A Few Months of Tendon Issues

[Maxspencer]

Good morning to you all!

Over the last few months I have managed to damage a calf tendon, achilles heel and a tendon in my right elbow (particularly debilitating). This seemed a little unusual as none of the events occurred due to heavy lifting or exercise. I did an online search - as you do - and found plenty of articles relating ongoing statin use to such happenings. Currently, I take 40mg atorvastatin daily and have done for about 3 years. Other meds taken are: esomeprazole and aspirin plus a few supplements (magnesium citrate, Vit D, C etc.). I am due my annual cardiac review with the practice's nurse - waste of time if last year's is anything to go by - and wondered if anyone else had suffered similar issues and what changes were made to their meds? Are there alternatives or is it just a question of putting up with the risk of more injuries?

All thoughts welcome and much appreciated!

[jerry12953]

I have an achilles problem which can be very painful. It started last winter and isn't any better yet, worse, in fact.. I was starting to wonder if it could be a side effect of the statins I have been taking.

Now comes the interesting bit.......... Following a follow up appointment from a cardiologist I asked for a second opinion. As a result of that I got a two-page letter from a more senior cardio (and obviously a much more experienced one) and among the things he told me was that I could stop taking my atorvastatin for several months before the risk of a heart attack increased significantly. This would help to rule out any side effects that the statin may be having (other possible side effect - almost continual common cold type symptoms). So I have stopped taking it and will see if the achilles problem clears up.

He also said i could stop taking the aspirin completely as at my age (68) the side effects of aspirin can begin to outweigh the advantages.

[Maxspencer in reply to jerry12953]

Thanks for the response, Jerry. Very interesting. I'd been visiting a cholesterol specialist since 2017 who advised that I increase my statin from 20mg to 40mg at a time when I'd been trying to get off them completely. Then during an exploratory angiogram in July 2018 - all other previous tests to discover the cause of my occasional chest pain proving worthless - the cardiologist ended up inserting a stent. Big surprise! So since then I have just carried on taking the 40mg daily assuming that it's probably for the best.

It's only since the string of tendon incidents that I've started to question the atorvastatin. I'm currently ordering some blood tests to see where my cholesterol levels etc. are at and will consider reducing/stopping the statin dependant on the results - under advice, obviously. I'm 59 and just moved off clopidogrel and back onto aspirin because esomeprazol doesn't mix well with clopidogrel I'm told.

Anyway, good luck with the achilles and thanks again for the helpful response.