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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

Hi @AmandaAnne,

Your symptoms sound very much like the ones I had when I was first put onto statins: I was initially prescribed Simvastatin and suffered much of what you describe, plus I felt really ill / sluggish.

My GP changed me to Pravastatin and I've not appeared to suffer any side effects since (except, maybe elements of memory loss - although that cold be as much to do with toddlers, babies and lack of sound sleep, etc.).

I highly suggest you go back to your GP and ask to try another statin - Simvastatin does appear to have had more allergic reactions than some of the others, but that's just my opinion from complaints elsewhere on this forum and other sites.
 
Dear donnellysdogs,

Three weeks since I went off Simvastatin I feel a noticeable softening of leg muscles and overall relaxation in both legs. Also my bones do not hurt when touching each other, i.e., legs crossed at night at shins or ankles - before, the pain was always severe.
 

Hi there ConradJ,

Thank you for your reply.
I'm going to be having a review of all my medication the week after next, so I'm going to discuss this with my GP.

PS......I quite agree with you re toddlers, babies and lack of sleep, I've been there and done that too!! It does get better though.
 

graj0 many thanks to you for your helpful and educational reply.

It does annoy me when they say these effects "are not serious" how do they know that? What long term damage is being done to our memories? They're always too quick to say these things aren't serious, when really they have no idea!

Its very interesting to read about the link to Type 2 diabetes too.

I get told that my memory and concentration problems are more than likely due to depression and anxiety, which I do suffer from. The thing is though, if you suffer from any psychological illness, it's all too easy for doctors to say "oh that's because of your depression/anxiety" what they're really saying is "I haven't got a clue so I'm going to use my quick get out clause"!!!
 
My GP told me my thyroid tests were fine too, while I had almost every symptom of hypothyroidism and had had them for over a decade. Eventually I got tired of being prescribed antidepressant that I didn't take as I wasn't depressed and did some research on Dr Google and came up with hypothyroidism. So started self medicating and got my life back. Not that I recommend self medicating but as a last resort it is fine.

My THS never went much above 2 but my FT4 was on the low side of normal. I dont know if the severe concussion I had as a child affected my pituitary but it is not unheard of. I am well and have normal memory, normal energy, normal most things apart from outer part of eye brows, it seems they were damaged beyond repair.
 
Depression and anxiety are common symptoms of hypothyroidism.
 
Thank you for you interesting replies Totto, I shall discuss this with my GP when I get my diabetes blood results back.
I have read that apparently, the tests they carry out here, are not always wholly reliable, many people seem to go down the private testing route to obtain a more reliable result.
 
Was put on Simvastatin, but it was not explained to me why I should take it. I took it routinely for some time and then decided to stop - unilaterally. I didn't discuss it with my gp.

At a diabetic clinic, I said to the consultant that I didn't know why I'd been prescribed statins, and his reply was nor did he.

I'm unable to reply to the poll, because the choices don't apply: I can't prove that I had side effects, I had constant pain but that could have been arthritis, former injuries, age, etc. I can't be sure I had no side effects from statins either.

Statin-free, I still get aches and pains. However I do feel healthier and more mobile, but I've put that down to LCHF (weight loss, better control, less insulin) and yoga.

I'm surprised and impressed that many contributors seem to know for certain that statins are having any effect at all.
 
lizdeluz said:
I'm surprised and impressed that many contributors seem to know for certain that statins are having any effect at all.
Click to expand...
I can answer that one easily.
For some people the muscle pain in the legs, caused by the fact that statins prevent the update of CoQ10 (required to get energy to the muscle), is so pronounced and way beyond coincidence, added to the fact that Merck Pharmaceutical in their patent application of 1990 warn of impending muscle pain, there is no question that statins are responsible for the muscle pain. The sleeplessness and brain fog are also recognised by the NHS and the FDA in the US as side effects. The brain fog is an interesting one because in some people it is dramatic to the point of them being in a place where they couldn't remember how they got there. Bit dangerous when you're driving a car.
Even more interesting is that it doesn't affect everyone in exactly the same way, even the CEO of Glaxo admitted in 2003 that some of their drugs don't work in something like 40% of patients.
 



That's really interesting and it's a subject that is beyond me in that I haven't done any reading about it yet. Presumably, I was prescribed Simvastatin as a precautionary measure against build-up of cholesterol. Is that the purpose of statins?
 
Statins do reduce cholesterol, the question is whether you think that is a good reason to take them or not. Side effects seem to be far more common than formally reported back to GPs, NICE and the pharm companies.

I found "The Statin Damage Crisis" by Duane Graveline to be interesting reading.
 
lizdeluz said:
That's really interesting and it's a subject that is beyond me in that I haven't done any reading about it yet. Presumably, I was prescribed Simvastatin as a precautionary measure against build-up of cholesterol. Is that the purpose of statins?
Click to expand...
The NICE guidelines stipulate that your GP should run a risk assessment and you can find one at http://www.qrisk.org/, should the GP consider you to be within the "danger zone" he may recommend statins to lower your cholesterol. You are not forced to take them although I've heard of plenty of GPs who try to insist that you do, it looks good on their stats and they get paid more.
I've read a lot about statins including the book already mentioned and to be honest, as you say, it was beyond me. There has been so much written and I'm inclined to believe a lot of what is in "Statin Damage", I've also got a good DVD called Statin Nation. The thing is that it just started to make my head hurt (remember the brain fog?) In the end I just said "My total cholesterol is 3.5, my legs hurt, I can't sleep and I've got brain fog, I'd rather not take statins". GP said OK, let's just see what your cholesterol is in 6 months, it was 5.4, not perfect, but I can get it down if I want to.
Cholesterol is required by the body to function, especially the brain, where it is required for the neurons to communicate with each other. The body makes it's own cholesterol because the body can't rely on you eating enough. In fact the more cholesterol in things like prawns, eggs and avocado that you eat, the less the body makes, the less you eat, the more the body makes.
I will just add that my biggest surprise was how much my cholesterol dropped when I cut my carbs. That was essential for me to be able to tell my GP I didn't want statins any more thank you very much.
I may have mentioned this before (brain fog again) but I mentioned the BMJ straw pole in which 60% of the 500 GPs questioned said they wouldn't prescribe statins for themselves or to a relative. My GP just grinned and said "I can think of one of my relatives".
 
HI,

I was initially put on Atorvastatin years ago (it was a fairly new drug at the time) but found it made me very low, depressed and moody.

I am now on Simvastatin, seems ok. Have pains all over, so not sure if its due to this.
 
I am at a loss to know what to do. I was put on statins( Simvastatin) and my cholesterol level was 4 on them, but I stopped taking them as they made my hips ache so much during the night. But then the level went up to 5.4, and LDL level was highish, so the GP gave me a different kind to try (Atorvastatin). She wants it under 4 as with diabetes and slightly raised BP (I am on a low dose of medication) I am apparently at higher risk. I eat no fat so clearly can't control it with diet alone. Hard to decide what to do!
 
Is there a medical reason for not eating fat paulins?
 
paulins said:
Weight loss! I have been trying to reverse the diabetes and have lost 68 lbs so know my diet is not the problem.
Click to expand...
I have lost 60 pounds and have my BG under control by going low carb Highish fat. HbA1c went from 67 to 38 in under 4 months. Cholesterol also good.
 
Actually that is information I have been looking for. How long did it take you to lose the 68 pounds?
 
this is too difficult said:
Actually that is information I have been looking for. How long did it take you to lose the 68 pounds?
Click to expand...

I was diagnosed on 26th January 2014 - and began the diet on 27th! My last HbA1c was 4.9. Eating high at is counter-intuitive to me when trying to lose weight, so I have been incredibly careful about what I have eaten. Once i reach my target - 10 st - I will reintroduce some foods to see what happens.
 
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