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stopped 40mgs Atorvastatin 2 weeks ago on docs advice

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david_25160
david_25160

hey hello from bonny Scotland! advice sought please, anybody else experience liver problems possibly due to long term statin use?? 2 weeks ago on mentioning sore leg muscles the blood tests indicated that the statin could indeed be causing this, also my liver function levels were raised, so I was asked to stop the 40mg Atorvastatin I was on, blood test again last Friday, the doctor rang me at home today to say the the muscle thing they test was getting back to normal smile but that my liver function thing had worsened sad so now I'm awaiting an ultrasound of the liver, and a further blood test in 2 weeks, so now I am worried to death, no pun intended, of liver failure looming or worse still, any advice please? apart from the obvious "do not worry" thankyou smile

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  • douglas21840
    douglas21840 david_25160

    Posted

    Hi David,

    I read as much as I could about statins when my GP recommended them despite the fact that I was already on medication for blood pressure.  Maybe I am naturally suspicious but I was getting side effects on only 10mg such as memory loss and depression and, after reading what others had to say, I stopped them after only a few weeks.  40mg seems like an excessively high dose.  First they say that diet is a factor in high cholesterol and then they say that diet can't lower it but I would rather try diet and exercise and take the risk than suffer the side effects.  Best wishes for a full recovery, I am sure they are right about the liver healing itself.

    • jude65855
      jude65855 douglas21840

      Posted

      Diet can work for some people which is why it's often recommended as the first thing to try, but for some of us it makes no difference, esp as there's often a genetic factor too.

      The only thing I've found which helps is Psyllium Husks - I have 3 tsps in the morning with my porridge and my cholesterol is slowly, slowly coming down.   WARNING:  Don't eat the powder dry because it swells up on contact with moisture and can do so before it hits the gut and choke you.   Worth a try, I reckon, yet no doctor recommended it, I found info on the net and thought it was worth a try.  

      ANYTHING has to be better than statins!   I even tried a non-statin cholesterol lowering medication - same side effects, so in my opinion it's the lowering of the cholesterol below a certain level which causes the side effects.   Q10 is a good supplement to take

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