Stopped taking my cholesterol drug.
Posted , 17 users are following.
i have had PMR for almost 5 yrs. I have never been able to get off of prednisone. I had read about how cholesterol drugs can effect the muscles and cause stiffness. Also that now the docs are not even sure if they work. I stopped taking mine and decided I would give it 2 months time. Almost immediately I started to feel better. Then I decided I was not going to drink beer. Again I started to feel the best I have felt in a long time. I'm now down to 5 mg of prednisone and feeling the best I have felt in 5 yrs. Has anyone else tried stopping their statin drug?
1 like, 37 replies
track Lelee
Posted
I have PMR for over 2 years, but now am in remission though still on Pred. 4mgs.
I had been on Statins for 35 years as had very high cholesterol as did my Mother and Sister, (heredity) they say.
I was starting to have extra pains last year so my GP took me off statins, and within 6 months I had a stroke, my cholesterol had risen high again. My Neurologist put me back onto statins and told me never to go off them as I was at high risk of stroke, and I am also on cartia for blood thinning. There is no history of stroke in my family or heart disease, so if your body happens to make more cholesterol than normal, which is quite common, it is advised to take the Statin, I have never had any side effects from the drug.
All the best to you.
Track
amkoffee track
Posted
I had a mini-stroke (TIA) in December and had been on statin drugs for many many years to control my cholesterol. When I had the mini stroke my cholesterol was not being controlled well enough by the statin I was taking. Since it was my second stroke that I've had they decided to put me on a different statin and possibly a stronger one I think. After a few months I started getting leg pains and I told my doctor this and he suggested that I stop the statin for one month and then see if my leg pains went away. Well after 1 month it was apparent my leg pain was not the cause of statin because I still had the leg pain badly. So I'm starting back up on the cholesterol medicine. I also take Plavix (a blood thinner) now since it was a second stroke. After the first stroke which was a full stroke I was instructed to take aspirin. The doctor at the emergency room told me that might taking aspirin is probably what kept me from having a full-blown stroke the second time rather than a TIA.
I am hopeful that your stroke did not cause you any deficits. I've been very fortunate that neither of my Strokes caused any lasting problems or deficits.
mark9992 amkoffee
Posted
look to your diet; esselstyn, ornish and others have shown that stroke and especially heart attack is food bourne. Half of the planet not eating a western diet don't even get them. Its a tough road, but it works.
marirose Lelee
Posted
marirose Lelee
Posted
mark9992 Lelee
Posted
I did try and stop my statin for nearly 2 months with no impact at all. However, I am beginning to think that diet can impact recovery. I was down to 5 mg of prednisone but eating a very high fat high sugar diet, and I was starting to get more and more sore at this low dose. I should point out that I'm medically diabetic while on prednisone, although I was already pre-diabetic before I got PMR. Anyway, I was feeling bad and so I eliminated sugar...at least refined sugar...and switched to an extremely low fat vegan diet. 3 days later I feel better than I have in months. Keep in mind that sugar and animal foods both irritate the lining of the arteries called the endothelium at least in any substantive quantities. Here I am a few days later and feeling much much better. Coincidence? Possibly, but its also possible that eliminating that inflammation is facilitating the reduction of my PMR. Mind you, I'm someone who's never been medically right about anything, but I'm continuing on this plant based diet without the sugar-fun to see what happens next. As for statins, it may well be that you are among those that either can't take them, or at least can't take the one you were taking. As to their efficacy, that is very well established, but its almost never going to stop a heart attack if you make no lifestyle changes, the most it can do in that case is delay. It should be an adjunct to diet.