Stopping artovastatin for 2 weeks ( Nstemi and quadruple bypass July 2023)

[DWizza]

Had a visit to GP surgery yesterday for a cyst removal and mentioned how rough I had been feeling for the last month .

The doc went through the list of side effects of arvovastatin and I ticked 6-8 of them. He agreed that I should stop for two weeks and see if anything improves and then discuss other statin options. He looked at my cholesterol record over the years and it wasn’t considered high , one year was 5.7 though , the rest in the 4s. Currently overall 2.4.

Let’s see how this goes , hoping to get some vavavoom back and rid myself of fatigue , cognitive impairment , amplified joint and muscle pains , tinnitus and more 🤦🏼🤣👍🏻…

[Happyrosie]

I’m sure you and doc doing the right things

[DWizza in reply to Happyrosie]

Got to try something different Rosie 👍🏻

[MountainGoat52]

The 2 weeks off Atorvastatin should show you what effect it is having on you. My GP accepted my comments on how it affected me without question and moved me steaight onto Simvastatin which was no better..... then onto Pravastatin with similar issues. After a year on Ezetimibe which didn't have any effect, good or bad, I eventually ended up on Rosuvastatin which is okay for me.

Hopefully you can work with your GP to find what suits you.

[DWizza in reply to MountainGoat52]

Thanks , doc has already mentioned trying Rosuvastatin , 👍🏻 I hope I can get some vavavoom back, I’ve stopped dead in the water with my weights and running training 😔

[MountainGoat52 in reply to DWizza]

I found statins to be counter-productive in that I couldn't exercise properly. Rosuvastatin gave me a headache for a few days, so I lowered the dose and built it up bit by bit. I'm still only on 10mg per day, so have a bit of headroom should it become less effective over time.

[DWizza in reply to MountainGoat52]

I’m on 80mg of arvovastatin, full dose as it’s only months post surgery . I’m really hopeful that either the dose is lowered or I try something else and a better outcome . I stopped dead in the water after 5 months of great training , git up to 7k running/jogging and was back to weight training ( all prescribed program by a cardiac rehab specialist). Had no enthusiasm whatsoever to have any more aches/pains in joints , it all seemed to amplify over Xmas after 5 months , plus the cognitive issues, tinnitus etc 🤦🏼

[MountainGoat52]

I've had all sorts of medication issues since my heart attack in 2017. It has taken a lot of work with the GP practice pharmacist and a lot of time to get a mix of medication that is right for me and in the process my "allergic to / intolerant of" list has grown considerably. I too started on 80mg Atorvastatin which pretty much crippled me. The harder I exercised, the more agonising the pain. I can empathise with your situation and certainly hope that you get the issues you have resolved soon.

[DWizza in reply to MountainGoat52]

Wow, what a quest ! I feel that my journey is only just starting.. I’m grateful for you and everyone else sharing their experiences. We’ll get there 👍🏻👊🏻