Crestor (Rosuvastatin}

[Becoda]

Hi, I am new to this. Was investigating the effects of Crestor and read some of your comments. Was totally surprised and shocked that most of the side effects are like symptoms that I have have been going to my DR. about for the last 5 yrs. Not once during my visits to hospital or specialists did anyone suggest or mention the fact that my being on Crestor could be causing all my problems. I was put on these about 6 yrs ago before I was discharged from ICU. I took them ever since and was not aware of side effects. I have never missed a dose in 6yrs, but ran out 2 days ago and have to get the prescription refilled by my DR. That is how I found this site, just wondering if I could miss a few days. I will add a post later to fill you in on the medical problems I have had this past 6 yrs. I am really wondering now!! Have to make a decision.

[Markl60]

Hi I have to say I dropped Statins after 2 months and that was 4 years ago. Statins have two main functions

1. They drop your cholesterol to a level that is simply unheard of in most people. Why anyone can believe that this si the root cause of heart disease is beyond me.

2. They reduce inflamation and it is probably this function that provides the benefit

I think you can tackle number 2 via dietary means and trials have demonstrated that the Med' diet outperformed Statins by a long way

[lynsreid]

I'm really keen to hear about your experience! Please keep me posted! I ache a little less now, mainly at night but I've been trying more yoga so maybe that has helped or given me other pains to concentrate on!!!

[carol21]

The doctor gave me crestor (rosuvastatin) so i won't have heart attacks or stroke,but when i take them all my joints hurt and i wake up with cramp

[sandybrown in reply to carol21]

Do you know your cholesterol numbers?, what is the dosage of your statin?

[carol21 in reply to sandybrown]

only 5mg

[sandybrown in reply to carol21]

You could ask your GP to try another brand statin. There are 4 or 5 brand a GP can offer, to identify which one works for you.

[carol21 in reply to sandybrown]

i have tried 3 lots and they all do the same

[carol21 in reply to carol21]

my cholesterol was 5.4 and the satin was 5mg i only took it for 7 days and the pain in my arms chest back and legs were great,i have arthritis

[sandybrown in reply to carol21]

It appears that your GP has gone through all the options. I am afraid I am unable offer any more!

My experience with statin, bad side effect after four weeks on statin. My total cholesterol came down to 2.8 even though my GP wanted me on it for rest of my life to over come the damage caused by 6.8 total cholesterol. I gave up statin. I am on food and drinks intake control and regular exercise at the moment. At the age of 70, total cholesterol number? I am not interested in it. Only time will tell.

[sos007 Ambassador]

Never stop any drug that you've been taking for a long time cold turkey, there are side-effects of immediate cessation. In the case of statins, an abrupt increase in platelet stickiness that can result in heart attack or stroke - please read this:

"Now let us assume you have been on a statin for a few months or years during which time it has provided inhibition of inflammatory activity within your blood vessels. That’s good. But then you experience memory loss or severe myopathy and must come off statins. If this is done, there is a return of normal platelet activation (stickiness) in most people but in some, recent studies have shown, there will be an overshoot of platelet stickiness, peaking in the second week after stopping the statin. The result is a small but significant tendency for strokes and infarctions to occur during that time. This suggests the solution should be a gradual tapering off of statins, not abrupt cessation, and is certainly an option that you should discuss with your prescribing physician."

preparemd.com/how-to-taper-...

[sos007 Ambassador]

I was on 30 mg of Crestor, and began weaning very gradually - reducing dosage by 5 mg every 6 weeks, while monitoring my blood-work every 6 weeks. It took me about 7.5 months to completely wean off. After weaning, my lipid markers - cholesterol, experienced a 'rebound effect' whereby they jumped significantly higher. They gradually came down over the next 12 weeks but not back to the levels while on statins which are virtually impossible to achieve naturally.

When I embarked on the process to wean off of statins, I had to make a major lifestyle change to ensure I was doing everything possible to reduce inflammation, blood glucose levels and cholesterol levels. I became a vegetarian, but still eat fish twice per week and have low fat dairy every day, and I ensure that I exercise every day.

I engage in a 'high intensity interval training' workout 4 days per week. This involves 40 minutes of weight training followed immediately by 30 minutes of running and sprinting on a treadmill. The other 3 days of the week I walk for at least one hour each day. This can be split up during the day so you don't have to walk one hour all at once.

My diet emphasizes the consumption of legumes - beans, lentils and chick peas, as well as arugula or spinach salad daily, other vegetables, and a bowl of berries daily along with one apple and orange.

I eat almond butter daily on a piece of toasted whole grain, deli-style bread. I have 2 decaf cups of green tea and 1 cup of ginger tea daily.

Legumes and nuts are high in protein but I supplement by eating the fish or 1 cup of egg whites (I make the egg whites into an omelette with green peppers, onions, kalamata olives and feta cheese). I also take a B12 vitamin daily to ensure I don't get vitamin deficiency.

Here's a great soup recipe that is hearty and contains all the ingredients for naturally reducing cholesterol:

ricardocuisine.com/en/recip...

Weaning off of statin medication should be taken very seriously and cautiously as I described with active monitoring of your blood-work under the supervision of a doctor.

This forum has some valuable information but understand nobody who contributes is a doctor and many people are quite cavalier in offering advice that is uninformed and may be dangerous to follow.

I have taken to reading medical journals and research studies to better understand heart disease, cholesterol, and statins. Although I am now off statins and hope to never go on again, they may be the only viable option for some people.

Statins are like most other medications, they help most people but can cause serious side-effects to a minority of people. You have to approach the issue with an objective mind, not one pre-disposed to assuming statins are either entirely 'bad' or entirely 'good'.

Due to the complexity of the subject people have a tendency to take 'mental shortcuts' in order to over-simplify to help themselves understand. There's lots of grey in this subject-matter. Educate yourself before making long-term decisions on medication changes.

You can follow all of my posts under 'sos007'.

[Floozie in reply to sos007]

I would be interested to know how old you are & your past medical history. Your regime is anathema to me & even if I wanted to (at my age, 71) I couldn't follow your exercise routine. I presume you don't work to be able to find time to do this. Your diet horrifies me from the point of view of enjoyment, though it may well be beneficial. I have hypercholesterolaemia & have taken Crestor 40mg. plus Ezetrol 10 mg. daily for many years with no side effects. This therapy keeps my regular blood test results within normal limits. I eat a normal diet, which includes all the things I like. I do question whether seeking to prolong one's life, if it means living a daily miserable existence, is worthwhile, but this could probably only be answered in retrospect.

[sos007 Ambassador]

The information you requested is available on my original post 'Coming Off Statins'.

I'm Greek and my wife is Italian. The food I eat is delicious because of the Mediterranean flavoured recipes. We enjoy many different spices, not just salt.

Your perspective on my diet is coloured by your cultural up-bringing. The English cuisine does not enjoy a good reputation in cosmopolitan societies.

I'm never hungry, I eat as much as I want because the food I eat is low in calorie density. For example, one apple and one teaspoon of olive oil have about the same calorie content but the apple fills you up more.

Exercise is critical to good health. Post surgery I could barely walk for 5 minutes. I felt a hundred years old. I persevered and gradually worked up to 90 minutes per day. I work full time. I'm a self-employed professional.

You have to make time for exercise. I know many people your age who are as diligent in exercising as I am.

Diet and exercise is a state of mind. It's too easy in life to make excuses. I've lost 40 lbs over 15 months. Very gradually because I didn't restrict calories, I just ate differently. You shouldn't assume what a diet tastes like until you try it.

If you learn how to cook properly, everything tastes good. I intend to reintroduce one meal of lean chicken once a week to see the impact on my bloodwork. I will constantly refine my diet while monitoring bloodwork until I find the right balance. Medications will not protect you from an indulgent diet and poor exercise habits. It will eventually catch up to you if it already hasn't.

Good luck.

[Bazza1234]

I can only comment on my own situation - VERY high cholesterol for over 30 years - was originally 10.5 Mmol/l but got it down to around 8.5 mmol/l for most of that 30 years. Doctors always wanted me to go on to statins - but I refused because I didn't seem to have any other "risk factors". Long story short- a few months ago I had a calcium score test (basically a computerised x-ray of the heart which shows up any calcified hardened plaques) . The presence of calcified plaques in the arteries are a sure sign of even more non-calcified soft plaques which are the dangerous plaques that can break away and cause blockages. A stress test showed that I do not appear to have any arterial blockages at this time - but I am a 70YO runner and I have read that it has been found that runners with high levels of calcified arteries are generally found to have less soft plaques/blockages and more flexible hearts than do non-exercising people.

Anyway, I changed my diet by eating much more vegetables, fruit, low GI carbs like oats and barley, more soluble fibre , much less white flour based foodstuffs , potatoes and rice - AND started taking 5 mg of Crestor plus 100 mg of asprin per day. I have had no side effects that I am aware of on these. My total chol levels have dropped from 8.5 mmol/l to 4.4mmol/l - mainly from a drop in LDL and triglycerides - HDL has gone up. This all happened within 3 months. I am looking forward to seeing my results form another blood test in 6 weeks time - I hope I am not dissappointed

My Doctor say that I am his fittest , most healthy heart patient!!!

re my diet change - I am never hungry on my diet and when I do get peckish sometime, instead of eating things like biscuits and other unhealthy man-made "snacks", I eat an apple (which I have grown to really enjoy). re my exercise- at 70YO, unless we have some kind of major physical problem, we should be able to walk 5 klms and/or run (slowly) 1klm. In my opinion, there is little point in staying alive if we do not have full physical functionality - and that can be achieved by most older people - they just need to exert themselves often ( to the point of sweating profusely and huffing and puffing!! )

[sos007 Ambassador]

That's very inspirational Bazza, keep it up!

[Nannyval]

All statins have side effects get your self well with diet and sterols and other vitamins

[Nannyval]

I had the same problem I take 1Rosuststin a week and 2 Ezetimibe not been on them long but Not having leg pains like before