SIMVASTATIN HELL ?
Posted , 50 users are following.
I have been taking Simvastatin for over two years. During this time I have got progressively worse. Started with tingling and pins and needles in hands and fingers, sore sole of the feet and a little bit of joint stiffness, lumpy legs, severe lethargy, tireness and irritability.
NOW I have muscle wastage of the shoulder muscle, severe joint pain in spine, chest, hips, wrists and fingers. I have lost the grip and strength in my left hand, finding it difficult and clumsy to use. My sight is progressively getting worse, I feel as if I,m looking through a slight fog. My memory loss was becoming a real problem. Diarrohea, chronic muscle spasms - I was beginning to think I was going to die.
I have only just been made aware that the cause could be Simvastin - stopped taking them 5 days ago and I am feeling a little better having good days and bad days.
My concern is that if these problems have been caused by Simvastatin - it looks like they could be irreversable!
7 likes, 185 replies
mrbob84 Guest
Posted
What scares me is that Pharma is set to roll out statins to millions more people whether they need them or not, stating that since the side effects are "negligible", the good they do in lowering cholesterol is a valuable service to humanity, whether needed or not. Or some such.
Google it. We need bigger voices.
lee12629 mrbob84
Posted
helen20833 mrbob84
Posted
Indeed. And therein lies the problem. We must ask ourselves, when will the doctor's prescribing them stop listening to the multi-billionaire drug companies and start listening to their patients. How surprising that so many suffer the same "negligible " side-effects....negligible not being an appellation sufferers would apply I can tell you!
mrbob84 Guest
Posted
When I heard from my gf's sis that increasing her thyroid changed her life, my ears perked up and I tried titrating my dosage by 1/8. I had needed thyroid supp since my radiation treatments for Hodgkins Disease in1980, where my thyroid was part of what had to get hit by the linear accellerated Xrays. I had been coached in how to titrate dosages by one of the sub cardiologists handling my heart condition recovery, due to my complaints about the statins and my memory patchiness,
Reporting this to my gp was not easy, as she had already counselled me on the need for accurate thyroid and the damaging effects having too much could do, in terms of burning me out.
I went ahead and told her tho, and the response was as expected: "Are you kidding me???" She went again over what problems could arise, and finally a lull happened in the conversation, because I was resolute in trying this and was in fact already doing so.
She asked how long I had been on the increased dose. 6 weeks. Well then she said, we'd better stay on it a little while longer, as it takes 8 weeks to fully steady out again.
When the test result numbers from the new tests at the increased dosage finally came in a month later, she increased my 100 mcg dosage scrip to 112 mcg herself, no questions asked. It has stayed there ever since, with continuing perfect numbers on all susequent tests.
The change in energy on my part was not all that noticeable, but I now rarely fall asleep watching a movie, while before it had been getting to be a problem. This was even after reducing my dosage of Enalapril down to 1/4 of the minimum dosage of 2.5mg, which my cardiologist had already cleared me for, due to this low energy problem.
Did you know that the military will not allow their pilots up in the air floying planes if they are taking any blood pressure meds? Quite frankly I was at times afraid about driving, due to those low energy concerns. Doing the Tony Robbins breathing exercise while driving, to increase the oxy to my lungs, had made me lightheade, so I stopped doing it while driving.
sankar57130 Guest
Posted
loxie sankar57130
Posted
Most of the people on these forums are those who have encountered problems, issues, side effects etc., so unfortunately you will get a somewhat biased opinion. Reducing the dosage may be a good half way house so to speak. IE reducing the side effects but still benefitting from a lowered cholesterol. I truly wish I knew of a sure fire way to reduce my LDL effectively without statins. My experience of them was horrific, truly devastating. However, my cholesterol is dangerously high at over 9. Devil and deep blue sea eh. If I take them I'm at risk of permanent disability and dementia, if I dont I'm at serious risk of a stroke. Diet plays no part in my high cholesterol; it's familial, ie hereditary. Unfortunately for me,even very low dose statins (tried many different types) causes instant and very severe side effects. There are those - I have a good friend in this category - who have little or no side effects and who benefit greatly. Unfortunately my GP either doesnt believe they cause problems, or is so brainwashed by the 'these are a wonder drug' brigade that they just wont consider offering alternative advice. I'm now forking out for benecol in the hope that even though it only promises a maximum of 10% reduction, that it will at least do a little towards preventing a major stroke occurring.
mrbob84 loxie
Posted
It's familial yes, but have family members actually died because of heart attacks directly attributable to high cholesterol? Your family may have hereditarily elevated cholesterol, but has that translated to a high incidence of heart problems? Jury is still out on whether cholesterol is really the culprit in heart attacks, I have heard right here on this site of many studies that say it's not.
Statins change already very small percentage points for actual heart attack victims - compared to the vast majority of people - to lower already low numbers, but those numbers are still minority numbers, way in the background. Is it really worth it? If your family doesn't have a history of having that cholesterol level being dangerous, maybe your family just accomodates the presence of cholesterol better than other blood lines do. My brother and a close friend of mine have had very little trouble with their teeth, yet I have. Different bodies, different biochemistries.
loxie mrbob84
Posted
Unfortunately MrBob, my father's side of the family did have a high incidence of heart problems, he was one of 11 siblings, 10 of whom had poor heart health and 6 of whom died before their 70th birthday of heart attack. My mother's family on the other hand all lived beyond age 80 and many into their 90's; my great great grandmother was 104 when she died. I sadly have inherited the not such good genes
I do unfortunately worry I will be prone to artery problems because of the high blood lipid levels. I shall however keep trying to live a healthy lifestyle and maintain my good diet. Stressing about the possibility my high cholesterol will cause an early death is probably even more damaging than the cholesterol itself - sod's law eh.
lee12629 Guest
Posted
mrbob84 lee12629
Posted
gilpill Guest
Posted
i reaserch on internet to how i could help myself because Dr gave me a leaflet of the internet telling me about that i need to get it from the sun endof which isnt good enough for me i need to know all and my Dr didnt have time GUESS what cholesterole tabs can reduce your calcium and the results of low calcium muscle cramp bone loss pain in bones nose bleeds tiredness loss of moons on nails toes curling yep im taking stronge calcium caps and vitamin B and when ive done with those im going to have to take them for the rest of my life so im investing in a good vitaminÂ
lee12629 gilpill
Posted
gilpill lee12629
Posted
lee12629 gilpill
Posted
loxie gilpill
Posted
So sorry to hear of the problems you encountered on statins gil. Do take care not to overdose on calcium - too much can be as bad as too little, its very toxic in high doses. Also, calcium doesn't absorb into the body very well on its own, make sure you have enough magnesium and also Vit D (D3 is the best) which both aid absorption. Research what foods are rich in calcium, as the body absorbs it better from foods than from supplements. Just take care not to take too much if youre taking supplements. Luckily you cant overdose on Vit B - the body just flushes what it doesnt need. Vit B1, B6 and B12 are the important ones.
gilpill loxie
Posted
Thank you so very much for your advice really apreciate it fortunately I'm taking vitamin b alongside my calcium I was not aware of magnesium though I have a cheese which is dairy free I have a square each day also a milk shake with fortified calcium and bran flakes also fortified calcium how will I know I'm taking to much?
lee12629 gilpill
Posted
loxie gilpill
Posted
Getting calcium from your diet is definitely the best bet and it's unlikely you'll overdose that way. It's important to be careful if you take calcium supplements in addition however. If you take a calcium supplement, do check how much is the maximum recommended.