statins

[kevinhits]

I have been on 10mg of Statin for a couple years now and have not experienced any of the side effects that have been mentioned so far.

[sirmike68]

Be careful with statins. I was on 10 mg for 24 years and my blood sugers and triglycerides started to creep up ever so slightly. Then my bilirubin started to climb all these are prediabetic indicators. I am not overweight, don't smoke, and drink socially. Non of these conditions are present in my family. I fully expect my numbers will go back to normal but expect my cholesterol levels to rise. With no history of strokes or heart attcks in my family I will not worry about it. In my case the possibility of becoming a diabetic due to statins is not worth it since my family history has no issues with heart attacks or strokes. Just because the doctor says something doesnt mean they are always right. Do your own research as well before you decide your fate.

[kevinhits]

Originally Posted by sirmike68

Be careful with statins. I was on 10 mg for 24 years and my blood sugers and triglycerides started to creep up ever so slightly. Then my bilirubin started to climb all these are prediabetic indicators. I am not overweight, don't smoke, and drink socially. Non of these conditions are present in my family. I fully expect my numbers will go back to normal but expect my cholesterol levels to rise. With no history of strokes or heart attcks in my family I will not worry about it. In my case the possibility of becoming a diabetic due to statins is not worth it since my family history has no issues with heart attacks or strokes. Just because the doctor says something doesnt mean they are always right. Do your own research as well before you decide your fate.

That is why I get a physical and blood work every year so my Doc can check my meds and levels....

[Buckhead]

If you are on statins you should take supplemental Vitamin D. The statins interfere with your bodies production of Vit D.
Also, Omega 3's (or eating lots of salmon) and taking COQ10 (coenzyme Q10) daily will help a lot with the leg pains and muscle weakness or even eliminate them.
Some cardio once and even twice a day (you don't have to exhaust yourself - even 10 or 15 minutes twice a day will do the trick) and cutting back on the processed foods, salt and sugar. Any intake of alcohol does not seem to agree with the statin drugs.

[sirmike68]

Originally Posted by sirmike68

Be careful with statins. I was on 10 mg for 24 years and my blood sugers and triglycerides started to creep up ever so slightly. Then my bilirubin started to climb all these are prediabetic indicators. I am not overweight, don't smoke, and drink socially. Non of these conditions are present in my family. I fully expect my numbers will go back to normal but expect my cholesterol levels to rise. With no history of strokes or heart attcks in my family I will not worry about it. In my case the possibility of becoming a diabetic due to statins is not worth it since my family history has no issues with heart attacks or strokes. Just because the doctor says something doesnt mean they are always right. Do your own research as well before you decide your fate.

So after 6 months I had my blood tested to see whats up. Low and behold all of my blood sugars, triglycerides, liver enzymes were all way down to normal conditions. As expected my LDL (bad) was above normal but my good HDL was to. Feeling better than I ever had. Side effects from statins were creating alot of problems for me I just hope not too much damage was done before I stopped taking them. Watch your symptoms and listen to your body and question the dr's.

[cat336]

I was on statins for 6 months. By then I couldn't lift my right arm up to shoulder height. Talked to my doc and he changed me over to fenofibrate. 3 years later still no muscle pain HDL and LDL still in normal range. So there are other drugs you can talk to your doctor about.

[Jim Gordon]

Doc started me on a low dose (5mg) of Crestor in mid March. Everything was fine till the first week in May and then I got a bit more active with outdoor activity and the muscle pain started. Got my 2 month blood work done and then stopped taking them on May 15th. Cholesterol was back to normal, but now I am living on Advil to manage the pain. How long does it take to clear this crap out of the system? Doc said they would give it 3 months to clear out completely before trying anything else. And yes I am taking Q10 coenzyme to help with the pain.

[pittman]

There have been multiple studies looking at muscle pains and statins. They have found no increase in muscle pain. There is a bad reaction that can affect your muscles caused by statins. It is serious, and detectable with blood work - this is not the simple muscle pain experienced when you exercise. Fortunately, this reaction is very rare.

It's funny how people are so quick to blame muscle pain on a pill and something they've read on the internet. Increased activity during the summer months causes muscle pain as well. Seems like the more likely explanation to me...

Fenofibrate works in a totally different way than statins. Unfortunately this drug has never been shown to prevent cardiovascular problems. Makes the cholesterol go down, but that's just a number. Same thing with Niacin.

[ssyd]

My doctor bugs me every visit about statins but I'm a major pharmaphobe. Yes I just made that word up.

Given that the NNT stat (Number Needed to Treat) for statins is so high, I just don't want to risk the significantly increased chance of getting diabetes for what would amount to about a 2% chance to prevent a heart attack given my current risk level which is high for my age.

I understand that everybody skews results to make their point but I've seen the NNT listed as high as 167 for statins. That means 167 people would have to be treated to prevent a single heart attack.

[pittman]

Sounds like your doctor explains things well to you, or you found some good resources to review.

In terms of prevention and statins, it depends if you've had a heart attack before or not.

If you've had one and you're put on a statin it reduces your risk of another one by 25-30%. That is your relative risk, so whatever your current risk of another heart attack is you cut that down by 25-30%. This has been reproduced across a number of high quality studies, and is actually a pretty good bang for your buck compared to other drug interventions.

If you haven't had a heart attack before then the benefit is much less. That said there are some high risk people out there that would likely benefit much more than the statistics indicate.