As a physician, for years I subscribed to the Statin dogma. Taking them for 2 years from 2011 changed my opinion. I was one of the 25% or so who must have the genes that make Statin side-effects more likely. Not straight away, problems developed in a subtle way, becoming progressive after 9 months or so. Symptoms included muscle wasting, weakness, muscle fibre tears [particularly in the calf, I'm a jogger] tendon tears, low mood, cognitive issues, peripheral neuritis, loss of joint position sense, ED, sluggish bowel etc.
On Simvastatin 10mg my total cholesterol was in the 3's. Now, without Statins my level is 4.3. Not that I'm at all interested. CHD prevention does not require low cholesterol, it needs low intravascular inflammation. Statins work, modestly, by suppressing inflammation.
I'm convinced that the data on Statins has been cherry-picked by the Pharma companies and the profession has swallowed it hook, line and sinker. The 2013 Lancet Meta-analysis on Statins involved, I believe 28 trials, all but one sponsored by drug companies. The trials were not properly blinded and everyone knew which subjects received the Statin. There was more surgical and other intervention in the Statin group. There is also the issue of absolute versus relative risk. The results show the what that the Physicians believe in and what the companies seek. It is interesting to see that there's more scepticism in Italy regarding Statins and omega-3s are used a lot instead.
I've gradually recovered from what I see as Statin toxicity, probably aided by self-medication with Ubiquinol and PQQ [repairing the mitochondrial damage inflicted]. I can now complete 3x 5km runs each week with no muscle tears.
I do not advise stopping Statins if one is at high risk [angina, previous MI, stroke etc] but arm yourself with a big dose of scepticism ,question the physicians and maintain 3G/day intake of omega-3 fatty acids.