My dose was increased from 20mg to 80mg after heart attack. I had the proceedure known as Angioplasty where the arteries ate widened using a balloon rather than stents. I now get very painful cramps at night but my GP will not reduse the dosage because of my heart attack, too risky I guess.
Does anyone else ecperience this?
It's over six months since your heart attacks. In the interim have you had any blood tests? My Atorvastatin was upped to 80mg after my quadruple bypass. I had bloods done at around six weeks and as a result my dose was dropped to 40mg as my liver was not to happy.
Another thought is where are the cramps? If in the legs it may be an early indicator of PAD (Peripheral Arterial Disease). As you have suffered with narrowed coronary arteries you are at greater risk of this.
A final thought - other statins are available! I was changed from Simvastatin to Atorvastatin because of bad shoulder pain. At the time Simvastatin was the first choice statin, these days it is Atorvastatin?!
Somebody messaged me about the punctuation mark I finished with. ?! is known as an "interrobang". It expresses surprise and a question...
Sounds good, finishing with an “interrobang”! Does anyone else find statements starting with “ So, ……….” irritating or is it me just being an old curmudgeon?!
Hi, the cramps are in my legs and sometimes feet, only at night in bed.I have had blood tests but I was only told my liver is okI only asked if my dose could be lowered and was told no.
Maybe now I need to ask if there is another brand I could take
I've stopped taking my atorvostatin and refuse point blank to take anything in it's place. When a proper justification for taking it can be given to me, then I'll reconsider but until then, the side effects are not worth it in my opinion.
I sometimes think GPs should have a sign in their office "Other Statins Are Available"!
Besides reducing cholesterol they also reduce irritation (often a precursor to plaque) and stabilise any existing plaque. They is also some research that a side effect of reducing irritation gum disease is also reduced.
With five type of statin available on prescription in the UK: Atorvastatin, Simvastatin, Rosuvastatin, Pravastatin and Fluvastatin. There is usually a statin and dose available to suit the majority of people. I have changed toge and dose over the years. It's a question of working with your GP/cardiologist not...
Editted 3/06/2021 - Types of statin added.
Hi Dossy. Perhaps a second opinion on the statin would be a good idea. Sometimes if the statin is not the right one for you, you will get night cramps. You might find another brand suits you better. It is really necessary to have frequent blood tests to make sure you have no allergy to Atorvastatin.
Not to frighten but I had severe diarrhoea which the doctors refused to recognise, thinking it would probably disappear when I finished another drug ( prasugrel) which you take fir a year or so after stents .
I also had awful cramps in my legs which became worse.
They have now discovered I am really allergic to Statins abd are going to try another type of drug to combat Cholesterol.
Maybe the second opinion is what you really need.
The very best of luck to you and please fight your corner. Xx
So atorvastatin at high dose hammers down on cholesterol levels really hard. After a HA the levels of cholesterol that are seen as acceptable are much lower in order to prevent further heart problems.
There are alternatives and it would be worth understanding and discussing your cholesterol level with your GP and alternatives which might be a change in diet and a different statin to see if that improves the cramps but keeps your cholesterol levels down.
Hi dossy, second message. I too had the usual blood test to test the liver. This time I had a different test , sorry I dint remember what it was called, but they found high level of enzymes in my muscle tissue. I absolutely must not take statin. Apparently very rare but it’s happened to me.
As I said before get a second opinion. I lived with my symptoms for over a year, I told everyone who would listen but they didn’t until last week.
Take care xx
HiPossibly creatine kinase (CK) is what you talk about. If it is I had a similar experience as you, only on Atorvastatin for 6 weeks but has caused absolute havoc with my muscles to this day.
Hi flint pere pere, yes it was CK. I had been given Atorvastatin March 2020 . Five months later during lockdown uncontrollable diarrhoea. Dr told me to come if statin for a couple of weeks. 3 weeks later massive H/AHispital said I’d been allergic to Atorvastin so changed it for Rosuvastatin. I was ok for about 5 weeks then diarrhoea again then muscle cramps. I’d lost my backside and batwings appeared.
I’ve told them repeatedly about my problems no one listened. I wrote to cardiologist and told her. They just suggested having a break for a week.
Finally my doctor did the blood test abd I was told categorically I must not have statins to dangerous.
Now I’m left wondering how long or if the damage can be rectified.
I hope you have been able to sort yourself out. Have you had to have any treatment. Have they suggested anyway of rebuilding your muscles?
Would be interested to know how you are.
Kind regards and good health to you xx
Hi Thank you for your reply. My gp did test me for the issue you mentioned, I can't remember the name of it but it was to check any damage to the muscles. Test result showed no damage
I had to come off these tablets and go on to rostuvstatin. I was getting a lot of pain in my chest and body. Ask the doctor if there is alternative Staton you can go on. I have heard that it is trial and error sometimes with this sort of tablet
I was put on 80mg Atorvastatin immediately after my HA (I was given one stent then), but because my cholesterol wasn't high to begin with, my GP agreed to reduce it to 40mg. My teeth are now a complete mess (severe peridontitis), but I'm not sure if the statins have caused or helped that!
Hi cornet. Your poor mam. I hope she’s better now. It’s easy to say if you get side effects don’t take them. When you have Heart event you are put on such a mixture of tabs you havnt a clue what is causing what.All the doctors say is it’s teething troubles it will settle down . By the time you are feeling really rotten and quite loosing your faith in the whole medical tribe, the meds have done there damage .
It’s only if you’re lucky enough to get a GP who will go the extra mile and test you for what they say is extremely rare, then changes happen.
I took atorvastatin. 6 months , five months uncontrollable diarrhoea . I was told to rest statin for a couple of weeks on the third I had H/A. Hospital said allergic to atorvastatin try Rosuvastatin. It’s taken me from November last year to now July to get someone to listen.
Blood test showed really high enzymes. She said if it doesn’t go down in one week of stopping rosuvastatin I was to be hospitalised.
I dread to think what might have been if I hadn’t found this particular doctor.
I even paid privately to see a cardiologist. I asked him if this was the best I could expect or could he jig my meds. I told him I’d had diarrhoea for nigh in a year. He did nothing.
Now I’m hoping I’m not damaged by these statins. I’ve no idea what the consequences are of these enzymes in muscles.
Good wishes to your mam xxx
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