statins versus muscle

[Muscle25]

i am having trouble accepting Statins as i react by losing the strength in my lower arms , wrists and hands.

I have tried two types and despite having an undiagnosed Chronic fatigue and pain condition ( since 2017).

The condition has not been diagnosed yet (7 yrs) but with this knowledge NHS has insisted i have statins …. I find this negligent just to prescribe according to the nhs nice calculator and not commit to finding my condition.

[Lowerfield_no_more]

Noting that the NHS does not insist you take statins, it is a recommendation based on the clinical evidence you present, and a personal choice whether you follow it or not, you made a similar post to this earlier today, and my comments on that follow......

If you turn out to be statin intolerant due to side effects then there is other medication available such as ezetimibe and inclisiran to manage your cholesterol profile. Your GP should be discussing this with you. If you are borderline as to whether you need medication, or whether alternative medication is not available, you can still perhaps better your cholesterol profile by adopting improvements to lifestyle including diet, exercise, body weight management, alcohol and smoking, all of which are covered on the BHF webpages, with the proviso that as soon as you relax doing them any benefit is lost

[Muscle25 in reply to Lowerfield_no_more]

Thank you for both replies.

Apologies for the "insist" instead of "strongly advise" comment. The problem I have is that NHS is not giving me the same commitment on my original Chronic Fatigue/Pain condition since 2017 pre-covid 'long Covid" scenario therefore it is not easy for me to keep up with your last comment "relax doing them and any benefit is lost".

I am a fighter, proactive and do not sit there moaning about it but the added stress of this is doing my head in ...... I have lost 5 kg since I stopped the 2nd statins (I requested a lifestyle health change and reassessment later but my values are not changing much although it is only my cholesterol that is slightly high (5.0 avg) .

I will continue to lose weight sensibly. I do my own cooking and am interested in nutrition after all the courses I did for a possible ME verdict. I have been ruled out for MS after several MRI over the years but seem no nearer to knowing what is breaking my body down. I normally only drink 4 pints or 2 pints and a bottle of wine over the weekend. I retired at Christmas and am consciously going to the gym twice a week (sensible workouts, muscle strength) plus several hobbies that keep me mentally balanced throughout the week. I rest accordingly and can suffer regular physical crashes where I have to immediately sleep ( more like under OP GAS than normal sleep).

I only have so much energy reserve and muscle strength to deal with this .. without the statin muscle reaction.

... hence my predicament "are statins really a good option for me" and how many knocks can my muscle tissue take before the damage is permanent.

Thanks for your interaction .

[Lowerfield_no_more in reply to Muscle25]

If you are only 'borderline' requiring medication to control your cholesterol profile, but are experiencing side effects from taking statins that are seriously affecting your quality of life and also perhaps general health, and you and your GP have discussed alternative medication and the need for it, then maybe there is no need to take it. All medication comes with side effects, and if they are troublesome, and if the medication is actually of limited benefit, as could be the situation in your case, then there is a personal decision to be made, balancing health risk increase by stopping, against the benefits that stopping provides in quality of life at least. Hope this makes sense.

[Muscle25 in reply to Lowerfield_no_more]

perfect sense thank you.

[Barrienorma1613]

hi,

I like you could not accept statins my cardiologist suggested to ask my GP to have a injection called inclisiran it is very expensive but is paid for by nhs England not out of the go budget had my first injection in October 2024 my second one was January 2025 my next one is in 6 months there was no side effects just some muscle aches in my leg were it was injected my cholesterol has gone from 7 to 3 hope this helps ,I am 80 years old and the best thing I did before my stent was fitted was to lose 6kg I felt so much better.

[Muscle25 in reply to Barrienorma1613]

Very interesting and a great success for yourself. I would have to go in with an Axe over my shoulder for that no doubt.I will look into that to see if it would suit me.

I agree with the weight loss which is my responsibility, I have given myself 6 months for minus 10 kg which would get back my golfing figure again and knock a few shots off my handicap as well.