Worrying

The true incidence of side effects can only be established by people with no vested interest once the drug is in common use in a large population - after the market launch. Apart from anything else, the company isn't going to mention a common side effect, it might put potential customers off! 

So it up to us too - we can file a yellow card report, it doesn't have to be a pharmacist of doctor that does it.

I was speaking to a senior GP in the town and he was appalled  by what had happened to myself of course.... but I then told him about other people and he went back to his practice  apparently, and checked up on the patients I had told him about - he even phoned them to enquire why they had not continue requesting their prescriptions.   So the next time he met me he confessed he had no idea of the uptake I rather lack of it of the statins and indeed of the strength of feeling about statins until then. 

As you say Eileen if everybody who suffered a side-effect used the yellow card system and at least told the doctor to do so on their behalf - things could be a lot better than they are now days eg the cost of thousands of these prescriptions that are not used could be saved which should help the 8 million deficit we have in the  NHS right now - if any of our politicians have got their facts right - highly unlikely but nevertheless...

Big Pharma might have something else to say other than to crow about their massive profits which are so vast ... they can afford to silence the few doctors or consultants who try to argue with them about these so-called occasional side effects that occur to a few people... they just pay off anybody who DARES  to tell then anything thst they don't want to hear

Sometimes it takes an old head on young shoulders to get things done right....but it DOES take courage to start such a big ball rolling!

You obviously recognised the side-effects of the statins initially and stopped them very wisely.  As you did not give the timescale in which you took those tablets and the interval from stopping them and the beginning of your constant fatigue and muzzy memory et cetera... I could not comment on the possible relationship of your symptoms and the statins....

However as you had gone on initially about how scary it was that the powers that be paid little or no attention to the side effects of statins.... I replied as did AileenH by agreeing with you wholeheartedly .....this was not meant as any sort of "lecture"

I can assure you.    Surely it was better to have some sort of reply/reaction than none at all?

Oh and as for the Doctor who three times diagnosed IBS .... why don't you go back ...to another doctor?   It sounds like that doctor has a one track mind...your allimentary track!!

CHEERS ... And do you give as an update in due course please we are always interested to hear new stories and how people get on.

A year ago I had to prove to Peak Potentials that the drugs I was taking were affecting my memory because I forgot to cancel out on a program I had signed up for, and 6 months later I tried to sign up and go ahead for the next upcoming class and was informed that since I had been a "no show" (for an $890 course) I would now have to cough up an extra $750 to be allowed to take that same course I had paid for but could not take at the time.  This floored me, as $750 right then was a HUGE amount of money.  Still is.

I went on the net and found articles from Scientific American and Johns Hopkins, among others, attesting to the effects of the statins and what a patchwork quilt they can make of your memory.  When I showed them that evidence and the links they could use to find corroboration, they took a day and then backed off and decided to allow me to take the course after all, and for no penalty.  We all have horror stories we can tell about the statins, and Lea, I think you might have just found some answers you have been seeking, here.

Again, welcome and please join in some more.  We want to hear your story too, as we know for a fact, from our own personal experiences, that it will be a true story.    

To give you a history. I had a heart attack in Feb 2011 after considerable prolonged stress and received a stent to clear a blockage. No heart disease. Simvastatin was one of the many pills I had to take. After a few weeks of taking them I stopped. From then until Feb 2012 I lost over a stone. I thought GREAT! Little did I know. Went to Australia for a month to see my family and  lost half a stone but eating like a horse. In May I fell heavily in the house on my chest and a few months later a tight band began under my boobs with bloating, fatigue and muzziness accompanying. After much trial and error discovered I was reacting to sugar. Little sense from doctors. IBS and Oh dear you have a bruised chest bone. Five tests, negative results. Had food poisoning and lost another stone,now at nine and half. Minimul muscle.React to other things as well, not sure of the connection. Fibre, many fruits, Andrews Health Salts, Bi carb, potatoes. Taking CQ10, Magnesium, D-Rebose and Carnitene.Oddly enough for years I suffered with indigestion especially with sugary foods, now don't, just everything else! No bleeding. No pain. Good appetite.

If you were only on them for a few weeks, do you feel the statins have caused all this turmoil?