Advice on taking Statins

My GP once told me that’d you’d need to drink gallons of Benecol or the like for it to make any difference to your cholesterol levels ?? ?

My husband started statins and the leg pain was bad. GP changed to another tablet and seems ok now. I suspect (but no proof) the original pill was cheaper than the one he now has.

Q10 capsules, 300mg. My husband used to get awful leg pains and cramps because of statins and this stopped it. It's not a crank thing, it really works. Try googling it. Q10 is produced naturally in the body and decreases as we age. It's good for general health too. You could also try a magnesium supplement for cramps.

I have tried most varieties of statins, and am able to tolerate them every couple of days . Ten years ago I stopped taking them all together and ended up with a Stoke, so be carefully if you do stop and insist on regular cholesterol tests if you do. I have found out a lot of my aches are not down to statins but onset of arthritis so may be as well to get bloods tests done.

Have any of you ladies who have stopped statins noticed that you lost weight
I ask because my friend stopped taking statins mainly I think because her persvription ran out
Her pains in her arms stopped almost immediately and now it is very noticeable that she has lost a lot of weight . She says it’s through watching what she eats but she already looked a lot slimmer before . She never weighs herself

Reluctantly accepted Dr's recommendation to take statins pointing out that he said that a side-effect could be muscular pain, and he's been treating me with steroids for polymyalgia for over a year now, adjusting the dose monthly.
After 5 weeks, I asked him if I could stop the statins because like many posters above I felt really agonised, it felt as if I'd been screwed up into a ball then left to ache. Swollen feet and severe pain in one ankle as added extras! Also felt more "confused elderly" than usual.
I told Dr I am on 6 medications and the statins were reducing the efficacy of them all-diuretic, anti gastric reflux, 2 x eyedrops for glaucoma, anti-gout and the steroids. He has stopped the statins, is allowing a month to readjust my system then will reconsider trying another statin. I hope to persuade him not to! My recovery has been in fits and starts but I am so, so much better now. Oh-sleeping better too.

I kept being pressured into having statins, but finally caved in because I am older!! I have just stopped them because my arthritis is getting out of control, discovered they make me more prone to chest infections (my lungs are bad enough) - it's only been about 10 days since stopping, I think there is an improvement, but now I've got COVID, so don't know how much that will affect my joints - watch this space!!

I was advised by my GP to take Coenzyme Q10 200 mg with my statin and have not had any side effects since doing this

I was prescribed statins in my early 50’s and had a terrible experience with them. Every muscle and joint in my body ached. Doc tried every type available but no respite. I was so bad that my regular Christmas outing to a panto with my 4 gc’s at the time involved a train journey, going for for tea then on to a panto - that year I was told my oldest gs decided he didn’t want to go so his dad came along with us. Discovered later that they were worried I wouldn’t cope with the kids as I struggled so much getting myself around - they thought I would struggle so persuaded older gs to stay home so dad could help me ?. I stopped taking the statins even though my cholesterol was still high. With a new gp now and he decided I should be on statins. Discover a brand I hadn’t tried. I lasted 2 weeks on it. Told gp I preferred quality of life over quantity. What’s the point of lasting a couple of years longer if you are wracked with pain?

I can't take Statins and neither have several of my relatives; one of them was really ill with them. I now take something which isn't strictly a statin but does the trick.
It is always worth looking at where your cholesterol levels are being skewed. For example, I have high Triglycerides which is due to high glucose levels. Cutting out all the fats made little difference and it is only when I was able to see where the problem was, I was able to affect my cholesterol levels. I have gone from being 8 times the ideal upper level of Triglycerides to jut being marginally higher than ideal. This has mainly been due to cutting my carb intake and looking after by blood sugars. I still need to work on upping my HDL but I am on the way to being much healthier and the non-statins will help that too.

You might find this document helpful. www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg181/resources/patient-decision-aid-pdf-243780159

If this is the first statin you have tried there are still many options to discuss with your GP, or possibly a pharmacist at your surgery.

Hubby tried every one in the book and couldn’t tolerate them. Brother tried one felt ghastly and stopped
Neither of them bother with them now
My cholesterol is borderline and I take Red Yeast supplement which is supposed to keep it in check - I get them from H&B health foods in the high street

I was originally prescribed 40mg of a statin. Seems this was a standard dose. I asked if I could start at 10mg and then have a blood test. Turned out I only need 20mg a day. Made me think that they over prescribe. As for asking advice on here...I think you need to be talking to your doctor. Your doctor is the only one who can advise you.

My mum had very high cholesterol levels around 9 or 10. She was never overweight, ever and she never smoked or drank alcohol. She couldn’t be bothered with statins and lived to be in her high eighties. She died of a heart attack but , as she used to say, you’ve got to die of something and she preferred heart failure to cancer! Very practical, my mum. My level is also very high without the Lipitor and I am not overweight, either. My Dad was the same and he was very slim - another one who died of a heart attack.

Thanks Kate. I use the Asda brand rather than Benecol as the nurse said it was just as good but cheaper. I hope she is right.

Liz I've been taking them for about a year, along with a daily benecol drink, benecol spread and yoghurts. The sterols were recommended by someone on GN. I don't know if they are working or not as I haven't been back to have my cholesterol checked since. I will go at some point and let you know if they have done the trick.

I was going to ask if anyone has tried plant sterols but see that Kate is giving them a go. Maybe you could let us know how you get on with them Kate?

susytish, ask your GP about your risk levels - with and without statins - (there may be little difference) then decide whether the side effects are really worth tolerating!

I had a heart attack in 2006 and have taken statins ever since. no real problems.
I'm not overweight - at the time the cardiologist said it was probably due mainly to 30 years of smoking. Though I'd already given up for 15 years. plus genetics.

I have been told that the cause of my high cholesterol is probably genetic because it has been entirely stable at exactly the same score for over a decade.

I am not overweight, got 9 out of 12 on the mediterannean diet scoreboard after DH's heart attack. The main problems being that we do not eat nuts very much and I prefer to use locally grown rape seed to imported olive oi, not how much oil I use, but what oil - and they admitted rape oil was nearly as good for you as olive oil and I am very active.

There are far too many cliches waved around about health by people who prefer such cliches to thinking for themselves and finding out what the facts are from reliable sources.

It's not just over weight people or people with poor diet get cholesterol.

I know someone who is the right weight for his height. Always eat the right food . Goes to the gym 3 times and week plus running and cycling. His cholesterol was sky high now on statins. It's coming down. He's GP it's just the luck of the draw who has high cholesterol. He has patients who are obese but have perfect cholesterol low bad high good cholesterol.

I have no doubt that statins do reduce cholesterol, within a few weeks mine was drastically reduced. My dilemma is with some of the side effects. I found that after a short time the heavy legs and achey arms thing would return so that a couple of goes with the upright vacuumed cleaner felt like I’d rowed the Atlantic and needed to sit down. Day after day this really got me down as I felt like I was unable to do the ordinary but necessary things that make life bearable. I can well imagine that if I had been -say aged 70 and not 44 I might have have put it down to ageing, I don’t know. I always read the leaflets with meds but I’m not obsessed with them. Any way after stopping the statins these above mentioned problems went away…and resurfaced after being given ”the talk” by various doctors, all well meaning, and starting the statins again.

I’ve been on them for 30 years but I have to keep to the lowest dose because the higher doses give me really bad back pain. They do work for me. I went from 8.5 down to 4.5 .

High cholesterol does not necessarily mean raised arterial plaque. A CAC scan (rarely done on Nhs) will reveal your actual level of arterial plaque. Low plaque levels means low risk of heart attack regardless of cholesterol readings. Re the nocibo effect, a friend came off statins after bad muscle cramps etc. He is a GP! Definitely genuine side effects. Also depression.

susytishI agree with MOnica.
You need more information from your GP so that you can make an informed choice.
He/she can work out your risk score easily by using an online calculator. It's a matter of looking at more than just your total cholesterol. Your LDL and HDL (low and high density lipids results), age, sex, blood pressure, whether you smoke or not, whether or not you have diabetes, any genetic risk and any relevant medical history.
In my own case, my total cholesterol was 6.71 and my GP keen to prescribe a statin but risk of coronary heart disease was under 7% so I declined.
Personally I believe statins are over prescribed.
A healthy weight, sensible eating and twice daily dog walking reduced my cholesterol further.