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statins

m_cooper

m_cooper

Well-Known Member
Messages
64
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
i have hardening of the arteries and diabetes,when i was given simvastatin i thought i was having a heart attack as i was getting an extra beat from my heart which went right up into my neck.i was told to stop taking it by a nurse practitioner and the extra beats stopped after about a month.my gp has put me on 10mg atorvastatin which was ok for about 2-3 months,but now i have started getting the extra beats again;is this to do with the muscle problems you can get with statins?
my gp shows no interest when i tell him my legs ache like hell and i get pulses all over;but they all tend to stop when i don't take the statins for a month
 
I have my own views about statins which I try to keep a lid on.
Unless you are a male, over 50 years of age and have already suffered a heart attack there's no evidence that taking them will benefit you at all. If they are causing you pain and distress, which they seem to be, I know what I would do.

fergus
 
The University of California and UC San Diego Medical School have just published a paper in the American Journal of Cardiovascular Drugs following the first comprehensive study of the side effects of statins.

Amongst its conclusions are:

- side effects include muscle problems, congitive problems. peripheral neuropathy, numbness in the extremities, tendon problems, impaired kidney function, heart arrhythmia and elevated blood glucose
- that higher doeses of statins are linked to higher risk of side effects as is long term usage
- that for those aged 70 and over, even if they have already suffered a heart attack, the risks of statins outweighs any benefit.

Draw your own conclusions.
 
MrsPugwash said:
The University of California and UC San Diego Medical School have just published a paper in the American Journal of Cardiovascular Drugs following the first comprehensive study of the side effects of statins.

Amongst its conclusions are:

- side effects include muscle problems, congitive problems. peripheral neuropathy, numbness in the extremities, tendon problems, impaired kidney function, heart arrhythmia and elevated blood glucose
- that higher doeses of statins are linked to higher risk of side effects as is long term usage
- that for those aged 70 and over, even if they have already suffered a heart attack, the risks of statins outweighs any benefit.

Draw your own conclusions.
Click to expand...
Do you have a link or a reference I could use to help me find that please? I would be very interested in reading that.
 
Hi Mrs Pugwash

I too would appreciate a link to that report. I was not aware that numbness/pins & needles in extremities could be side effects from the statins. This information has now answered a query which I have had since diagnosed - when diagnosed I had already been suffering with numbness/pins & needles in my hands, arms, toes & right leg and put that down to a lower back injury/sciatica. But as I read about long term complications I could not understand how I already had the numbness/pins & needles. I was already on statins when diagnosed 4 years ago - you also say elevated blood glucose - that is scary.
I am so fed up at the moment with my lack on control and all the pills I am on that I wish I had the courage to stop taking them all - but then I dont want a heart attack or stroke from high blood pressure. What do people do to help their cholesterol if they are not on statins??
Are you a medical person Mrs. Pugwash? - just wondered.
Many thanks, Jude
 
Mrs. Pugwash

As a dietitian what diet do you recommend? I have been struggling because of IBS I am reluctant to give up my breakfast porridge as I know that is a good start to the day for my IBS. I have reduced my bread - only one slice at lunchtime with protein & some fruit and for my evening meal only have a very small portion of potato along with protein, some vegs followed by fruit and greek yogurt. I am also struggling with the side effects of Byetta (you have probably already seen that!) am up to 10 weeks now still on the 5 pen. My IBS has been improved since the Byetta but I need to get onto the higher dose in order to hit my bgs. My worse figure is fasting - this has always been the case since I was dignosed. I get rather "put out"! that others seem to manage to lose the weight and control their glucose quite quickly and I am just struggling. ( I was put on Gliclazide & then Lantus and they both put weight on) but even though I have stopped (weel nearly the Lantus) the weight dose not drop off. The only other thing I can think of is that I have not been exercising for various reasons - I find I am in a tight vicious circle because when I am feeling unwell I am unable to exercise.
I am very worried now about elevated sugsrs being a side effect of statin - what can I do about this?

I realise you cannot really give personal advice as you do not know me but any suggestions you can give me will be gratefully received and digested.

Many thanks. Jude
 
Hi Jude, can you give me a bit more information about what sort of things you eat on an average day e.g. what sort of protein and how much, what fruits are you eating and what are your BG levels like? Would you prefer me to PM you or post here?

Mrs Pugwash
 
So much to read and not enough time to digest it all, I keep finding things that bother me too and think ah wonder if there is an answer there.
I was put on statins and bp tabs quite close together, bp was really high, then finally the metformin.
Since taking the Statins ( not something people really want to know about sorry but here goes) my waterworks do overtime during the night, (due to night sweats starting back in 2006 long before the tab taking, I wake and just have to get up because it is so uncomfortable (moreso in this weather)hence go to the loo, it's not a habit to break because I can't stop the night sweats(also get them during the day but don't spend my time in the loo (apart from running cool water on my arms to cool down). back to the loo thing, no: 2's used to be regular, creature of habit, since the statins more a case of when and possibly how? Told the GP and have worked my way through 3 pks of fibregel at suggestion,waste of time. It's like the tabs remove every bit of fat from the system and going to the loo is virtually impossible, eating fruit and green veg, fibre breakfast doesn't help, eating something out of the ordinary that I could have really done without, thought that will send me running and sort the problem once and for all. It didn't, I was up all night with severe stomach cramps, nearly passing out, didn't feel sick and nothing would go the other way, took nearly all day to sort itself out. I had IBS some yrs back and would end up in the loo may be 3 times during the course of a meal ,hated eating out or anything spicy, when it was over felt on top of the world full of energy. Now I sometimes think I would give anything for just one day of IBS. Does anyone else have a similar problem and have they found a way round it.
 
Gee grum. You are having a raw deal. Statins are good as far as my pal says. He's been on'em for years with no problems. Just a few get trouble. Usually they get put on something else.

D.
 
I have found asking Drs if I "Need" a drug helps, the answer when this reffered to statins was "well no"so if it aint broke i aint gonna fix it. :roll:
 
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