Recent blood tests show I have raised cholesterol and triglyceride serum levels. After discussion with the gp I agreed to give Atoravastatin a go. I am already on Xarelto, Nebivolol, Candesarten and gave verapamil as a pip (pharmacist said still ok to take it as a pip, contraindication would only be an issue if taking it daily )
Just wondered if anyone has issues with muscular aches and pains due to statins? I have fibromyalgia, which gives me this, so am hoping statins don’t aggravate it. The pharmacist said people don’t realise that statins affect magnesium in the body and you need extra. Any thoughts on this? I know from this site that magnesium may help with af, but the only time I ever took it I felt I’ll 🤣
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Tilly1957
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yes, that is what I mentioned to the pharmacist. And she said about it being to do with the way statins affect our magnesium levels and more is needed. 🥰 I am hoping I am lucky and avoid that side effect - or at least can tolerate long enough to get my serum levels down. Thank you for your reply 🤗
I have been on Atoravastatin for 10+ years. Annual blood tests indicate Magnesium level is normal.
I am male, not sure if gender is a factor. Also as you may know, it is important to have regular blood tests when taking medications for afib or any issue/condition.
thank you, When I got the text from the surgery saying they had prescribed it, there was also a reminder to book a blood test in 3 months and again in 12 …. Don’t think magnesium was tested first time round x
You would need a red cell Magnesium test which NHS don’t offer to test Magnesium levels. NHS do serum levels only and if your Mag serum levels are down there you are already in trouble as the body will maintain serum levels at the expense of depleting Magnesium from all other body cells. Muscle aches and spasms are also an indicator of low Magnesium in the muscle.
Electrolyte balance is a very complex subject needing expert advice but usually if you maintain a good diet and pay attention to eating and drinking foods & beverages with good nutritional values such as green leafy veg, fruit, pulses and whole grains, freshly cooked foods and stay away from sugary foods you should get enough Magnesium from your diet.
thank you. Sounds mostly like my diet, except I rarely have grains except some rice. Am starting to incorporate beans and pulses into my diet again. 99% of what I cook is done from fresh, always has been. No alcohol, next to no sugary stuff. Love my veg!!! Any recommendations where to get that sort of magnesium test done, please? I guess it’s not cheap 😪
The magnesium test most GP surgeries do almost always shows OK. What you need is a red cell magnesium test which is a simple blood test but will probably have to go to a private medical lab and therefore more costly.
It is probably more to do with how statins affect the production by the liver of co enzyme Q 10. This is made on the same metabolic pathway as cholesterol and is essential for providing energy to our cells particularly muscle cells. There is no evidence that statins benefit women at all and meta analysis of statin studies has shown that any benefit overall in terms of life extension for primary prevention ie those who do not have established cardiovascular disease is a few days. As well as provoking muscle pain for some people they also can cause type 2 diabetes ( more in women) , eye problems and memory problems. Japanese studies have shown that they can contribute to CHF . Higher cholesterol is not a bad thing as we age. Cholesterol is protective against infections and cancer. Triglycerides should not be high but this can often be addressed by cutting out sugar and reducing the amount of white carbs in the diet. As you have already done this it isn't that causing the high triglycerides. How high are triglycerides and cholesterol? Have you had your thyroid levels checked? High cholesterol often goes along with low thyroid hormone levels and higher TSH.
Marmite subject - I’m on the never have, never will polarity because I also have an autoimmune which worsens with oral Magnesium supplement and even my GP said statins weren’t a good choice for me. I take a probiotic supplement with plant sterols, try to exercise more and am careful with my diet and so far seems to be working as my ratio is improving & Triglyceride numbers decreasing. I also use Magnesium Oil Spray whenever I have muscle spasm, restless leg etc. Seems to work for me.
I wouldn’t chance it with Fibromyalgia but obviously your body, your choice.
Can you tell me more about Magnesium Spray in particular effect on restless legs? Any side effects, any conflict with any other conditions or medication?
I guess I am working on the basis of get the levels down, increase exercise, fiddle with diet where can, then look at stopping statins and see what happens. X
I was also a never have, never will guy. I also have ankylosing spondylitis so have enough pain, or so I thought.Then I had a cardiac arrest last year and was dead for 20 minutes. In a coma for two weeks and now have a small amount of brain damage.
Wishing I'd taken the statins now.
For the record, my blood tests never showed my cholesterol to be high.
I'm now on Rosuvastatin with no side effects.
But like you say, your body, your choice.
I still think there is a big pharma conspiracy with statins, but I'm no longer willing to take the gamble
GP says because the main benefit of statins is anti inflammatory.
Still Gwandy said in his book Being Human that Osteoporosis was thought to be the biggest predictor of CVD & arteriosclerosis & the Kendrick book - The Clot Thickens explains in biographical detail how that works!
There are less dangerous ways of reducing inflammation than taking a drug that interrupts a key metabolic pathway in the liver. Anybody would think our bodies produce cholesterol, dolichols and co enzyme Q 10 for nothing. I must get round to ordering The Clot Thickens.
I was referred to my GP to a lipid clinic as have potential familial high cholesterol and have had problems with aches after taking statins in the past. The consultant there told me your more likely to get aches pains and side effects if your electrolytes and vitamins are not at optimum, so she did about a million blood tests and told me she will sort all that out and then will be able to get my cholesterol properly under control with as little side effects as possible so it might be worth talking to your GP and getting a referral to a lipid clinic
Hi I was put on statins in January and was told to ether take them at night or morning so I decided to take them at night thinking that if there was any side effects you would sleep through it and I have not had any problems with mine.
I think I would likely ask for a different statin since the one you've been given is unique in the way it interacts with verapamil. Other statins are fine with it.
Statins themselves are very safe and seemingly very effective indeed; their side effects, and, especially aching muscles, have been conclusively shown to be very much less common than is still popularly believed.
The interaction with verapamil and atorvastatin is of a different order completely and risks a more serious complaint developing, although I am certain that your doctor and pharmacist can be trusted.
thank you, Ppiman. I did research it pretty well, and discussed it with the pharmacist at the chemist. Since I was first prescribed verapamil, it has averaged that I take it about once a week for an af episode, and it stops it in its tracks. I think I might also leave a note for the gp who prescribed it too. Just in case he missed the verapamil. I don’t want to fiddle with the pip as it suits me and works. X
I take Atorvastatin, never had any problems with that. I take COQ10 supplements, as statins can cause a deficiency of this enzyme. If you google COQ10, it’ll explain about it.I also take magnesium. Both of those supplements are supposed to be good to take if you have AFib.
I suppose it depends on the dose you are prescribed, I just take 5mg per day of Atoravastin - keeps my cholesterol steady at around 4, and I have no side at all.
I have read this thread with interest. I had no idea statins could cause so much trouble. I only took mine in mid-Jan for 5 days, after which my BP dropped significantly and AF took off alarmingly so that I could only lie down. I took 2 more at intervals after that, with the same effect each time, so I stopped taking them before the end of January.
Since then I've had a lot of AF, and also joint and muscle pain, plus pain under my right ribs. My March DOAC blood test has shown liver toxicity, so a GP has just written to me saying "Must have been the statins, good that you've stopped them, arrange another blood test in 3 months"
I find this difficult to believe, but I've now had less AF in March than I had in February, no pain under my ribs, and I'm back to my long-standing joint and muscle pains.
I'm assuming (and hoping) that it was the addition of the Atorvastatin to the rest of the cocktail that's caused the bother. I'll manage without it.
I also have f ibromyalgia, arthritis, degenerative disc disease, spondilosis , spondilo lysthesis and several other spine problems. I live on 3 hourly oxycodone in constant pain. Been taking statins for 5 years now since HA with no problems or increased pain. The first one, atorvastatin gave me stomach problems. Changed to simvastatin which is fine
Recommend the book: The Great Cholesterol Myth by Johnny Bowden and Stephen Sinatra. It states one of the best predictors of both heart disease and Insulin resistance is the ratio between Triglyceride and HDL level, anything under 2 is great, under 3.50 not terrible but also not great.
I would not go to a cardiologist who pushed statins. There's much confusion on statins and from my readings will NOT take them.
these are my blood test results leading to statin prescription. Due to my health history and these results, the surgery algorithm indicates I have a QRISK cardiovascular disease 10year risk score 33.2%. I gather that means 33.2% above the standard.
It’s only the serum lipids that are high, as I understand it.
I too was given 10 mg of statin, I could not tolerate the side effects and cut the pill down to only 2.5 mg dose and no noticeable side effects. That small dose brought my cholesterol to a normal range. We are all different in tolerating meds. Now I only take it every other day and supplement in between with high quality Red Yeast rice to see how my bloodwork looks next time. I do not want to be on statins as they are definitely detrimental to overall health. Losing weight will also lower cholesterol if you do have any excess weight.
yep - and now I have flipped into an af episode and my pip is verapamil …. Oh look, that’s contraindicated with atorvastatin …. Although the pharmacist I don’t trust says the odd one is ok whike on the statin 😱🤣🤣🤣 am currently waiting for surgery to ring back x
As usual, lots of good and varied responses to your question. I will add mine…I have taken 10 mg once a day of Atoravastatin for 15 years or so with no side affects. My family has a history of problematic cholesterol and related heart disease so my GP recommended it. Cholesterol numbers are excellent with it, and they were very high without it. So, it works for me, but as several have commented, everyone is different.
HI Tilly , cant recall figures , my gp told me the same and that no amount of rabbit food would work, must add, gp said cholesterol high and ep said it was reasonable, some diet modifications and plant sterols brought it down, gp has been pushing statins on me for a long time.
I will give it a go until next blood test in 3 months. Am not good at being ‘compliant’🤣. And cos I have just had a call about verapamil pip for my af and statin, (which he said was ok) he now wants to review the nebivolol I take cos of its interaction with verapamil …..🤷♀️ Already been discussed in depth with a&e guys and another gp somewhere along the way 🤣🤣🤣
1200mg twice per day of plant sterols is to lower cholesterol and 800mg twice per day is said to maintain levels , but do your own research Tilly,it worked for me and ive been taking since november 2018.
Ver... is a CCB and I take Diltiazem daily to control my rapid persistent H/R Day. At night avge 47.
I also take BB 2.5 Bisoprolol PM for BP better control and aids my essential tremor.
You could possibly make a temporary change like egg whites only!
I have no gall bladder so I have a low fat diet for years. Take out red meat and cheese they tell me.
Last night I had a treat lambs liver and pece bacon slow cooked , with tomato and garlic sauce, spring oion, dandelion, onion, black beans chilli under. parsleybasil and kaffir lime leaves. $3.65 liver 2 slices fat free bacon this will last 3 meals.
Hi Tilly, I have been in statins since a heart attack in 2006. I am now on Crestor. They have a way of depleting Coq10 and so you need to get some for your health. Also they are infamous for giving leg cramps so I have taken supplemental magnesium, probably the citrate on magnesium. Hope that helps.
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