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Statins

I'm on Simvastatin (40mg) which have some nasty side effects, like cramps and muscle spasms. Can you reommend an alternative?
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Avatar universal
Do a MedScape search on Statin Adverse Effects: Nonmuscle Statin AEs. This is an article from the American Journal of Cardiovascular Drugs 2008; 8(6) 373-418. It says "Muscle is highly aerobically dependent and selectively vulnerable to mitochondrial pathology. However, given the evidence for mitochondrial vulnerability and pathology related to statin AEs, it merits note that other organs - including brain, liver, and kidney - can be affected by mitochondrial pathology as well, and we suggest mitochondrial mechanisms may also be involved in a range of nonmuscle statin AEs. The occurrence of failure of other organs in concert with rhabdomyolysis is noteworthy in this regard, and multiple organ injury or failure has been reported in the context of statin rhabdomyolosis. Cognitive problems are second only to muscle problems among patient reports of statin AEs."

This article received 4-1/2 stars out of five from other health care providers.

I really don't think the people sick or dying of statin-induced rhabdomyelosis give a hoot about how rare the problem is: the point is that THEY have it and that some doctors don't even recognize it for what it is and get at the root cause. I had leg aches while I was on Simvastatin again and my local doctor said take Tylenol; my Mayo Clinic cardiologist said to get off the Simvastatin and the aches went away. He has given me alternatives to statins and says these should work for me. He is not only a cardiologist but also a noted researcher in cell biology.
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976897 tn?1379167602
I think I should add that statins do help many millions of people world wide with no ill effects. I think it's only those who have had their cholesterol lowered too much that suffer most side effects. When we start statins, the Doctor has blood tests done and it seems the lower the LDL the better to them. If they are the same as the rest of the population, they seem to want to drive the numbers even lower. The problem of course is that cholesterol is not the primary cause of heart disease, it's an unfortunate side effect. This is why we see many people with higher than average cholesterol getting no artery disease at all, or people with low cholesterol developing atherosclerosis. Maybe more emphasis should be put into studies to prevent arteries becoming damaged, preventing cholesterol from causing problems.
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976897 tn?1379167602
This is obviously a problem which the large drug companies are aware of  themselves because it states on the instructions about this issue. It warns if you get muscular pains to stop taking the medication immediately and get to a Doctor. I asked my Doctor a very simple question two months ago. "If I had muscle pains from statins and had to change to a different brand, who do you report this to?" Her reply was nobody. So I keep wondering how research gets its information. With millions of people in the UK alone on Statins, all of these would not be evaluated in any trial. Everytime a Doctor changes a patient to a different brand in the states, does the Doctor have to report this to somebody?
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159619 tn?1707018272
COMMUNITY LEADER
Rhabdomyolysis is a very rare side effect of statins occurring in .044% of those that use a high dose statin. Rhabdomyolysis is prevalent in as high as 28% of the general public and in double blind studies muscle pain was reported in equal levels by the control group on statins and the control group on a placebo. Simply put it is a very rare side effect and one that is checked for on a regular basis by ones doctor to determine if there is an issue.
As I said before, Dr. Golomb has only published papers on her opinion. She has been trying to complete a study since 2002 and still has not completed the participant group. As soon as she comes up with her own study and not just pointing fingers at other studies, she is only stating her opinion.
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976897 tn?1379167602
I have very high cholesterol without medication. I take lipitor (atorvastatin) which is the one with the lowest recorded number of side effects. I have been taking 40mg for over three years with no problems at all and my cholesterol numbers are excellent. With the symptoms you describe you should get to your Doctor quickly to change over to another alternative because muscle damage can result which can end up being irreversible.
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Avatar universal
Your symptoms could mean rhabdomyelosis, which is very serious. Have you tried lowering your cholesterol by natural means? My cardiologist at Mayo Clinic agreed with me that I was right in going off statins right away (I presented facts and figures and time lines) and suggested that I take plenty of fish oil, watch my diet, keep my weight down, and take niacin (he withdrew that suggestion when I told him a previous physician had suggested niacin as an alternative but what it did was cause serious diarrhea, which is a sign of niacin toxicity).
I stopped the statin a local physician prescribed a year ago (I got the same symptoms you have) without asking her and when I next see her I plan to refer her to "Statin Adverse Side Effect: A Review of the Literature and Evidence for a Mitochondrial Mechanism" by Bearice Golomb of the U of California at San Diego and if she won't listen, I'm changing doctors. I realize now that I'm on supplementary oxygen because of being on a statin for a measly year or two back in the late 1980's and ditto my peripheral neuropathy. I wish I'd caught on earlier!
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Avatar universal
I started on simvastatins 40 mg every night about 5 months ago. I suffered the same pains and spoke to my cardilolgist. He checked my cholesterol again and found that my good cholesterol level had fallen below the base figure. He changed me from simvastatin to Crestor Rouvastain 10mg each night, and they don't give me any side effects and my good cholesterol has started to rise again. The one thing I have learnt is to take them before i go to sleep at night.

Cheers gyp
Helpful - 0
214864 tn?1229715239
Considering your current cholesterol levels, do you think that you could try splitting the 40mg pills and take 20mg per day? This is what I do. I went for years not being able to tolerate any statin, but as of the last 10 months I have taken Lipitor for almost 5 months, but had to quit due to serious side affects.

I am currently taking 20mg of Zocor per day. I will have my cholesterol tested pretty soon.

Always talk to your doctor before changing dosages. I just "suggest" things like this to my cardiologist, and most times he agrees.
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