Be careful of the statin dosage that is prescribed

[frankcooper1]

I thought it might be useful to share some recent experiences I had with 2 friends and 1 family member who are all taking a statin-lowering drug called Crestor. Whilst not treating any of them myself, I was in social settings where the topic of cholesterol came up because they know of my expertise. Their ages were 64 (taking 20mg Crestor), 67 (20mg) and 71 (10mg reduced recently from 20mg).

All 3 commented to me that they were having difficulty remembering things, which set off an alarm bell with me, because I have seen a number of cases of people permanently losing their ability to remember conversations and events. Often this cognitive decline affects the part of the brain that stores recent events, and the net effect is an Alzheimer’s like condition that is usually irreversible. Luckily these three were not that advanced, but the wife of one of them did express some concerns to me. To be fair, it is possible that all three of these people are losing their memorability due to other factors besides statins, although they did state that their memory problems coincided with them taking this particular drug.

This led me to think about what to suggest that might be a positive step. I did not want to suggest they go off statins, as they were not under my care.

I decided to provide each with some information that is really important to know. That is, what is the average cholesterol-lowering ability of Crestor as determined by the daily dose:

1mg = 34% reduction in cholesterol

5mg = 45% reduction in cholesterol

10mg = 52% reduction in cholesterol

20mg = 55% reduction in cholesterol

Hopefully the above is clear. That is - why would anyone take 20 times the amount of a drug to achieve such a small additional benefit? I would have thought 1mg of Crestor was adequate if you could reduce cholesterol by 34%, and not increase the dose 20X for a marginal gain. Unfortunately the manufacturer for unknown reasons have decided not to produce a 1mg tablet which is unfortunate for many patients.

I should mention that there are a number of patients where 20mg may be necessary. However, it is clear from the comments on this site, that there are a number of people with NO evidence of heart disease, who merely have elevated cholesterol, who are being prescribed (some members on this site are saying coerced) into very high doses of statins with little thought of the consequences to the patient.

When we deal with the topic of poisons and toxicity, we often explain that “the difference between Medicine and Poison in in the dose”. The above numbers should be a red flag for some people that a medicine can become toxic poison if the dose is too high. In addition, there appears to be a lack of knowledge by many medical practitioners that a person’s weight must be considered when we prescribe a strong medicine. As a case in point, if all things are equal, a small 50kg women may need to be on half the dosage of a drug compared to a 100kg large man, but this is rarely considered. Hence why I often see more side effects in people of lower weight.

In summary, I wanted to highlight to viewers taking statin prescriptions that they may like to do some research on the correct dosage, which can be readily found on the internet, and to question their physician if they feel they are being over medicated.

Frank Cooper

Nutritionist & Naturopath

Melbourne Australia

Author of ‘’Cholesterol and The French Paradox’’

[sandybrown]

Hello Frank,

Thank you for the above information. I wan on station 20mg liaptor, total cholesterol came down from 7.6 to 2.8, 75% reduction in three months..

Gave up due to side effect and my total cholesterol with out statin is 5.05, this check was at supermarket chemist. NHS test will be in two months time, cholesterol and HbA1c.

My lifestyle change and food intake control is working fine therefore there are no plans to reduce cholesterol with statin. Keeping an eye on HbA1c numbers.

My GP cannot understand even with high cholesterol, my echo cardiogram and electro cardiogram tests showed that there are no problems with my heart, aged 67. did ask my GP for magnesium RBC testing, it appears that NHS do not do it at the moment.

New product coming on the market "Ote well", calming to reduce cholesterol and blood glucose.

Please do write on this site with your findings.

[Beek]

My refusal to take statins any more is due directly to the mind altering problems. I turned from a competent intelligent type of person into a forgetful, confused and mistake making individual very quickly. I could put up with the muscle ache but to feel you are losing your mind is very frightening to experience.

[Marion62]

Hi Frank,

Just wondered if you know or can guide me to information regarding statin equivalents.

I was taking 20mg of simvastatin . This has now been replaced with 20mg of pravastatin -would you know if this is the correct equivalent dose?

Thanks

[sandybrown in reply to Marion62]

Hello,

Please take a look at this link.

oatwell.com/

New product will be in UK soon, claims to reduce cholesterol and blood glucose!

[frankcooper1 in reply to Marion62]

'Hi Marion, there is a great book written by Jay S Cohen, MD in USA that focuses specifically on the correct dosage of statins. I would recommended reading it. It is called 'What you should know about Statins Drugs. His book states 20mg simvastatin reduces LDL by 38% and 20mg Pravachol reduces it by 32%.

[Hidden]

My sister is on statins and I'm really worried about her, last time I saw her she looked frail and seemed, if not confused, at least a bit out of it. She is in her sixties, so a bit young for Alzheimers.

Yes the side effects are the reason why I won't touch them - the memory loss side effects are getting much better documented now. Google statins and memory loss and there is host of data.

The reason why this happens is that they block the melavonate pathway in your liver which produces a substance called dolichols, along with cholesterol and COq10. See articles.mercola.com/sites/... this for an explanation.

[Aliwally]

Nice to hear from you again Frank!

I totally agree with you about Crestor. In my relatively short lived statin career it was the only one that had an immediate adverse reaction, a hacking asthma like cough, and that was on 10mg.

Do you think the tide is turning against these very high doses of potent statins like Crestor? I am horrified that post heart attack patients are given these massively high doses of 80mg as a matter of course. If the heart attack didn't kill me 80mg of Crestor certainly would.

Even sceptics like Duane Graveline acknowledge that statins may have a place in FH, but at very much lower doses and for their anti inflammatory properties and not their cholesterol lowering.

[frankcooper1 in reply to Aliwally]

Hi Aliwally, nice to hear from you too. I think the tide on Crestor is turning, but very slowly. When I wrote my cholesterol book - which is nearly 10 years ago - I stated that it is likely to take at least 10-15 years for the fear of cholesterol to subside and for reality to set in. In other words, that the fear of cholesterol would reduce significantly. Based on where we are at today, when I look at the enthusiasm for statins by the NHS and by medical authorities in other countries worldwide, I am a little dismayed. Clearly the marketing efforts by major drug companies continues at full pace, and we have a large population who simply do what their doctor tells them, without researching the risks. We seem to be persuading a lot of people who are healthy, into taking statin medications, and making them very sick. I have seen many cases of elderly people who are coerced into taking statins, and seeing their quality of life degrade significantly. It makes me sad. What I can say is that the followers of this website have very good fortune, in learning about both sides of the cholesterol discussion, and in being able to see the risks in medications, enable many to live a longer life, and with better cognitive function. Best wishes.

[Hidden]

There is a lot of data that shows higher doses of statins don't make any difference to outcomes. That's not really surprising since they don't work by cholesterol lowering, they work by being anti inflammatory and anticoagulant - just like Aspirin in fact.

[K8TY]

Hi Frank, when you refer to Crestor are you talking about Rosuvastatin? Thanks

[frankcooper1 in reply to K8TY]

K8TY, yes I am talking about Rosuvastatin

[sandybrown]

Hello,

The information below may help you.

Several types of statins exist such as atorvastatin, cerivastatin, fluvastatin, lovastatin, mevastatin, pitavastatin, pravastatin, rosuvastatin, and simvastatin. Atorvastatin and rosuvastatin are the most potent, while fluvastatin is the least potent. These medicines are sold under several different brand names including Lipitor (an atorvastatin), Pravachol (a pravastatin), Crestor (a rosuvastatin), Zocor (a simvastatin), Lescol (a fluvastatin) and Vytorin (a combination of simvastatin and ezetimibe). Mevastatin is a naturally occurring statin that is found in red yeast rice.

[K8TY]

HI, thank you I am familiar with them and am currently on Rosuvastatin and have an awful memory which I have previously put down to baby brain but maybe. It. I am much much younger than everyone else who seems to be complaining of a poor memory!

[sandybrown]

Hello,

Memory, I am 67, having short term memory problem! was on station only for a very short time. My pain is a lot better now.

Memory example taking things to the wrong place or putting it down in a different place and looking for it, example, money, tea cups and my engineering tools. My wife and I both are retired now. I was planning to be in full time employment for few more years but did not work out. questions-- "What have you done with it I cannot find it?" " Why is the cup in the wrong place?" The funny thing is, I cannot remember doing it and many more. Another example, at the check out or in the bank the 4 digit pin number? .

All I can do is to have a laugh. Because, I am dyslexic therefore I do many incorrect things in a day to day environment.

[sandybrown]

Hello,

The reduction is nearly 20% in three months. Would it be possible for you to give some details of food intake and exercise over the last three months to reduce cholesterol by 20%.? Thanks.

[Hidden]

Hi,

I found the information very useful & informative. Thank you for it.

I have been prescribed Crestor 5mg.

My cholesterol is 7.2, otherwise healthy.

I started to read about Crestor and the side affects, it frightened me.

I have a question, I read that even 1 mg of Crestor would reduce by 34%, so my question is if it is ok to cut the pill in 4 and take each day one 4th of it or that would be 1.25mg effectively.

Would the pill still work?

Thank you in advance for any answer.

I would really appreciate it, as I am really worried about it.

[sandybrown in reply to Hidden]

Hi,

Do you know all your cholesterol numbers?

you can do a QRISK or JBS3 analysis as a guide line. Both tools are available on the Internet, a GP can do the calculation and offer full explanation.

Depending on the age and other blood test numbers you can control your cholesterol without any medication by life style change. Some GPs look at cholesterol ration before giving medication. You need look at this very carefully. In my case I refused medication and went on life style change. My cholesterol numbers were coming down slowly but my GP wanted me to try statin, I tried it for two months and my total cholesterol dropped to 2.8, but the side effects were very bad, no more statin. Humans need cholesterol for the body to function.

Once a GP said in a meeting when I was in medical school the total cholesterol number was 7.25 therefore what has changed it to 5 for now days?

It is difficult to cut some medication, there is a cutter available but can be expensive. Please discuss this with your local chemist, some people take one every four days.

Goggled cutting 5 mg Crestor in to 1/2, the answer came it is powder inside!!!

I am not a doctor, every individual have their own method on medication.

This is a very low dosage.

[Hidden in reply to sandybrown]

bala,

Thank you so much for your quick post. You had a big drop.

Is such a big drop necessary?

I have been refusing to go on medication for a couple of years, as I thought I can get it down by changing my diet and exercising. It did not work for me.

I tried eating flax seeds every morning and taking red yeast supplement pills, the effect was very little.

I am 49 years of age, I walk every day, when I have time I ride my bike so I am active and not overweight. My GP suggested that genetics has a play in my level of cholesterol.

my numbers are: CHOL 7.2, HDL 1.81, LDL 4.8, TRIG 1.3, Chol/HDLC 4.0

Over the years what saved me from being on statin is my HDL levels, they have always been good.

I got a cutter and I cut the pill in 2, no powder comes out. I think I can get to cut it in 4 with no wastage.

I am just not sure if the pill will still work cut in 4. it will be 1.25mg, according to the info I found it will at least be enough to bring the cholesterol 34%. Even 1mg is enough for that reduction.

I asked my GP if I can cut it in 2, she said that I could, it just won't be as effective. Which is logical, that's fine, after all, I would like to start at the lowest dose as possible and work my way up in dosage if needed.

My GP is overseas now so I can't run the idea of cutting it into 4 by her.

I have been reading a lot about the statins on the market.

What I can't understand is why doctors prescribe Crestor as first option,

they are other statins that aren't that strong. They should be tried first, I think.

[sandybrown in reply to Hidden]

You give it a try by taking 1/4 per day, your GP may not have any experience on this! if it works fine, if not go for 1/2. Different Human body react in different way to medication. you need to ask your GP for a QRISK analysis.Good luck.

[Hidden in reply to sandybrown]

Thank you bala.

I have decided to do exactly that, will try 1/4 a day for 3 months, do the blood test and if no change will go up for 1/2

Next time I will ask about the QRISK too. It's strange how no GP has offered to do this analysis until now.

Thank you again.

Take care!

[sandybrown in reply to Hidden]

Thanks, please read the message.