Atorvastatin and Blood Glucose levels?

[picitup]

Hi All

Like many I take Atorvastatin for cholesterol busting. I've just been reading patient info leaflets and found as a possible side effect:

anorexia (loss of appetite), weight gain, decreases in blood sugar levels (if you have diabetes you should continue careful monitoring of your blood sugar levels)

Has anyone had any issue with this drug and changed it?

Just curious

Steve

 

[nonethewiser]

Steve, notice word possible, like all meds drug company's have to list possible side effects.

Took that statin for few months never noticed any effect on bg levels, in fact had no side effects whatsoever but didn't really expect I would as most people don't.

 

[Vonny]

I was put on Atorvastatin and quickly came off it as it completely sapped my energy. Didn't increase my blood glucose though. I'm now on Simverstatin which I seem to be tolerating ok. I rarely read about the meds I'm on otherwise I would imagine I had all the possible side effects!

 

[Drummer]

Atorvastatin and Metformin frightened me to the core and I stopped taking them after 5 weeks.
My memory was blasted so I have had to relearn so much - trying to cope with the explosive incontinence as well - I did get a professional quality carpet and upholstery cleaner out of it though.
I suspect that few get such a violent reaction, but my experience was not recorded even on my notes, so I think that bad reactions are just quietly supressed, so 'safe and effective' seems entirely apt as there is no record of problems.

 

[IrvineHimself]

After a mini-stroke last week, I am just starting my first dose of Atorvastatin this morning, and I have to admit that the side effects are pretty scary. At the hospital, I was prescribed Clopidogrel and the Doc at the stroke-clinic threw Aspirin into the mix.... With this combination, my GP is very concerned about the potential for stomach ulcers and has prescribed Lansoprazole as a prophylactic.

Along with the previously mentioned potential for stomach bleeding, she is also concerned about the potential for kidney damage. So, for the next month or two, until she sees how I react to the new meds, she has decided to keep me under close observation and is scheduling an appointment every couple of weeks.

On a brighter note, out of a very long and extremely alarming list of potential side effects, there is suggestion thar it may offer improved vigour to the male libido. 😉

 

[picitup]

Yes I was prescribed atorvastatin and clopidogrel after a stroke a couple of years ago. I also take lansaprazole for acid reflux.
How did you stroke affect you? I go off scott free with no weakness etc.

More libido eh? I'll ask for my dose to be upped 😱

Cheers

Steve

 

[IrvineHimself]

How did you stroke affect you?

For the first few hours it really knocked me for six. But, like you, I seem to have recovered very quickly, with no apparent weakness. It's left me bloody scared though and I think my balance is a bit off.

I am not absolutely certain about the latter though, it could just be my imagination.

 

[picitup]

Brill you got away with it as easily as me 🙂. If you think your balance is off, you should see your doctor. I'm sure someone will have test for it. The precursor for mine was I kept bashing my little toe on the corner of table legs etc. I realised afterwards, I was walking to the left a bit and hence always bashing my left toe.

Get it checked out, even if you're unsure. Could be something, could be nothing 🙂

 

[Dave_Z1a]

Atorvastatin and Metformin frightened me to the core and I stopped taking them after 5 weeks.
My memory was blasted so I have had to relearn so much - trying to cope with the explosive incontinence as well - I did get a professional quality carpet and upholstery cleaner out of it though.
I suspect that few get such a violent reaction, but my experience was not recorded even on my notes, so I think that bad reactions are just quietly supressed, so 'safe and effective' seems entirely apt as there is no record of problems.

Seems as though most bad reactions to drugs are suppressed, wonder why?

 

[PattiEvans]

You can report bad side effects of drugs via the yellow card system.

At the hospital, I was prescribed Clopidogrel and the Doc at the stroke-clinic threw Aspirin into the mix.... With this combination, my GP is very concerned about the potential for stomach ulcers and has prescribed Lansoprazole as a prophylactic.

It may be a prophylactic, but it can also cause B12 deficiency which itself has nasty symptoms... see https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vitamin-b12-or-folate-deficiency-anaemia/symptoms/ as it stops your stomach absorbing the vitamin. Not sure I'd take it as a prophylactic. FWIW I have been on clopidogrel for years with no problems.

 

[IrvineHimself]

I was walking to the left a bit and hence always bashing my left toe.

Ouch! Being a bit of a naturist, I really hate that. It hurts like hell and generally draws blood.

Several years ago, I and my dogs were taking a short sabbatical up in the Parc d'Vercour. We had pitched a bivouac in a place that the dogs were obviously less than enthusiastic about, So, when I stood on a thistle, I was absolutely positive they were laughing at me.

It was shortly after that that we met our first wolf: We had come across some scat which, being both a dog handler and a bit of a gastronome, I was very interested to notice contained shell fragments from the Escargot de Bourgogne. Because of it's constituency, a bit watery, I thought the scat was from a malnourished dog. Though, given there were no people in the vicinity, in retrospect this was a bit naive.

My dogs were a team of police trained, high security/military guard dogs and this was the first chance I had had for quite a while to let them off the leash. So, there we were, walking along through the forest, when suddenly, their noses go down and they take off into the forest only to reappear a few seconds later chasing the wolf towards me!

When it passed me, it was so close I could have touched it. Both my dogs and the wolf gave me reproachful looks: The wolf, which was female, seemed to be saying: "Get your bloody dogs under control!", While my female dog seemed to think I should have shot her, my toutou dog, on the other hand, was of a more nuanced opinion: Yes, he expected me to shoot her, but he was also, most definitely, enamoured. Even years later, if we hadn't been out in the wilds for a while, he would eat escargot and reminisce about la belle de la foret.

 

[picitup]

Hehe quite an experience! Bet you wished you'd got your camera with you!

 

[IrvineHimself]

You have no idea. I couldn't possibly count the number of times I have seen nature up close and wished I had a camera with me. On the other hand, trying to get that special photo has got me into a lot of trouble, particularly with sharks and barracuda. The classic was at a reservoir in Botswana where a bloke was standing in waist deep water fishing amongst the reed-beds while leaning against large sign saying "Beware of crocodiles!"

I used to send photos and negatives back to my mum, but I think my sister threw them out. Whatever the case, I have no idea what happened to them.

Wien I came back to Scotland, I had the intention of returning to France and starting a small business selling photos: The way I saw it, if I could sell one or two photos a day for £30 each, then that would be more than enough to fund my lifestyle. To do that, I would only need 3 or 4 exceptional photos and maybe a dozen of slightly lower quality. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of buying a Leyland Daf minibus. Subsequently, after having a minor breakdown while on a three month tour of Europe's finest off-piste ski havens, I discovered Leyland Daf is virtually unknown outside the UK.

After spending six months touring Scotland, I had an exhibition at the Regents Bar in Edinburgh which was well received and still have the prints. But, unfortunately, I had a disk malfunction a few years ago and lost a terabyte or so of photos.

 

[picitup]

I bought a Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra phone and it's rekindled my interest in photography. Of course you don't have the flexibility of a 'proper' camera but it does take damn good photos and being a phone, I always have it with me. It's got a 5x optical zoom which comes in handy and doubles as macro lens and the sensor is 1 inch so it can take photos in very low light.

The 5x optical zoom is great for wildlife so you don't have to get too close and scare them off.

I had my eye on the latest Xiaomi 12 Ultra, but the camera specs are not much different to mine so no point in buying it.

Using an adaptor, I took some microscope piccies of spiders and bugs which came out pretty scary lol.

 

[IrvineHimself]

In addition to having a phone phobia, I have serious security concern about the modern cellular ecosystem. Despite this, over the last two months, I have had several medical emergencies and was forced to get a cheap throwaway phone which I keep in a Faraday cage. Having said that, I think the camera and processing software of modern cell-phones is amazing. (I vaguely recall reading that many ward winning photographers consider their cell-phone camera part of the basic photography kit)

Having lived in teepee in the South of France for many years, I know what you mean about insects. In addition, as one of my many hobbies, I occasionally study 3D animation, (here is my YouTube channel). So I am particularly interested in their ability to create HDR images. As a result, when I also consider their portability, despite my phobia and security concerns, I have often thought about getting a good quality camera phone.

If I had the money, I think I would go for the new Pixel 6a and replace the supplied google operating system with GrapheneOS. (I have been hacking a highly customised linux-kernel and desktop-environment for a number of years. Consequently, hacking a customised cell-phone OS ihas long seemed the next logical step.)