statins

What are your symptoms?

I don't know who you are but This is what happened to me, I was put on statins over 10 years ago and told it was because of high blood pressure, I had read about the side effects but never expected it to creep up on me the way it did, at first I felt really tired all the time, my body started to feel heavy and hurt very much, It got that bad that I had to drag my body up the stairs, and because there was nothing visable no one not even my partner would believe me, I thought I had MS or something like that, I kept going to my Doctor and telling them how I was feeling and they just dismissed me after asking me to go for blood tests, I had no idea why they wanted the blood test then but do now, but they still never helped me, I couldn't sleep and am still suffering bad depression, I also have arthritus and went to see a knee surgeon and told hime while in floods of tears how I was feeling with the pain and he suggested I speak to my GP, I told him that they kept sending me away and didn't listen to me, He wrote and told my GP how I was feeling and said I thought they weren't taking my concerns seriously, very good of him to do that but it was an understatment, I was being ignored. I have since suffered gout and cataracts, I am convinced I have liver and kidney problems but no one seems interested, My heart flutters a lot and I went for an angiogram and he said I would end up on his table unless I stopped smoking, I asked if thats what was causing the problems with the fluttering and he said I have no idea so I left there non the wiser and still have the fluttering. I could not see a reason to keep going to the doctors to be treated so badly so I withdrew quite a lot, I found out what was happening to me only when I went to my health food shop and asked for something for the pain because I could not get help from my GP, but I said it would have to be something that would not interfere with my medication all of which were heart related, as soon as I mentioned statins she knew straight away what was happening to me and gabe me ubicquinol Q10, from the day I took the first tablet I began to feel better, a week or so later I stopped taking the statins after asking a pharmacy if it was safe to do so, up to date the pain has got a lot better to bare, but I have read reports of heart failure cancer and lots of other things that might be waiting for me because of this, I just don't know, I am suffering depression and last year I tried to kill myself and i'm afraid of dying but the feeling of no one helping me or even believing me is too much to bare sometimes, My face aged, tremmendously while on these things and my son was so shocked by the change after not seeing me for a year that he commented on it, I have other problems but don't know if they are connected or not, but one thing is for sure the statins were responsible for the pain gout cataracts dizziness and early ageing, I would never hurt another human being like that so why have they done this to me, why wasn't I believed or helped, and why can't I get justice

Hi, Thank you for your reply sorry I have not used your name I must remember to look before I post reply! The reason I asked what your symptoms were is because my husband takes Statins for high-blood pressure. He complains of pain in his shoulders and generally feeling very weak and tired. Thank you for your time and explanations I will pass the info onto him.

Hi,

I feel so sorry for your husband, I know what he is going through, I have more symptoms but bad memory is one of them so didn't put them all down, I too suffered really bad tiredness and still feel tired but think I am getting better slowly, Please tell your husband about the Q10 but the one from the health food shop not the supermarket, it's more expensive but some doctors do prescribe it mine didn't, It will help him, I will not advise him to come off the statins because that has to be for him to decide but from what you said he is starting to feel the way I did for such a long time, you should also look up statin side effects too because there is plenty of articles on the net about them and hardly any good ones, hope he gets well.

Amy Rohde

Hi- I absolutely agree with the first post here. We have been harmed by these drugs - I have lost my livelihood as well as my health and would like to see some sort of class action against these drug companies. I now live with considerable difficulties, yet these drugs are still being marketed and continue to earn huge profits for the companies and continue to harm others. I would like to see them compensate sufferers.

I hope some others out there are interested

unless we get together and the legal eagles get some balls we can't do anything but wait till america's lawyers get a result and it is happening now but will take a long time, till then we are stuck, have you complained to your doctors and made some type of record of what has happened to you because I think you will need to have your attemps to get justice on record, I'm not sure but there is a time line for claiming, our complaints need to be lodged, I have tried several solicitors but non want to take it on, they are only interested in something that is proved cos they know it will be costly, but a large firm with some guts might sometime take it on, when America gets results so will we.

Hi Amy

I didn't make a complaint to my doctors, but I have refused medication since 2006 when I first came off the statins. My GP knows I believe it was the statins that harmed me. I never recovered from the disabling muscle and memory problems.

For what it is worth I have a letter from 2010 from a consultant which blamed statins for my disability as part of an application for ill health retirement

Thanks for the information I might start looking for somewhere that I can lodge a complaint. I will let you know if I find anywhere.

Hi,

I don't know what your name is so sorry for not using it lol, I still have problems and I know it's the statins, but Q10 will help, but please buy the one from the health food shop, it is the ubiquinol Q10 you want, at first I took three a day for the first few months but is is expensive and unless you can get your doctor to provide it you will have to bare the cost yourself, but it is well worth it, I now only take one a day because I just cant afford it, Keep anything you have on what has happened to you, it may all be related to the statins,look up statin damage and see it anything is the same as your problems, it's not a nice read but better to be informed than not knowing what is happening to you. I would love to set up a forum where we can all get toghether and get enough people who are suffering to join in a list for a possible class action, alas I am not that clever or computer literate but we may find a person who is one day,

Hi amyrohde, I have read your posts with interest.

I sadly have many medical conditions along with high cholesterol. I have been on and off statins, different types, for many years. They do help bring down the cholesterol but can in many people give muscle pain, memory problems and other scary symptoms. All doctors know this but as NICE has recommended them to people with heart conditions they still give them out.

I have the heriditary type of high cholesterol and my dad and granny also had this. My granny lived to 98, she was a big lady who refused all kinds of medicines.

I made the decision two years ago not to take them anymore after reading lots of information from doctors who believe they are harmful in the long term. Even my gp said she wouldn't take them herself.

I took a long hard look at my diet and follow a low cholesterol diet, I walk for at least 30/40 minutes every day, even if it's only round my local streets.

I eat porridge, use Flora Pro-active spread and avoid fatty foods, cheese and creamy puddings and chocolate.I eat lots of fresh veg but am unable to eat fruit as it disagrees with me. I also eat oat bread.

A few months after starting doing this I had a routine cholesterol test. (I had not told my gp I'd stopped taking them , ordering the pills each month but not filling the prescription). My cholesterol had reduced from 7.8 to 5.3. My gp was very pleased as she said I'd obviously been taking the statins properly.Then I told her about not taking the statin and she was even more pleased!

She said that many people could stop taking the statins if they just were more careful with their diet.. You are what you eat.

Unfortunatley for most people stopping them will not restore the muscle pain/any problem that they developed while on them. It will stop these conditions getting worse though.

If you are worried about statins please consider the diet option, even with hereditary cholesterol you can reduce your levels with a good sensible diet. Usually losing any excess weight at the same time, this also means less stress on your heart.

Also stop smoking if you do. there are schemes to help you. Think to yourself 'I want to live with a decent body when I'm older' and be strong. Stopping smoking helps lower cholesterol and other chest/heart diseases.

I'm sorry about your experience with doctors/consultants. It is a very familiar story, not just for your condition but many others as well.

Only a solictor can tell you if you have a case for compensation, if you had thought of that.

I urge you to research and look carefully at what you are eating. Hard though it is give up foods you love, love your body more.. it's the only one you've got.

Solicitors in th UK won't touch statin claims at the moment because of the legal cost, but you can bet your bottom dollar that as soon as America has had a result the UK will follow because all the hard work will have been done, I have started a petition on Facebook to try and get people together and force the government to do something about this. Yes, I know there can be some benefit from taking them and it has been said that the benefits outweigh the risks, but who knows they are at risk? No one does and I didn't know what was happening to me . The side effects were horrendous and all because of statins. I am still stuck with some of the problems and who knows what else will turn up as a result of taking statins. We are not guinea pigs we are human beings. Our lives might not be important to the drugs companies but to the individual they are. We should not be given these things where there is any risk. I have been off them for a couple of years now and try to excersise and eat properly. I still smoke and want to stop but it is very difficult but at least it will be by my own hand if I die and not by drugs companies' who put profit before human life!

I am afraid of going to my Doctor now because of things that have happened to me. What concerns me is that I wasn't told about the possible side effects when they were first prescribed nor was I told when I consulted my GP complaining of problems which were the clessic signs of statin side effects that they were the result of taking the drug. They just wont listen to what a patient is telling them. I have had other issues with the way I have been treated by Doctors too but have done nothing about it so far. However, I am so fed up with being treated the way I have been and disgusted with the way they push statins and other drugs that harm that I will not sit and let it harm me any more. My fate is in my hands not theirs now,

Thanks for your reply. I am really sad for you as you've been through the mill and treated dreadfully.

I've had a couple of very negative things happen to me by doctors in the past, so I really know how it is. I also have muscle pain and memory problems that I attribute to the statins.

I'm also sorry to hear about the legal situation. I don't know much about it but know that legal aid has been withdrawn for most people these days. let's hope that time will help and the cases in America make a world wide difference eventually.

Hope you manage to give up the smokes. Also could you change to another doctor in your area?

I did this about 8 years ago because my hubby and I felt that our doc was quite frankly useless. I had many side effects of other medications that I just couldn't get on with and just got a shrug from that doctor.

It was really easy and we're very happy with the health centre that we joined. We are happy to see different docs and have found that this can help as a different doctor often has a new take on a problem.

I wish you the very best of luck, you should be proud of yourself , take care, Fanny Jane.

Hi FJ,

I just don't trust any Doctor anymore, and I look to natural means to help me, you should get the Q10 but get it from your health food store not the supermarket, it is the Ubiquinol Q10 you need, start off by taking three a day as I did, but i couldn't keep up with the cost so am now only on one a day.

It will help you with the joint pains and you will feel a lot better in a few days, Statins block the Q10 your own body produces and your body needs this to survive, I still have very bad memory problems and other things, but at lease now there isn't severe pain that I had before, I am not telling you to take Q10 just a recomenation I think would help you, Don't you let them get away with it either, go sign the petition on face book or start your own, they will carry on doing it if you let them, and no way should they give them to children as has been suggested.

Hope this helps, and we are all brave who come forward and try to stop this happening to others

Hi Amy

I have been reading all the posts and am very interested in signing the petition. Do I just look you up on Facebook?

I share a lot of your attitudes and beliefs about Drs and drug companies. I would like to join in with anything political that is happening. I really agree that once anything positive happens in the States re statins and the drug companies who have made billions out of these drugs, legal people will really want to get on board with us in the UK.

Please let me know about the petition

CL

Hi,

I did it last night , it should be found in care2 on facebook, hope it's there, I will look for it myself but not too clever with computers when I find it I will post where it is

it is in care2, and the heading is justice for people damaged by statins, hope you find it