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I have had a long running battle with the GP surgery over statins, as I am severely reactive to them. Following a liver functions test (normal) I have agreed to do a 3 month trial of a non statin cholesterol reducing medication, Ezetimibe. If I get side effects, I've said I will stop the medication. I'm due for a repeat cholesterol test in February, and will feed back to the Forum how I am getting on, as it may help others like me.
I’m like you @Felinia - I didn’t get on with statins at all. I’ve been taking Ezetimibe since April. I take them very reluctantly - more off than on, tbh - because of the side effects I had with statins, so I can’t report back on their effectiveness, etc. I’ll be interested to read your opinion on them.
Btw, no-one should let my experience stop them from taking statins. They definitely work and most people can take them without any side effects.
Hope you get on ok with the new med.
I was reluctant to try statins, as everything I had read was 50/50 for and against.
My GP and DN were adamant I had to have them as, they claimed there was no alternative to reducing cholesterol, I now know this is not correct!
I agreed to take them, and despite trying three different statins (over a six month period) had horrendous, (and I do mean horrendous!) side effects. Severe muscle pain in ankles, knees, shoulders, wrists, neck, etc, to the point where I could barely walk, climb the stairs, get in/out of the bath or the car. At its worse I thought I might actually end up in a wheel chair!
I went from being a fairly active 100% mobile person, to someone who could barely move and had about 20% mobility!
Eventually they agreed I could stop taking them, and I believe my cholesterol will come down with diet/weight loss. I am due a blood test soon.
It then took many many months to get back to "normal", however, even now, about 9-10 months after I stopped taking the statins, I still have some (minor muscle pain/aches) and am nearly back to being 100% mobile, but not quite, I'd say about 90%.
Of course we have to remember that everyone's reaction to any drug is personal, and we can all have different side effects, (or none) and this is just my personal experience of statins.
Statins clearly do work for many people. Maybe I was just unlucky. But I will never take another statin again.
I’m like you @Felinia - I didn’t get on with statins at all. I’ve been taking Ezetimibe since April. I take them very reluctantly - more off than on, tbh - because of the side effects I had with statins, so I can’t report back on their effectiveness, etc. I’ll be interested to read your opinion on them.
Btw, no-one should let my experience stop them from taking statins. They definitely work and most people can take them without any side effects.
Just to check - have you tried the cholesterol lowering yoghurt drinks and either oats or oat bran?
For those who can tolerate them, the beta-glucan in oats/oat bran can help (but I know not all diabetics can eat oats)
I used those two and cut out saturated fats to lower my cholesterol.
I’ve taken Ezetimibe for about 22 years now after a horrible reaction to statins which affected my muscle control, I couldn’t stand or control my legs & arms, it was quite extreme so I was advised to use Ezetimibe.
My cholesterol isn’t high & hasn’t been high but I was told i should take something in place of statins. Something, maybe luck/drugs has kept things stable for decades now so I’ll keep taking Ezetimibe, it hasn’t caused me any ill side effects.
Hope you get on well with it @Felinia & @Bloden , my surgery tries to swap it for statins every so often as they are less expensive so I keep an eye out for that.
Hi I’ve been on a combination of statins and ezetimibe for my “strikingly high cholesterol” or just over 9. That combo seems to have knocked my ALT (liver enzyme) a bit so now they’re experimenting with just ezetimibe, then I expect rinse and repeat to see what’s what
So just a voice of solidarity for you. Let me know how you go!
You are not alone. I've been through the ongoing battle with doctors, for at least 10 years, and wound up taking Rosuvastatin which I can tolerate and seems to do a decent job. If the Ezetimibe doesn't suit you then you could give it a try but I wish you well with the Ezetimibe.
Unless they've suffered the side effects of statins I don't think people understand how bad they are and it's grim facing doctors who are convinced they are right when you know they don't have a clue what you are experiencing. Sadly the alternatives don't really work in the long run but I was at the point where I would rather take the consequences than the agony of the side effects of the statins I was taking. I look forward to your feedback and here's hoping.
Hope you get on ok with the new med.
I was reluctant to try statins, as everything I had read was 50/50 for and against.
My GP and DN were adamant I had to have them as, they claimed there was no alternative to reducing cholesterol, I now know this is not correct!
I agreed to take them, and despite trying three different statins (over a six month period) had horrendous, (and I do mean horrendous!) side effects. Severe muscle pain in ankles, knees, shoulders, wrists, neck, etc, to the point where I could barely walk, climb the stairs, get in/out of the bath or the car. At its worse I thought I might actually end up in a wheel chair!
I went from being a fairly active 100% mobile person, to someone who could barely move and had about 20% mobility!
Eventually they agreed I could stop taking them, and I believe my cholesterol will come down with diet/weight loss. I am due a blood test soon.
It then took many many months to get back to "normal", however, even now, about 9-10 months after I stopped taking the statins, I still have some (minor muscle pain/aches) and am nearly back to being 100% mobile, but not quite, I'd say about 90%.
Of course we have to remember that everyone's reaction to any drug is personal, and we can all have different side effects, (or none) and this is just my personal experience of statins.
Statins clearly do work for many people. Maybe I was just unlucky. But I will never take another statin again.
My side effects were very similar to yours, plus I had swelling, a spreading rash and total incontinence, requiring special pants. My symptoms also took 9 months to subside.
Just to check - have you tried the cholesterol lowering yoghurt drinks and either oats or oat bran?
For those who can tolerate them, the beta-glucan in oats/oat bran can help (but I know not all diabetics can eat oats)
I used those two and cut out saturated fats to lower my cholesterol.
Interesting. My cholesterol was fine until I quit drinking completely, then it went up. This just anecdotal, of course, and probably a coincidence. But I’ve often thought my cholesterol would benefit from a glass of wine-a-day! (Impossible, alcohol crashes my glucose).
I have had a long running battle with the GP surgery over statins, as I am severely reactive to them. Following a liver functions test (normal) I have agreed to do a 3 month trial of a non statin cholesterol reducing medication, Ezetimibe. If I get side effects, I've said I will stop the medication. I'm due for a repeat cholesterol test in February, and will feed back to the Forum how I am getting on, as it may help others like me.
GM. Your approach is identical to mine. I am ready for the GP to argue the case for trying a different Statin, but after my last experience, that won't be happening. Although the Statin did do a wonderful job on my cholestrol.However I am aware that Ezitimbe works better taken with a low dose Statin.. sigh. Good luck.
I've just given in and agreed to go on a very low dose statin (10mg). I weighed up the pros and cons of statin versus ezetimibe but all the ezetimibe literature indicated they didn't work very well on their own and it was still advisable to take a statin as well.
My last cholesterol (total) was 5.4 so not massively high but still too high for other risk factors, including the diabetes and a familial history of heart, stroke and vascular issues
It will be very interesting to see how you get on with the ezetimibe as my GP and nurse always recommend this as an alternative to statins.
I have been taking 10mg Ezetimibe (on its own, intolerant to statins, similar problems to @pjgtech ) for about 8 months now, not aware of any side effects at all. Bloods after 6 months showed some improvement, though not spectacular.
Total reduced from 6.5 to 5.9, LDL from 4.6 to 3.9, HDL increased from 1.2 to 1.4, (trigs (fasted) the same at 1.4).
Not pushed to go on them, but cardiologist said it was worth a try. I'm happy to stay on them.
Interesting. My cholesterol was fine until I quit drinking completely, then it went up. This just anecdotal, of course, and probably a coincidence. But I’ve often thought my cholesterol would benefit from a glass of wine-a-day! (Impossible, alcohol crashes my glucose).
@Bloden my query was aimed at yourself since you cannot tolerate the statin, and are only taking them sometimes. My query was ...
Just to check - have you tried the cholesterol lowering yoghurt drinks and either oats or oat bran?
For those who can tolerate them, the beta-glucan in oats/oat bran can help (but I know not all diabetics can eat oats)
I used cholesterol lowering yoghurt drinks and oat bran, and cut saturated fats out of my diet to lower my cholesterol.
It doesn't have to be oat bran, any soluble fibre can help lower cholesterol which is why I use psyllium husk and chia seeds, because they are much lower carb than oat bran.
The oat bran I used was because of the effect of beta-glucan on cholesterol (and as oat bran is slightly lower in carbs than oats). I'm not aware whether or not psyllium husk and chia seeds contain beta-glucan @Bloden some info on non-statin cholesterol info here
Beta-glucans are just one type of soluble fibre. I am not sure they are specifically better than other types of soluble fibre for lowering cholesterol. I suspect they may have just had more recognition/better marketing.
Beta-glucans are just one type of soluble fibre. I am not sure they are specifically better than other types of soluble fibre for lowering cholesterol. I suspect they may have just had more recognition/better marketing.
