ferrit worrier wrote:I've just picked up on this topic as Mrs Fw has started on statins , now got aching joins as well as the arthritis, pins and needles in fingertips, head aches, is there a way of self monitoring cholesterol levels?
Yes, there's a pack of strips that you squeeze a drop of blood from a finger pinprick onto and read the colour off to see the total cholesterol level, or there's a few home testing machines like the blood sugar ones which I think is what pharmacies use for their £10 tests, but it's relatively expensive and inaccurate and what's it going to tell you anyway? Is Mrs Fw willing to tolerate joint pain, pins and needles and headaches for the somewhat-debated benefit of reduced blood cholesterol levels?
If the statins were GP-prescribed, return to them, reporting the pains, see if they'll retest bloods to look for any of the enzymes and hormones being thrown out of range, as well as the cholesterol level, and whether they want to try another statin, another drug type entirely or refer to a specialist. You may also want to look at the leaflet included with the statin carefully, especially the "How to Take" section - I've been told of a few instances of GPs starting people straight on high doses (40mg or so) of Atorvastatin in particular, which seems to increase the risk of side-effects.