Advice on taking Statins

It makes me wonder sometimes what they are prescribing for people. My sister has been put on blood pressure tablets and her hair is thinning and her eyebrows have disappeared. She asked her GP if it could be the tablets and he said 'Oh yes they can cause hair loss'. For goodness sake!

When my DH was on Statins the pains in his legs were so bad he could not walk it was nothing to do with the "nocebo” effect seeing we didn't read the leaflet until the pains in his legs were so bad he was crying in pain we were looking at everything and anything to help him and reading the leaflets of all his medications was one of the things we did, and there it was!, now seeing as when he was 60 and on Statins he was crippled and now he is 72 and runs 2 charity shops on his feet all day AND he has a dodgy knee but can actually walk is proof enough for me that the Statins were the cause, I will ignore any research (usually funded by big Pharma) that says otherwise

Speaking with a friend this morning she told me she had seen a physiotherapist because she had so many aches and pains . Physio asked if she took statins, she told him yes. He explained that some statins were responsible for muscle / joint pain. He asked her to speak to her GP , she did this and told him what the physio had said . GP immediately prescribed a different statin - so far so good !

I was more than happy to go on statins when my GP said my cholesterol was 7. She put me on a very low dose. Never again.
I woke up in the middle of the night one night thinking my nose was running. I put the light on to find the pillow and duvet covered in blood from a nosebleed. I had never had one in my life. I had four more in the next few weeks, my husband rang 111 on one occasion as the bleeding wouldn't stop. I couldn't understand it. I looked on the statins leaflet and there it was at the top of the side effects 'nosebleeds'. I stopped taking them and the bleeds stopped. I am taking plant sterols now. I'll see how that goes .

I suppose I should be dead according to the drug industry.
The last time it was taken it was 9.3. It was 9.6 when taken 11 years ago.
But as my dietitian friend says: that’s the level my body operates on.

Monica I totally agree my mum always had cholesterol in the 7 s although ate a near perfect diet without sugar or salt all home grown veg etc she lived to her 90 s without any heart problem she was the only person in the care home (dementia) that was on no medication I m also on no medication I haven’t had my cholesterol taken for years but it also used to be in the 7 s like my mum I don’t smoke I rarely drink alcohol I don’t eat meat or fish and have no reason to concern myself over my cholesterol
I wouldn’t go on Statins

Really interesting thread today
Just had my results 8.1 so starting statins today.
I'm feeling anxious that iv been so careless eating all the wrong foods knowing this would be the result.
Fingers crossed it will be OK for me

Same here M0nica I had a similar answer from one of the GPs in my practice. She admitted herself that the difference was minimal. Like you I chose not to take them.

Read 'Statin Nation' by Dr. Malcolm Kendrick. You'll never even want to look at a statin again, never mind actually swallowing one.

I have had three heart attacks and the very high cholesterol readings were evident at the time and have tried a lot of statins. They most definitely bring the reading down dramatically. I was once on the very highest dose and the leg muscle pains and even upper arm pains were (to me) unacceptable and just not me normally. Interestingly I have never suffered from high blood pressure it is always normal even during a heart attack. I take other meds for heart health ie aspirin/beta blockers. It s a dilemma. I would like to see some research into why some peoples bodies produce high levels of cholesterol. What is it’s purpose? By the way there are other types of cholesterol reducers it’s just that statins are the state of the art

The first time I took them they definitely reduced my cholesterol level but I was getting frequent optical migraines (the ones that affect vision) so stopped taking them. I eventually tried a different one as my level had gone up again but the migraines and brain fog returned.

DH has been on them for 20 yrs (due to Heart problems) with no side effects at all. BIL went on them and within a couple of weeks couldn’t even climb up the stairs, so he came off them and was fine again, not sure why he was even put on them.

Everyone is obsessed by the cholesterol reading. That is not the bit that matters, it is the probability of having a heart attack or stroke if you do reduce your cholesterol.

Even though my cholestrerol is high, it was the fact that reducing my cholesterol level was only going to have a minimal effect on my chances of a stroke or heart attack that made me decide not to take them. It was something like an 18% chance of a HA/S if I didn't take statins and 16% if I did.

But let me be clear, I am not an anti-statinsist - like being an Anti-Vaxxer. DH is on statins and needs them as he has had a heart attack. I would take them if there was bigger difference between the two figures.

I take statins my cholesterol was 6.9 it is now 4 I’ve had no side affects and I’ve taken them for 5 yrs now. You make the decision that’s right for you.

I don't take statins but my brother does. The first ones he was prescribed caused leg cramps . So was put on a different one. In a year his cholesterol has gone from 7.2 to 3.9.

A different one may help you.

Thank you everyone. This has been very helpful. I cannot live like this with constant pains in my legs. I will speak to a doctor to discuss my options. Any more comments gratefully received

I remember when statins first came into prominence you could just go and buy then from a chemist. I remember being horrified, partly because it made no sense paying for something that you could get for free from a doctor but also for the fact that they could be sold over the counter with no blood/b/p tests needed. They’re cheap as chips and doctors were encouraged to prescribe them.

I was prescribed statins four years ago, and like Oldbat took them reluctantly. I have never suffered bad any side effects; the good effect (possibly connected) is that for the first time in my life I have been able to overcome my addiction to sweets.

I find it very easy to believe in the 'nocebo' effect, having spent a good deal of my life around women ; girls' school and college, primary school teaching, divorced so more female than male friends; the horror stories about statins. as well as menstruation, PMT and the menopause are endemic but rarely proved. Thank goodness I had an eminently sensible mother, teachers and friends. If there are complications there are many, many alternatives which a doctor can provide, as happened in the case of a male friend who suffered from Tinnitus following statins; the prescription was changed immediately, no more complications.

I did research online before my recent visit to the doctor for a normal check up. MOnica says she asked about the two figures concerning how much difference would be made on the difference taking them would make. I also found those figures and after some though decided I was not taking them. For anyone who wants to do some research, diabetes.co.uk is a good place to start.

I agree that this a medical fraud by the big pharma to make huge amounts of money and for most people make little difference. Some scientists and others suggest that the research models used 50 years ago would not stand up to modern scrutiny. It’s also suggested that cholesterol is not the ogre that it has been made out to be.

When notified that I was to be prescribed statins I visited my doctor and asked her whether she would recommend them to her mum if she had my medical history. I left without a prescription.

My friend was put on statins after having a heart attack. Prior to that her cholesterol was perfect.
Fast forward to the stage where she could hardly walk. All this time I was telling her to stop taking them.
Fortunately at this time she had an appointment to see her consultant. I always went with her to doctor/ hospital appointments.
He went through some stuff and asked her how it was going with the statins. She told him she had stopped taking them and the reason why.
His words to her were. And stay off them
I’ve heard and read and seen so much about about statins that I go so far as to say it’s the worst fraud perpetrated on the medical industry ?

The pains in my legs were not caused by reading the contra indications leaflet they were caused by the statins and were so bad I couldn't get off the sofa or walk across the room. I've had 3 strokes and statins would not stop another if I'd stayed on them. They were caused by an auto immune condition and until the right blood thinner was found for me I would continue to have them. I had two while maintaining an Inr of 4.5. Thankfully I now have the correct anticoagulant for me.

Is it worth trying magnesium for leg cramps?

Reluctantly I started statins two years ago. My Cholesterol was over 8 and now below 5. I haven’t had any side effects so far.

I asked my doctor what was the probability of my having a heart attack/stroke in the next ten years if I took statins and then I asked her to work it out again if I did not take statins. In fact the difference between the two figures was so slight I decided not to take them.

This will obviously not apply to everyone, but ask the question and you may be surprised by the answer. My doctor was very surprised and said I was the first to ask for the two figures to compare.

The 'nocebo' effect is a medical excuse for blaming the patient if things do not go as the doctor says they should. In the case of statins it is far too covenient. I cannot believe that anything between 25% and 60% of people who have had a life time of seeing their doctor, and taking medication without any problems or fears, should suddenly be suffering from the nocebo effect when prescribed statins.