Statins

Considering how much this group of drugs has been "pushed" at the public as a wonder drug the incidence and range of bad side effects seems very high.

If you are in the group of people with very high cholesterol it is a difficult decision to make. I am fortunate in that I have never had high blood pressure or very high cholesterol.

www.amazon.com/The-Great-Cholesterol-Con-Disease/dp/1844546101
This is worth a read and the author is not the only one coming to this conclusion. There are several other books with similar titles.

Yesterday my simvastatin was changed to Atorvastatin.....taking the first one tonight. Hopefully no big changes are ahead of me.

I have been taking Simvastatin for a very long time. Last week I told the GP that I felt utterly exhausted. Constant muscle pain and weakness. Bad dreams. Smelly wee. She told me to stop the statins right away. Bloods to be tested on Friday.

I've spoken to many people who have had horrible side effects, particularly joint and muscle pain/weakness, with statins. I would do my very best not to take them by changing my diet and exercising more.

i have awful dreams, hear loud noises that may not be there wake up doing strange arm movements, clapping etc, dont know whats real or not all since being changed from simvastatin to atorvastatin. worse i am considering buying a mobility scooter due to complete muscle loss leaving me totally housebound. have given up seeing doctors as they say if i stop statins i will have stroke and die

DH never used to dream ( or did not remember) now on Statins, he has bizarre dreams which he regales me with every day!
About ten years ago I took Simvastatin, and after two years had the most horrendous neck and back pains and muscle loss, it ruined that phase of my life for the next year and a half.Came off them altogether and refuse to have any more. It took time, but I did regain most of the muscle strength.
Simvastatin is the worst culprit for this, but is old and cheap and GP's therefore tend to use it.

That's a bit reassuring Jaxie. My dreams are crazy. I avoid watching anything in the least bit scary in the evening as my dreams can be rather noisy according to my long suffering OH!

Just remember that one explanation of dreaming is that we go mad in our sleep so that we stay sane in our waking hours.

Strange that the OP was posted at this time. I have been taking Simvastatin for a few years now. I get phases of dreaming each night I can go several weeks without dreams then I'll have them nightly for a week or so. Fortunately they are not scary.
I'm in a 'dreaming phase' this week. I've always put the phases down to whether or not I have a lot on my mind, which I do at the moment.

DH is on Simvastatin and has been for years- no adverse side effects for years - I'm the one with the vivid dreams which I put down to generalised anxiety.

Thanks for all your comments, it's reassuring to know that I am not going potty. It was while we were on holiday recently that I shouted out in my sleep, then hoped the nearby guests didn't think funny goings on were, well, going on!

My DH has terrible nightmares, and cries out with the most awful sound. He stopped them for a time and they immediately ceased and began immediately when he started. At the moment he isn't taking them as he wants to see how his blood measures up in the hope that he won't need them, as we were listening to the radio about a drug the troops take (maybe anti-malarial but can't remember) which also gave them nightmares. The USA have stopped it as they considered too high a risk psychologically, which made us wonder whether this may also be a risk with statins.

Yes, me too, on Statins and wake up with a feeling of foreboding and heart hammering, but don't usually remember the dreams.
The other side effect is weak muscles, or is it that I am 80.
Anyone else with weak muscles.

I have been on Simvastatin for 6 months now and dream vividly every night and what's more I remember them, but mostly they are not unpleasant, more nostalgic , harking back to happier times in my life. So maybe it is getting older more than the meds. Last night I dreamt about passing my Godmother's house and she died more than 50 years ago and I haven't thought of her for ages.

It's never too late in life to launch a new career harrigran

Yes happened to me too, I could write whole horror movies.

I do have those dreams sometimes too, and only recently. But I am not on statins- so could it also have something to do with getting older and sleeping not so soundly?

Yes, that was one of the several side effects that I had.