Hi, thank you for reading this post. I have AF. I take medication for this. I have also been given statins to lower my colestral. Since taking these I have been having real bad pains down my left leg, so painful sometimes it's hard to walk. With coronavirus about at the moment I don't want to bother my doctor.
Wondering if it will be OK to cut my statins to one every other day. What do you think.
Sorry 110551, but we are not medically trained therefore unable to give advice on prescribed medication. You may be able to arrange a telephone appointment with your GP or alternatively contact your pharmacist.
I agree with Flapjack, give your GP a ring. We have had to do this twice and each time have had a very productive telephone consultation . I would do it sooner rather than later though because things will worsen over the next few weeks and some GPS will be sent to the frontline. Good luck x
Muscle pain is a common side effect of statins. Talk to your doctor about this. He can suggest alternatives.
My other half had muscle pains, GP prescribed a different drug that suited him better. It could probably be done on the phone as they have already seen you.
Do it over the phone. I had the same and GP changed my statins to another variety that worked without pains.
If you're worried about your cholesterol level and statins, visit Dr Malcolm Kendrick's blog and read his books. The medical profession have got this issue all wrong. Even if it were appropriate for someone to reduce their cholesterol level (questionable in many cases), statins are not the way to do it for most people.
I have refused to take statins for many years and would also recommend Dr Kendrick’s book. He also wrote Doctoring Data - which is about how to read medical studies and clinical trials and view the statistics, especially about statins. He will busts the myth that still seems to prevail - that you should stay on a low fat diet.
Unless you have familial very high cholesterol, in my opinion, there is little evidence that statins are safe and effective of improving health whereas lifestyle choices such as eliminating sugar from your diet and increasing exercise - is very effective at lowering cholesterol levels AND improving overall health.
I spoke to a group of our GPs in our practice and they all said that their understanding about the statin effect is based on herd statistics ie:- people with high cholesterol had higher rates of stroke and heart disease, however, it was thought this was not because of lowered cholesterol levels but that statins also seemed to lower levels of inflammation in the body - to which the body responds by increasing cholesterol. Reduce the cause - inflammation - often a response to sugar, obesity and stress - the cholesterol levels reduce.
The debate about statins continues but if you would like some really good, informed knowledge from people who know their stuff about statins then I would suggest you join The HU Cholesterol Forum. Lots of information about how to ask for the breakdown of your lipid counts (beware - UK & US use a different numerical system).
Also bear in mind that GP’s are required by the government to have a ‘conversation’ with you about taking statins if your cholesterol levels rise above 7 (I think - although I have heard of people being called in & told their cholesterol levels are too high at 5). GP’s (in the UK) have to have the conversation - as it is in their contract and if they don’t tick the little box they have done so - they don’t get paid the fee for seeing you.
healthunlocked.com/choleste...
Another important point - if you continue to take statins - then you would be well advised to also take COQ10 - not available on NHS as it is a food supplement.
Information is power.
That's very interesting. I looked into statins last year and decided to stop and I did. As I recall it, the main evidence that convinced me was to do with how bad statins are for your brain. But now I've just started taking them again out of fear and GP's advice.
I've been on a low carb, high fat sort of keto way of eating for a few years and ignore all the low fat stuff and advice. Lost loads of weight and fat and feel great.
You've spurred me to look into statins again more carefully, so many thanks.
Here in UK discusssing and possibly prescibing statins is one of the QOFs set up by the Blair administration for doctors remuneration. Provided that they have that conversation they can't force you to take them. MY GP is happy that we had the conversation but recognises my views and seldom if ever mentions it now.
I read a website called AIMSIB . It is a gang of heretic docs here in France who are very scathing about statins. They had got hold of some interesting stats out of Wuhan showing that people with low LDL cholesterol ( the so called bad sort that statins are dished out to lower) fared worse with covid19 than those with higher LDL cholesterol. As we age we need our cholesterol more - one of it's jobs is to protect us from infections.
Ah, my notebook is by me again, I'm so glad!
Spoke to my sister who lives in UK today. She had had some sort of Well Woman checkup which included both cholesterol and thyroid blood tests. Her doc said her cholesterol was just over the range and mentioned a statin ( box ticking conversation) but also said that her thyroid was in a 'grey zone' ie mildly hypothyroid. No treatment there though . Another blood test in 6 months. This doctor does not seem to be aware that raised cholesterol is a symptom of hypothyroidism and that the healthiest way to deal with this would be to replace what her thyroid is no longer making rather than poisoning her with a statin. It might also address the weight gain she has been complaining of and the feeling cold all the time. I have been telling her for years that this feeling cold even in summer is not normal and her thyroid is probably declining. Mine went nearly 30 years ago and it was 7 years before I got any treatment because of this stupid "grey zone " nonsense. I despair.
The UK is not good at testing, monitoring and treating thyroid, they don’t include a lot of the tests done in US & Europe & their ‘normal’ range is questionable, in my opinion.
Absolutely agree. I had only been on treatment for about 18 months in the UK when we moved here. My GP here gave me a prescription but said I had to see an endocrinologist before she could continue to prescribe and asked me what my UK scan had shown and did I have a copy she could see. When I told her I had never had a scan or ever seen an endocrinologist she was horrified and exclaimed " but how do they know what has caused your hypothyroidism? ". When I had the scan it showed my thyroid reduced in size. I suppose here with thyroid cancer much increased after Chernobyl they are are keener on scans but she seemed to think it was very poor practice that I had never seen an endocrinologist. The normal range in Brum was higher than it is here too. It is 20 years since epidemiological studies indicated that there was something wrong with the TSH ranges and that those in the higher part of the normal range were probably hypo and certainly were if they had symptoms . But very little appears to have been done to rectify this. Of course it is mainly women who suffer from hypothyroidism.
I too have Afib, plus an autoimmune liver condition, so have no choice but to take statins. When I was first put on them, I had terrible muscle pains and the Dr tried decreasing the dosage, but keeping me on the same brand. It didn't work, so had to be swapped over to another brand and have been fine on them. Your husband needs to speak with his GP, it really is a common side effect of statins.
Thank you for taking the time to reply.
Thank you all for replying. I'll have a chat with pharmacist see what he can suggest.
CoQ10 is normally made by our bodies, and is essential, but statins prevent our bodies from making it, with the result that many people taking statins at some stage develop muscle pains. So taking CoQ10 when one takes statins is a no brainer.
Having said that if the pain is only in one leg it could be caused by something completely different.
I am on 80mg of Atorvastatin following 2 stemi and one non-stemi heart attacks 2 years ago. Before these coronary events I also took Coenzyme Q 10 everyday.
After these episodes I was told to avoid Q10 as it contraindicated some medication that I take. Not sure which one, but I take Warfarin, Bisoperol, Losartan and isosorbide mononitrate as well as the mentioned warfarin for atrial fibrillation. It was stressed to me that I should never ever take Q10 again.
I would check with a medical professional to see if it can have some strange effect with any meds that you are taking.
Hoping that it doesn't for you and you can continue to take it. But please be careful.
Never seems to occur to the medics that the most important muscle in our body and one of the biggest users of co Q10 is the heart. Japanese studies have linked statin usage with CHF.
I couldn't get on with Statins at all as was getting dizzy and passed out twice on them. I was prescribed them fairly early on (when they were being widely prescribed) but my numbers were not that high so came off them. My sister had the same thing and has decided to come off them for a while. My first port of call at times like this would be the pharmacist or to call and try and get a telephone consultation with your Doc. Here they are taking messages in the morning and then you get a call back in the afternoon.
Thank you
In the U.S. but here is an article to read:
theskepticalcardiologist.co...
Interesting - key words - low dose - intermittent therapy - after in depth consultation & considered life style changes - in depth existing risk:benefit consultations at a specialist lipid clinic. That doesn’t happen within a10 min GP appointment in the UK.
Several years ago I gave in and took statins at the urging of a previous cardiologist. I ended up pre-diabetic, with horrible muscle pains and my cataracts got started while on them. I came to find out that all are side effects.
I had to quit taking them, with my doctor's blessing, due to the horrible muscle pain. My CPK test was seriously elevated showing muscle damage. The pre-diabetes was reversed with a low carb diet, which also reduced my AFib to nothing when I took it all the way to Keto. The muscle pain went away after several months, but the cataracts are still there, although not ripening very fast thanks to high doses of antioxidants prescribed by my eye doctor.
I would not touch statins with a 10 ft pole and am suspicious of any doctors who still buy into that myth. Even my cardiologist admits they were wrong and it is inflammation that is the culprit and that high cholesterol is just a symptom of the body trying to repair the damage from the inflammation. No doctor has suggested them to me in the past 2 years now. My total cholesterol is over what the guidelines say, but my HDL is high, making the ratio excellent. My triglycerides dropped way down on the low carb diet and are no longer considered a problem.
Plant Sterols for managing cholesterol
Afib and cholesterol 
Opinions on statins please
