Simvastatin?

[tine]

please can anybody advise me . i have been taking Simvastatin for about three years and have had bad unexplained muscle pain. three weeks ago i had an abcess that had to be treated with antibiotic's and had to stop taking Simvastatin until i had completed the course since restarting them the muscle pain is back as bad as ever thank you

[helvella Administrator]

I posted this answer the other day on a similar question:

thyroiduk.healthunlocked.co...

The Patient Information Leaflets of all Simvastatin products contain the statement below or something very similar:

Contact your doctor immediately if you experience

unexplained muscle pain, sensitivity to pressure or

muscle weakness. This is because on rare occasions,

muscle problems can be serious, including muscle

breakdown resulting in kidney damage; and very rare

deaths have occurred.

You may have a greater risk of muscle breakdown at

higher doses of simvastatin, particularly the 80mg

dose. The risk of muscle breakdown is also greater

in certain patients. Talk with your doctor if any of the

following applies to you:

• you are more than 65 years old

• you have kidney problems

• you have thyroid problems

• you or close family members have a hereditary

muscle disorder

• you are female

• you have ever had muscle problems during

treatment with cholesterol-lowering medicines

called ‘statins’ or fibrates

• if you consume large amounts of alcohol

Consult your doctor if any of the above applies to you

or has applied to you in the past.

medicines.org.uk/emc/medici...

Emphasis above added by me.

Please do what it says. If you cannot see your doctor straight-away, consider calling 111 or whatever you have in your part of the country for advice.

Elsewhere on the PIL it says to stop taking the Simvastatin immediately. Do not think that simply stopping it is sufficient - you need to be seen by someone.

Hope that helps.

Rod

[marram]

I agree with everything Rod says. I was on Simvastatin when my thyroid was under-treated and developed muscle pain, I was so bad I could hardly walk.

I planned to just stop taking it but I went to the doctor and I have never seen him respond so quickly - "Stop taking it, the pain is caused by the Statins."

I had tried others and they were no good either, so I just resigned myself to high cholesterol - it went up to 10 - until I recalled that before I had my thyroxine reduced, I had cholesterol of 4.7.

I went back to the doctor and almost had a fight, but in the end he agreed to a small increase of 25mcg up to 125. Between December and March my cholesterol fell to 8.

By far the best way to reduce your cholesterol is by having the optimal thyroxine doseage to make your metabolism normal for you.

[Marz]

...statins suppress cholesterol in the liver where it is produced. We need cholesterol for the brain and other very valuable processes in the body. VITD and other hormonal transactions. Hypothyroidism just slows down the way cholesterol is processed - and can cause a sluggish liver. Are you taking COQ10 - as statins can also affect that...

I would stick with increasing the T4....

I have read that Statins rarely help women for some reason. For men it is only slightly beneficial after a heart attack...which may well have been caused by low T3 syndrome in the first place !

Hope you feel better soon....

[Fruitandnutcase]

I started Simvastatin a few years ago. I stopped it after a couple of weeks by which time I could hardly walk and felt mega depressed. I would never take Sinvastatin again. The locums doctor I confessed to about having given up said there had been very good results using those little drinks and spreads so I took them instead. I must add that I only took them because I had slightly raised BP as well as slightly raised cholesterol.

Liz

[Tatty10]

I have had the same problems, just been to see my endo who says the muscle pains are not due to the simvastatin, but when i take it the pains are very bad, and when i stop taking it the pains go, after my surgery i will stop taking it.

[helvella Administrator in reply to Tatty10]

It seems odd that they can be so sure that simvastatin is not the cause, if they cannot produce another explanation. Which I assume they cannot.

Rod

[Fruitandnutcase in reply to helvella]

They must know it is simvastatin. I'm sure enough people's will have told them by now. I found the feeling of depression I got when on it harder to track down but sure enough it is there too. I'm sure I read somewhere that there is some sort of a test they can do to tell who will be affected by it before they give it to you.

I think if you are given it because of heart problems it would be worth persisting until you ind one that agrees with you, I think there are other (more expensive) options you can try.

Liz

[Tiggertighe]

Pravastatin might be worth a try, if you haven't already tried it. This statin is hydrophilic (water soluble) and, as such, tends not to cross lipid cell membranes which might account for it's more favourable side effect profile. It's effects tend to be focussed on the liver where cholesterol production is affected. Simvastatin, while having similar benefits, is lipophilic (fat soluble); and, as such, has the potential to cross cell membranes and the lipid barrier to the brain, possibly explaining the often reported sleep disturbance, nightmares and brain fog. While all statins have the potential to cause muscle aches and pains, including the more serious rhabdomyolysis, it is always worth trying different brands within the class before giving up on them. Pravastatin is molecullarly different to the majority of statins and as such may explain it's tolerability.

I agree with LizH, Marz and marram that T4/T3 is the area to get right, after which you may find you don't actually need the statin anyway. However, if you are female, post menopausal, have existing heart/circulatory disease or diabetes then, while the jury remains out - still ........ !! , I would have to say you should take your statin.

What a complex hormone system T4/T3 is; what isn't it implicated in?

Good luck with it all and keep pushing for the best outcome, frustrating as it may be.

[suki65 in reply to Tiggertighe]

articles.mercola.com/sites/...

I have been 2 years on and off statins 3 different ones simvastatin ,rosuvastatin and pravastatin i have had very bad side effects from all so the above article i do now and control my levels i eat between 11am and 7pm down from 12.1 to 6.2 and now to get my muscles and bones back to normal

[suki65]

youtube.com/watch?v=MN7BoE8...(Not working as expected?)

[Shubhra-Rastogi]

Hi, there are a few side effects of side effects of using simvastatin. These might be:

•Muscle pain, tenderness or cramps – Though not of much concern but sometimes causes inflammation and your GP must be informed who might advise a blood test to find out the levels of creatine kinase. If the levels are high then your GP might ask you to stop statins until you are better.

•Headache – This can be relieved with painkiller tablets

•Indigestion and flatulence – Simple meals should be consumed rather than very spicy and rich food

•Feeling dizzy, tingling feelings, hair thinning and hair rash – You should let your GP know if any of these become troublesome

•Forming skin problems, such as acne or an itchy red rash are uncommon side effects of statins and affects 1 in 100 people.