I Have currently been taking Autovastatin (40mg) for the last 5 weeks. What side effects should I be looking out for. Thanks

[Sagbol]

I have read the leaflet that comes with the medicine, but am looking for more personal experiences.

[Gloria6172]

Atorvastatin was the first statin I had & after several weeks my joints became painful & stiff I now take rosuvastatin which suits me much better

[Sagbol in reply to Gloria6172]

I am burping and have a lot more wind. Some vivid dreams also. I am 40. I may have to take this medicine for the rest of my life, just trying to understand it better from the people element. Not just what the leaflet says

[Sizzlerman in reply to Sagbol]

I also took Avortastatin 80mg but found I had leg pain at night in bed took 40mg gave me lower back pain, tried 10mg still had pain on in step on left leg so changed to Rovortastin and all the pains have disappeared. Its trial and error you will find one that suits you.😊

[KingfisherBlues in reply to Gloria6172]

That's interesting- I had the same! Will need to discuss with my GP.

[Hidden]

Headache for the first few days, then nothing. Statins have a terrible reputation for side effects, but there was a very interesting study done in the UK in 2019 that revealed that most of the side effects many people reported were effectively all in their heads. It was a relatively small sample size of 60 patients, but after the study results were explained to them, where it was proven that many of them had exactly the same amount of side effects taking a placebo, many of the patients found the side effects they’d initially reported taking statins disappeared:

nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/N...

The other thing to bear in mind is that the patient leaflet for any drug contains every single symptom reported whilst taking a drug. That doesn’t actually translate to the drug causing all of them, just that at least one person experienced the specific symptom during treatment. Quite a few may have nothing at all to do with the drug itself and were coincidence. Sodium chloride solution used to clean wounds and make up injections has a list of side effects running to 13 symptoms. It’s literally salt water.

[0163SLH]

I am on 80mg and the only side effect I've had is much lower cholesterol ☺

[Splodge60]

I had to come off it because my liver function worsened whilst on Artovastatin (sp). I can only take one called Ezetimibe now which does not impact my liver

[Hidden]

Hi, I was taking 80mg and have stopped. It was affecting my mood too much. I have low cholesterol anyway and so didn't need to be on it.

[MichaelJH Heart Star]

Hell8 and welcome to the forum!

Currently 200 million people are on statins worldwide. The majority have no side effects at all. The most common one is muscle aches. If mild people will often live with them to gain the benefits offered. When they are more severe there are other statins to try. For instance I had bad shoulder aches with Simvastatin but these disappeared with Atorvastatin. There are endless combination of statins ans dosages.

Over the years the status of statins has changed considerably. At first they were prescribed to reduce cholesterol. It was then discovered they also reduced irritation (often a precursor to plaque formation) and stabilise any existing plaque. In addition some research (early stages) suggests it reduces gum disease which is important for those with heart disease particularly those with valvular problems.

In parallel with this there has been a concerted attack on statins mainly on social media. Whilst a few people will unfortunately side effects most will not. Statins can cause muscle aches and pains but because of the age distribution of heart disease (the average of a bypass surgery is 68) many will be affected by age related musculoskeletal issues rather than side effects.

[fixedrider]

I've been on 40mg for two years now - actually it was 80mg for the first six months. No side-effects noticed. I think if you look out for side effects, there's too much danger of finding some. That doesn't mean being foolish - if you have problems, report them to your GP. But don't look out for any.

[Kristin1812 Heart Star]

Yes, I rather like the ‘don't look for symptoms, or you’ll have them’ advice.

[Mentdent]

I’ve been on 80mg since HA four months ago. Not noticed anything

[bhfels]

Cramp can be an issue, my husband howled with the pain ( Atorvastatin) , stopped , then was on Simavastatin and got the same issue a few weeks later albeit more mildly. So he’s now flatly refused to take them. It’s not helped by his cholesterol being below the recommended limit so he’s convinced he’s being over medicated. On the other side I have two friends , family history of heart problems, 80mg dosage atorvastatin and not a single problem. I think it’s a bit of a suck it and see

[Bell7 in reply to bhfels]

Hi bhfels,I was exactly the same,the pain was unbearable & i too stopped & have no pain whatsoever now.I watch what I eat & have chose not to have my meds replaced.

[Milkfairy Heart Star in reply to Bell7]

Statins don't just lower cholesterol they reduce inflammation, stabilize any even small areas of plaque and help improve the function of the inner lining ( endothelium) of the blood vessels.

If you are thought to have non obstructive coronary artery disease such as Microvascular or vasospastic angina statins are important as these conditions are thought to be caused by endothelial dysfunction.

I live with vasospastic angina and I am prescribed Rosuvastatin for this reason and to help prevent me developing obstructive coronary artery disease as well.

I follow an appropriate heart healthy diet and life style too.

There are many different types of statins that you can try.

[Bell7 in reply to Milkfairy]

Hi milkfairy.Thankyou for your reply,I'm just fed up of just not getting anywhere & not feeling any better,infact I feel alot worse now than I did a few years ago before starting my meds.I'm just anxious at trying other meds & not feeling any better.

[Milkfairy Heart Star in reply to Bell7]

I know it can be difficult to access a Cardiologist who is experienced in caring for patients with Microvascular and vasospastic angina.

It took me sometime to get my diagnosis. I now have a very supportive Cardiologist.

There are 2 research studies taking place in the UK . It might be worth asking your GP or Cardiologist to refer you to one of the centres taking part in the trials.

clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show...

isrctn.com/ISRCTN94728379

There is a website produced by 4 patients with over 50 years combined experience of living with the conditions supported by over 25 world expert Cardiologists.

internationalheartspasmsall...

Prof Angela Maas' book a Woman's Heart is also worth reading.

[Bell7 in reply to Milkfairy]

Bless you, thankyou so much for the info,very much appreciated x

[Chappychap]

If you've got a problem you'll know about it. There's no need to be hyper vigilant for problems that only affect a small minority of patients. Also it's likely a lot of people blame adverse side effects on their medication, when it's simply a co-incidence or an inevitable part of getting older.

Statins lower cholesterol, but they also deliver two other benefits. Firstly they reduce background levels of inflammation within the body, this is a common original cause of heart disease. Secondly statins tend to stabilise the plaques within our arteries, even more so if statins are taken alongside Ramipril, this reduces the risk of angina symptoms turning into an actual heart attack.

Good luck!

[Hily]

80mg dose, complained to doctor about severe cramps and terrible foot pain over several years. No doctor suggested another statin or stop for 2 weeks to see. The pain brought me to tears. They are taken voluntarily so up to you. I stopped taking them and had one light cramp since-nearly 3 years ago.

Try other statins or Ezetimibe.

[Jibbyjabby]

Get off the Atorvastatin it’s the cheapest available and are dispensed like Smarties, get ON the Rosuvastatin it is more expensive more refined and has far far few side effects, many many people on this forum switched and have NO ill effects 👍

[Jay777 in reply to Jibbyjabby]

Atorvastatin is cheaper because it’s off patent. Once any drug becomes generic it can be produced by any pharmco and therefore competive pricing comes into play. A great example is paracetamol!

[Jibbyjabby in reply to Jay777]

That may be the case BUT when it comes to clinical excellence then CHEAP is definitely not the best

[Jay777 in reply to Jibbyjabby]

My point is that the formulation is the same as the initial drug but without the added cost to the manufacturer of the years of development.

[Auiron]

This link to WebMD gives a fair bit of information: webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-841/...