About 7 years ago my Dr placed me on Symvastin because my younger brother ha a quintuple bypass and my maternal side ha heart problems. about a year after starting statins I started experiencing muscle cramps in just about every muscle in my body when I got out of bed in the morning. These cramps persisted for about 2 hours and then I was OK until the next morning. I took myself of statins (the internet is an amazing resource) and my cramping stopped.
I will tell you, that pain and cramps I experienced before GCA and prednisone was very similar to the cramps I experienced with statins. If you are on statins and since we share a genetic desease you could have the same allergy to statins that I have. Discuss this with your physician before altering your medicines. If stopping statins help you, let the forum know. It took me about a week to become pain free but we all know our condition is forever. Damn those Vikings!
This is very interesting. I am on statins (prevastatin). But, as I had been taking it for some time before I started to feel bad, I didn't think that it was a part of the problem i.e. the stiffness and pain was totally the PMR; not, perhaps, the combination. Worth a try.
This is from the Mayo Clinic at URL:
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-cholesterol/in-depth/statin-side-effects/art-20046013
What are statin side effects?
Muscle pain and damage
The most common statin side effect is muscle pain. You may feel this pain as a soreness, tiredness or weakness in your muscles. The pain can be a mild discomfort, or it can be severe enough to make your daily activities difficult. For example, you might find climbing stairs or walking to be uncomfortable or tiring.
Very rarely, statins can cause life-threatening muscle damage called rhabdomyolysis (rab-doe-mi-OL-ih-sis). Rhabdomyolysis can cause severe muscle pain, liver damage, kidney failure and death. Rhabdomyolysis can occur when you take statins in combination with certain drugs or if you take a high dose of statins.
This is from the Mayo Clinic and can be found by googling "statin-side-effects mayo"
What are statin side effects?
Muscle pain and damage
The most common statin side effect is muscle pain. You may feel this pain as a soreness, tiredness or weakness in your muscles. The pain can be a mild discomfort, or it can be severe enough to make your daily activities difficult. For example, you might find climbing stairs or walking to be uncomfortable or tiring.
Very rarely, statins can cause life-threatening muscle damage called rhabdomyolysis (rab-doe-mi-OL-ih-sis). Rhabdomyolysis can cause severe muscle pain, liver damage, kidney failure and death. Rhabdomyolysis can occur when you take statins in combination with certain drugs or if you take a high dose of statins.
Thanks for the info. Luckily at this moment in time I am not on statins and am only on Prednisolone for the PMR which seems to be settling down at the moment thanks to earlier advice from the forum. May I wish you all well and good luck.
I took Atorvastatin for a few years until I developed severe leg pains and my GP told me to stop taking the statins. It took a lot longer than a week to recover from them. The other thing that had been happening when I was on statins, was that I kept falling over. For example, if I leaned forward, I would topple over. I thought it was something more serious but it appeared to be caused by the statins.
I had been given them because my cholesterol was high and it did bring that down. It has gone back up again but has stopped around 8
Can we clear something up - an allergic reaction is something completely different to an adverse reaction unless it involves swelling of the airways and rashes due to a specific reaction.
One of the side effects of statins is known to be muscle and joint pains. Simvastatin is said to be the "worst" but that is most likely to be because it has been used for longer than others and is the cheapest. Long after being diagnosed with PMR I was persuaded, much against my will, to take Lipitor (atorvastatin I think) and within 10 days couldn't walk more than 50 yds, less without crutches and even a gentle slope wasn't possible. It took a year to get back to normal.
My Cousin had a stroke about 6 years ago and the Stroke clinic advised a bowl of porridge every morning to help lower the cholesterol level. She was also advised to eat a whole orange a day.
( why the orange, we have never found out). However, it worked the cholesterol level dropped to an acceptable level.
The porridge does not have to be made from scratch, Oats-so simple does it.
At the same time a teaspoonful of manuka honey per day helps to boost your immune system and has anti-biotic properties (it must be marked UMF on the label and +5, 10,,12, 15 or 20 (whichever you can afford as its not cheap but well worth it).
A few experts suspect that the statin action can be the final trigger to develop PMR - the triggers are multiple and probably different in different people and it is a case of the straw that broke the camel's back! And see also my response to cc23145.
Just because something doesn't start immediately doesn't mean it isn't the medication, though if it starts immediately it is almost certainly the drug (whatever doctors may try to say). Combining pred with certain antibiotics can also cause similar problems (and especially achilles problems) and this is a risk that remains for some considerable time after stopping taking either.
The orange is because, like oats, it has a type of fibre that is called soluble fibre. Basically, it binds cholesterol in the gut so it never gets into the blood stream.
And for the overweight (the lady concerned is absolutely not by the way!) - watch out with oats-so-simple and other "instant" porridges! There is a lot of sugar in them - making your own from scratch but using instant oats rather than oatmeal is just as possible in the microwave. Loads of instructions on the internet.
Thanks Eileen, wish I had asked you before about the orange grrr.
Proper porridge is best, but getting my Cousin to eat is is just a no-no. And you know how skinny she is so Oat-so-simple does the trick for her.
I can't stand the stuff, is proper porridge or nothing for me.
Yes, there are loads of people who complain about the side effects of statins, but never fill in the yellow forms. The next battle to take on is that NICHE has just recommended that everyone over the age of 50 takes a statin everyday. So far some Medics are battling against that decision let us hope they win.
I sometimes wonder if big pharma have a role to play in pushing stuff down people that we just don't need. Yes if you have a problem, no if you don't.
I always fill in the yellow forms!!
[And I eat proper porridge without sugar or salt but with a banana because I can't eat cirtus fruit]
And I am sure you're right about the big drug companies pushing drugs. We had letters from our GP about a year ago, telling us that beccause we are on long term steroids, we should take Adcal D3 daily. The letter was actually written by the drug company with our GPs' names at the top.
I tried taking it for a while, one of my GPs told me to take half the dose that was recommended in the letter. It made me feel odd, can't put a finger on it but I stopped taking it. I told another GP when I happened to be in the surgery and she said that several other ladies had said the same thing.
Now, it could be that some of us might need something but I want a doctor to prescribe the drugs that I need, not a drug company.
You do need Adcal or something similar when on pred - it is to try to prevent the pred causing reduced bone density. It has been shown that taking Adcal or its like changes the effect of pred on calcium metabolism in the bones. Infinitely preferable to not taking it and having to take alendronic acid or something later on when you have developed osteoporosis. It's nothing to do with drug companies - they don't make much out of calcium supplements!
There are several versions of calcium and vit D, some are better than others. You can also get separate calcium and vit D tablets - but you DO need them or a very good calcium containing diet plus a vit D supplement.
Very interesting! At my yearly checkup a month prior to my Australia trip, I discussed my statin history with my Dr. and the adverse reaction I had with Symvastin. He recommended Pravastatin which I then started taking. 6 weeks later on a cruise ship I could not stand, I had to roll over and crawl up the wall to get out of bed. I stopped the Pravastatin! My problem is GCA! The year prior to my checkup I had already started having temple pains. I guess we need to see if there are any problems associated with abruptly stopping statins. It might be something some of the readers might want to try for a month or two.
They gave me Alendronic Acid when I started on the Pred. I have just been changed to Ibandronic acid because of swallowing problems. I have a a diet full of calcium and I have regular dexa scans and, thus far, no sign of osteoporosis.
It might be premature to say I do not have PMR as well as GCA because I have not been below 15mg of pred.
Eileen, tell me about the Achilles problems. I have recently developed a problem with the Achilles tendon on my one foot
Certain antibiotics, quinolones, can cause achilles inflammation. In combination with corticosteroids that risk is inccreased. In combination with Medrol in particular the risk is even higher.
I was given a quinolone antibiotic and within a few weeks the achilles problems started. I was on crutches for 9 months.
I too have been taking pravastatin for about a year and have just yesterday decided to stop taking them. Ii am being treated for GCA and PMR after being diagnosed in October 2013 and have had so many side effects from the pred I thought I was going mad. Then I broke my ankle and fell over a few times.
i was just beginning to feel more human and have managed to get down to 10 mg and the stomach problems I've had for years which had been managed, got out of control and I feel so ill I'm totally fed up.
the hospital say I have gastritis and have changed my tablets to lansoporel
and I decided to stop the statin to see if it helps .
on top of that I'm exhausted after a short walk again so it's back to the drawing board.
this thing never let's up does it?