My doctor told me that 5mg of prednisone doesn’t cause any long term health problems. Is this the experience of other members, especially in relation to increased cholesterol levels,
Thanks
Prednisone and cholesterol : My doctor told me that... - PMRGCAuk
Prednisone and cholesterol
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pigeonstreet
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It is the opinion of the group at the Mayo in Rochester:
practicalpainmanagement.com...
There is a link to the original paper at the end of the article.
They found that the low doses generally used longterm for PMR didn't cause any worse effects than were found in an age-matched population of people NOT on pred, except for cataracts. That wasn't specifically for 5mg but that is certainly a common longterm dose.
Can't speak to cholesterol levels though - I (and my doctors) ignore mine and I don't take a statin because the one I did take caused worse problems than PMR! Statins don't have any protective effect for women who have not had a previous cardiovascular event. I haven't so why take one?
I took statins long before I was diagnosed with PMR. They made me feel dreadful. Simvistatin and Atorvistatin alike. Nightly cramps and sciatica. I refused to continue with them! GP said … don’t think statins are for you! 🤣
I was nearly in a wheelchair after about 10 days on half dose! Never again!
I can understand that …..I remember walking up a steepish area in my town and had chest pain & going down my left arm… 😳😵💫… as well as the nightly cramps and sciatica. It was that incident which made me stop the statins …. never again either!
I couldn't walk up the gentle slope to the back door of the hospital after my husband had dropped me off! Nothing steep about it and barely 50m. It was scary!
Very scary yes! And the daily fatigue was overwhelming too! 😬
I didn't identify it as fatigue - just plain weakness and ILL. There are two things that have made me feel worse than I did for 5 years with untreated PMR: atorvastatin and methotrexate! I have never experienced anything like either of them and it has really put me off being willing to change medications now I am pretty well balanced on pred - even if it is a high dose for long term use.
It was asthenia and fatigue and generally feeling ill too. What finished me off as well as the chest, arm incident was the sciatica which was disabling … a friend drove me to the GP, as I was walking on 2 crutches & couldn’t drive! Real fun and games! GP prescribed low dose Amitriptyline 10 mgms which took ages to work!
My daughter who is in remission now with her RA was on MTX. She felt dreadful on it too, very nauseous all morning, and she had 2 littles then and a stressful full time job!
How long did it take for the statin effects to wear off? I was months before I got back to where I'd been the week I started the statin - under protest. But it was a whole new medical situation and I hadn't done my homework about it. Just knew I wasn't keen on statins ...
I am h aving cholesterol and hbc1 blood test soon, I will not take statins after reading this if offered........
It was some years ago now, about 2014 I think.. I think it took about 2 - 3 months to go. When I woke up I couldn’t stand up and my left leg buckled with pain as pain stemmed from left sciatic nerve over buttock and radiated down that leg. I think that after that I asked 1 GP for a cortisone injection which he refused & so went privately and had it! I was constantly icing it to reduce pain along with analgesics. I’m sure that GP’s were encouraged by pharmaceutical companies to promote those wretched drugs , & when I mentioned that to the medical team they denied that suggestion! In defence of my GP who is an excellent one, he does listen and when I said that I wasn’t taking any more of them or the Vagifem (this week!) he said ‘fine’!
As someone else said it is the ratio of good to bad cholesterol that matters, plus triglycerides. I had terrible night cramps, particularly ham strings and general muscle pain with sciatica. I think it was about six months before I felt normal again and the dose I was on had been doubled due to being put on a generic to save my GP surgery money. I absolutely refused to take any more, despite one doctor trying to accuse me of imagining my symptoms! He said I shouldn't listen to all the bad press about taking it. Well, my body told me the answer to that and I am not pestered by my surgery to take it any more. If it suits a patient then take it, but it certainly didn't suit me!
Other than being put on them in the hospial I have never had a fght. I just told them what happened - and my cardiologist is fine about it.
Just to add my two pennyworth here, my doc suggested I took statins, a number of years ago, long before I had even heard of PMR. The first three I tried, (2013) Pravastatin, Atorvastatin and Simvastatin gave me more aches and pains than my OA. Last chance try on Rosuvastatin with which has given me no problems at all. Been on it, low dose 5mg for, I suppose 8 years now. Not given me any problems as far as I know. Whether it does me any good or not is something that is well above my pay grade.
Both my husband and myself stopped years ago with statins and started to take daily red yeast rice capsules with excellent reduction of our cholesterol levels and without the side effects of statins, which were for me tachycardia and exhaustion. This was long before I got PMR. The effectiveness of red yeast rice is proven by clinical studies. We take also daily Q10 ubiquinol because just as statins red yeast rice may cause at night cramps in the legs. Q10 presents that.
Q10 prevents that.
As we know from Pred, the same medication can/does have a totally different effect on different individuals, sometimes we can try an alternative, as in the statins, sometimes we just have to cope and mitigate the effects when/where possible.
The only difference between using red rice and taking a statin pill is that the pill is carefully monitored for dose and purity of the substance, supplements aren't.
The adverse effects are potentially the same - and it is perfectly possible a different statin would have suited you better.
Do you have any idea why you eventually ended up with PMR. I took Simvistatin from 2013 they 2015. During those three years, I experienced the same exact pains (all at once) that I woke up with in June 2020. At the time, different doctors were suggesting rotator cuff surgery, hip replacement, carpal tunnel surgery (while I was taking Simvistatin).
All those pains, stiffness, being unable to hold onto tools, went away within 30 days of quitting Simvistatin. I firmly believe taking Simvistatin for 3 years was the direct cause on my PMR.
My cholesterol levels have always been high, both my good and bad cholesterol. My GP is not too worried. There's a school of thought now that says higher cholesterol in seniors is not a bad thing. However, I'm not an expert.....
Long before PMR I was showing quite high cholesterol levels. I did a bit of research and you are right that there are mixed views about this in older people. Also there are thoughts that the whole cholesterol figure is not the whole story and that ratios of the hdl, ldl and triglycerides are more important.
It's interesting, isn't it? Luckily my triglycerides are within the normal range. Thanks for replying.
Reading all the comments here I’m beginning to think that modern medical ‘miracles’ give with one hand and take with the other!
It's all about balance - but yes, you can't have it all.
Just read in the paper that statins are anti-inflammatory...new one on me! (Dr Moseley)
Have already mentioned that today on another post - if you stop them, your CRP may go up ...
My sister has stayed on 5mg Prednisolone for many years , our Mum stayed at 3mg. Neither took statins, my sister has refused to take them .
I partly blame statins for triggering my PMR. I’ve lowered my cholesterol levels through dietary changes but, to be honest, I think it is less of a problem than we’re led to believe.This link from Diabetes UK suggests that the balance of different types of cholesterol is more relevant. If you divide your total cholesterol number by the HDL number and get a figure less than 4, then your cholesterol is probably fine.
It makes sense what your doctor said to you. Human body makes 7-8mg of cortisol a day, so think of taking low dose of prednisone as hormone replacement therapy. Body is smart enough to not make more cortisol then it needs, so taking pred should not cause any extra of cortisol in your system.
My medical ecords say "no statins." I had swelling of mucous membranes and my left hand swelled to almost twice it's normal size
In their defence, I have been on Atorvastatin for just over a week now and fingers crossed no I’ll effects. There are heart problems on the maternal side of family.My burning problem are heavy day sweats( 6-8 per day) and night sweats! I think it is because I have just come off HRT ( only 1 a week) but it made such a difference. Hope to go back on it next week and hope day sweats at least will go. Been on pred. since last October and only just got day sweats. Also incredibly irritable and weepy, just like menopause! Can cope with heart burn, tiredness, sleepless nights and occasional aches and pains not forgetting weight gain but these sweats and irritability are really getting me down.
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