Ant one know anything about Statins?

[Mrsdavidcaruso]

My Dad is 64 and in very good health at age 60 he was put on Statins a couple of months later he started having difficulty walking and had to use a stick for someone who lives in a semi rural area of Ryde with only an hourly bus service it was causing him problems as he used to be able to walk into town with no problems. On Sunday there are no buses so he and my Mum couldnt go anywhere at all unless someone gave them a lift

After having tests and being told it was just his age I did some digging
and found out one of the side effects of his Statins was Muscle aches, tenderness, or weakness (myalgia) so he decided to come of them and within 2 months was able to walk again.

Last year he went back to the GP and was given different Statins and told these didnt have the same side effects however again within a month he was back to the stick unable to walk and now with back pains so he came of them again.

Three months on he has only just been able to walk and has decided never to take them again.

Obviously we are worried about his Cholesterol but he is watching his weight and what he eats.

Does anyone have any experience of Statins and perhaps know of one that does not have these serious side effects.

Sorry should have said neither he or Mum drive so its either the bus or walk

My husband is on statins after a heart op, and has dreadful problems dealing with side effects - he's tried 3 or 4 different regular statins, as well as other meds which have the same effect. It is a long slog working your way through the different brands available. Unfortunately high cholesterol is difficult to control through diet alone.

My husband had the same problem when he was put on statins after a stroke and now he refuses to take them. The GP was very unhappy and said he would die without them, but DH is slim and very physically fit for his age and his cholesterol, even without statins, is lower than mine!

Your Dad might need to know exactly how high his cholesterol is. DH was put on them as a knee jerk reaction after a TIA, even though he may not have needed them. You might also want to consider that cholesterol naturally rises with age and yet the figures they ask us to aspire to relate to a healthy person of 25 or so.

If your Dad is basically OK, but just growing older, he will probably have a better quality of life in the long run if he just keeps off as many prescribed drugs as possible.

Rockin I agree I am going to ask him if he had a blood test last year to see how high his cholesterol actually is or they just put him on it due to his age, research now seems to say that people should be put on Statins from age 50 even though they may not have any problems.

Its so good to see him walking again without any problems

Read 'bad pharna' re statins. They interfere with a lot of important pathways and the benefits are equivocal. I have heard lots of bad things about them, both anecdotal and statistical.

Thanks larry so have I especially this
www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2194892/All-50s-statins-regardless-health-history-says-Oxford-professor.html

and this

But current guidelines on their use - and misguided safety fears about muscle pain and memory loss - are restricting the range of people who can take them, he said.

I would like to see that man try and walk up and down hills on sticks just to get to work or take his wife to the beach

As another option try reading the Great Cholesterol Con by M Kendrick... It might make you wonder why he is on them at all.

It is an eye opener.

I also have read "The Great Cholesterol Con" .
Statins will not prolong your life- you will just die of something else instead- likely liver related. The only time they are truly of use is rare cases of hereditary severely high cholesterol.
Statins made my dad really ill- they started to break down his muscles.
Also its not the overall cholesterol level which is important, it's the ratio of LDL to HDL. These levels cannot be interpreted correctly without also testing Triglycerides.
Giving up sugar (and cutting down on saturated fat) and increasing fibre is likely to be as effective at helping to bring down levels.

The other thing is that cholesterol has a protective effect on the brain.

My mum is on statins as other methods she tried in the past just didn't work. However she has also been experiencing the same side effects as your dad. Also, she has actually gained quite a bit of weight since. Now she is on a strict diet and is close to giving up completely

Hi. My DHA went to see a consultant due to very high cholesterol. He was put on astatine but the doctor told him to take coenzyme q 10 if he got muscle pain. What dose was he on? May be worth halving the dose to see if this has less side effects and some effect on cholesterol.

PJ I will find out thanks

Also worth reading Dr John Briffa:

www.drbriffa.com/2014/02/14/its-about-time-some-people-were-straight-with-the-statistics-on-statins/

Lots of misinformation on this thread.

Statins are helpful because they prevent heart disease and stroke. NOT just because they lower cholesterol. So the reason for taking them is because you are at high risk of heart disease / stroke, not because your cholesterol is high, low or whatever. In fact they work just as well irrespective of your cholesterol levels.

Who is at high risk of heart disease / stroke? People who already have heart disease (angina or a heart attack) or a stroke (or a mini-stroke). It does not matter if you are thin, fat, happy, miserable, well meaning, worthy or unworthy. If you had a stroke or heart disease already you are more likely than someone else to have another. You can help by being thinner, more active and so on.

Suggesting someone will die without statins is just plain silly. Statins don't "save your life" they improve your chances. Just like having the brakes checked on your car - it gives you a better chance of not crashing, but it does not mean you can't crash.

Cholesterol and heart disease are not a "myth" and cholesterol lowering does help. There are lots of big studies that demonstrate this. They are not at all "equivocal".

Statins prevent heart disease and stroke in people who have not had heart disease or stroke before:
www.cochrane.org/CD004816/VASC_statins-for-the-primary-prevention-of-cardiovascular-disease

Statins prevent heart disease and stroke in both men and women who have had heart disease or stroke before:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22732744

Take statins and you will reduce your chances of getting heart disease by about a quarter. If you are at high risk that is a quarter of a high risk (a lot). If you are at low risk (young, no other risk factors like diabetes) it is a quarter of next to nothing. Going back to the car example. Wearing a crash helmet would certainly reduce your chances of getting a serious injury when you drive. You might wear a crash helmet if you were about to race your car (high risk of a crash) but you probably wouldn't bother if you were just doing the school run (low risk of a crash).