Statin info

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Lindiloo

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Type 1
Need some advice again - I have had a light bulb moment regarding side effects of statins

Tiredness
I have terrible muscle ache
Bad stomach ( which was told from doctor - it’s because I’ve had gallbladder out - a year ago)

Dentist asking why I have such a dry mouth
Optician commenting I have dry eyes

light bulb moment. Is it statins - stopped taking 4 days ago and all symptoms are starting to go

Have a telephone appointment with doctor (can’t get face to face) next friday

I’m type 1 with cholesterol 5.1 good cholesterol 3.7

Anyone else not taking statins and type 1 ?

Would really appreciate help.
 
I am Type 1 and have refused a statin as I don't feel it would be beneficial for me.
My TC has been pretty steady around mid 4s since diagnosis 5 years ago. I am 60 and female and those together with my diabetes gives me a Q Risk of about 15% I can't change being female or 60 or my diabetes but I put a lot of effort into managing it well and I am fitter and healthier than most of my friends the same age and younger who are not taking statins so I personally do not feel I should take them and it is my decision. If my cholesterol shot up to 7 I would reconsider but at my current level I don't feel it warrants any intervention. That is my personal view and my doctors/nurse are happy for me to make that call. They are bound by guidelines and those are from what I understand that over 40 years old with diabetes or with a TC above 4, they have to offer them.
 
I have had a long and not entirely happy time with statins. I took them for a few years with no adverse effects then had them switched to another type because they were cheaper. After a few months I began to get side effects, I was groggy in the morning, my reflexes were slowing (I play the saxophone and you notice when your fast runs aren't as fast as they were), I started getting pins and needles in both arms, simultaneously, and the final blow was sharp shooting pains in my legs. I stopped taking the statins and, just like you the symptoms disappeared. I got the agreement of my GP at the time but at the clinic I was given an increasingly hard time. This went on for years. I was finally shifted to another specialist who was a bit more tolerant of my objections although he wasn't happy. I managed my cholesterol through my diet and I thought it at a reasonable level, around 4.5 - 5 although it had started to creep up.

A few years ago my wife developed heart problems and was put on a cocktail of drugs, among them of course were statins, and she had no side effects so I thought I'd give them another go and agreed to start on a low dose. The side effects came back, these were the same type I had taken before. Eventually I found one, with thanks to my GP, that so far hasn't caused me any problems, maybe I attribute some pins and needles to them, but it's tolerable. I take a very low dose but it does the trick sufficiently well.

So the two points I'm making from this ramble are firstly that your doctor will probably give you hell, second that there are a lot of different types of statin and that you should hopefully be able to find one that does the job and doesn't cause you too much grief, maybe no grief, although it may take a while. Hopefully your doctor will be informed about the different types and flexible. I would approach this with some determination but be positive about different options.

Depending on how long you've been taking them they can take a fair while to get out of your system but the main side effects seem to go quickly.
 
Last edited:
rebrascora said:
I am Type 1 and have refused a statin as I don't feel it would be beneficial for me.
My TC has been pretty steady around mid 4s since diagnosis 5 years ago. I am 60 and female and those together with my diabetes gives me a Q Risk of about 15% I can't change being female or 60 or my diabetes but I put a lot of effort into managing it well and I am fitter and healthier than most of my friends the same age and younger who are not taking statins so I personally do not feel I should take them and it is my decision. If my cholesterol shot up to 7 I would reconsider but at my current level I don't feel it warrants any intervention. That is my personal view and my doctors/nurse are happy for me to make that call. They are bound by guidelines and those are from what I understand that over 40 years old with diabetes or with a TC above 4, they have to offer them.
Click to expand...
Many thanks for your reply. I have researced diet and am currently losing weigh. Diabetes well controlled so I’m going to give myself 12 weeks to see if I can drop cholesterol down to 4 ish and obviously lose some more weight - not talking loads but enough to lower BMI a bit
 
Merluza said:
I have had a long and not entirely happy time with statins. I took them for a few years with no adverse effects then had them switched to another type because they were cheaper. After a few months I began to get side effects, I was groggy in the morning, my reflexes were slowing (I play the saxophone and you notice when your fast runs aren't as fast as they were), I started getting pins and needles in both arms, simultaneously, and the final blow was sharp shooting pains in my legs. I stopped taking the statins and, just like you the symptoms disappeared. I got the agreement of my GP at the time but at the clinic I was given an increasingly hard time. This went on for years. I was finally shifted to another specialist who was a bit more tolerant of my objections although he wasn't happy. I managed my cholesterol through my diet and I thought it at a reasonable level, around 4.5 - 5 although it had started to creep up.

A few years ago my wife developed heart problems and was put on a cocktail of drugs, among them of course were statins, and she had no side effects so I thought I'd give them another go and agreed to start on a low dose. The side effects came back, these were the same type I had taken before. Eventually I found one, with thanks to my GP, that so far hasn't caused me any problems, maybe I attribute some pins and needles to them, but it's tolerable. I take a very low dose but it does the trick sufficiently well.

So the two points I'm making from this ramble are firstly that your doctor will probably give you hell, second that there are a lot of different types of statin and that you should hopefully be able to find one that does the job and doesn't cause you too much grief, maybe no grief, although it may take a while. Hopefully your doctor will be informed about the different types and flexible. I would approach this with some determination but be positive about different options.
Click to expand...
Aww thanks for that. - i
Can just imagine the doctors response - what I don’t understand is why do type 1 have to take them

I going to give myself 12 weeks and see if I can drop cholesterol and it doesn’t go up.

If I can drop it from 5.1 to 4ish would they still
Expect me take them
 
Lindiloo said:
Aww thanks for that. - i
Can just imagine the doctors response - what I don’t understand is why do type 1 have to take them

I going to give myself 12 weeks and see if I can drop cholesterol and it doesn’t go up.

If I can drop it from 5.1 to 4ish would they still
Expect me take them
Click to expand...
From my experience some doctors want everybody to take them whatever your cholesterol level but personally I would be perfectly happy with 4. Good luck getting it down, it takes some study but I managed it for quite a while.

I don't think you can understand the pain and general discomfort from statin side effects until you've experienced them.
 
I don’t take statins @Lindiloo My GP doesn’t try to force me. They just have a note to say they offered them to me. I asked about statins in this thread below. Hopefully you’ll find it helpful:

forum.diabetes.org.uk

Type 1s - are you taking statins?

I asked a question about the pros and cons of statins on the Statins thread, but I’m wondering if I’m unusual in not taking statins as a Type 1, so this poll is for Type 1s and asks about statins. Any comments or information welcome. TIA P.S - I’m only asking Type 1s as I’m Type 1 myself and...
forum.diabetes.org.uk forum.diabetes.org.uk

.
 
Merluza said:
From my experience some doctors want everybody to take them whatever your cholesterol level but personally I would be perfectly happy with 4. Good luck getting it down, it takes some study but I managed it for quite a while.

I don't think you can understand the pain and general discomfort from statin side effects until you've experienced them.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your views. - honestly I can’t believe how I have felt this last several months they doubled my statins from 20 to 40. Omg last week i was going to doctor worrying about bowel cancer as have had such bad stomach. After few days stopping I’m back to normal. Dentist said with dry mouth I could
Start losing teeth - the side effects are dreadful for me
 
I don’t remember why I thought it was the statins that were causing me such pain but the relief after I stopped them was very quick and amazing. I had no doubt they were the cause. There’s a lot of good info on that other thread and I recognised the anguish that some went through. I stopped them fairly quickly but I knew that if I hadn’t I couldn’t have kept doing my job, and I needed my job.

I became very hard line about them, against them, and that won’t ever go away even though I have found an alternative that seems to be ok and I am still watchful. A lot depends upon personal circumstances of course. You say your dosage was doubled and that’s maybe the reason, and it does offer some alternative approaches, cutting the dosage for one.

Make your own decision about this and don’t be bullied.

Which one have you been taking?
 
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Merluza said:
I don’t remember why I thought it was the statins that were causing me such pain but the relief after I stopped them was very quick and amazing. I had no doubt they were the cause. There’s a lot of good info on that other thread and I recognised the anguish that some went through. I stopped them fairly quickly but I knew that if I hadn’t I couldn’t have kept doing my job, and I needed my job.

I became very hard line about them, against them, and that won’t ever go away even though I have found an alternative that seems to be ok and I am still watchful. A lot depends upon personal circumstances of course. You say your dosage was doubled and that’s maybe the reason, and it does offer some alternative approaches, cutting the dosage for one.

Make your own decision about this and don’t be bullied.

Which one have you been taking The
Click to expand...
 
Inka said:
I don’t take statins @Lindiloo My GP doesn’t try to force me. They just have a note to say they offered them to me. I asked about statins in this thread below. Hopefully you’ll find it helpful:

forum.diabetes.org.uk

Type 1s - are you taking statins?

I asked a question about the pros and cons of statins on the Statins thread, but I’m wondering if I’m unusual in not taking statins as a Type 1, so this poll is for Type 1s and asks about statins. Any comments or information welcome. TIA P.S - I’m only asking Type 1s as I’m Type 1 myself and...
forum.diabetes.org.uk forum.diabetes.org.uk

.
Click to expand...
Thankyou.
 
Lindiloo said:
If I can drop it from 5.1 to 4ish would they still
Expect me take them
Click to expand...
Yeah if you’re over 40 and T1 they’ll advise you to take statins regardless of your cholesterol level
 
Statins did benefit myself, it did take a while on what statin was the best but now my cholesterol is down to 3.4 and the bad cholesterol is 2.1 , so statins do work
 
I have been taking statins since diagnosis and have no side effects as far as I can detect.
Was in 40 mg now just doubled to 80 mg as my cholesterol is the only thing out of range, and I am keen to do all I can to avoid a heart attack, having had all three brothers suffer these and two of them die.
 
I was put on statins, atorvastatin, which made my BG shoot up so after 5 weeks came off them and my BG dropped.
My cholesterol is a bit high but at the moment I am staying clear of statins for the time being.
 
Atorvastatin elevated my liver enzymes, had four blood tests and full liver screening for all sorts of horrors over a period of 5 weeks. Everything returned to normal. As for my blood glucose, it didn’t appear to do any harm It worked wonders on my cholestrol, but the GP took me off them . No idea where we go from here. Am a little nervous tbh.
 
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