Statin side-effects questioned

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Northerner

Northerner

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Type 1
Drugs taken to lower the risk of heart attacks and strokes may have fewer side-effects than claimed, researchers say.

Their review of 83,880 patients, published in the European Journal of Preventative Cardiology, indicated an increased risk of type-2 diabetes.

But it suggested reports of increases in nausea, muscle ache, insomnia and fatigue were actually inaccurate.

It is a controversial area as the NHS in England is considering offering the drugs to millions more people.

The cholesterol-lowering drugs are already offered to about seven million people in the UK who have a one-in-five chance of heart disease in the next decade.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-26559013
 
I have taken a statin for 15+ years and now do suffer from muscle ache, insomnia and fatigue, but all of these symptoms I am told are caused by end stage renal failure and are also a complication of long term type 1 diabetes, and now apparantly could be caused by statins. When you have a chronic illness it is very hard to pin point what is causing a symptom, confusing or what ?
 
Northerner said:
Drugs taken to lower the risk of heart attacks and strokes may have fewer side-effects than claimed, researchers say.

Their review of 83,880 patients, published in the European Journal of Preventative Cardiology, indicated an increased risk of type-2 diabetes.

But it suggested reports of increases in nausea, muscle ache, insomnia and fatigue were actually inaccurate.

It is a controversial area as the NHS in England is considering offering the drugs to millions more people.

The cholesterol-lowering drugs are already offered to about seven million people in the UK who have a one-in-five chance of heart disease in the next decade.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-26559013
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I have tried three different statins and each time within two days or taken them I struggled to put my foot to the floor, told doctor he said it was gout and wanted to put me on a tablet for the gout, I said no because as soon as I stopped the statins the pain went, I no longer take them, that was coming to fours years ago and I have never had that pain since..
 
Hi Pete why did they want to put you on a statin , if you dont mind me asking ? I was put on one due to nerve damage to liver causing high cholesterol, my cholesterol wouldnt have come down even with diet due to the liver problem. They seem to keep my cholestero down and maybe if I was going to have side effects due to statins they would have started immediately like yours did and not years later. So maybe my symptoms are due to illness.
 
"But it suggested reports of increases in nausea, muscle ache, insomnia and fatigue were actually inaccurate."

I certainly wasn't imagining these effects, they were horrendous, especially the pain in my lower legs. I had a dreadful time with them, to such an extent that I'd be afraid to take them ever again. Personal experience tells me the statement quoted above is total [unprintable] nonsense. I'm with PeteH.
 
AlisonM said:
"But it suggested reports of increases in nausea, muscle ache, insomnia and fatigue were actually inaccurate."

I certainly wasn't imagining these effects, they were horrendous, especially the pain in my lower legs. I had a dreadful time with them, to such an extent that I'd be afraid to take them ever again. Personal experience tells me the statement quoted above is total [unprintable] nonsense. I'm with PeteH.
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Hi Alisonm did you also get side effects immedieately ? I never even noticed I was taking them when I started, but on the other hand my father in law was ill straight away so doesnt take them ? I am starting to think as they worked wonders for me with no problems is that they must be fine for some people and not for others which is the case for most drugs.
 
HERE TINTIN said:
Hi Alisonm did you also get side effects immedieately ? I never even noticed I was taking them when I started, but on the other hand my father in law was ill straight away so doesnt take them ? I am starting to think as they worked wonders for me with no problems is that they must be fine for some people and not for others which is the case for most drugs.
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Yes, I noticed the pain in my lower legs (calves and feet) building within a couple of days and the nausea within hours. After a week or so it was so bad there were days I could hardly stand. I was told it would ease off, but instead it got steadily worse until I finally I ended up in the surgery crying from the pain. I was given a different type, but the side effects were almost as bad with them. I did some reading and realised that my cholesterol was reasonable and the good cho was making up most of the results so I rebelled. Within hours of coming off them the pain was easing and the nausea was gone. I do have pain still but from the rheumatism which is very different and in totally different places.
 
AlisonM said:
Yes, I noticed the pain in my lower legs (calves and feet) building within a couple of days and the nausea within hours. After a week or so it was so bad there were days I could hardly stand. I was told it would ease off, but instead it got steadily worse until I finally I ended up in the surgery crying from the pain. I was given a different type, but the side effects were almost as bad with them. I did some reading and realised that my cholesterol was reasonable and the good cho was making up most of the results so I rebelled. Within hours of coming off them the pain was easing and the nausea was gone. I do have pain still but from the rheumatism which is very different and in totally different places.
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From what I have read on here and feom myself and a couple pf friends who do take them with no problems it seems you soon know if you have side effects and therefore stop the tablets. If yoour cholesterol level is high its always worth asking the dr if it is mostly good or bad cholesterol making up your overall number, as some dont differentiate, whci I find strange.
 
HERE TINTIN said:
From what I have read on here and feom myself and a couple pf friends who do take them with no problems it seems you soon know if you have side effects and therefore stop the tablets. If yoour cholesterol level is high its always worth asking the dr if it is mostly good or bad cholesterol making up your overall number, as some dont differentiate, whci I find strange.
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I have run through all the statins available and gave up due to muscle ache. It took quite a while to develop and did not appear soon after first prescription.
Despite being high risk due to having had a heart attack my GP was quite happy to let me give up. On a technical note you cannot change your cholesterol level by more than 10% by changing diet (or taking plant extracts!) because it's your body that produces the cholesterol.
The statistics usually quoted for the use of statins for those without prior cardiovascular disease are: 12% risk reduction for mortatilty, 30% for cardiovascular events (heart attacks), but these are risk reductions so, for example in tests deaths were 5.7% in the control group and 5.1% in the statin group (a reduction of 12%). So the difference in a group of 1000 people is 57 without statins will die and of those on statins 51 will die. Nobody can identify which 6 people will die if they don't take statins.
ref(http://www.bmj.com/content/338/bmj.b2376.long)
 
HERE TINTIN said:
Hi Pete why did they want to put you on a statin , if you dont mind me asking ? I was put on one due to nerve damage to liver causing high cholesterol, my cholesterol wouldnt have come down even with diet due to the liver problem. They seem to keep my cholestero down and maybe if I was going to have side effects due to statins they would have started immediately like yours did and not years later. So maybe my symptoms are due to illness.
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Cholesterol was 6-5 so he put me on them, the pain was that bad I had to go up stairs on me bum I just could not put no weight on my foot and had to work in slippers I could not get my shoe on..and I have to go to work otherwise the shop does not open, and I told him that he just shrugged his shoulders and said what's more important your work or your health... As I say never had the pain since and don't want it again....
 
AlisonM said:
"But it suggested reports of increases in nausea, muscle ache, insomnia and fatigue were actually inaccurate."

I certainly wasn't imagining these effects, they were horrendous, especially the pain in my lower legs. I had a dreadful time with them, to such an extent that I'd be afraid to take them ever again. Personal experience tells me the statement quoted above is total [unprintable] nonsense. I'm with PeteH.
Click to expand...
The pain was absolute agony, all my doctor said was it was not the statins it was gout and wanted me to take tablets for that.... But as I say that was four years ago and I have never or ever want that pain again..
 
Well I am sure you are one of those people who cannot take them, the fact that the pain went away as soon as you stopped them proves that. Some drs dont like to be told they are wrong and wont listen, we are all different and just because one patients is ok with a certain medication doesnt mean another will be 🙂
 
i don't know if it was the statins making my joints hurt more or not, just know i was taking more pain killers during the month i was taking them, i was only 6.1 when tested, month later it is 4.1 so i see no point in taking them and now back to one pain killer a day or some days none at all
 
Alison, there were undoubtedly some people that had bad reactions, I don't think that there is any drug that doesn't cause some side effects in some people. It was saying that the researchers, on the evidence they had before them found that the rate of side effects was no greater than in the placebo and may, in some cases, be a result of the nocebo effect.

However, I did a bit more fishing and found that Dr Goldacre himself had written on what he thought was right and what was wrong with the study as published ie he wanted to add a caveat about incomplete data (found to be missing between the writing of the paper and the publishing)

http://www.badscience.net/2014/03/s...-trials-transparency-matters-again/#more-3129
 
Is anyone taking statins and not having any side effects apart from me ? Their seem to be far more people who have tried and wont take them than people who benefit from them. I take them and have for 15+ years with no problems, at least I dont think I have any side effects.
 
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