I had been taking Lipitor tablets for just one month but...

I am also on Simvastatin and have recently noticed a very itchy scalp but thought it was the shampoo I was using, changed shampoo but to no avail!

[i:34a57a952b]This message was automatically imported from the original Patient Experience[/i:34a57a952b]

The problem with statins is that many medical practitioners do not see them as a problem. Many experiences are negative and many properly researched medical papers cast a huge cloud over statin safety and the advisability of lowering cholesterol, which is an essential product for every celol in your body.

You owe it to yourselves to read the best information you can get. Try this URL link for informative conversations with other people who have experienced problems with statin use...

http://www.spacedoc.net/board/

Try this URL for heavyweight medical argument against statins...

http://www.thincs.org/

Try this URL to petition the Prime Minister...

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Statins/

Try this URL to petition the World Health Organisation and write 500 words about your experience of statins...

http://www.gopetition.com/online/11757.html

xrn

P, I would recommend you seek the further advice of a qualified medical professional who will be able to re-assess your risk and sort out your medication.

Look here on PatientUK for advice on possible side effects of Simvastin and here for other statins.

Let us know how you get on.

Please also check out this thread on Patient UK where some of the claims and counter claims about the evidence are being discussed.

I have been on statins (first Zocor then Lipitor) for 17 years because I have heterozygotic familial hypercholestrolaemia and coronary heart disease. I am EXACTLY the type of patient for whom statins were originally targetted.

I have experienced intense itching of the forearms, long-term \"damaged muscle\" type pain in the upper arms, muscular weakness, low energy levels, poor stamina and impaired mental performance (I had to retire from teaching Mathematics 11 years ago).

At no time in this period did my GP associate my symptoms with statin use but put them down to my \"condition\" and inevitable ageing.

For the past few months I have been attempting to educate myself about statin drugs, their history, mechanism of action, side effects and clinical evidence. Following this research I have tailed off my Lipitor intake to zero under supervision from my endocrinologist with assent from my GP. I have been regularly passing them references and literature in support of my decision and they in turn have been fully supportive.

After 3 weeks the muscle pain and itching has almost gone. I am hopeful that my other symptoms will not prove to be permanent and am taking a spectrum of supplements including Coenzyme Q-10 and L-Carnitine.

I am shocked and angered by the general complacency regarding statin use and note the mind-boggling huge sums being earned by Pfizer, Merck et al with this class of drug.

As Dr LeFanu wrote in the Sunday Telegraph a couple of weeks back, there is something fishy about statins.

impatient

10 years ago, when I was first diagnosed that my body was in full production of bad Cholesterol, I was initially placed on Zocor. Within 2 months I became impotent!

When I discussed the introduction of the drug into my system and the subsequent virility issues with a calendar correlation, my doctor initially told me I was losing my mind, and that no reports of such problems had ever been reported.

I told him under no circumstances was I going to continue \"poisoning my system\" with a drug that was causing me such embarrassment after a lifetime of healthy sex and the family to prove it!

Needless to say, within a week, my virility returned and I was given Lipitor (10 mg per day plus low dose asprin), which I have been taking for over 10 years, with no side effects whatsoever.

Charles (52)

Oh my gosh. Exactly the same itchy scalp to the point of insanity! You're not alone.