SIMVASTATIN HELL ?

I totally agree folks - nowadays YOU have to know what is wrong with you when you go to see a GP!  

Seriously though - GP's are just sign-posts  these days - and need to be told as they are in the thrall of Big Pharma - whose profit motive is beyond belief.      

Having suffered severe and progressive side effects of a mere 6 months of statins - and now virtually chair bound as a result of PPFG or "Total Motor Block" - I   can vouch for telling your GP to "stuff statins" and just wish I had stuck to my gut feeling when I was prescribed them 2 years ago.

For goodness sake  Folks - DON'T GIVE IN to all your GP's talk about good and bad cholesteral etc - there are NO good and bad ones - we need our cholesteral  - without it we would  be dead!  

As I have said elesewhere on this forum - in a couple of years time when the truth comes out about these statin drugs - not only will the lawyers on both sides of the Atlantic be rubbing their hands with glee at all the cases coming their way - but statins will be found to be one of the biggest drug cons ever - and will be found to be even more dangerous than thalidomide ever was.  I just hope we all live long enough to see justice prevail and Big Pharma brought to book.

STUFF STATINS INDEED!!

Good morning Linda and I'm glad to hear that most of your side-effects are diminishing now - you're one of the lucky ones.   Some of us as you will read in the other parts of this forum have progressive and irreversible side-effects which we are NOW TOLD  will never leave us.

I for one have total motor block and I'm unable to walk across the room..... Having been on statins for less than six months three years ago..... At which point I was totally healthy and at age 70+ could still walk my dogs for 3 miles before breakfast every day without fail.

I would recommend that you take coenzyme Q 10 in large doses - preferably the refined from  "ubiquinol"

this may improve matters for you but has not worked for everybody.... I believe in Canada doctors are not allowed to prescribe statins without coenzyme Q 10 now - which tells you something!

If you read Duane Gravelines website you will find all the stories about statins..... It really is worth going to - you have your eyes and mind opened.

He was the NASA physicist as well as a GP in the USA for over 25 years.... His own experience will blow your mind I promise.

In the meantime good luck...

CHEERS ....alzheimer

I feel deeply sorry and greatly angered on reading your post Alzheimer! I continue to read everything I can about the 'cholesterol hypothesis' and continue to believe, on the evidence presented,that it completely wrong. Even worse are the statins that people are taking for a fictitious 'problem'.

I came so close to taking the statins. I was being urged by my doctor to take them and a nurse, both of whom told me that there are no side-effects to speak of. They told me that I shouldn't believe what I read on forums like this! Well, I choose to believe the people who have actually taken the drugs, not the people who are conned and bribed by the industry to believe that they are harmless! Women were told that 'Tholidimide' was harmless in the 1960s. I'm grateful that my mother didn't believe the doctors then, like I don't believe the doctors now.

The evidence is clear: High cholesterol doesn't cause heart attack or stroke and statins are dangerous, toxic drugs that can cripple and kill you. I hope so much that you will see an improvement in your health, despite everything and I hope that you will find yourself a good solicitor who will one day be inundated with legal claims for the broken lives this 'medicine' has created. 

 

Thankyou  so much for your support and I am glad that you avoided the pitfalls of taking that dreaded drug STATIN..

I fought for over a month with my GP having seen what it did to my husband - however I eventually relented and wish that I had never even hinted at having mild and very occasional "palpitations"... Which was all that to my doctor needed to push me onto those awful drugs.  My cholesterol was not even high and I refuse to have it recorded now - as I don't want to know!   

Big Pharma has a lot to answer for and I wish I had the money to take them to the cleaners!  If for no other reason but to stop other people developing "broken lives" as you rightly describe our "existance" now.

As you will find on other parts of this forum  - I have stated all along that in a couple of years time when the truth is revealed -  this awful poisonous  drug STATIN will be proved to be far worse than any thalidomide...

If that sounds scaremongering just think of the extent of the use of statins nowadays - they even suggested that it be added to our watersupply at one point - heaven help us!

Talk about poisoning our planet...eek!

Now they are saying that STATINS  can cause Alzheimers disease  and that the recent upsurge in numbers of Alzheimers cases is a direct relationship..... surprise surprise!

Sorry to have gone on at such a length but really when I think about how my life has changed in the past two years need I say more..

 

I think you are wrong about Alzheimer's.  Have heard several drs.

discuss this.  They say people with high colesterol are least 

likely to develop the disease. It seems our brains are made up of 25%

colesterol I believe they have said.  We need it for a healthy brain.

that being said, I have suffered for many years the terrible side

effects of statin drugs.  Did not know all my pain and other side 

effects were caused by this drug until I read about it on the Internet.

have since tried different statins all with the same side effects.

blessed are those who take these drugs with no side effects.

i am at the point where I am seriously considering giving them

up and take my chances. I had a stroke in 97 so giving them up 

is a bit scarey. But, being able to walk around the grocery store

without an electric chair is very inviting. Good luck to all

who suffer from these horrible drugs.  Rejoice in the fact

that having high colesterol is a blessing as far as alzheimers

goes.   Nancy

were caused by statins until I read about it on Internet.

have tried different statins since then, but they all have the same side 

effects.

 

Sorry Nancy I did not make myself clear obviously.....

The point I was making is that statins can cause alzheimers - because they LOWER the cholesterol...... Which is exactly what you were saying...LOL

A very brief comment about my own situation.  I had my cholesterol checked, like Alzheimer has said, I don't anymore! I so wish I hadnt' blindly trusted my doctor's advice to take statins.  I had a cholesterol count result of 9 and my doctor put the fear of God into me by indicating I was a stroke waiting to happen.  For info, I do not have high blood pressure, nor high blood sugar, nor COPD, etc.  I took simvastatin for a while and became more and more ill.  I didnt know at the time it was the statins, I just trusted my GP and continued to take them.  I ended up at A&E unable to move one night.  The doctor on duty was the one who advised it was probably due to the statins.  I flushed the remainder down the toilet and haven't taken them again.  I didnt bother going back to the GP, by then I'd realised I'd be in for a fight, so I just stopped collecting the prescription and stopped taking them.  I started to recover almost immediately but three years later I still have issues and have symptoms akin to fibromyalgia, which I'm convinced as leftovers from taking these poisonous drugs.  I'm pretty my cholesterol is still rocket high but I couldn't face being so disabled I couldnt do anything without pain.  I too rejoice in the fact that I can at least get around the supermarket without the need for a disabled scooter, which wasnt possible whilst I was on them.  Halleluyah for the day when the medical profession either get wise or stop hiding behind the pharmaceutical funding and acknowledge that these toxic drugs should only be given in rare circumstances, not given out like sweeties to all and sundry.

WELL DONE LOXIE.... I am so glad for you that you stopped them in time and that you are slowly but surely improving ......are you taking any coenzyme Q 10 ?  

They do say  that speeds up the improvement for many people.

I too feel it is an insult to our intelligence for our GPs to think that we will take anything that is prescribed by them -  the God syndrome springs to mind  - epecially as they are now  being paid   - per script - to dish it out...eek!

I am so pleased to hear that you're no longer in a wheelchair - that gives me hope as I am still in my one.

 

You hit the nail on the head Jura, I had a cholesterol level of 9 and would have been over the moon to have say 5 or 6.  However, those levels are considered too high for people with previous cardiac or vascular events.  I'm lucky to not have had any underlying vascular disease but if I had, I too might view statins differently.  I'm continually worried that my high cholesterol will cause some event or other but I couldn't ever go back to being so disabled whilst on statins so I'm between the devil and the deep blue sea I guess.

Hi Danny, firstly WELL DONE for stopping taking them.  Theyre poison, plain and simple.  I've not taken them for coming up to three years and I still unfortunately have muscle pain issues and a few residual other effects which I didnt have before I started to take them but not sure if they're directly related.  The good news is that the improvement is massive once you stop taking them, even if you have some lasting effects.  My memory loss improved dramatically, at least now I can finish a sentence without forgetting certain words and I can walk around say a supermarket without being in agony.  I've never been offered a further cholesterol test nor a liver enzyme test, so who knows what those levels are but I'm sure as hell not going to ask for one because I know the answer from the GP will be an insistence to go back onto statins and to be honest I'd rather keel over and die than go back to the situation I was in whilst taking them.  Take heart, it will get better fairly soon.

Thank you so much Ive been so scared I'm freaking 36 years old and I had so much energy and just to be some what normal I'm taking 10 ibuprofen a day but I'm so happy to hear that with time it gets better I really hope so. I'll pray for you and I appreciate you responding you don't understand how much it means to me.

Hi there danny ...please don't be scared... you WILL improve and at your age hopefully you will have a complete recovery ...but please get hold of some ubiquinol (that's the best version of coenzyme 10) and that should make a big difference.    

I'm sure then you will be able to cut down your ibuprofen..EEEK..10 a day is too much... Next thing you know you will have yourself an ulcer.  

NSAIDs are all tricky blighters with horrid side effects too...so please try and cut them down ASAP

And do keep us posted as to your progress...

CHEERS .and good luck... 

Thanks Alzheimer two days ago my Doctor gave me my test results and he said my blood results showed that I have inflamation but my Muscle tests came out normal. He still insists that its not from the Statin pills but from my Crohns mind you Ive been on remission for 15 years now and I'm not having the same symptoms as I did when my Crohns was active. He prescribed me Prednisone 20mg which are making me feel better for about 8 hours and getting me back to normal and than they are running out and the pain begans. It feels my hips and knees are going to break from pain. Not sure if I need a higher dosage but will see. Thank you so much for you're response. I'm constantly checking this forum just to see updates on how everyone is feeling..... 6 weeks and this hell is still going on.

Hi Danny, so sorry to hear you're still in pain, I really sympathise.  I have OA in a couple of joints (one ankle due to injury and both thumbs) and have lived with continuous pain for a while now.  Recently however I started to get pain symptoms that reminded me of when I was on statins, upper arm muscle pain and thigh also, then lower back, plus chronic fatigue.  A friend suggested I ask my doctor about possible fibromyalgia.  He requested blood tests and was very vague about results but just said, they're 'fine' - whatever that means.  Then said it may be viral so put me on a three week reducing course of prednisolone also.  The steroids did help with the pain but the minute the course was over,they came back. My right arm has no strength and even lifting it is critically painful and the muscle in my right thigh just throbs all the time.  The anti inflamms I take for the OA dont touch this pain at all.  It's been three years since I stopped the statins but this pain takes my mind straight back to exactly how I was when taking them.  Now I don't know what to ask next.  My doctor obviously wasn't interested at all in the idea of fibro but would the statins still be the issue.  To be honest, I get the distinct feeling of total disinterest from the GPs - I always feel I have to visit with my own suggestions as to what's wrong otherwise they say nothing but when I make suggestions, I get shot down in flames.  They should try living with this level of pain and I don't want to be zombied out all the time on heavy duty pain meds that dont even work in the first place.  And they wonder why we get depressed!

Hello there loxie... I am disturbed to read that you are currently in pain with muscles and joints more than you were before.... you discontinued the statins 3 years ago and when did the muscle weakness and pain start?

I too have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia rheumatica  within the past year - as well as advanced degenerative scoliosis of my spine .. (and I have lost 3"inches in height within that time)......plus believe it or not increasing sarcopenia .... all these have developed without any blood test abnormalities - everything being "within normal limits" and above all - SINCE I STOPPED THE STATINS....EEK!

And pain killers do not really help do they.

I don't know what else to take.

I am on prednisolone and have been for many months now and have been told I will have to stay on a maintenance dose of 5 mg minimum for two years.... I look and feel like an elephant with two clubfeet thanks to the resulting  water retention.  ​

I totally agree doctors and consultants alike should try living with this pain and these  disabilities.... Perhaps then at least they would be less dismissive of our ideas as to the side-effects of drugs  - statins in particular of course.

It is obvious to me that the mitochondrials have been affected by the statins and the long term effect of such nerve damage is incalculable.... Just type in "dolichols" to dear old Google and you'll see what I'm on about.

I wish I had more uplifting advice for you Loxie but sadly I am very much in the same boat ...depression and all. 

oh Alzheimer, I'm so sorry to hear of your ongoing problems, we humans really do have to contend with some horrible issues of disrepair to our fragile bodies don't we.  I fully understand the feeling of ballooning on the steroids, I only had to take them for three weeks but during that time I gained nearly half a stone and not just from over eating.  Re my own issues, whilst taking the statins I had horrific muscle pain issues, to the point where I actually couldnt move at all one day.  They reduced considerably as soon as I stopped taking them to a point where I could at least get on with life more normally.  I have OA so I live with some level of pain all the time but you tend to get to a point where you accept it as 'normal' except for flare-ups.  The muscle pains and stiffness came back late last year and got really bad during January which is when I went back to the GP for help.  I honestly have no idea whether it's related to permanent damage from the statins or something entirely new, it's just that the symptoms are redolent of those I had back on the statins.  I also have really quite chronic fatigue but it's difficult to separate whether this is wholly new or just an increase in the fatigue I already experience due to the OA.  When one has a range of symptoms, its really hard to state with any clarity which one came on when and to what extent - it sort of builds up gradually without me consciously being aware its getting worse until it gets to a point where I realise I'm in agony and it's a little unbearable.  I got told by a friend to specifically ask my GP about fibromyalgia but it seems my group practice are somewhat of the opinion thus far that fibro isn't a specific diagnosis, just a term to cover non specific fibrous pain syndrome and like you I got told my blood test results were 'fine' (not very informative unfortunately).  A well informed 'friend of a friend' did advise that fibro is mostly stress induced and that my best bet would be to find ways of reducing stress or coping with it better - easier said than done when part of the stress is actually the pain in the first place and the worry of underlying illness, disability, etc., and how it will impact upon my ability to do my job, which is already very stressful.  Modern life isn't easy and places stresses upon us which I'm sure we humans were never designed to cope with either physically or mentally.  I guess above all I resent being ill and not knowing the cause and I resent ineffective support from the medical profession and above all I resent the current practice and psychology by doctors to shove a pill down my throat without taking due care and consideration over whether the 'cure' will be more problematic than the 'disease'! - I do sound like a grumpy old woman don't I, just weary of all this I guess.

I know exactly where you're coming from Loxie and I feel as dejected as you do .....the differences between you and I is that A I know exactly when my symptoms started to the day and B I am retired  and live on my own...eeek!

I am currently at my wits end because in a few weeks time I'm having this operation on my right shoulder which will have me completely incapacitated for six weeks in a sling... Before apparently they will even consider giving me any physio this time because of my advanced sarcopenia

I had a similar operation on my left shoulder in 2010 but then I was very fit and I mean very fit.... And the only reason that I required any kind of surgery was that I had ruptured both rotator cuff tendons when emptying my trailer up at the Refuse Centre....not so LOL!!  The ton bags of rubbish from my garden had of course filled up with rain overnight and were so heavy I couldn't lift them...OUCH!

Anyway how I'm going to cope post-op I haven't got a clue as of course I am almost immobile anyway..... It is going to be a very interesting six weeks and my GP is about as useful as a chocolate teapot!!  

I agree about these doctors shoving pills down our throats without discussing the whys or wherefors for one thing... and of course the interactions between drugs are incalculable.  Honestly I GIVE UP!

So I am a second grumpy old woman Loxie..... If it makes you feel any better you are not alone

awww hon, with the issues you have to contend with I think you probably have more cause than most to be 'grumpy' - life aint fair is it.  I guess I just refuse to accept that nobody can be bothered to even give me a diagnosis, let alone an effective treatment plan.  Oh to win the lottery and pay for private consultancy, at least they listen!  So sorry to hear of your upcoming dilemma re the surgery and recovery period.  I had a major accident a few years ago (cause of the OA in my ankle) and was wheelchair bound for about six months, then non weight bearing on crutches for a further six months, all whilst living alone and obviously not able to get out without help.  I became very ingenious at coping with the stairs (bathroom is upstairs in my house) and even the high risk operation of getting into the bath and taking a shower - have to say I probably wouldn't be so brave again hehe.  The hospital were hopeless at after care, I got literally three minutes with an OT who showed me how to climb one step in their office and gave me a "wonderful" frame to go around the toilet - which didnt fit!  I ate meals in the kitchen sitting in the wheelchair and went up and down stairs on my bum for nearly a year - what fun  Thank heaven for the internet and good samaritan delivery drivers who were often my saviour.  I waited a  year for physiotherapy by which time the leg had gone its own sweet way and was a bit past being helped back to near normality.  oh well I can walk now even with the pain, so at least I survived the ordeal.  I'm hoping you manage to find some agency or services that will be able to offer you assistance during recovery - is there such a thing as 'home-help' still? The great NHS in all its glory eh.