Artovastatin 80mg

[4Stents4me]

Hi my dose has just been changed from 20mg to 80mg following the completion of my PCI resulting in 4 Stents. I discovered a family history of high cholesterol so I guess it’s fair enough to move to the higher dose. The 20mg dose seemed to be ok but I’m interested to know if anyone has had an6 adverse side effects of moving from 20mg to 80mg, would also be interested to hear what a good test frequency would be to see if the dose can be lowered assuming the cholesterol remains low.

Thanks

[4Stents4me]

Thanks for the reply I’ve done a home test it seems my cholesterol has dropped significantly to 3.4 but I don’t know how much to attribute to change of diet or 20mg. I question the move to 80mg without having done a test to see if 80mg is necessary. Big concern is the impact on muscle ache. Thanks again for the feedback Cheers

[fergusthegreat]

You've just had 4 stents so it's pretty obvious that the 20mg dose wasn't doing you any good.

Personally I'd stay on the 80mg and try to avoid any more trips to the cath lab.

[4Stents4me in reply to fergusthegreat]

Thanks Fergus, I discovered the Angina whilst on my mountain bike so investigation led to the stents. What was strange was that the dose was set at 20mg and my cholesterol had dropped to 3.4 so my question is why jump to 80mg Thanks again for the reply

[fergusthegreat in reply to 4Stents4me]

I think if you look up the results of various statin trials you will find that there is evidence of better results on high dose vs low dose statins.

Whilst doctors will pescibe lower doses initially, once you have established CVD I think standard practice is to move you up to the maximum dose available.

Like you, I was on 20mg a day but after my stent I was prescribed 80mg atorvastatin.

Although my blood tests were within limits, the 80mg was causing a rise in muscle enzymes so I moved down to 40mg a day.

Been on them for 3 years now and so far so good 👍

[4Stents4me in reply to fergusthegreat]

Fergus that’s great you’ve set my mind at rest knowing that you also started at 20mg then moved to 80mg.. I’m looking forward to getting test results and settling down to normality again. Many Thanks

[NorthantsSteve]

Hi. 80Mg for 2 years after a heart attack and stent (and maybe stents only but I haven’t double checked) is the standard recommended (by NICE) protocol. It gives better outcomes in terms of mortality rates. I got my cholesterol down to 2.8 after 2 years and then went down to 40Mg. I went straight in on 80Mg (no history of heart/cholesterol issues etc) and haven’t had any side effects to report specifically related to Atorvastatin. I was tested every six months by my GP for the first two years (cholesterol, blood sugar, liver and kidney function + weight/BP) and now every 12 months.

[4Stents4me in reply to NorthantsSteve]

Thanks for the reply - great to see the testing has allowed you to drop the dose down to 40 fingers crossed 🤞I can do the same. Thanks also for sharing the test regime

[Pippy23]

After my 2 stents there put me on 40mg and within 4 weeks I had serve thigh and buttock pain . I remember it was very painful but the pain came on slowly . Since then I do not take any statins at all and kept to a good diet . But there is so much controversy about statins . But I feel better off them. Hope they ok for you

[4Stents4me in reply to Pippy23]

Thanks Pippy I have moved to a much better diet which I believe is helping a lot I don’t have the confidence to stop the meds yet but encouraging to see people who have made the jump - well done one day I may get there too Thanks for your feedback

[NorthantsSteve in reply to 4Stents4me]

Just to say that Statins also play a role in stabilising plaque so not always wise to drop them completely.

[4Stents4me]

Great reply, thanks my muscle aches are also related to physical excessive they seem to take forever to go away forcing me to change my routine... it’s a pain in the backside. Fully agree we need to see more people report muscle related pain so the true stats can be seen

[shopman]

I've been on 80mg for over 20 years now - have had a variety of different ones in that time but now on Atorvastin

[Cazz1954]

I was on 40mg for 7 years because I have FH (familial hyperlipideamia ) but I still had a heart attack blocked LAD and circumflex 3 stents. Put on 80mg no problems.so would be worried about lowering the dose