Mr GP surprised me when I visited him for something else when he informed me I had high cholesterol (7.5) and prescribed 30mg of Atorvastatin daily. Within a few days bad side effects appeared.
I became so tired and drowsy. If I sat down I fell asleep almost instantly. I got an extreme form of brain fog which included being unable to remember what I had done an hour or so ago. I couldn't find my words, couldn't remember which direction to exit a shop plus other bad cognitive issues. I became anxious, depressed and "spaced out". My AF became worse and my leg muscles hurt.
I persevered for about 8 weeks then began taking a tablet on alternate days then every third day but this didn't help. I asked to change to the smallest possible dose (10mg) and after a break of about 5 days started this smaller dose. Next day the symptoms returned.
I've stopped taking them as I was completely unable to function on them.
Has anyone else had the same experience?
My cholesterol level was drastically reduced by them but I was not in the land of the living!
The thought of having a stroke is petrifying me. Any advice on what to do next would be appreciated
Thank you, Lin
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Brainfoglady
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I’m so sorry this is troubling you. I expect you know already how to reduce your cholesterol, even if only a little, though diet and exercise - if you need a reminder, go to the NHS website and put in “high cholesterol “ to the search function.
It might be worth talking to your pharmacist- either the one who dispenses your medicines or, preferably, the one employed by your doctor’s group of surgeries. Contact the receptionist at your doc to find out how to do this. The pharmacist might be able to suggest to the doctor a statin that might sut you better, if indeed it’s the statin that’s causing the problems.
No it can't Colesterol don't travel in the blood, it travel in lipoproteins manly LDL. LDL can't just enter the endotilial cell and start block the wessels, it has to enter the cells where colesterol are highly importent trough reseptores. Colesterol should be at the bottom of the list when it comes to risk factors for heart disease! If you wanna look for a risk factor ask for a spesific test that messure your LP (a) particle nr, this can, if the artery are damaged be a problem in blood clot formation(plaque), because it's difficult for the body to repair and break it in the endotilial wall (this particles purpose is to stop wessels bleed after damage, but if this process get out of hand and the wessels imune system can't keep up, you could have trouble! But colesterol has nothing to do with this.
There are several statins, Atorvastatin is probably the most common. Maybe your doctor could switch to a different version.
As Happyrosie suggests, there are other ways through diet and exercise. Please do try all of these as you really really don’t want to let a stroke get to you.
Because of nasty side effects I only take Rosuvastatin 5mg every other day, in addition I sprinkle cold Olive Oil on my vegetables and eat Olives evey day, I eat 2 cans Sardines in oil every week, I take plant sterols as a daily supplement, I exercise and generally eat well, as a result my chlorestorol is now between 2 and 3, very good luck.
Thank you for all the replies to my statin horror story. They have given me hope. Am eating all the correct foods and specialised yougarts with plant sterols. Next step is to ask GP for different statin.
You should definitely persevere with your GP to try other statins of which there are about four normally prescribed, with Atorvastatin usually being the initial 'go to'. However if it is found you are truly statin intolerant then there is other medication available to manage your cholesterol. If you reside in England there is an NHS Statin Intolerance 'pathway' which your GP should be following to deal with your situation, see link below. Other home countries have similar pathways if you are not resident in England. As far as diet and exercise is concerned whilst they undoubtedly do help in reducing total cholesterol they are not as effective as medication and you have to stick at it since it is a for life strategy, so it is important to pursue the medication route first. I hope you get sorted.
PS. As an afterthought at a total cholesterol of 7.5 you might be borderline for being referred to a specialist lipid clinic, especially if you struggle with statins, but that is for a discussion with your GP and he/she may be constrained by local rules.
Hi , I had similar experience with artovastatin, 80mg . Took a break of a month under GP guidance and was absolutely fine. Tried Pravastatin, symptoms came back . Now on low dose Rosuvastatin with a view to increasing dosage if needed to a point where I can tolerate it. My cholesterol test results on artovastatin were really good. Without it my cholesterol doubled to 4.2 , I’m particularly careful with my nutrition. GP wants the figure back down to 2.1. Very basic as there are HDL and LDL levels as well.
I agree with Lowerfield above.
I hope you find a solution soon, I an can empathise, the zombie effect was horrible , brain fog , fatigue, aches , pains …
I have Peripheral Artery Disease which ihas been caused in part of having high cholesterol for a long time - where’s your proof that high cholesterol is harmless to health?
Colesterol is absolutly not the cause of your artery disease! You don't have colesterol in your blood, because it can't travel in the blood. Colesterol is deliverd to all cells in the body by lipoproteins(LDL) or the cells makes it's own colesterol. Colesterol are taken into cells by reseptores. So if your disease is not a gene problem, it caused by other things then colesterol! Maby inflamation or a blood clothing factor, or maybe your damage and repair system don't work as it should.Best wishes from Roar
Reading about what colesterol really is for 10 years, and how incredible important it is for human survival, and i am so smart that i don't think the body is so rich in something that would harm the body itself! And one more time, you don't have colesterol in your blood! You have lipoproteins who deliver colesterol (esters). So colesterol in it self are never harmfull, how could it be? the brain alone contains of about 20-25% colesterol. It's vital in just every cell in your body!
There is a medication called Ezetimibe which lowers cholesterol but isn't a statin, statins affect my liver so I refused to take them,my gp wasn't happy!! But I felt keeping my liver healthy was more important
Definitely try the other kinds of statins and ask about ezetimibe, although I have heard it's most effective in combination with statins. Could very well be wrong about that. There are also potentially new injections (not sure what side effects might come with them).
My cardiologist wants me to get my LDL as low as possible because I have genetically low HDL, so while I do think I have side effects on 80 mg atorvastatin + 10 mg ezetimilbe, (plus bisoprolol and plavix), I sort of force myself to push through them. I would say, a bit of brain fog, generalized noncardiac chest pain, fatigue and occasional soreness in lower legs. (When I say "noncardiac" chest pain, it doesn't seem to be angina but more of an achiness that comes and goes.
I am constantly reading studies about statins, so you might find this one interesting about muscle issues: sciencedirect.com/science/a...
I couldn't tolerate atorvastatin; swapped to simvastatin with no problems but rosuvastatin is reported to have fewer side effects. If you can't tolerate statins at all, there are alternative treatments.
Hi Brainfoglady, I'm pretty much in the Rosj69 camp. Diagnosed with a severe blockage of the LAD at 71yrs Bypass 2022 at 72years. In short NICE guidelines say I should be on a daily Statin for life. I stopped taking Atorvastatin 4 months post Bypass not because I could attribute my nausea loose stools etc to Atorvastatin but because I suffered muscle damage to my lower left-hand calf muscle. This prompted me to try and find as much information as I could on the early development of Statins and in turn this prompted my decision to never take them or any other cholesterol lowering medication again.
I don't know your personal circumstances. I haven't suffered a stroke or heart attack or for that matter anything other than mild Angina.
At 73yrs and shortly to be 74 its easy for me to adopt this stance if I suffered early onset heart disease I may not be so blasé as to Statins and there supposed benefits.
I hope you find a way to resolve your concerns, listen to your health professionals advice and I hope everything works out for you.
Hi, all I want to add is that at 7.5 it is unlikely that your cholesterol will get low enough with diet and exercise alone. Statins will not only lower your cholesterol, but will also stabilise the plaque making heart attacks and strokes far less likely. I too cannot tolerate Atorvostatin, but have been on Rosuvostatin for the past 18 years with no side effects.. Sadly, before seeking medical help I already had CHD and PAD as I have Familial Hypercholesterolemia. I also take ezetimibe and for the past 4 years, Repatha injections. My mother died at 56, her father at 52 both of a single massive heart attack. I am 72 and have thus far never had a heart attack. Of course it's your decision, but there is a wealth of evidence on the life savings effects of statins.
Hi Astronomyrules. Thank you for your thoughtful reply. It seems unbiased and comes from you and your families experiences. I will find a statin that suits me and also have changed my diet to maximise natural sources of lowering my cholesterol and LDL.
My dad and younger brother died of heart issues and my other brother has heart problem. I have a problem with my AV node and atrial fibrillation. I'm 76 next month and have always been very active, don't drink alcohol and never smoked. Also never been overweight. I take Edoxaban to help stop blood clots and now I must find a way of reducing the "fat" plaques which block our arteries/veins.
🙂Wishing you luck in finding a statin that suits you. If your cholesterol is still higher than ideal there's, in addition ezetimibe, or a new once every 6 months injection which I believe is very successful and with your family history you would likely qualify.
I had episodes of extreme tiredness too, but not sure if it was entirely due the statin or not.
It did happen after starting the dose (40mg) but the tiredness could also be the result of low vitamin levels. I am currently taking a multi vit supplement and I think the tiredness is better now.
It is good that you have started the statins because 7.5 is pretty high. Would also be good to know the split between LDL (bad) and HDL (good). Statins are pretty effective in getting the LDL down quickly.
Before my statins, I did try lots of different stuff to lower my LDL naturally, (exercise / healthy food/...), however it would only shift the needle a bit but nowhere the level it is now.
Also, just for the record I am a firm believer that if you can do anything naturally and without medicine (+ avoiding side effects) - you should go for that option first. I dont like taking the statins but in my case it is working and damage limitation for the future.
Hi TasteLessFood4Life. Thanks for your response. It's spot on for me. The Atovastatin had disabling side effects and I'm now taking 1 x 10mg a week. This is obviously not suitable but I have to show my GP that I'm "working with him". As in my reply to TasteLessFood4life above am taking the natural path together with the minimum dose of the correct medication, when I find it
If possible see if you can get refered to a specialist Lipid Clinic. I have general lipid metabolism problems and a desperate history when it comes to attempts to control my cholesterol by drugs. Simvistatin, Rosuvastatin & Atorvastatin all resulted in disableing muscle pain and tendonitis as did Bempedoic Acid to a lesser extent. Unfortunatly I also could not tolerate Ezetamebe, it caused serious digestive problems and after taking it for around 6 weeks I ended up in hospital with acute pancreatitis. This eventually developed into sepsis and I was in hospital for 28 days. This resulted in my stopping all attempts at chemical choleresterol control and the level rose to 5.1
Two years ago I had an NSTEMI, complete blockage of the LAD, but was saved by an extensive co-lalteral circulation which had developed over the years, so choleresterol control reared its ugly head again.
I was refered to the local lipid clinic and was put on Fenofibrate (200mg once a day) & Inclisiran (injection frequency as determined by tests - but once every three months until a baseline is established) This is part of a clinical trial and I am being closley monitored. So far at six months in I am doing well and my level is now 3.1. I have had some muscle and joint pain which subside a couple of weeks after the injection, but these are tolerable and much less than those caused by statins. I understand that Inclisiran costs around £1400:00 a shot so the NHS is not going to put you on it unnecessarily, as Lowerfield_No_More says there is an NHS protocol for ascending difficulties in Cholesterol control: but so far Fenofibrate & Inclisaran have been the answear for me.
Hello Brack1. It's good that you have - at last - found something that controls your cholesterol. I hope you don't have to go though any more traumatic medical issues to remain in the "controlled" zone. Thanks for responding , Lin
I’m also taking Fenofibrate to help reduce my cholesterol as well as atorvastatin. When I was put on it there had been no clinical trials to determine if the drugs were safe to use together but I’ve been taking them for over 20 years with no ill effects up to now. (That I’m aware of 😬)
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