Statins

I was taken off Simvastatin because it reacts with other drugs and is not usually given to over 65s. I was informed by letter from a pharmacist that it would be changed it my next prescription.

I haven't been told that about Simvastatin, harrigran, but now that you've mentioned it, I will ask the pharmacist.

No side-effect whatsoever and very effective.

The over 65 thing was about 10 years ago.

Terrible side effects! I was put on these about 7 years ago. No side effects at first and then 2 years later lost strength in my back muscles to the point of not being able to live a normal life, and such painful aching arms and shoulders as well.To cut a long story short, I told the doctor I was coming off them. It took a further 2 years to recover the muscle strength and be able to do normal everyday chores. Now I would say it's about 80 per cent recovered. Simvastatin is the cheapest of the statins.
Some people can tolerate it some can't. If you Google Simvastatin and muscle pain you will see that a lot of people have probs with this.My DH has just been put on statins and the doctor said he wouldn't use Simvastatins for him. Be very aware of this, and don't put your aches and pains down to being older as I did initially!

Thanks for your advice everyone.

Rosesarered my doctor said that at the first sign of me not feeling my normal self I must come off them and she will try another type. So I will be at the ready. I will as you say be very wary of putting anything down to ageing.

I am well over 65 and it was given to me. It was checked against my other drugs first for incompatibility. No side effects at all, and my cholesterol level dropped from over 6 to about 3.5.

Fantastic result Elegran- and could make a huge difference in not having a stroke or heart attack. Great ot hear your doctor is open minded NanKate- but the problem is how do you stop looking for any signs of any change?

My dad would only need to read the side-effects in ther package of any drug- and immediately begin to get all of them.

As one medical professor has said in the news today 'If we start prescribing statins for everyone over 40 we're treating life itself as a disease.'

The 'safe' levels for cholesterol have been regularly lowered for years now - makes me wonder how much influence the drug companies have had on this.

I have been taking simvastatin for quite a few years, I get pain in legs, knees, & arms. At one stage I had a horrible sensation in the outer thigh muscle, which I can only describe as being tight or tense. My doctor made me have a liver test ( they just test your blood ) to see if it was caused by the statins, the result was ,my liver was ok, but I'm sure the statin was the cause of the ache. I am thinking of asking the doctor to give me a different statin.

Totally agree that it would be ridiculous to give everyone statins- especially as young as 40, and even over the age of 60, or whatever. But if you have high cholesterol levels (and 6.5 is high) and especially if you have a family history or personal history of other medical conditions that make you more susceptible to strokes or heart attacks- then it seems to make sense and can be a life saver.

As we get older, we do get all sorts of aches and pains we didn't have before, so it can be tempting to blame a drug. As said, it may well be linked- but very few cases are proven to be linked rather than 'anecdotal' hence the change in the BMJ advice. I agree too that it is not easy to balance the advantages to the disadvantages- as with most drugs- a balance as to be sought.

If Simvastatin, dose above 20mg, is taken with Amlodipine it can cause muscle pain and weakness. I was taking both drugs so my statins were changed to Atorvastatin.

I have been advised by my GP to consider taking a Statin but I'm so scared as I cannot tolerate any drug. I then started eating fish, nuts and I drink Benecol every day and yippee my Cholesterol went down the next time I had my blood taken. It's still on the high side however my family history will have some influence on this. I'm trying more exercise too and that also will help. Here's hoping.

I seem to remember last week on Radio 4 that they brought a piece of news that the British Medical Journal (BMJ) have withdrawn an article about statins. They have come to the conclusion that statins don't cause as many side effects as they originally thought.
In their article they quoted 20% and now state that its is no where near that.
I take Simvastatin and have had no side effects.

I remember my Gran complaining about wandering aches and pains and everybody accepted them as a fact of growing old. They called it Rheumatism and everybody had it at one time or another.

Thanks ElliMary the more knowledge I have the easier it will be to make a decision.

As said, been taking statins without any side-effect... but cholesterol tests done yesterday are really good, so am coming off them and will be re-tested again in 3 months. I was advised to go on them as Type 2 diabetes had taken hold- but now it is very well controlled (by drugs and life-style changes) and my blood pressure low, and cholesterol under 4 and good cholesterol very good- there is no point taken them if not necessary.
However, if they can stop a stroke... then I'd be on them again like a flash.

Yes, the BMJ has apologised about mentioning a lot of 'anecdotal' evidence. Which is not to say some people have problems on Statins- but as said my ElliMary, as we get older we do have more aches and pains, quite naturally- and it is 'easy' to attribute such to taking a new drug- when in fact it is very likely, in most cases, to be just a sign of getting on a bit.

My cholesterol reading yesterday at doctors was 6.5, I have been trying to reduce it by diet and he said he wouldn't prescribe statins for me. I hope he is right!

Why not- did he explain why? I must say I would ask more questions, as 6.5 is quite high.

It depends very much on your HDL (good cholesterol level and medical and familial history) as I understand it. (I am NOT medically qualified- this is how it was explained to me by my own doctor).

I don't have a family history. My good was in the ok region and bad was also too high. I will carry on for another three months and go for another test then, but reading this thread has concerned me a little...

Wise- get tested again and next time be prepared to ask more questions about why s/he thinks statins would not be suitable for you. Bonne chance.

As said, personally I'd rather take the chance on a few aches and pains, which is a non proven side effect which the BMJ has recently called 'anecdotal' - then on a stroke, which is a proven 'side'effect' of cholesterol which is too high.

On day 3 of my Statins and so far so good, no reaction at all. I will see where I am in a month.

I def don't want to have a stroke, so am happy to accept the medication as I was 7.6 which is high.

I have been taking Simvastatin for a while now. I was initially prescribed it because of family medical history, and my cholesterol was a couple of points higher than it should be. My 'good' cholesterol was high too. There are pros and cons with statins, stating the obvious, but that's the same for most things these days.

NanKate - hope you don't have any bad side effects. I've been taking statins since 2006 and I don't think I've had any bad side effects. My "bad" cholesterol is down to 1.3 now and my doctor said I should aim for `0.7.
I take 2 different ones, Crestor and Ezetrol.