Pravastatin - side effects?

[LittleGreyCat]

Just over a week ago I ditched the 40mg Simvastatin as my brain was shutting down.

Seen the doctor today and he is trying me on Pravastatin - however the printed doom and gloom list seems much the same.

I have searched the fora but not found much against Pravastatin apart from one person with hand cramps.

So are there loads of people on Pravastatin without side effects?

I look to be on a move away from diet and exercise to diet, exercise, and a drug regime.
First to tackle is the statin - confirm that there are noi side effects with the new type.
Then blood tests again and consider Metformin or similar as my Hba1c is slightly worse.

Doctor doesn't want to start me on two new drugs at once, especially as we are trying to confirm a lack of side effects from the statin.
This seems reasonable, logical, scientific etc.

About to try and 'yellow card' Symvastatin.
Update:
https://yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk/
Done the deed - and I urge anyone else who has had any drug side effect to yellow card it as well.
If you don't tell them they won't know!

Cheers

LGC

 

[jocat44]

Hi,
I was on simvastatin 20mg which my GP stopped because I felt so rough and unwell. I have been on pravasatin for about 6 weeks (which I haven't taken everyday because of problems and delays getting them on my perscription) but have taken regularly for the past couple of weeks and so far have felt better. Certainly better than I did on simvastatin.
Good luck
Jo

 

[flyer_phil]

Yes I think Simvastatin gives people a lot of problems. It gave me headaches - and you cant eat grapefruit for breakfast anymore.

I was swapped to Pravastatin 20mg and all was well for a while, then I got muscle pains across my back so I stopped it. However my present GP is very keen on statins and has now put me on a very low dose of 10mg Pravastatin and I seem to be OK at the moment. However I have not checked my cholesterol yet. It was quite high at 6.2.

Its all very controversial. People in northern hemisphere naturally have a higher cholesterol and some people think its baloney. We get such conflicting information. Statins do affect your liver and kidneys - we are all lab rats.

I have just volunteered to enter a medical trial of a new diabetic drug, I must be mad!

 

[IanD]

We are the patient. We suffer the side effects - BUT Dr says its all for our good.

We were at dinner Tuesday night with a diabetic friend (diagnosed 5 years.) She complained to her Dr of headache & muscle pains from simvastatin. The Dr has threatened her with stroke if she doesn't take the tablets. :twisted: Her chol is 5 something. He hasn't offered alternative statins. I told her she could get below 5 by ditching the statins, & using Benecol or Flora pro-activ, & oat bran. I dropped from 7.6 to 5 without statins.

Because of the threats, she keeps taking them. I told her that I had had crippling muscle pains from simv, stopped them, & my Dr approved stopping. He didn't make threats. He even approves my low carb diet. Her Dr is Indian, so doesn't listen. (So is she, so the remark is not racist. She knows my low carb recommendations, but they are not compatible with her being Indian ... rice & chapattis, etc.)

IMNSHO it is better to maintain present good health & quality of life, than to take medications with serious side effects to avert some supposed statistical future threat.