Side effects of statins

How high is your cholesterol? I'm learning that what many doctor's consider high, isn't really high at all!

I would stop it completely if you are already experiencing such pain! I've been off for over a month and my pain is just as fierce and no end in sight!

Hi Herbo - I was on 80 mgs Artorvastatin for two years. Within months muscle aches, swollen liver, unable to lift left arm above shoulder, joint pain especially ankles and wrists and shoulders, hair loss, excema on chest, back and face, fainting spells, memory loss (passwords constantly having to be changed), Vit D deficiency, hurtling towards type 2 diabetes, gained nearly 10 kilos - and these are just SOME of the serious snowballing issues doctors blamed me for - despite my not having a single one of these issues in in any of the previous 50 years. 

After two years of mental vagueness and stupid adherence to the rules of medicine where we are no more than commodities, I questioned what was going on. I googled. I entered forums discussing this poison and what it has done to people. I read how the 'healthy' level of LDL's and HDL's had been altered to ensure there were more lambs to the slaughter as the medical profession chased their true passion - money. Statins are now the most prescribed drug on the planet. I threw the poison and the 'doctors' away. It has taken me nearly three years to get my health back. The process to recovery as my system struggled to expel that poison has been snail-pace slow - an indication of how deep the damage.

Herbo, I was wondering what instigated the move to statins? Was there a major incident? I had a heart attack and instead of fixing the problem the 'experts' created a whole lot more. My advice is to stop the statins. Your body has already told they hurt.

Tani007 -- it is a slow process - hang in there and we are always here to talk.

Hi Herbo, First I would recommend that you read the extensive and detailed response that I made to Tani007 on this very subject a couple of days ago.  There are several points that I will make in addition to my prior post.  Number 1, if you google and see the "catalyst heart of the matter youtube" you will note that one of the lead cardiologist who was interviewed and no longer prescribes statins explained how he changed his views.  He commented that after performing hundreds of bypass surgeries over a couple of decades that he noticed that just as many patients had low cholesterol and needed surgery as did patients with high cholesterol.  The obvious conclusion, which doesn't require more that a high school education, is that your chol level is irrelevant.  Also, about 15 years ago, 60 minutes did a story on a small town on the east coast of Italy where almost everyone had cholesterol levels between 280 and 390 mg/dl !?!?!  Guess what, after verifying local death records they verified that virtually everyone in town lived to be in their 90s!! SO MUCH FOR HIGH CHOL !!  Point 2, You obviously can half the dose or change statins, but it's fools gold.  I took statins for over 25 yrs and I have serious plaque formations to show for it.  So, I am living proof that statins don't work.  Point 3. Baylor St Luke's hospital in Houston Tx along with 2 other university hospitals recently completed a 4 yr randomized controlled study showing that a healthy diet, exercising and statins DID NOT STOP the progression of established plaque formations in any of the patients in the trial group. They obviously don't make any money with that type of trial and most likely infuriated the phama industry!  Point 4, You will have to make your own decision on the statin issue because most doctors have drank the coolade  on the need for chol reduction and you will never win an argument with them unless you took Baycol (a statin) and almost died like I did about 15 yrs ago or are a biochemist like I am. Point 5, Tell your dr on your next vist that you would like to have a blood test called LP-pla2 done.  This is a test for rupture prone plaque formations which is covered by insurance.  If you results come back negative you'll have one less thing to worry about.  If the test comes back positive just start taking 1500-2000 mg of fish oil per day or substitute salmon occasionally if you like. If your skeptical, remember that rupture prone plaque formations eventually break open and result in strokes!! There is no statin formulation which remedies this problem. This test was promoted in the 2008 issue of the American Journal of Cardiology.  Good Luke and booo to statins.    

Hello, one thing I have learned is that, for me, statins work. I had my first infarct (Heart Attack) in the 1960s when much less was known and before statins were available. The problem was very high cholesterol that eventually was brought down to normal level by a combination of Atorvastatin (80mg) and Izetimibe. 

Before settling on that combination many other drugs were tried. Toleration of this, the maximum dose, was not without going through intense pain for several months, but, again , in my view, worth all that pain. I am in good control pain free these many years and loving life in these my later years.

If you can think of no other cause for your muscle issues, then it's likely it's the statins.  Do go back to your doctor, there are other statins and cholesterol reducing options available, it may be worth trying an alternative.  If the pains persist and/or you develop other symptoms, report them to your doctor.  Word of warning, many GP's refuse to accept that statins cause these problems, or that if they do theyre 'minor'.  You'll see from the commentaries on here that if statins adversely affect someone, the side effects often most certainly are NOT minor and can be quite debilitating.  Eating a good diet helps but doesnt always prevent high cholesterol, particularly if its familial (hereditary).  It also depends on several other factors whether high cholesterol alone is going to be dangerous.  How high is it - pharmaceutical companies have influenced prescribing practice and would like us all to be artificially low - the suggested limit used to be 6, now theyre pressing for something like 3, which is unsound.  Also the differential between HDL and LDL is significant, if both are high then its less dangerous than if the gap is wide.  Do talk further with your doctor and please dont let them bully you.

I’ve just added my own experience of finding that it’s sugar, not fat that raises cholesterol levels. So annoyed that doctors won’t agree.