Suggestions/personal experiences with statins.

When my DH was 65 he was summoned to our heath centre for a 'healthy retirement assessment'. He came out with a prescription for Simvastatin. His cholesterol levels were normal, he had never had any heart problems or strokes, and he wasn't overweight. He was given them (quote) to reduce the risk of problems in the future. For about a year he was fine, then he started to aches and pains, headaches and feeling 'full' all the time. The pains (all over his body) got worse and worse. He had been an active, agile, happy retiree but within a year he was in constant pain, hardly able to walk and irritable, bad tempered and depressed. One day I found him in tears on his hands and knees trying to crawl to the toilet. I did some research about Statins and was horrified to discover how many people suffered while taking them. DH stopped taking them immediately and over the next 6 months the pains eased, but it was another year before he was pain free. His next health check up was with a new doctor after we moved. The doctor was baffled as to why he had ever been prescribed statins and put a note on his medical record of the problems he had had with them.. DH would never take them again. DH is once again happy, relaxed and active - yes he gets the occasional ache but it's usually due to working too hard in the garden or walking to far with the dog! I think doctors need to remember the saying 'If it aint broken don't try to mend it'.

Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences. These drugs are necessary for many but some of the side effects can obviously be difficult to tolerate. Dh has had various ‘oscopies’ to rule out and physical cause for the wind...all negative. Thank goodness it’s significant burping and not flatulence greciangirl or I would have had to move out!

DH had statins prescribed. He had bad side effects so they were changed. Side effects continued so he stopped taking them.

That was two years ago. Each year he has blood and cholesterol tests which come out as the GP expects, no one has checked whether he is still taking the tablets. However since he stopped taking them, he has also had the medication he was taking for his diabetes stopped by the doctor as it was no longer needed, his blood sugar is at normal levels without medication.

I've been taking statins for 12 years, after a heart attack.
Up to now I've had no adverse reactions.
Fingers crossed, PG.

I was on Simvastatin for 3 years and had aching muscles and my knees hurt too. I mentioned to Dr when I was going in about something else that I would like to come off them as pains in leg muscles and she said to change to Atorvastatin about 8 months ago and now no more knee and muscle pains. I think different people react to different drugs in a different way so well worth going back to Dr.

A routine blood test showed I had very high cholesterol. On questioning me about my family history, it was decided that I had the hereditary form. Since taking statins my cholesterol is normal and I’ve never had side effects. I walk miles and am halfway to black belt in kickboxing at the age of 68. Hopefully I won’t drop dead as my mother did with undiagnosed heart disease at only four days older than I am now. I’m grateful to have statins.

I've bee on statins for many years, first of all simvastatin and then changed to atorvastatin 20mg, upped to 40mg.

3 months ago my chol levels were up at 7 so it has been increased to 60mg. When at 40mg I asked if I could come off them the doctor said no way. Brother has stents, father died from his first heart attack and maternal grandfather had a stroke.

I am in constant pain, although I do have fibromyalgia.

DH has Type 2 diabetes, takes metformin and 1 glipizide, 1 aspirin + mental health medication. Until just over a year ago he was taking statins but after reading about side effects (Daily Telegraph/Dr James le Fanu) he stopped taking them. He's still alive, maybe a bit overweight. About 5-6 years ago my cholesterol was high but my GP didn't offer me statins in so many words, I said I'd control it by diet. I haven't been back to the surgery again so no idea what my cholesterol is but, like DH, I'm still alive. I'm comfortably within my weight range.

I think I'd rather take my chances with having a heart attack than be in constant pain.

Sometimes I wonder whether it is better to have a shorter life with relatively few ailments than to spend several years downing vast amounts of tablets and feeling absolutely dreadful.

My grandma died at the age of, I think, 78. I don't recall her ever having a day's illness until she had a stroke at the age of 78 and died within three weeks.

My granddad died at the age of 97, again with a fairly clear medical history apart from peritonitis and a motorcycle accident. Even in his nineties he took no medication and died over the course of one night.

But perhaps, when it comes down to it, most of us want to hang on to life even in the most difficult circumstances. Maybe I will be the same, who's to know.

I have a number of auto immune conditions, including inflammatory (RA) arthritis. This is the main factor in my GP recommending I take statins. The cardiologist said he wouldn't medicate based on my cholesterol levels. My GP did the risk assessment and I'm very high risk, not to do with lifestyle, to do with RA which I've probably had since my mid 20s but was only diagnosed in my early 40's.
Without disease modifying drugs for the RA my quality of life was very poor. Yes, the drugs have potentially dire side effects. so does rampant RA which can affect all major organs.
If I didn't have these chronic health problems, I wouldn't take statins. I'm due to have a series of blood tests which should help confirm whether the statin are doing their job.. So far, I feel ok - but the costs and benefits of statins are a worry.

My GP put me onto Avrostatin a couple of years ago giving my age as the reason, I was 68 at the time. After a few months I suffered from dreadful aching legs and stopped taking them. It wasn’t picked up for about a year when the surgery rang to ask why I wasn’t ordering repeat prescriptions. I was then put onto 5mg Rosuvastatin and have been fine for about four months but now have aching legs again. So I am tempted to stop for a couple of weeks and see if there is any improvement. My cholesterol wasn’t excessively high but both DH and I think the GP’s have a thing about over 60’s and statins!

Apologies if this has already been said as I haven’t read the whole thread: wind and bloating can be symptoms of coeliac disease, or sensitivity to wheat or gluten in particular. The latter can develop at age. A straightforward way of checking this out is for your husband to avoid eating any foods with gluten in for 1-2 weeks and see if the problem clears during this period. Hope this helps!

ARE GPs PAID FOR PATIENTS TAKING STATINS?
If you doubt this is true, please check this out on Google to reference an article in the Daily Telegraph. They receive all sorts of incentives.

Hi I took statins for 6 months and my muscles got so weak I couldn't raise my arms above my head and my OH had to do up my bra.. I also felt so tired/weak and pretty poorly. Stopped taking them ( with drs agreement) but it took a year before I got my strength back; could raise my arms, do bra up, do crawl at swimming... never will I take them again! Hope your husband gets his worries sorted.

I was also.put on simvastin a year or two ago as my cholesterol was 'borderline'. After a while I had terrible itching day and night (couldnt sleep) -went to GP who said stop taking the statin. So I did and the itching stopped.
My cholersterol is still borderline (but they keep chaging the goal posts.) Every now and tgen it is suggested I might like to go on statins again. I say No thank you and so they say : wel, we'll review it next year! So far I've avoided it.

Have been on Statins for years, but apart from nighmares no other side effects, nightmares were beginng to be a problem and my GP changed the tablets to Atorvastatin which I take in the mornings, but to be honest I still have vivid dreams. I am thinking of stopping taking them and see if my vivid dreams disappear, that would be wonderful.My cholesterol isnt that high, a pleasant nights sleep would be appreciated.

After watching a French/German TV programme on Statins: I learned that the French were not being diagnosed as needing statins and the doctors from both countries said they didn’t take them and didn’t intend to.
So that night both DH and I threw ours away.
On the TV programme they showed how much American pharmaceuticals were earning and how their earnings are still increasing.

"If you have a cholesterol check, do ask what the cholesterol ratio is, rather than the total cholesterol. It is the ratio that is used in the risk checker www.qrisk.org/2017/. You can use this to work out your own risk, but try putting in different ages and see the difference. You can't change your age, and age alone is not enough reason to go on statins, whatever the drug companies (who do all the research) might say!"

Well said B9xchange
My (total) cholesterol is fairly high ( 7.4 or something, sometimes lower) - statins have never been suggested to me and I wouldn't take them if they were. I'm 65, I eat a really healthy diet ( although pretty low carb), not overweight, low BP, keep myself fit by gardening, walking and going to exercise classes, don't smoke, drink some alcohol but much less than the weekly limit - nothing more I can do. My ratio is fine - never accept any treatment based on total cholesterol - this is outmoded. I would do the Q risk score and take it from there - make changes to diet, body weight, exercise, smoking, alcohol if necessary first before medication. Oh yes and I'm on HRT keeps many of the other health blues away. Doc is quite happy - she says some people naturally have higher ch.

My DH is on a high dose of statins with no apparent side effects.

Many years ago, my GP put me on increasing doses of statins because a blood test showed slightly high cholesterol. I developed terrible foot problems and started to feel as if I was suffering something serious because I kept blanking on simple words. I did not associate this with statins til my widowed dad and I went on a trip and he ended up looking after me instead of vice versa.

Meantime I got a message from the doc that my cholesterol wasn't shifting and I would be getting an add-on as soon as I returned home. In a flash of comprehension, I told the GP's partner by phone I wanted to try to stop the statins to see if that helped. He was furious and gave me a telling off and instructions to come in to the surgery without delay upon return. On no account was I to stop the statins.

I came off the statins.

The word blanking stopped right away.

My feet, in the end, took two years to go back to normal.

When I eventually told the GP I'd come off the statins and why, she laughed out loud and said she'd never heard of such a thing as statins causing memory problems.

Years on I still think if GPs believed - and passed on - more reports of serious side effects, even if they are not yet on the list, there'd be less mass prescribing of drugs which might be saving some lives (like DH's), but could wreck others (like mine if I had not rebelled).

One size does not fit all.

I've been on statins for a while and have had to change a few times due to either side effects or not being effective. I;m now on rosuvastatin (crestor) and this is working fine for me. It's the last choice statin as it's new and therefore more expensive

I stopped taking them a week ago. Still have brain fog, aching joints and muscles.
Will try and get a GP appointment. Current wait three weeks ?

DH has made GP appt to discuss-it’s not until 11/7, could be worse, initially receptionist had suggested August!! I knew there were appts in July as I’d checked it on the online booking system. DH not on that system so couldn’t book online, but he was able to say to receptionist that he was aware there were earlier appts.

Another question for you all-does anyone else’s surgery
have an in house pharmacist who not only reviews medication but prescribes where she feels it necessary? I’m not entirely sure I’m comfortable with this and wondered what others thought.

My recent blood test showed cholesterol at 6, the highest it’s been, she said i have an 11% chance of a stroke and statins should be considered. I think the look on my face told her what I thought and she said no more.

Please do not take drastic action with stopping statins just because of what any of us say here. Our individual experiences are just that and, in my case, I was trying to make the point about doctors not reporting back side effects when patients tell them.

I realise it's difficult to get appointments and that there seems to be a fresh push on statins, certainly in this part of Scotland. Currently, statins are saving the lives of close relatives with either previous heart problems or family histories, but doctors - and we - need to start being honest with each other and with the drug companies (and vice versa) about dangers of mass medication where there is any chance people are being made unwell.

Good luck to all those who are waiting for appointments. It seems ridiculous to have to wait til August if you know there are slots in July...and even that seems too long when most of us here are at an age where we don't tend to trouble doctors needlessly and time might just be of the essence.

Caledonia, I have't stopped because of what people have said on this thread. I stopped because I'm not sure the costs and benefits of statins v no statins are worth it for me. I'll report back after discussing this with my (lovely if hard to see) gP