statins(artovastatin) use for asian patients

[perfectheart]

im new here.

indian female, heart attack 8 months ago, am on statins(artovastatin). lots of muscle discomfort esp in shouder n arm. physiotherapist says due to excessive training. heard from someone that this stain does not suit asians.

[MichaelJH Heart Star]

Hello and welcome to the forum! There is some (limited research) that suggests those of an Asian background need lower doses.

What you are describing are side effects which can vary tremendously. I had muscle pain with Simvastatin but not Atorvastatin, and others the exact opposite. You need to see your GP to discuss another statin but maybe try cutting back on the training first. Maybe up the walking if leg pain is not a real problem.

[Dovaston]

Hi and welcome. I cannot speak regarding Asian connection but personally tried 5 different statins all of which gave me muscle ache in shoulder and arm !

[bhfels]

Hi I’d go to the gp with the symptoms and get a blood test and consider a change. I’m white Irish and got appalling joint pains from the off so had to stop but an Asian colleague, male, had something not dissimilar to you and the blood test showed some sort of reaction, he changed the type of statin and was fine. It’s definitely not one size fits all with statins

[controlcause]

Statin universally causes muscle pain across all geographies.. I have seen a facegroup called "We stopped statin" where all cutting across nationalities complained against statin ... I have triple vessel heart disease, follow 150min per week brisk walking (5km/hr speed) ,150min per week leisure walking, take 5mg statin .. so far no major issue (earlier i took 80mg statin and LDL reached 15 , reduced dosage to 5mg after arguing with GP as LDL 50 still a safe number )

[Lynn1966]

Hi, I had a lot off discomfort in arms ,shoulders back. I was on artovastatan 80mg, I couldn't even sleep in my own bed or get comfortable on an armchair. Doctors told me stop taking it for a week to see how I got on. Well after the 2nd day off not taking it I was pain free. Doctors are now going to reduce it down to 40 mg to see how I get on.

[Stu888]

Hi. It would be worth you visiting your GP to discuss symptoms as muscle pain is a known side effect. There are quite a few other statins on the market beside Atorvastatin. I was on 80mg Atorvastatin which

Made me slightly lethargic but am now on 40mg which suits me. Also I take coQ10 200mg a day which some say helps.

[perfectheart]

Tnx Fr so many answers..am trying a few wks w reduced artovaststin 10mg plus new statin called ezetrol 10 mg n limited exercising ( 3 d/ wk). But pain remains.. not good to go off statins due to colesterol..

[invictaAlec]

Hi perfectheart.

Thank you for posting this topic. I can't help with an answer about the statin/Asian connection but I'm glad to have read some of the replies you've had.

My triple bypass op was 7 months ago but its only in the last month or so that I've been getting a nasty pain in my shoulder or at the top of my arm if I move it into an awkward position. From what people are saying it seems statins are sometimes the culprit. Maybe its just taken a while for me to develop a reaction against them.

It so happens I have a GP appointment tomorrow so its something I intend to discuss with him. It could be something totally different, like a trapped nerve maybe. I'll report back.

Alec.

[invictaAlec]

Heartperfect,

Just to tidy up your topic, I visited my GP and although I'll be sent to have a scan, he confirmed mine is a physical problem. Nothing to do with statins or my CABGx3 surgery last summer.

I hope you get your problem sorted. All the best.

Alec.