brain fog ' ).
I went on statins. Severe leg cramps pain in my feet. Went on different statins and was worse taken into hospital late one night under a blue light. Went on a third lot ended up in hospital again and three different doctors said you are showing all the signs of intolerance to statins we'll write to your GP suggesting stopping them. Stop them they did and all was well apart from the fact I now had diabetes ... any connection I don't know. Spent twenty five years at fourteen stone and six foot three so no fat on me. No fizzy drinks biscuits sweets crisps cakes no binge eating just not me so top be told I was diabetic came as something of a shock. I had gone onto Gabapentin and within weeks my weight shot to eighteen and a half stone .... never has my weight changed until then. Found this place met a load of head cases who were saying eat fat lose weight yeah right .... place is full of crazies! Things got worse following NHS/NICE guidelines so came back here to talk to the crazy people. Nothing to lose went on the LCHF .... high fat is a bit misleading ... I went on full fat dairy products and coconut oil .... I wasn't sitting there eating blocks of lard. Result .... lost weight blood pressure down so less medication glucose levels under fantastic control less medication bad cholesterol down good stuff up. Them's the facts.
That's what I thought. Came here for a few days and left ... eat fat lose weight lower your cholesterol too .... sounded barking mad!
jrussell88
Well-Known Member
Atorvastatin increased my sensitivity to histamines, most of which are dietary.
Symptoms of histamine intolerance include persistently itching skin, tired or sore muscles especially shoulders, occasional migraines and stabbing pains in the gut, bloated abdomen, slow-thinking, and a few other things including runny nose when eating, and hay-fever. Blue cheese, matured, preserved - pickled, salted, dried or smoked - and fermented foods, wheat and alcohol are most likely to trigger symptoms.
It can be difficult to pick this up as we can deal with a certain amount of dietary histamine - only when it reaches a threshold do the symptoms appear.
The consequence for my diabetes was that blood glucose could rise 15mmol/L overnight, or fall 6 mmol/L depending on the histamine overload.
Controlling my histamine intake stabilised my background glucose levels; stopping Atorvastatin improved my capacity to deal with dietary histamine.
Symptoms of histamine intolerance include persistently itching skin, tired or sore muscles especially shoulders, occasional migraines and stabbing pains in the gut, bloated abdomen, slow-thinking, and a few other things including runny nose when eating, and hay-fever. Blue cheese, matured, preserved - pickled, salted, dried or smoked - and fermented foods, wheat and alcohol are most likely to trigger symptoms.
It can be difficult to pick this up as we can deal with a certain amount of dietary histamine - only when it reaches a threshold do the symptoms appear.
The consequence for my diabetes was that blood glucose could rise 15mmol/L overnight, or fall 6 mmol/L depending on the histamine overload.
Controlling my histamine intake stabilised my background glucose levels; stopping Atorvastatin improved my capacity to deal with dietary histamine.
ChrisQuinn
Member
Atorvostatin and Simvastatin both caused extreme calf pain for me and my mother.
Lesley60
Member
My last cholesterol reading was 5.6 and only now does nurse practioner want me to go on statins?! I'm gonna keep refusing to, instead doing my best to reduce cholesterol with diet and exercise. I've got my cholesterol down from 7.9 several years ago (and wasn't even offered statins then!) so must be doing something right. A reading of less than 5.0 is within my reach now. Statins and their side effects scare me far more than a reading of 5.6!
D
Deleted member 308541
Guest
I was prescribed a statin called Rosuvastatin (Crestor) when I was in hospital three years with Atrial Fibrillation, and have been on them ever since.
I have had no side effects at all with them except to reduce my cholesterol levels to reasonably normal levels.
I have had no side effects at all with them except to reduce my cholesterol levels to reasonably normal levels.
PhilBladen
Newbie
Been on simvastatin for 3 years now no problems at all
DavidGrahamJones
Well-Known Member
Very pleased that you have no noticeable side effects, I feel fortunate that I had severe muscle pain because it meant that I felt the side effects. You mention cholesterol being at normal levels, I wonder what normal is?
The attached PDF is from the British Heart Foundation, I know it says 2005, I'm hoping that they know a thing or two about cardio vascular disease and that stats don't change dramatically in 10 years. It shows the cholesterol levels of people who passed away because of CVD (dotted red line) and it looks like at 205 mg/dl the number starts to increase (divide by 38.67 gives 5.3 in real money). Strangely as that level decreases the number of deaths also increases.I like their comment about a weak correlation between total cholesterol levels and CVD. So, maybe the below 4 that NICE seem to think is the target for us diabetics isn't accurate. Who knows? I don't!
It is well documented that statins prevent the uptake of CoQ10 and that's the cause of muscle pain for people who get muscle pain. Even Merck Pharmaceutical were saying that back in 1990 and they were a manufacturer of a statin. I wonder what else it causes?
