Reluctant to start a statin…

I started on 20 mg Atorvastatin. And due to side effects GP changed it to 5 mg Rosuvastatin. No side effects but won't know if it's working till a blood test next month.

I take Rosuvastatin and would have said I had few if any side effects, however, reading about someone mentioning a feeling of anxiety is interesting. I do think they affect my mood and when we forgot to take them on a short holiday I did notice a difference. I shan’t be stopping them as have the familial kind of cholesterol

I have inflammatory arthritis, atrial fibrillation, stage three kidney disease - auto immune conditions that increase my stroke or heart risk. My rheumatologist advised statins when cholesterol was 5.6 because heart disease the biggest cause of death in RA patients.
I rake 20mg pravastatin daily. I take other meds for other conditions. I’d prefer to take no drugs but when I was admitted to A and E query stroke recently, the consultant told me compliance with meds reduced my risk by over 70%. It wasn’t a stroke thank goodness

Morning Chriks

I had an mot with the doctor a few months back, everything came back good, aside from my cholesterol was 12 and should be 10. The doctor prescribed statins, I asked if I could lower my cholesterol by change in diet, he simply said "NO".
I checked this out and you can. Cut down and sugar & refined carbs.

I have heard really bad reports on them, my son was dead against me taking them and sent me a video explaining that when they say it lowers your risk of stroke & heart attack by 50%, this is not accurate; it's actually just 2/100, lowers to 1/100 taking statins, which is not 50%.
300 adverse reactions. I'm not taking them.

I tried for a long time to cut down my cholesterol by diet and exercise. It went down a very,very small amount . Listen to your doctors, not us. If they recommend them,take them. They are qualified and they know you. We don’t.

Yoginimeisje - 12 is very high! -
-"If your result is 12 mmol/ A healthy total cholesterol level is typically below 5.0 mmol/L.
What 12 Means: A total cholesterol reading of 12 mmol/L is profoundly high—more than double the standard healthy threshold. This level places you at a significantly elevated risk for cardiovascular disease, heart attacks, and strokes, and is often an indicator of severe genetic conditions like familial hypercholesterolaemia"-

I agree that listening to doctors is the way to go!

I’ve just changed to 4 mg Rosuvastatin from 40mg Atorvastatin after suffering debilitating cramp.
It seems a big change in dosage and I’m anxious to continue with statins re family history.

I’ll have a blood test in three month’s time to see the results.

I was wary about taking atorvastatin after my husband's experience of muscle and joint pain. He stopped taking them after consulting his GP.
My experience had been the polar opposite. No problems at all, plus a bonus effect, my knees don't ache as much as they did before.
You'll just have to try them yourself and see.

Having seen the devastating effects of stroke if I am advised I will continue to take statins.
However I’m trying to manage my cholesterol by diet. I dealt with pre diabetes so why not cholesterol too.
The fewer the medication the better in my mind but against medical advice.

I've been on Simvastatin for years with no problems.

nanna8

I tried for a long time to cut down my cholesterol by diet and exercise. It went down a very,very small amount . Listen to your doctors, not us. If they recommend them,take them. They are qualified and they know you. We don’t.

Sensible advice 👍

I was on Simvastatin for many years, the dose gradually increasing. As the dose increased my mobility decreased until it felt like each leg weighed a ton and my feet were glued to the ground. I was taken off the Simvastatin for 3 months before being prescribed a different type, possibly Atorvastatin. Towards the end of the no statins period I was not only walking better but could do star jumps for the first time in 30 years.

The replacement totally failed to control my cholesterol and once again glued my feet to the floor, so I was put back on the Simvastatin but at a lower dose than previously. I lost the ability to star jump but could still walk. A few years later they tried again. I was put on Rosuvastatin at the start dose of 5 mg. Mobility was reasonable but cholesterol still "too high" for my age so the dose was doubled to 10mg. Less than two weeks later I suffered a sudden tsunami of a nose bleed, out of the blue. I had never had anything like it. After eventually stopping the fountain I checked the "contraindications" part of the massive accompanying sheet of instructions.
It said that the higher dose could cause spontaneous bleeding, including nose bleeds and to stop taking them. I did and contacted the doctor. They tried to tell me it was coincidence!

I decided and a doctor agreed that I would not take any statins and would take my chances on a stroke/heart attack. Nobody lives for ever and I preferred a mobile perhaps shorter life to a longer but immobile one.

I can still do a couple of star jumps, if I so wish.

Star jumps - blimey - I'm impressed!

Having worked for a brain injury service, avoiding a stroke is top of my list. I have no wish to go there. A heart attack was entirely sufficient.

I have taken statins for 34 years now and have had absolutely no problems. I was diagnosed at 32 as being a cholesterol hyperresponder, and I have 3 stents in my arteries, so I know I need to take them long term

I didn't sleep well because I had aching joints and muscles after I started to take them but have since lost weight and go to the gym which has helped. Personally I think that it's worth taking them for the benefits they offer.

I take blood pressure medication and was advised to take a statin (simvastatin) as a preventive.
I have had no ill effects whatsoever and my cholesterol stays low,

I am no longer on any statins having been taken off Simvastatin and Atorvastatin after years of protest. It's now recorded on my medical record

Aely. Very impressed re the star jumps.👏

I know several people who are now not allowed to take statins as they can damage the liver. Anybody starting on them should have blood tests after a short while.

Can't comment given your current medication. At 79 and having been bypassed in the medical checks supposedly to take place from 70 - 75 and tgen on request when seeing a GP at the request of my optician the GP told me not having had any statins and now at my age there was no way she would start to prescribe them. There must surely be a reason why GP wants to prescribe and you should be told why.

4allweknow

Can't comment given your current medication. At 79 and having been bypassed in the medical checks supposedly to take place from 70 - 75 and tgen on request when seeing a GP at the request of my optician the GP told me not having had any statins and now at my age there was no way she would start to prescribe them. There must surely be a reason why GP wants to prescribe and you should be told why.

It makes them more money prescribing statins.

Yoginimeisje

Morning Chriks

I had an mot with the doctor a few months back, everything came back good, aside from my cholesterol was 12 and should be 10. The doctor prescribed statins, I asked if I could lower my cholesterol by change in diet, he simply said "NO".
I checked this out and you can. Cut down and sugar & refined carbs.

I have heard really bad reports on them, my son was dead against me taking them and sent me a video explaining that when they say it lowers your risk of stroke & heart attack by 50%, this is not accurate; it's actually just 2/100, lowers to 1/100 taking statins, which is not 50%.
300 adverse reactions. I'm not taking them.

Just wondered if you are not in the UK (maybe measured differently outside UK) as I’ve never heard of such a high cholesterol reading.

I refused statins too against advice but started taking plant sterols which have reduced mine from 7.1 to 6.2 without doing much else. I do eat less than I used to because my appetite isn’t the same as it once was. I’m about 1.5 stones lighter than I was at 50, size 12 and 5’3” (I’ve lost an inch). I’ve been on Amlodopine 5mg for a few years. Don’t think I get side effects from these and my BP is well controlled. I have really bad muscle pain and arthritis though and I’m sure it would worsen with statins.

Been on them for a few years after a TIA, never had any problems/side-effects

Meant to say my late mother (whom I am very unlike) had high cholesterol. She was a very thin vegetarian.

I take 2 bp meds and 3 months ago was prescribed Atorvastatin. I can barely walk for the pain in my legs and buttocks and can no longer sleep without sleeping tablets. Like others have said I have no wish to have a stroke but I can't go on like this.

Reluctantly went on Rosuvastatin at nurse's advice, took for over a year but developed increasingly severe cramp in my legs at night, sometimes could hardly get out of bed due to pain and difficulty moving legs. Got a phone appt with trainee GP ('real' GP's never available at local surgery) who said not taking them would actually make hardly any difference so stopped. Almost immediately the cramps stopped and finally an undisturbed night's sleep.