Statins

[emmgeo]

Why are people against taking Statins are they really that bad for us.
I got prescribed them in March one a day my cholesterol was 5.5 it is now 3.1,I am not sure if it has come down because of the statin or my 6stone weight loss.

 

[MrDaibetes]

Statins have horrible side effects for some users, so this is why some people are against them.

 

[KARNAK]

Hi @emmgeo as @MrDaibetes says some can and some can`t, I am one of those who can`t. I was convinced by my D Consultant that they have improved dramatically since my last try which only lasted two days. This time I lasted three weeks this is the fifth week, symptoms include, nausea/vomiting, lethargy, unstable on the feet, diarrhoea, loss of appetite, can`t mix with people in fact just wanted to curl up and die. Thankfully although it will take me about a month to recover I recognised the symptoms and stopped taking the tablets and will never take another one.

I know a lot of people who take them without any problems and if it helps well done, its just an insight from a different perspective, as with all medication what suits one does not always suit another, thankyou for your time.

 

[grovesy]

I tried more than one and they did not suit me.

 

[Drummer]

I had aches and pains, itching, a strange alteration in my sense of taste, my memory was so bad I was thinking dementia, and combined with the effects of Metformin which were dreadful too, I was becoming suicidal. That was about five weeks from starting to take them. The effects took some time to reduce , I had to relearn all my songs and the pain in one leg took 18 months to subside. It is still weaker than the other one and the muscle is smaller and a different shape.

 

[Bruce Stephens]

My father had really bad side effects and was eventually just taken off statins. But I've had no problems (I'm taking a lower dose than he was, admittedly), and find Metformin fine too.

 

[emmgeo]

Hi @emmgeo as @MrDaibetes says some can and some can`t, I am one of those who can`t. I was convinced by my D Consultant that they have improved dramatically since my last try which only lasted two days. This time I lasted three weeks this is the fifth week, symptoms include, nausea/vomiting, lethargy, unstable on the feet, diarrhoea, loss of appetite, can`t mix with people in fact just wanted to curl up and die. Thankfully although it will take me about a month to recover I recognised the symptoms and stopped taking the tablets and will never take another one.
I know a lot of people who take them without any problems and if it helps well done, its just an insight from a different perspective, as with all medication what suits one does not always suit another, thankyou for your time.

Can't blame you for stopping taking them with all them horrible side affects, hope you are well and back to normal soon.
I guess I am one of the people who can tolerate them with no short term side affects, I am the same with Metformin lots of people can't take them because of the side affects, but they don't affect me either.
My worry is will they affect me in the long term.

 

[trophywench]

It was the memory loss without any particular muscle probs that did for me too - I wasn't willing aged 50 to call it dementia and so said I thought it could be Alzheimer's - very often when my head was planning what to say, what actually came out of my mouth was entirely different and sometimes quite insulting instead of complimentary which I'd intended to be and I found that VERY frightening along with forgetting my only sister's name literally in the middle of a sentence to her mid conversation.

I'd been on Atorvastatin for a couple of years with apparently no prob, then that was changed to Simvastatin cos it was cheaper and it was after that the probs manifested. However of course I have no idea which may have caused it originally. However as long as I have working brain cells I'll never try to take another, if my brain cells no longer function properly then I'll hardly care will I? LOL

I'm not at all certain that unless they've done all investigations to show that a person WILL have CVD they should take statins in the first place. Plenty of folk with chol that's apparently 'normal' get CVD anyway.

 

[emmgeo]

It was the memory loss without any particular muscle probs that did for me too - I wasn't willing aged 50 to call it dementia and so said I thought it could be Alzheimer's - very often when my head was planning what to say, what actually came out of my mouth was entirely different and sometimes quite insulting instead of complimentary which I'd intended to be and I found that VERY frightening along with forgetting my only sister's name literally in the middle of a sentence to her mid conversation.

I'd been on Atorvastatin for a couple of years with apparently no prob, then that was changed to Simvastatin cos it was cheaper and it was after that the probs manifested. However of course I have no idea which may have caused it originally. However as long as I have working brain cells I'll never try to take another, if my brain cells no longer function properly then I'll hardly care will I? LOL

I'm not at all certain that unless they've done all investigations to show that a person WILL have CVD they should take statins in the first place. Plenty of folk with chol that's apparently 'normal' get CVD anyway.

I have had your above problems long before taking Statins lol 😉😉😉
I am on Atorvastatin at the moment.

 

[Nick Cliff]

When diagnosed with Type 2 in 2009 my cholesterol was a bit high and I was encouraged to go on Simvastatin. As a person with scientific training I found this odd as there was no suggestion of waiting until I altered my diet. I took them and did not have immediate bad side effects. However I found increasingly I had muscle fatigue from even the simplest of exercises. Simvastatin appears to be the cause as this went when I came off them in 2010.
My cholesterol has been fine since and is of no concern. Significantly reducing animal fat intake probably did the job.
We're all different. .and I didn't have 6 stone to lose, but maybe your medication could be reviewed as your change in diet may have done the job !
Nick

 

[ianf0ster]

Why are people against taking Statins are they really that bad for us.
I got prescribed them in March one a day my cholesterol was 5.5 it is now 3.1,I am not sure if it has come down because of the statin or my 6stone weight loss.

Hi emmgeo,
Perhaps this recent talk by Dr Aseem Malhotra well known UK Cardiologist - see the picture of him with the current Minister of Health (so he is NOT a 'quack'), given to the Public Health Collaboration Conference will give you more background on the doubts about statins :

 

[Eddy Edson]

Why are people against taking Statins are they really that bad for us.
I got prescribed them in March one a day my cholesterol was 5.5 it is now 3.1,I am not sure if it has come down because of the statin or my 6stone weight loss.

A comprehensive review of the scientific evidence for statin safety/harms by the American Heart Association last year: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30580575 for the absract, and you can follow the links if you want to delve into the nitty-gritty.

Primarily using data from randomized controlled trials, supplemented with observational data where necessary, this scientific statement provides a comprehensive review of statin safety and tolerability. The review covers the general patient population, as well as demographic subgroups, including the elderly, children, pregnant women, East Asians, and patients with specific conditions such as chronic disease of the kidney and liver, human immunodeficiency viral infection, and organ transplants. The risk of statin-induced serious muscle injury, including rhabdomyolysis, is <0.1%, and the risk of serious hepatotoxicity is ≈0.001%. The risk of statin-induced newly diagnosed diabetes mellitus is ≈0.2% per year of treatment, depending on the underlying risk of diabetes mellitus in the population studied. In patients with cerebrovascular disease, statins possibly increase the risk of hemorrhagic stroke; however, they clearly produce a greater reduction in the risk of atherothrombotic stroke and thus total stroke, as well as other cardiovascular events. There is no convincing evidence for a causal relationship between statins and cancer, cataracts, cognitive dysfunction, peripheral neuropathy, erectile dysfunction, or tendonitis. In US clinical practices, roughly 10% of patients stop taking a statin because of subjective complaints, most commonly muscle symptoms without raised creatine kinase. In contrast, in randomized clinical trials, the difference in the incidence of muscle symptoms without significantly raised creatinine kinase in statin-treated compared with placebo-treated participants is <1%, and it is even smaller (0.1%) for patients who discontinued treatment because of such muscle symptoms. This suggests that muscle symptoms are usually not caused by pharmacological effects of the statin. Restarting statin therapy in these patients can be challenging, but it is important, especially in patients at high risk of cardiovascular events, for whom prevention of these events is a priority. Overall, in patients for whom statin treatment is recommended by current guidelines, the benefits greatly outweigh the risks.

 

[TwoTone]

Why are people against taking Statins are they really that bad for us.
I got prescribed them in March one a day my cholesterol was 5.5 it is now 3.1,I am not sure if it has come down because of the statin or my 6stone weight loss.

Hi emmgeo. One of the side effects of statins is to increase BGs! Another is muscle pain during exercise. This sounds counter intuitive to a T2D who uses diet and exercise to maintain balance. I have never been on statins. When first T2D DX'D cholesterol was 7.5, then went down to 5.4 on average for about 14 years with the diet management. 21 months ago I decided to abstain from eating all meat. My cholesterol is now 4.7. I'm of the mind, if I don't NEED to take medication, then I won't. I take 2 x 500mg of Metformin and 100mg of allopurinol (cause over 70% of T2Ds have elevated uric acid levels - gout).