Sarcopenia and weight gain from statins
Posted , 3 users are following.
It's taken me years to realise what is still going on. About ten years ago I was on Simvastatin for at least two years. During that time I gained 5 stone in weight (with eating less!) and got to the point where I could hardly walk without help from husband. At the time I put it down to thyroid meds but it was only when I saw a thyroid consultant that he picked up that it was the statins and immediately took me off them. Here I am, many years later, and still feel weakness walking, despite doing a lot of exercise on a recumbent bike and treadmill. I feel unbalanced too. This sounds like sarcopenia, but started with the statins. The question is - I've found a physio locally who I can ask my GP for a referral (even though I still pay privately) and I'm wondering if this can be reversed with weight training and eating plenty of protein? It IS such a long time after taking the statins but I am hoping I can feel more confident walking with the right help? Has anyone else had these effects going on so long and managed to reverse them at such a later date? Many thanks!
0 likes, 4 replies
AlexandriaGizmo chris00938
Posted
Hi as far as I know sarcopenia is an age related condition causing muscle atrophy, I can't find any information attributing this to statins, I have however found plenty of studies world wide saying that statins actually put people in the frame of mind that when they see there cholesterol numbers drop they eat should we say less than healthily, my partner has been on them consistently for nearly 18 years and his stone in weight increase in the last couple of years was caused by a change in lifestyle, eating more calories, not a huge amount but daily upwards of 100 a day, over time this added up, also he gave up his daily trip to the gym due to a shoulder injury, when someone tells me that they have put on weight for reasons other than food intake or lymphodema I ask them to do a weeks daily food intake diary including even water, I have never found one that didn't show sometimes double there daily calorie requirements, yea they where shocked some not realising that even a moderate sized Sunday roast could be around 1500 + calories there daily requirements in one hit.
Being overweight can cause major problems in the muscle department and needs rectifying quickly before atrophy sets in.
wayne1962 chris00938
Posted
Hi Chris - sorry to read of your situation. Rhabdomyolysis is a muscle disease that is connected to statin use. Symptoms can be a feeling that your shins are in tight splints and walking is difficult. I was on Atorvastatin for 2 years and suffered similar. Also my weight did increase. It's called Oedema, or fluid retention. The statins so poisoned my system that cells took on fluids to protect themselves. There were multiple other, snowballing conditions statins caused that were dismissed by the negligent doctor who was more interested insistent on continuing statins that the damage they caused. It has been 2 years since I threw the pills and the doctor away. I have slimmed down some but fear i will never return to my previous condition. I watch my diet and have always exercised, using free weights and walking everywhere. I was slim and fit for 50 years before statins. I have ben told that it can take years to reverse the effects, and sometimes you are stuck with them. Hope you find a happy situation - just thank goodness you are no longer on statins.
chris00938 wayne1962
Posted
I'm sorry you've had these difficulties Wayne. Statins are a dreadful problem to many. There was an article in a newspaper last week that was saying those people who have two copies of a faulty gene are now known to have more problems with muscle mass when taking statins, so I guess things are improving re knowledge, but too late for some! Interesting that the faulty gene - I THINK it's LILRB5, also affects fibromyalgia and even synovial fluid in joints, as well as causing more problems with muscle repair when taking statins. Yes, I was always slim and fit before the statins too! Getting slim again after them was easy but it's the fitness bit that is proving a struggle, and just getting strength back isn't totally doing the job. I was reading that it can partly be a problem of getting information back to the muscles from the brain to help the balance issue, so not purely strength. Am I making any sense there?
chris00938
Posted
Thanks Wayne and Alexandria. It definitely wasn't a case of me eating less healthily. In fact, the reverse, because I was gaining weight at such a rate that I cut out anything that might mean I gained weight, but STILL gained weight at an alarming rate. This was NOT due to overeating or eating the wrong things, as my husband would testify. And once I came off them, I did lose 4 stone pretty quickly. But I never got that fitness back that I'd loss while on the statins. Legs are strong - I exercise regularly at home with gym equipment, but I STILL can't walk very fast because I feel unbalanced, and this is what I want to rectify. I have a number of other health issues, not related to this that makes it a little bit limited, but not so limited that I can't do my best to sort this out. I am intending to try a physio who specialises in this sort of thing locally, once an immediate health issue is sorted out soon, and also wondering about going back to Tai Chi, which I know helps balance. Eating plenty of protein also helps, I gather, but then I've always tended to do that anyway.
There are studies that have been done that have linked sarcopenia to statins. I know I can't put links up here, but this is a conclusion of one of them: In this review, we described that some widely prescribed oral drugs may have an effect on muscle. Although these results are not sufficiently strong to support any recommendation, there is growing evidence that shows that there is an association between drugs and muscle, and they may act as a trigger to develop sarcopenia and frailty. More research is needed to clarify most of the aspects mentioned in this review.
From reading various studies online it seems that this CAN be reversed, sometimes, but how much it can be reversed, and how long later, is the big question. It seems that weight training and eating lots of protein is the way to go, but I'd love to hear from someone who has managed to get a lot of their strength back like that. Losing the weight gained from statins is the easy bit! It's the getting strength and balance back that is the hard bit!