Statins

[Heyjude31]

Hello everyone I hope you are having a good week. Please may I ask for some thoughts. I have been taking Rosuvastatin for about 3 months now and increasingly my muscles in my legs have got quite weak and painful and are only releaved by painkillers. The doctor is trying me on Pravastatin to see if this is any better or has less side effects? Also is anyone on the injection statin instead of tablets. My cholesterol is 2.6 and I think the injection is only given to those who have high cholesterol, I wondered if the injection was better and had less side effects. Thanks for reading my post. Judi

[Hidden]

If you are in the UK, prescribing NHS health professionals have a number of statins which they are permitted to prescribe should side effects be an issue. I take max dose 80mg Atorvastatin with any problems, whilst others report side effects with this. However there are a few other medications available if all statins have side effects in an individual.

As far as the injection is concerned, you may be thinking of Inclisiran, which was approved by NICE last year. However there are rigorous conditions laid down for those who qualify for this medication including known CVD and high LDL levels not controlled by high dose statins. And Inclisiran is apparently used in conjunction with statins, not instead of as I understand it

Finally if your total cholesterol is nearly half mine, in spite of the statin dose I take and other lifestyle measures, so I am quite envious! 😆

[Heyjude31 in reply to Hidden]

Hello Lowerfield, thank you for taking the time to send such a detailed reply, and thank you for the information about the injections that’s really helpful. I really appreciate your kind words! Take good care and stay well and thanks again, Judi l

[JennyRx in reply to Heyjude31]

I’m on one of the injections. Repatha. But this can only be prescribed by a hospital consultant and not the GP. So you need to be having high cholesterol that’s difficult to control before you get referred to a lipid clinic. I have very elevated lipoprotein(a) so that is why I was under the lipidologist. More usually these injections are given to patients with FH that doesn’t respond to other treatments. In Bristol which covers a huge area they only have 165 patients on Repatha. So you can see they’re used very judiciously as they’re very expensive and statins are very cheap. The consultant was going to try Inclirisan for me but the criteria were very tight and he’s not yet convinced by it’s long term prevention of cardiac events. Which is ultimately what it’s about. I’m also on ezetimibe because my LDL wasn’t being controlled on statins so they tried that combination but I was having really bad responses to statins. Hence Repatha

[Heyjude31 in reply to JennyRx]

Thanks for taking the time to provide such a detailed reply JennyRx. From everything you have said it would be very difficult for me to get the injection instead of tablets, and I totally understand why the treatment is given to those people that need it. Thank you again and all the best. Judi

[JennyRx in reply to Heyjude31]

I think it’s unlikely as they need to try all options combined with an underlying condition and/or previous cardiac event or stroke and a high cholesterol that doesn’t respond to the basic treatments. There are a few statins to try out first.

[MountainGoat52]

I'm on 10mg of Rosuvastatin, have no issues and my cholesterol sits around 3.7, so I too am jealous! 😀

Over a period of several months I was prescribed Atorvastatin, Pravastatin and Simvastatin, all of which gave me leg pain. I found this most debilitating and it limited my ability to exercise, so was counter-productive. Hopefully your GP will be able to prescribe a statin that suits you.

[Heyjude31 in reply to MountainGoat52]

Hi GWP1952 thank you for replying. I really struggle at the moment as I struggle to walk and then I end up taking more painkillers which I don’t want to do. Thanks again and take care, Judi

[MountainGoat52 in reply to Heyjude31]

Hi Judi,

Taking pain killers to overcome the pain caused by medication is not good. One of my pet hates is medication to overcome the side effects of other medication. It started when my GP insisted I take a PPI to avoid any problems with my medication. The PPI floored me.... they're now on my medication black list.

Hope you get sorted soon. Take care,

Gerald

[Heyjude31 in reply to MountainGoat52]

Thanks Gerald, totally agree, you are absolutely right. I hope that I can find a suitable statin, so I don’t end up taking tablet on tablet! Take care, Judi 🤗

[Heyjude31]

Hello scdlinks, thank you for taking the time to reply, I really appreciate it. I had not thought of the impact of statin on loweringour good cholesterol, definitely something to keep in mind. As you say I need to keep working with the GP to find the one that best suits me. Thank you again and take care, Judi

[andybarn]

Hi Heyjude31, not sure if this helps - but I was on Atorvastatin 20mg since stent 2 1/2 years ago. Over the last few months my leg muscles stiffened until I could hardly walk. I contacted the doctor and he suggested coming off the statins for a month to see what happens. The really bad leg aches and stiffness has gone but I still have some stiffness in the upper leg muscles - especially after being in bed. I need to contact the doc again to see if another statin would be better for me. ps. after a month, cholesterol was 4.1 Andy

[Heyjude31 in reply to andybarn]

Hi andybarn, thanks for your reply. My doc is now trialling me on Pravastatin to see if is any better. I hope you can get sorted too. I find myself not being able to walk some days so I do need to get it sorted if I can. Otherwise I just end up taking more painkillers and that is not good long term, particularly as since my bypass surgery nearly a year ago I have felt much better with less nerve pain, I hope you feel better soon. If possible let me know what they prescribe for you. Take care, Judi