Simvastatin & Balance?

[GrumpyGit]

I've had a trawl through MickF's Statins-side effects thread and couldn't find any relevant comments (yet).

My doctor has prescribed me Simvastatin 40mg (because I am an old git), I've been taking them since Sunday so only two doses when this occurred.

Cycling home from yoga last night (stone cold sober) I fell off my bike twice. On both occasions I was slowing to a halt (thankfully away from traffic) started to put my left foot down and found myself on the ground with the bike on top of me. No permanent damage done but it's never happened to me before and I'm wondering if there's a connection? I'll continue to test myself today in the hope of finding an answer but would appreciate the thoughts and experiences of our contributors here.

Thanks in advance.

[NUKe]

is there any thing within the listed side effects of the drug? I would see your GP, either way though

[GrumpyGit]

is there any thing within the listed side effects of the drug? I would see your GP, either way though

The possible side effects include dizziness but I don't feel dizzy, I just fell over

It'll take a couple of weeks to get an appointment at the docs so I'm hoping to work it out sooner as laying off using the bike for that long will (I suspect) do me more harm than good but I'd rather avoid falling under a truck as that would not be beneficial.

[Alan O]

I've seen things like dizziness and weakness noted as possible side effects, but I've not seen any suggestions of moments like that where you briefly lose it and find yourself flat on your back.

And, you don't actually know if it's connected to cycling yet - who knows if it might happen when you're crossing the road, or climbing stairs?

If I had symptoms like that when I'd just started a new medication, I'd stop taking it right away and get on to the doc. In this case, if you've only just started, even another couple of weeks waiting for an appointment shouldn't make any difference.

Alan

[mjr]

I didn't have it with Simvastatin, but I did lose my balance with Rosuvastatin - however, that was accompanied by dizziness and nausea (and a long list of other fun).

Unless you've some complicating factor and not merely old age, it is rather unusual to start directly on 40mg of Simvastatin (see the BNF entry, which your doctor should have checked) - most should start with 20mg for a month and then increase.

If I were you and the Simvastatin is mainly because of your age ( ), I'd try stopping it and see if the problem goes away, then restart and be ready for the problem to return. Asking your GP for an urgent telephone consultation is probably a good idea and could check if they're happy for you to do this.

[GrumpyGit]

Constructive thoughts, thank you!

Just to add more confusion, this morning I was able to balance on one leg (left) for a couple of minutes (tree & bow poses) with no ill effects. I'll try to get a phone chat with one of the GPs at my surgery and see what they have to say

[colin54]

I've been taking Simvastatin 40 mg for about three years without apparent side effects.

However, about three weeks ago I was going down a short hill when I suddenly found myself

off the bike and flying through the air for no apparent reason.The only other couple of times I had

come off before that had been when the edge of the tyre tread had caught the edge of a dropped curb, and

a similar situation on rough ground, both at low speed.The reasons were fairly obvious in those cases.

The last occasion perplexed me somewhat, but when I had a closer look at the road there are a couple of potholes

which may have caught me out or possibly I drifted into the kerb through inattention. It's quite a quick steering bike.

Have you been back to the scene of your 'offs' and tried to visualise what happened ?

I hope you find out the reason, it's worrying.

[531colin]

40mg is a big dose to start you on, unless you have familial hypercholesterolaemia.
Why are you on statins? High cholesterol is just about an acceptable reason, age isn't.....i have come off the bloody things, I can't stand the muscle stiffness.
The old aircrew test for balance was to stand on one leg with arms folded and eyes shut for 2 minutes. I can't do it at all now, even 15 years ago it was easy.....so much for old ears. You could try that with and without the statin, but to be honest if i thought there was a chance that medication was making me fall over, i would stop taking it. 2 weeks without it isn't going to do any harm, specially if you have never had it before. Medication is supposed to make you feel better, not worse.
When i came off statins, my GP admitted they might have to medicate 20 patients for one to get a benefit.....other sources say you might have to medicate many more than that.

[georgew]

I've taken Statins for years though I've stopped now and feel human again.
I fell over quite often but had no dizziness or any other notice...one minute fine and then lurched to one side and had to grab something. It still happens occasionally but is now becoming less often.

[GrumpyGit]

I've taken Statins for years though I've stopped now and feel human again.
I fell over quite often but had no dizziness or any other notice...one minute fine and then lurched to one side and had to grab something. It still happens occasionally but is now becoming less often.

Thanks George, that sounds pretty much what happened to me! Crawling out from under 25 Kg of Dutch bike isn't much fun.

I spoke to the doc, she said to stop taking them for a few days, see how I feel and then maybe try them again which I'll probably do.

I've straightened the mudguard and painted over the scratches, now I'm ready to try riding again but think I'll use the aluminium hybrid as it weighs a lot less

[David Cox]

Just seen this thread. I've been on 20 mg for a year. It has brought my cholesterol down which given family history I am pleased about. They started me on the other brand (probably Rosuvastatin?) which promptly ruined a holiday by giving me a whole bunch of cold symptoms (sore throat runny nose etc etc) which turned out to be a known but not common side effect. On balance no problems on the bike but I'm not as steady at first when I get up in the night for usual reasons. Only a minor problem but of concern if it gets worse given falls are such a problem for many older people. Do consult your GP.

[rmurphy195]

Maybe there's another problem unrelated to the Statin, but related to, say blood pressure - especially if you are taking,for example, Tamsulosin or similar which can exacerbate postural hypotension. http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Blood-pressure-(low)/Pages/Symptoms.aspx

Obviously see your GP ASAP, but see if you can identify anything such as having it happen when you stand up after bending down (e.g. getting an item off a low shelf), that sort of thing. Seems one big coincidence that it happened as you started taking the drug.