Pregnancy and Statin

[Kaur123]

Hi Ladies,

This is the first time I've ever posted on here, but I'm doing it in the hope that someone out there can help give me some level of comfort.

I found out that I'm pregnant at 5 weeks (I'm 7 weeks in now). Whilst I should be overjoyed, i've been extremely stressed out as i've been taking 10mg Rosuvastatin (CRESTOR), for the last 3 months and was taking it up until i found out I was expecting. Reading online has really stressed me out with articles about the high risk of baby having birth defects. Speaking to my specialist, he has said that while there are cases of defects, there is no conclusive study - and that the risk is deemed low - this is the opposite to what i'm reading online. I might be being paranoid but i felt like he saw me as a guinea pig as he kept stating how this was a very interesting case.

i just don't know where to get more information. My husband and I are at crossroads, wondering whether we should a) continue with the pregnancy and pray it's all okay, or b) terminate. My understanding is that the earliest we can detect abnormalities is 18-20weeks, at which point I will be so far along that terminating will result in even greater physical and mental pain. anyone know whether there's anything over and above this that we can do? Can we get extra care/monitoring?

Does anyone have any experience of this, any light you can shed. I feel awful right now - I would apreciate any advice.

Please please try not to panic. I took rosuvastatin for years before ttc. I was always advised to stop it 3 months before quitting birth control, but that if I became pregnant by mistake then the risk to the baby was low. There are very few studies because it's unethical to test on pregnant women and children, so the only data is from unplanned pregnancies.
However what there is suggests the risk isn't huge

heartuk.org.uk/files/uploads/documents/huk_fs_mfsO_statinsinpregnancy.pdf

thefhfoundation.org/about-fh/women-with-fh-pregnancy/

I know there is also a study published in the BMJ earlier this year which suggests the risks really aren't that great. It's subscription only or I'd link that too.

In context, 10mg is a fairly low dose (I was on 40 mg which is the max!) And no pregnancy, statins or not, is without risk of the child having a defect of some sort. That's a chance that all mums to be take on.

There are lots of anti statin scare stories on the internet. An awful lot are written by people who have no idea what they are talking about.

Ps. My midwife was a lot more clued up on statins and pregnancy than my gp. If you can't wait until your booking in appointment can you ask your gp to put you in touch with the mw early so you can discuss this and put your mind at rest?

Thanks for your response. I hope you're right about the stories on the internet. The GP wasn't able to help much, and suggested I speak with the pharmaceutical company, however I can't see them having much data on pregnancy success stories, and nor would they be willing to share their internal records with the general public. I'm seeking advice from a midwife now - I hope they can shed some light.

Hi OP. This may be of interest: www.aston.ac.uk/lhs/research/centres-facilities/vascular-research-aston/stamp-trial/

It's about a clinical trial that was testing the use of statins in slowing down pre-eclampsia in pregnant women. The fact that this trial passed an ethics committee should give you comfort.

Thanks Katy, I'll read that

I presume that you have either familial hypercholesterolaemia or diabetes (as a young woman you are very unlikely to have heart disease, which is the other reason for starting statins).

and more stuff on statins in pregnancy

There does not seem to be much evidence that statins cause harm during pregnancy although it seems to be common to advise women to stop taking them. IMHO these days, doctors are very cautious when it comes to prescribing in pregnancy because of the potential to be sued decades later.
e.g. thefhfoundation.org/about-fh/women-with-fh-pregnancy/
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25784692

This recent study (link below) found that women who took statins during pregnancy were slightly more likely to have babies with malformations. But many women who take statins during pregnancy also are diabetic and therefore are slightly more likely to have babies with malformations. After the analysis took account of this the difference disappeared. In other words not much sign that statins caused anything.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25784688

And a review of studies of humans and animals: "In this systematic review of both human and animal studies on the teratogenic effects of statins during pregnancy, we found that most of the available data in fact suggests that statins are unlikely to be teratogenic."
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22390808
[teratogenic = causes abnormal development of baby]