Four years ago my doctor finally nagged me into doing a statin. Within two weeks I was having near-feinting spells, so I stopped taking it. A blood test showed "an enzyme had been stripped from my muscles". Additionally I noticed I didn't have any more stamina in my knees/legs, and I did have much more pain and weakness. Over the next couple of years I had various kinds of physical therapy for the apparent weakness/pain in my knees/legs: water therapy, physical therapy/message, cranial-sacral, acupunture, cortisone shot, more water therapy, weight lifting.... nothing helped. There has been NO IMPROVEMENT in the strength, stamina, or painfullness in my knees. I took Ubiquinol also. I have seen Orthopedics doctors including one specialist who told me my knees were NOT bone on bone and didn't need to be replaced. He had nothing to offer. The doctor who did my hysterectomy mentioned that her father had had the same reaction to Lipitor as I had. I don't know what more I can do....
Hi,i have no idea what your choelesteral numbers were,if youve never had a cardiac event,if it were me,i would stop taking them.Xx
AS I mentioned before, I quit taking it after only 3 weeks....
Sorry,long day. It took me 3 years,i had muscle wasteing,could barely lift my purse plus about 15 other issues. Finally theyve resiolved,frankly I dont know what to tell you, I remember reading up on vitamins etc to help with nerve function etc. I took quite a few. If only doctors would stop pushing these horrid med. Wish it was easier to sue the drug companies. Xx
It's good you realised and stopped, Same as Lee I had terrible muscle wasting to the point I thought I had end stage cancer I was so bad. It took six months on them for the muscles to really kick off wasting. I suffered shoulder impingement as the muscles in my shoulder wasted and so couldn't support the joints, my hips were going the same. It took a year for leg muscles to come back. I don't know my number there is no point it will just frighten me, I try to live a happy life, we are only here once.
I was only on them for two weeks but in that time they turned me into a zombie, my brain wouldn't function, my memory went, I couldn't speak properly because I couldn't find the words and then I got uncontrolable shaking over my whole body which was so frightening I had to call the ambulance service out twice in those two weeks. The medic thought I was having a fit but all tests proved normal, it was my sister who, after researching on line, decided it was all due to the statins and I stopped taking them. There was a marked difference within days but it took a long time before I felt I had got them out of my system.They are very dangerous drugs which are just handed out to people like sweets and with little check on what happens when you start to take them.
Imagine that we didn't have online research just the good old library with outdated books and relied solely on our GP, we wouldn't know as much. I approached my local pharmasist and said about my weight loss and the statin and she told me to come off them, my gp was useless when I asked why am I losing weight his reply 'who knows' didn't even look up what medication I was on. I remember also feeling sick, dizzy, and tired at the time but thought it was menopause or something I'd eaten. I also remember crippling pain in legs, overnight cramps as well. It did bring my cholesterol down though. What has your gp said for future lowering of cholesterol Trisha? They say try another brand but surely it's just a name change the affects do the same?
The GP did her best to try to persuade me to try a different brand but I refused and said I would do it by diet, she then told me it was very difficult to use diet alone and a statin would be best. So to try to prove her wrong I put myself on a strict diet, cut out all cakes, chocolate, biscuits, sugar, ate lots of fruit and veg, oily fish twice a week, went walking a lot.....eight months later and I have just had another blood test to find that my cholesterol has gone up! Can you believe it. Not much point on being on a diet then so my cholesterol will just have to remain as it is because no one could ever persuade me to take another statin.
Margaret I think you did the right thing by stopping them...so many health folk have told me that when you stop the statins...you go back to normal...but I haven't found that so....I was taking different statins over a period of years ...to begin with I was fine...then my muscles started to ache and were weak...I couldn't hold a book to read...and I had difficulty walking upstairs....I felt as if I had no thigh muscles...I was tired all the time...everything I did was an effort....GP sent me for blood tests...when I went back for the results ...he said I was fine ...nothing wrong ....so from that day on...which was about 6 years ago...I never took another statin...and I told him I never ever would.....but I can't walk far my muscles are still weak and sore...so I think that statins cause so much damage over the years.that it's iriversable....I tried ubiquinol too...I read so many good things about it ...but it made no difference....
This morning ..just after reading your letter...I was scrolling through the news...and they're saying that (ALL OLD PEOPLE SHOULD BE GIVEN STATINS)....that's one way of getting rid of us..
You can only do your best Trisha. I think there is a lot of sugar in fruit I know it's a natural sugar but still it's still a sugar. I think when we exercise we need cholesterol so if we aren't takng enough in our bodies make more anyway. I find it mad how some people who do no exercise and eat what they want have low cholesterol.
I couldnt get my doctor to agree that the statins I was taking were causing my problems, he got quite angry with me and told me that reading info online was likely to be more dangerous than any statin would be! I flushed them down the toilet against his best advice. It took me three years to start to feel any better. I still have issues with muscle reduction even though I was a keen swimmer and ate heathily. Late last year I had such awful arm pains that my doctor finally agreed for me to have some ultrasounds. This showed up that I had full thickness ruptures in both bicep tendons and one shoulder. I asked the ultrasound technician what type of injury would cause this in others he saw with the same problems, he said it was usually down to muscle weakness and could be doing even everyday tasks like lifting a kettle! I know in my heart this is due to the devastating and permanent damage those statins did to me but no doctor will ever agree with that. Big pharma has them in their pocket to the tune of billions, they arent going to shoot their golden egg laying goose are they.
It's a worry after all our heart is a muscle. I think GPs just don't like us knowing anything, if we research enough, we end up knowing more than them as they just 'general' practitioners about all ailments. Did you have calcium in the ultrasound. I've never had trouble until the statins and developed a big calcium deposit in the shoulder, I swear it was the muscles wasting.
I dont even have my numbers tested anymore,there is no point. I am not taking that stuff again,at one point i felt so odd I thought I was dieing. Xx
I also had the shoulder issue,you are right,my husbands doctor gets mad if you look up stuff and know too much,its rediculous, they need to spend some time on the computer!
I read somewhere that when you diet at first your numbers go up.
I know some docs want it in our water systems,according to medical docs they are a cure all for everything,then why does almost everyone i know end up going off of them. They are money makers for doctors and big pharma!
I only wish i knew what i know about them now,they have ben around for years,my mom took various ones for years and had horrible back pain,also ended up with alzheimers, makes me wonder??
My neighbour opposite was on them for about a month but couldn't do her hobby of dancing anymore so came off them. I don't know if women suffer more or not. I read some article that they are useless in women anyway. When I look back it was all a waste of time testing cholesterol and going on those pills and the scaring it does regarding food and plaque inside us. I'd of been better not knowing. When I worried less about food mine was lower like you eating better it's gone up. My husband does no exercise eats similar and has low cholesterol it's mad. It's a worry for older people who don't put two and two together and listen to their GP.
But is it your TC or your ratio that has risen? My TC last time I had it taken was 6.6 but the ratio was 2.4 and that, the GP said, was the important number. i won't take a statin although it was offered, As Loxie says it' Big Pharma's golden goose, they are not going to kill it are they?
And don't we all need cholesterol anyway? They keep lowering the numbers but not giving any concrete evidence as to why. You wonder why they don't advocate putting statins in the drinking water supply.
You are right Jane and to be honest your ratio is very good. You could have a total of 4.5 but only have a 1.2 good cholesterol so in affect your ratio is worse. My first ever test was 2010 and was 6.5 with 2.8 good cholesterol hubbys was 4.5 and 1.2 good cholesterol. I think lack of oestrogen plays a role with us and wonder if that's why mine went up. So maybe Trishas good went up and so total went up. I don't think you need statins either. X