PMR OR sTATIN mYOPATHY

[Celebrant]

The Doc thinks PMR, the rhuemy now thinks maybe, I think statin myopathy. Anyone else been here?

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Does pred make a difference?

[ConventCassie]

Do I want to know what Statin Myopathy is?

[Polymialgia]

Confused, I though that statin myopathy was a side effect of taking prednisone for PMR, maybe you can expand the post

[Chihuahua1 in reply to Polymialgia]

Statins are given to reduce bad cholesterol in the blood. Steroids such as prednisolone is given to reduce inflammation in certain conditions such as PMR and GCA. Hope that helps.

[Ruadh in reply to Polymialgia]

Statin Myopathy refers to the unwanted side effects of taking statins :-

healthline.com/health/what-...

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Ruadh]

Thank you for that! I know my local cardiologist want me to go onto a statin - but this

"drug interactions, namely with medicines used to treat HIV, antibiotic medications, antidepressants, medications used to suppress the immune system, and medications for irregular heart rhythms"

gives me a bit more defence. I suffered myopathy on a half dose of atorvastation - only got to the first level because I said no way after about a week. I could barely walk even on crutches (in use for something else). Took me months to get back to where I'd been the previous week. I am on medication for atrial fibrillation and, obviously, pred which suppresses the immune system.

[Ruadh in reply to PMRpro]

Yes. Keep away from the statins. So many people highly damaged by them. Can always tear up the prescription Hope they soon come to the end of their life...!

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Ruadh]

I have no intention! I thought we'd sorted that out 5 years ago - but she seems to have changed her mind. I think it may be because she has realised I am under rheumatology - but I don't have RA or SLE which might be a concern.

[Kcartney103 in reply to Ruadh]

I have tried a couple of different statins over the years due to anchiness in my legs. So I have had issues with statins over the years. This article is very interesting and I am wondering if my achiness could be related to statins rather than PMR? Or in addition to PMR.

Currently on 80mg pravastatin and down to 3 mg pred.

[PMRnewbie2017]

OK, we need more information from you please.

Do you take a statin, and if so which one as they have have differing

potentials for causing myopathy and not all do!! Also what dose and for how long have you been taking them?

PMR make muscles less tolerant to exercise and recovery times are increased following exertion.

Prednisolone and prednisone can also affect muscles. Again we need more information from you since it is all to easy to jump to the wrong conclusions.

[Gaijin]

I took a statin for several weeks and woke up every morning feeling like I was waking up from a looooong coma induced by getting run over by a Sherman tank. I stopped taking them but never really felt 100% like my old self again.. then I was diagnosed with PMR. I'll never know for sure, but I think the statins precipitated the PMR.

[Ruadh]

A note on statins : the following from a health news letter (this auto translated from the French) :-

VERY embarrassing sight on cholesterol

By Gabriel Combris /August 5, 2018 / 1411 Views

And also: Do ​​you have the "ghost disease"? , Sciatica, rapid intervention force

You know the phrase "throw a pavement in the pond".

The British researcher Rory Collins is a rock he has thrown into the pond. Mega-splash and splash for everyone, from public health officials.

Including himself.

First, it must be said that this Rory Collins is not anyone: Professor of Medicine at the University of Oxford, ennobled by Queen Elizabeth, Sir Collins is leading two private research consortia (funded partly by the pharmaceutical industry) that have produced a large part of the studies on cholesterol drugs, statins, for 20 years.

For 20 years, therefore, he found only good to say.

Only in 2015, this "pope of statins" simply recognized that neither he nor his research teams had never seriously studied the side effects of statins [1]!

Yes, you read well, and hold on well because the explanation is carabinée ...

Why did not he do the ba-ba, that is to say, that these drugs were safe?

Because, he confessed, his belief that statins saved lives was such that he wanted to avoid worrying patients by exposing their toxic effects .

I will not repeat what I already wrote in the letter " Cholesterol: a letter for those who do not understand anything " (you can find it by clicking here ), but it shows how impossible it is to do blind trust in studies funded by the pharmaceutical industry , or experts with links of interest to it.

Découvrez en plus ici : pure-sante.info/aveu-tres-e...

-------------------------------------------- ##

More on statins - this from the latest Dr Malcolm Kendrick treatise 'The True Cause of Heart Attacks / What Causes Heart Disease' :-

drmalcolmkendrick.org/2018/...

------------------------------------------ ##

For myself, No, I do not take statins.

[nuigini]

I have a life long friend in rehabilitation after losing the ability to walk due to steroid myopathy. Of course the first thing I did was research and this is the link I found the most informative.

emedicine.medscape.com/arti...

Not sure if the link will work however, the main reveal for me was the following statement:

"Steroid myopathy may be more frequent with the use of fluorinated steroids, such as dexamethasone [4] or triamcinolone, than with nonfluorinated ones, such as prednisone or hydrocortisone."

My friend has been on dexamethasone for brain inflammation for brain cancer. From what I understand dexamethasone is much stronger than prednisone and my friend has been on a relatively high dose for months following her surgery to remove the tumor.

I choose to believe we're safe on relatively low dose prednisone.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to nuigini]

I suffered steroid myopathy within a couple of months when I was switched to methyl prednisolone - the default corticosteroid here. The methyl group, like the fluoro bit, increases the effect (it is said) but also increases the less desirable effects. It took a while on Lodotra, a few months or so, but my leg muscles are as good as before now.