Statins - side effects

[re_cycler]

Just noting that when diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes I was put on statins because of the perceived cardiac risk.
I had a bad reaction to two variants (First one, could barely keep awake. Second one, angry all the time.).
I then came off statins.

My cholesterol has since been high, but the ratio of good<->bad has been acceptable.
Touch wood I haven't had any cardiac problems.
So I am not convinced that people always need statins, unless they already have cardiac/circulatory problems.

I have head that statins won't extend your life, just change what is on the death certificate.
No idea how true this is.

I have also heard that diabetics used to be put on statins because their risk of heart problems was the same as someone who had already had a heart attack.
More recently it has been realised that although the risk level may be the same, the causes are different so one treatment does not fit all.

re the emboldened, it's not true.

In conclusion, statin use was associated with a significantly reduced risk of all-cause mortality in real-world cohorts

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36233511/

Although the final line of the discussion does note.
"Substantial heterogeneity limits the available evidence on the association between statin use and all-cause mortality in real-world practice."

[hondated]

Sadly definitely late to this party but still find this interesting. Having had a mild heart attack so mild I didn't even know I had had it until a medic told me in a telephone conversation. I was prescribed atorvastatin 80mg amongst a few other pills several years ago. Since then my legs have felt like lead , exercising has become a chore because of a lack of energy & enthusiasm and as for my libido well I,d rather not say. However even more annoying than this is that I now have a stomach the size of a 70s dart player even though the only pints I have drunk for years have been water. Even though I have trawled through the thread do these issues sound familiar to others taking this Statin.Thanks.

[Jdsk]

Sorry to hear about those problems.

When did you last discuss them with a doctor?

On reading this thread please note that you have been prescribed a statin for secondary prevention after your heart attack. Some of the discussion is about primary prevention, and the size of the benefit differs considerably between the two uses.

Jonathan

[simonineaston]

I've told them about the typo.

It's been retyped!

All pssresent and correct ;-)

[mjr]

Yet it remains sand built on sand due to the flawed data in.

And even their graphic suggests statins are a treatment that punishes exercise with a higher chance of painful side-effects.

[Mick F]

Statins are the devil's work, especially big ones circa 80mg.

[hondated]

Sorry to hear about those problems.

When did you last discuss them with a doctor?

On reading this thread please note that you have been prescribed a statin for secondary prevention after your heart attack. Some of the discussion is about primary prevention, and the size of the benefit differs considerably between the two uses.

Jonathan

Thanks Jonathan. Discuss with doctor ! Fair question but not an easy thing to do these days unfortunately. He would refer me to my Cardiologist & getting to see him is even more difficult. Funnily enough the last time I contacted him & this could open another thread it was to ask to be taken off amiodarone as I had read bad things about it. I shortly after found a site on Facebook supporting what I had read
So by asking this question I am trying to try & alleviate the problem myself or at least lessen the problems I am experiencing.

[hondated]

I've told them about the typo.

It's been retyped!
Screenshot 2023-06-13 at 10.04.06.png

Thank you.

[hondated]

Statins are the devil's work, especially big ones circa 80mg.

I think you right MF
Prior to this I never had a high cholesterol level as my company gave us a health check every few years.In fact it seemed to irritate younger members of staff that this old boy had better levels than they had. I put that down to being a runner/,cyclist.Then years later they found I d had a mild heart attack which I hadn't even noticed they put me on Statins.I can understand Jonathan's comments but prior to starting on them I was OK. Now I even struggle to get out of a comfy chair & when I do my kegs feel like lead.Ok I m 72 but I still think given my background of exercising this isn't right. Particularly irritating now as we're on holiday & I can't even go for a run. Definitely going to get back into the habit of visiting this Forum as well more often. Thanks.

[Mick F]

Read the whole thread.

In a nutshell:

I ached, I had head aches, I was ill, I was depressed. I needed a walking stick. I saw the doc and told him I wasn't going to take them again.
I was referred to a specialist, and have been on Repatha injections fortnightly since. Going to take my next one this Friday. It'll be my 177th ................... 26 per year = nearly seven years.

Zero side-effects.

[Jdsk]

Mick F has told us that he has familial hypercholesterolaemia. Most people taking statins don’t have that.

Jonathan

[Jdsk]

Sorry to hear about those problems.

When did you last discuss them with a doctor?

On reading this thread please note that you have been prescribed a statin for secondary prevention after your heart attack. Some of the discussion is about primary prevention, and the size of the benefit differs considerably between the two uses.

Thanks Jonathan. Discuss with doctor ! Fair question but not an easy thing to do these days unfortunately. He would refer me to my Cardiologist & getting to see him is even more difficult. Funnily enough the last time I contacted him & this could open another thread it was to ask to be taken off amiodarone as I had read bad things about it. I shortly after found a site on Facebook supporting what I had read
So by asking this question I am trying to try & alleviate the problem myself or at least lessen the problems I am experiencing.

I can only repeat the advice to discuss your options with someone who knows your history and your risk and any other conditions you have and any other medications that you are taking. And can consider other possible causes of your new problems.

Jonathan

[531colin]

.......... Now I even struggle to get out of a comfy chair & when I do my kegs feel like lead.Ok I m 72 but I still think given my background of exercising this isn't right........

I guess you mean your legs feel like lead?....thats not right, not right at all.
I shall be 76 this month, and I'm in better shape than you. When I was 72 (and when I was 74) I could do 40 mile rides with 3,000 feet of climbing ....at the moment life is getting in the way of my cycling, and an electric bike beckons.
In the general run of events, I don't think Facebook or this forum are the best places to go for medical advice.....however, i will offer you my advice, and my story.
My advice is to stop taking the statins for a while; say 2 weeks or a month. If your symptoms go away, see if they return when you go back to taking statins. If the symptoms don't go away, the statins are blameless.......if the symptoms do go away, then you have a basis for some action....trying a different statin for example.

Now for my story. I haven't had a heart attack, and as said already there is better evidence of a benefit of statins in people who have had a heart attack. I was started with statins (simvastatin, as I recall) a long time ago, like 30 or more years ago when i was diagnosed with high blood pressure. I probably took simvastatin for 25 years with no symptoms....until I got so stiff and my muscles so sore I couldn't put my socks on.
I was told I was imagining it, it wasn't the statin it was just that I was getting older, all the usual stuff.
So I stopped taking it, and the stiffness went away. After a while, I was persuaded to try a different one.....atorvastatin, as I recall. That lasted a week or so until the socks became a problem again. So I stopped again. I was persuaded to try another one....rosuvastatin, I think. i got all the sell about how it was new and low dose, so I couldn't possibly get side effects, and as its new and the patent still active it was expensive, and I shouldn't get it prescribed and not take it.....that one lasted a week as well. So now I'm refusing statins, because its my body (sad and old it may be, but its my decision)
I doubt I shall live for ever, or be free of illness and gradual decline....but nobody promised me I would live forever if I took the statins, but I have the feeling that it might have felt like living forever!

Just for the record, I don't believe the conspiracy theorists who say its all a dastardly plot by "big Pharma" to make loads of money while subduing the population.....my modern blood pressure meds. are absolutely marvellous, I wouldn't go back to the bad old days of beta blockers, let alone having high blood pressure, thats awful.....persistent headache, legs like lead.

The most common reported side effect of statins is muscle pain and stiffness, and the older and lighter you are the more likely it is you will get symptoms.....that describes me!

[mjr]

Mick F has told us that he has familial hypercholesterolaemia. Most people taking statins don’t have that.

And yet some of us with FH were involved in the original trials for early statins and I don't recall reading that we're thought to be any more at risk of side-effects than the general population, nor is FH shown as a risk-increasing attribute in that recently-reposted graphic, unlike exercise.

[Vetus Ossa]

I had a call from my doctor last week saying pretty much that it wasn't unlikely that I was at risk from a stroke or heart attack.
I was assessed as being 33, over 10 you get a call from the surgery, so guess 33 is not good...Jonathan will know I think.
I have been prescribed Atorvastatin and have been told to stop taking them if I have any aches or pains, which I guess I would do anyway.
I have been told not to start taking them yet as I have to have a blood test first, which I will have later today.
the test is to check cholesterol level, so don't know if I will still need to take the statins if my level is normal but no doubt the doctor will let me know.
By the way I also have high blood pressure which is controlled by medication.
I will be 76 in August ant still enjoy 50/60 mile rides still albeit on an ebike for the last few years.