Any doctor / pharmacist available ?

[Frostine]

Hello - Sorry for the long post but want to give as much info as possible.
Six years ago I had a TIA , was prescribed 75mg of Aspirin only , no other prescriptions. Forward to now , had BP taken at Drs which was raised, given another appointment for 2 weeks to check , still high. Then had a 24 hour bp monitor where average was 132/82 . Had a telephone appointment with doctor ( doctor but training to become GP ) he looked at my records and saw my past health and was surprised I was not on Statins.
He mentioned about muscle pain as a side effects and said some people need prescription tweaked to get correct dosage. On collecting tablets surprised to find myself on maximum dosage 80mg ( Atorvastatin )Read patients info sheet and it states people usually start on low dose and work up .
Phoned surgery , told not to take and would receive phone call to discuss . Had a call from the health team ( a pharmacist ) who says to take the 80mg .
However , I've looked online and everything points to starting lower , and even potential harm by going onto high initial dose . Tried phoning Dr surgery, but told to call back tomorrow ( queue system often put you at caller 20 = an hour on hold / doesn't guarantee a Drs appointment . I am 60 .
Advice if possible . Thank you.

Hello Frosty. I too had a mini stroke some years ago and was put on a baby asprin. Then they tried me on various statins but they all gave me muscle pains, so I didn't take them. Then I was put on a Fibrate which sort of works the same but without the side effects....perfick!

It certainly is standard practice nowadays to start everyone who has had a confirmed stroke or TIA on a statin regardless of your cholesterol level as simply being on a statin has a protective effect against future events.
While the guidelines do give a range of possible doses (with 80mg atorvastatin being at the top end of that range), it certainly seemed to be the case when I previously worked on the stroke wards that the stroke consultants would default to 80mg starting dose for everyone. If you are worried though talk it through with your GP, you need to be happy with your medications.

Bumping

80mg is standard in most post stroke TIA guidelines/protocols in hospitals I believe. 20mg is a dosage for primary prevention,, so aiming to prevent a disease, as you have already had an episode your disease risk will be higher, and treatment given accordingly.

I’m hoping I can manage to attach an example of a stroke/TIA pathway to demonstrate (haven’t done a pic before). You’ll see it advises 80mg atorvastatin.

Thanks to everyone , I've managed to have a telephone call from GP to clarify. 80mg was taken this morning. Thanks again for input.