Statins - side effects

[TonyR]

... Pregnant?
What are the symptoms? ...

Eating for two, a growing bulge in front, feeling rough in the morning, ....

I thought that was beer

[Mick F]

Beer?
Never touch the stuff.


Day Seven today, and I'm feeling fine. Just checked my BP and is now 107/71.

[Paulatic]

WoW that's good, wish mine was that low.

[bigjim]

I tend to stay as far away as possible from the GPs. I had to go there 2 weeks ago because of a pain in my lower leg that was annoying me. The first time for 14 months that I had been inside the place. That previous time, it was because I had gout and needed a prescription. This time the doc diagnosed shin splints so no treatment. She looked at my notes and said my cholestrol was on the high side of normal so no worries as it is probably genetic. Blood pressure not particularly low but again probably genetic so "go away and stop wasting my time" or something like that. Fair enough.
Two days later I recieve a letter from the surgery. "14 months ago your blood pressure was slightly raised so we think it would be a good idea to go on a course of statins". What! I know I'm now in my 60s but I have no health problems [apart from the rare gout attack], resting heart rate of 52, run, cycle, swim. lift weights etc with no ill effects at all. The last time they checked my BP I was suffering from mild Gout. What does Gout do? It raises BP. Doohhh.
Evidently GPs recieve brownie points and maybe money from the Government for prescribing Statins. Not good.

[Mark1978]

Had my cholesterol taken when I wasn't taking statins 11.2. After three months of 40mg Atorvastsatin it's 5.6

[bigjim]

And to confuse the issue
“The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) does not recommend the use of target levels of cholesterol for people taking statins for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease. This is because it found no clinical trials in primary prevention that have evaluated the relative and absolute benefits of achieving different cholesterol targets in relation to clinical events.”
Plus this.
" The fact that one statin alone, Lipitor, has been worth $125 billion to Pfizer since 1997, should surely raise alarm bells. Lipitor is the most lucrative drug in the world. It is by no means the only statin"

Hmmm

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,

My BP has always been a little high. I have my own BP monitor bought from Lidl's a couple of years ago.
Sitting here digesting a big breakfast it's 134 over 82.

That's OK if you have been eating, it tends to lower through the day, but exercise should keep it lower.

Do your BP between meals not during.

What 531colin says is true and as you get older your BP should lower if you are also exercising too.
Although if not medicated it will be normal to get a tad higher.

When I was ill at christmas my BP would not drop below 90 / 145 until I started to cycle again then it dropped back to 115 / 75 abouts.

Headaches................I suffered migraines until I went on meds but if my BP goes above 140 / 90 I get a tight neck and feel unwell.

A normal no medicated individual would not know their BP is high.

Speak to your GP and see if you can do something with your meds even the chemist who prescribes you might help.

But then you will have to listen and take advise .................

[nez]

Mick..
I know from personal experience that headache, nosebleeds, legs like lead, and feeling permanently knackered are all symptoms of high blood pressure.
Modern blood pressure medication is fantastic, I feel better now than I did 20 or so years ago when my high blood pressure started......at that time I was riding to work every day, often the long hilly way round, and I was fit.
It seems you have a good relationship with your GP, it would be worth a visit just to check your BP and other symptoms.
I don't suppose doing without statins for a month will do any measurable damage, but as you know familial hypercholesterolaemia is not a condition to be taken lightly.....add in high blood pressure and its a death sentence......(sorry to be blunt, but its true)

then add this to the mix. I gave up alcohol completely a bit over 10 years ago. I didn't mean to, I just gave it up for a bit then discovered I'd lost my taste for it - it all tastes like medicine to me now. The first effect of this was my blood pressure dropped 10 points over the following month or two. So maybe if your blood pressure is high, that's a good place to start.

[freeflow]

Please remember that whilst you can perceive the impact of side effects you may not be able to perceive invite same way the deleterious effects of the condition that is being treated.

[mjr]

And to confuse the issue
“The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) does not recommend the use of target levels of cholesterol for people taking statins for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease. ...

Yes, confusing the issue by not citing the sources of quotes! Those quotes appear to come from http://www.zoeharcombe.com/2012/08/chol ... y-measure/ which is a site written by a nutritionist and fan of Dr Malcolm Kendrick (who refers to the lipid hypothesis as "the Great Cholesterol Con"). Unsurprisingly, she thinks all our problems can be solved by nutrition and doesn't write about familial hypercholesterolaemia.

The above quote is also incorrect or at least incomplete. NICE do indeed recommend the use of target levels of LDL-C in primary prevention, as you can see on "drug treatment in adults" at http://pathways.nice.org.uk/pathways/fa ... -in-adults

[bigjim]

So you agree then. The issue is confusing.
I could go on all day with different quotes and sources. But who wants to read them all. Unfortunately I would rather be out on my bike.
The Nice quote is correct evidently but doctors are [again evidently] ignoring their findings. The iternet is a great resource but it can also cause problems with too much info.
Nice say one thing, Doctors say another. Even doctors cannot agree with each other. It's a mess. And yes I'm confused.

[Mark1978]

If you don't have a cholesterol target then why bother testing for it at all?

[Mick F]

I was tested because my sister was tested and she found out that her reading was sky high. Had she not told me, I wouldn't have been tested and been in blissful ignorance.

My sister was tested because her husband was tested (can't remember why). His was high so the three daughters were tested and one was on the high side. The three girls got onto their mother (my sister) and she complained that just coz their father had a high familial cholesterol, it had nothing to do with her! She eventually relented, was tested, and the rest is history.

Meanwhile, this is the evening of Day 9.

Been out on a 60mile ride today into deepest darkest Cornwall - hills and all - and it was a breeze. I feel (and I hesitate to say this) nearly ten years younger. I'm supple and fit and vigorous and it's as if I've had my muscles and joints injected with a lubricant.

It's a very odd feeling, but as I said, it could all be wishful thinking.

[stephenjubb]

have you not asked for a different kind of statin? As I understand it there are lots of different ones on the market.

[Mark1978]

Having a statin holiday is all well and good as long as you're having your blood tested on a regular basis as with FH you can't just ignore it as I've been trying to do.