Statin side effects

[Brinny]

Has anyone had side effects from statins 10mg dose, feeling sick headache. Dizzy spells .

Are they listed as side effects in the leaflet that will have been inside the box?

Not me but my husband takes Atorvastatin and has done for years. He was on Simvasatin previously. Neither have given him any side effects.

Yes I read them the doctor has told me to stop so none taken today, but symptoms still have, I think they take a while to leave the system. I was curious to find out how common this is.

My husband is on them but 80mg and he to has no ill effects from them, it must be me lol

I was on Atorvastatin and was getting cramp so bad in the night I was screaming. It's one of the side effects. They gave me quinine tablets and they made me sick. I'm on a non statin now, Ezetimibe and no side effects.

I took 10mg atorvaststin for a couple of weeks and had so many side effects I had to stop taking them. I changed my diet and most loads of weight instead.

The dr said he woukd try me on another but due to be sensitive , Benecol each day which I have anyway . Thankyou for responding.

That is relief to know, I am 8 stone but cholestrial was 6 and goid cholestrial low , its getting the balance .thankyou for your reply , its just knowing I am not the only one with such awful side effects. They make you feel just horrible.

And spelling lol

I have been on statins for 14 months then, because of an admin error, I ran out before a new prescription could be issued. And immediately began to feel less tired, more energetic, with the pains around finger and wrist joints that I had been experiencing, greatly reduced. I then refused to take any more statins.

Separately, or so I thought, I was experiencing worsening foot pain, struggling to find comfortable shoes and having to go up and down stairs like a toddler because bending my toes was so painful. I spoke to my GP who referred me for an ultrasound scan and an X-ray. In the 5 weeks since then, when the only change has been stopping taking statins, my foot pain has greatly reduced and my mobility has increased. I shall not be going back on them, no matter what. The effects builtup very gradually which is why I didn't recognise what was happening as side-effects.
Oh and my eczema has improved too.
.

That is great you feel better, I never wanted to go on them but they insisted it would get my levels down to 4.9 instead of 6. Yet pharmacist at G.P surgery said Benecol and 1 table spoon of olive oil daily would help reduce cholesterol, but the nausea, headache, dizziness and feeling rubbish was awful as usually I am so active , due to feeling so dizzy I have not driven so really these Statins have played havoc .thank you for responding .

I had dreadful side effects on Simvastatin but since switching to Astorvastatin it's been much better.

I had really dry eyes to the point where I couldn’t wear my contact lenses very often, and after a while, very painful joints in my fingers and wrists. Put up with it for a year, as it took me a while to link the symptoms. Dry eyes isn’t documented. Had a long conversation with the clinical pharmacist and changed to Rosuvastatin which seems to be better although I don’t take them every day. It took about a month for the Atorvastatin side effects to diminish. I think I possibly need to increase the frequency but am worried about the joint pain starting again.

It was the Astorvastitin I had been taken the last 3 weeks , I dont think I will take any other types and try and control with cholestrial lowering drinks. Thank you for responding. 🙂

Farting and weight gain but cholestorol good so you have a choice.

No farting , I m only curious as to other people's experiences on statins as agreed with my G.Ps pharmacist olive oil which I have taken anyway daily but the benecol I have started , if I can do it the natural way I will , or a non statin lowering cholestrial script.thanks for responding

Atorvastatin made my head feel all cloudy and gave me terrible insomnia. Of course the GP touted the line that it might not be the statins so I am having a month off and I already feel better.

I was on 20mg but my cholesterol is bad (genetic).

I was started on 20mg Atorvastatin last week and called the doctor yesterday in desperation because for the whole 9 days I’d been taking it I had sinus pain, really runny nose, constant sneezing and post nasal drip that irritated my throat so much it caused a coughing fit so severe that I was sick. No cold remedies helped at all (I wondered if I’d picked up a virus), then I looked into the side effects of the statin. Doc told me to stop taking it and gave me Rosuvastatin 5mg to start taking in 2 weeks as it doesn’t have cold symptoms as a side effect. I just hope the fact that I’d not been on Atorvastatin long means it will be out of my system soon as I still feel horrendous. I don’t want to be on a statin but as a type 1 diabetic they insist you go on one after the age of 40.

I hope it works for you @TheFutureWillBeConfusing- the Gp is putting me on the Rosuvastatin next too. Apparently the atorvastatin is lipophilic (fat) and the rosuvastatin is hydrophilic (water) so they do work in different ways and most people who can’t tolerate atorvastatin can tolerate rosuvastatin so let’s hope!

How quickly did the dry eyes appear. I have recently started taking atorvastatin and my eyes are so dry now that I struggle to open them when I wake up, I have to rub them to get any moisture going.

Thanks @Booooooooom, I hope it works for you too!

I refused to take them. Doc not happy but I just won't. My triglycerides are well within range and HDL and LDL just outside. I won't be pushed into it. We all need cholesterol to ward off Alzheimers, something to do with the brain needing fats. Don't quote me, I am no medic!

They can raise liver enzymes and cause rhabdomyosis, and other bad stuff too. It's a balancing act, but I am not willing to chance it. I'll just watch what I ingest and do my best that way. We are pushed into a lot of stuff and I am not sure all of it is absolutely necessary. There are other risk factors to take into account in the overall picture, not just a statin score.

Atorvastatin plus amlodipine (BP meds) made me feel really unwell, severe aching joints and muscle pain, didn’t put the two together as started taking 4 weeks apart initially as advised by GP and the side effects started about 6 months later but as this was during covid lockdown didn’t contact GP.
A chance comment by someone who had a lot of side effects from taking statins made me investigate. Info
leaflet advised not taking with amlodopine so cut out those
meds and found SE stopped, then tried amlodopine alone, no probs.
Taking both meds made me feel ill again, flu like symptoms, so contacted GP who disagreed.
Repeated the combos again and then forcefully told GP the info sheet advised against taking them together due to SE and she reluctantly changed the BP meds to Ramipril. No problems at all with that combo!

The GP should also check your QRisk
score as it’s not just the cholesterol
levels but many other factors.
You can do this yourself.
Statins are not the holy grail; diet and exercise are also important.
Some people think that taking statins means you can eat high fat foods but they are likely to cause plaque in the blood vessels.
I fought against high cholesterol
with diet and exercise for years but as it continued to increase to 8 agreed to medication, maybe too late as the following year suffered a clot in a vein in the eye causing permanent sight loss.
It’s not as simple as Im not taking statins, it’s a much bigger picture.
https://qrisk.org/