Statins - again!

My cholesterol began to creep up as I got older. When it got to 6.7 I agreed to try Simvastatin, but suffered from awful muscle pain so came off them and tried to manage my cholesterol level with diet. However, last year my cholesterol was 7.8, so this time I tried Atorvastatin and, so far, things are good. My cholesterol is now 3.4 and I have had no side effects from it. Good luck with it.

try Co Enzyme Q10 ,my husband takes it in the most easily absorbed form of Ubiquinol ,its available from Amazon ,he was put on statins after a heart attack 5 years ago and the side affects were so bad we researched alternatives...then we spoke to his doctor and gave him the research we'd done.He's happy for my husband to stay on the COQ10 ,his cholesterol level has remained the same as with the statins ..Its a substance your body makes naturally until your 40's so you are only replacing whats missing

Thanks for that idea. I will try the statin for a while and see if I get side effects (none so far on one tablet!) - at least that gives me something else to try.

I have been prescribed statins, Avastatin, as I have recently been diagnosed with peripheral arterial disease, narrowing of the arteries........so far so good, with no side effects.

A friend had simvastatin and suffered aches and pains plus poor sleep and nightmares.
I've taken atorvastatin for several years and have had no side effects.
Worth asking to try an alternative rather than giving up?

I was prescribed avastatin three months ago. My cholesterol was 5.7 but because heart disease is strongly associated withRA my consultant And GP said statins were a must. I've been side effect free but haven't yet had the cholesterol retested. I was fed up about the statins but have discovered several friends who have been on them years, with no ill effect.

I have recently been diagnosed with familial high cholesterol,the genetic form.My cholesterol had been high for some years and the GP had prescribed Atorvastatin,which caused unbearable side effects,then tried Simvastatin,which wasn't much better.The consultant at the Lipids clinic has now prescribed Rosuvastatin and taking them every other day for 3 months has brought my levels down a lot.I saw him again last week and to get the levels down further,he advised me to start taking it every day. No side effects so far.
My main point is that if you think you have the genetic type of high cholesterol,it is important to ask your GP to refer you to a Lipids Clinic for testing.It has been explained to me that the faulty gene responsible is not affected by diet or other factors like smoking,etc.You can eat healthily or eat fats,etc.,it will not affect your levels at all.The only treatment is the statins and they will try to find the one that suits you best.Also,if it is genetic,your siblings,children,grandchildren all need to be tested-the best age to start treatment is under 10 years old.Anyone with this genetic type is at high risk of heart problems and strokes throughout their lives,so it is really important to find out and get tested.
Sorry to ramble on but having found all this out recently,I realise why my dad died of a heart attack at only 64 years old and that I am lucky to have made it to 62 without lifelong treatment.Now I am receiving treatment,I have a better chance of making it past my dad's age.

I have familial high cholesterol and have been on statins for many years. I was told that statins can lower your natural levels of CoQ10 and this may increase the risk of side effects of statins. I take a CoQ10 supplement every day and I have no problems.

Thank you for your helpful messages. I will stick with it and see what happens - it is very clear that I cannot alter it with diet, as mine has been a perfect diet for lowering cholesterol for decades, but it still creeps up.

I think I have some Ubiquinol somewhere that my OH tried a while back - I will ferret it out.