Ticking time bomb?

[karl1210]

Hi firstly i have just joined up

and this is my first post , so please understand my lack of technical details

At 17 years old through a blood test i was told my cholesterol was 5.5

although that was not my total over the last thirty years its been 6..0 7.0 even 8.0

i have been on simvastatin, ezertimibe and statin, and eventually was quite ill ending up in the coronary ward with irregular heart and pains

i have had a couple of angio grams that were clear , however i do have a leaking mitral valve (slight) and right side ventricular ectopy which is horrible to live with especailly mine as it is very severe.

any way the bottom line is as my parents uncles sisters and brothers have got older a very obvious link is developing -

firstly my three uncles have had heart problems and strokes one died at 48 from angina and finally a massive heart attack,

then four years ago my dad aged 77 had a heart attack and needing three stents

then two months ago my mum aged 76 had a heart attack needing stents with 95% blockage. her cholesterol has been as high as 12.0 in the past

My uncle my mums brother aged 80 needs a tripple heart bypass , they took him into st thomas london to try and get stents in to stabilise things before attempting bypass they could not get any stents in and can do nothing he is slowly deteriorating with heart failing and lungs failing , i do not think things look too good as i write.

my elder sister in Australia has atrial fibrilation and cholesterol has been 6.0 7.0 up to 7.5 over the years she is 56

my other sister also 53 has cholesterol levels of between 6.0 7.0 8.0 over the years

my Brother 47 also has syndrome X and cholesterol levels ranging over the years 6. 0 7.0 8.0 8.5

so now i can see a very definite genetic link on both sides of the family

i tried exercise, diet rich in EPS foods fish olive oils fruit, flax seed oil, including benecol spread, flora proactive milk, soya garlic cloves

and taking Fenofibrate 160mg, and i still can not get my cholesterol down below 7.0

with good HDL being 2.0 and with some trygliceride level of 2.00 i think i even went to a cholesterol clinic and they just said you will have to go back on statins but they make me ill

so i am thinking there is nothing i can do

[Aliwally]

Hi Karl,

Sorry to hear about your family history. Linda is right about the choice of statins. I am on my third one because I couldn't tolerate two brands. This one is OK. I think there are 6 on the market. so I supose it stands to reason that some may suit some people and not others.We have also been having a blog about Q10 which some people think can cut down on side effects.

[karl1210]

HI Alliwally

many thanks forthat what type are you on\?

[Hidden]

Hi Karl,

You've probably already tried this, and it may not be much help to you, but I have found that taking statins at exactly the same time everyday seems to help me keep the side effects at bay. I started on Simvastatin and then went on to Atorvastatin. To start with i had stomach ache and felt sick sometimes but it all settled down after a few months.

How about giving statins another go before finding a different treatment?

[karl1210]

Hi Tina

thanks for the advice i did try stain and ezetimibe combined but it made me really ill and gave me terrible arrythmia i thought i was going to die i read that statins destroy cells in the herat and COQ10 can help and should be used ?? any suggestions

[Aliwally]

I am lucky enough to be on a small dose. Simvastatin gave me terrible cramps, which as I go swimming regularly was a right pain. Rosuvastatin gave me the most terrible asthmatic type cough (I reported that one to the Yellow Card scheme because I was so angry when people said , oh I've never heard of that effect before). I am now on atorvastatin, only 10mg which is so far OK.

I also take mine in the morning as simvastatin also gave me some dodgy dreams and yes, they had never heard of that before either!!

[karl1210]

Hi Heart sim

all i can say is that on Ezetimibe and statins combined did get my levels down to 2.7 but i became ill on them with cardiac arythmia and feeling mucsle aches and these were chronic it was suggested that statins can damage heart muscle cells which concerned me as i tolerated them for several years then suddenly became ill.

i saw two cardiologists and one arythmai specialist who could not give me a reason for becoming ill with raised blood pressure irregular heart beats ventricular and ending up in a corony ward with a male nurse saying my heart was to put it in his words sparking all over the place,

im fairly ok until i try to go back on statins then after a couple of days i become ill again

i just dont understand

thank you for your help

[Aliwally]

Duncan,

Another blogger Tina also had dreams on simvastatin so it is funny that some people seem so surprised by it...that is 3 out of 28 so far!

These dreams had a peculiar quality, very vivid colours and minute detail and also your worst possible fears. A bit like Room 101. I find it slightly alarming that a drug that is meant to work on you liver is obviously affecting your brain as well.

I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with statins at the moment !!

[Hidden in reply to Aliwally]

Hi, Duncan and Aliwally, yes I did have dreams while on simvastatin. It was like a sleep paralysis, i was aware of my surroundings but unable to move and then felt like i was suffocating. Of course this could be linked to other things and not simvastatin but who knows.

[Seahorse]

Hi Traci,

That's an amazing drop. I am in awe! Which statin are you on? My cholesterol was the same as yours but the lowest I have managed to get down to is 5.9 on 40mg rosuvastatin. I am now on 40mg atorvastatin again due to some (possible) side effects on rosuvastatin and my last reading was 6.7. Thought about asking my consultant about taking 20mg each of rosuvastatin & atorvastatin to see what effect that has. Has anyone else tried combining 2 different statins?