My cardiologist is trying to get me to take a low dose statin but so far I have said no. I had CAC calcium score test last winter and my score was 272. I also had trans-thoracic ultra sound testing that included my neck carotid arteries that showed "minimal plaque" in both. However I also have a 4.3 cm thoracic aortic aneurysm listed as "mildly dilated" which I will have regular monitoring from here.

His concern is soft plaque and I understand that. I just had my yearly physical and my cholesterol numbers were: TC-96, Tri-69, LDL-44, and HDL 38. I am concerned my cholesterol is maybe even too low considering cholesterol is needed for testosterone. I east 3 eggs a day, drink a lot of whole milk, snack on almonds, and eat red meat/chicken/salmon.

I am going to get me Apo A1 and Lp(a) tested to see what that shows also.

Anyhow I strength train 3 times a week and am concerned about reports of side effects of statins including weakness, fatigue, and muscle pain. I am age 74 6'1" and weigh 185. I also had a stress test done last December and did very well on it going 10.5 minutes with a Duke score of 11 and maximal work rate of 13.4 mets whatever those mean but report said low risk of cardiac events and ECG done at the same time was normal.

Anyone else taking statins and if so what are your thoughts on side effects, if any. Especially interested if anyone with low cholesterol (before taking statin) has been taking statins and what your thoughts are. I understand the benefits but trying to weigh the reward/risk situation for myself. Thanks.

I've been on atorvastatin for about 8 years. My muscle and joint pain and sleep disruption became serious, so I stopped 2 days ago. I'm replacing them with a seriously good diet and aerobic exercise. I see my dr the 29th and will discuss it with him, but my cholesterol wasn't really high anyway. They told me is was prescribed to all diabetics.

Research it but I would never take statins. There are some heart doctors tell in about the ills from statins although most doctors push them.

quote:

Originally posted by Fredward:
They told me is was prescribed to all diabetics.

My former endocrinologist tried this. I'm Type 1 diabetic, but all of my numbers are in the green. "It's preventative," she claimed.

Nope. I'm not taking a med if I don't need it.

quote:

Research it but I would never take statins. There are some heart doctors tell in about the ills from statins although most doctors push them.

This. I took Simvastatin for several years. During that time I developed Type II Diabetes. Quit the Statin & my A1C dropped 1.5 points. I will never take any statin again.

I hate my statin and have tried them all.

My doctor pushed for me taking a low dose statin because of results from a stress test and heart catheterization. After two days I stopped because of joint pain and making me feel light headed. My cardiologist agreed to stop the statin. My blockage was in the blood vessels surrounding the heart, and they don't make stents that small. He suggested taking Lecithin and Krill oil which will help arteries and blood vessels pliable and reduce the amount of plaque buildup.

I know from personal experience that I had different side effects to the two statins that I've been prescribed:

Atorvastatin (Lipitor) - I was on this for about 12 years. Mild joint aches, zero migraines, or other side effects. My HDL was always low, but the LDL could creep up if I got lax on diet and exercise.

rosuvastatin (Crestor) - my PCP switched me over to this. The additional side effects took 6+ months so I didn't put 2+2 together. The joint aches increased so I started down the path of MSM, glucosamine, chondroiton, and turmeric. The real MF'er that I didn't realize was I began to get migraines again. If my stress level increased then I'd begin getting multiple migraines in a week or two. I had a real stressful time in my life and the migraines increased to 11 to 15 per month. My new PCP was also a migraine suffer and referred me to his neurologist that specialized in migraines. The migraines specialist didn't eliminate anything, but instead turned me into a human chemistry experiment for 2 years. Had to work my way through a series of "off-label" inexpensive medications before insurance would let me try drugs actually designed to prevent migraines. One of the drugs had a nasty side effect that actually caused a new type of migraine so I had to go on a drug to counterract that. That counterraction drug tried to shut down my liver and I ended up in the hospital for 3 days. The gastroenterologist took me off everything (prescriptions, OTC, and vitamins) and I began noticing the I didn't have a migraine for a week, then a month, then months, and now it's nearly 7 years. I've slowly added back in the prescriptions and OTCs, and through process of elimination it was the rosuvastatin that triggered the migraines.

I put on some weight, my LDL increased, and the cardiologist wanted me to go on a statin. I refused on the grounds that 11 to 15 migraines a month is not a quality life. My cardiologist fought through the insurance BS, and now I'm on an every other week injectible called Repatha. It's damn expensive but it works and no side effects for me.

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Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.

Do you have faith in your cardiologist? If so, take his advice. If not, get a different cardiologist.

My GP had me on Atorvastatin for several years. Now Crestor instead. I’ve experienced no ill effects with either. All told, I’m a pretty healthy old fart.

Hate em. The only one I would ever consider again would be Repatha injections.

My diabetes doc had me on a strong dose of statin for years, but I dropped it after learning about the sorid history of the statin industry, esp. since I've never had high cholesterol to begin with.

Afterwards I asked my family doctor about my decision and he said it was sound except he recommended a very low dose of 5 mg daily, not for cholesterol, but to protect the lining of my blood vessels, since he said blood vessels are at higher risk with diabetes compared with healthy people.

The diabetes doctor who originally started me on the statin said although my cholesterol numbers didn't indicate a need for a statin, "normal cholesterol will kill a diabetic". That's an exact quote. It wasn't until later I figured that was likely outdated or just plain wrong, perpetuated by the doctors and industry who profit from them.

So I take this low dose to minimize whatever this accelerated degradation to blood vessel linings of diabetics. I've never researched it but probably should, but I trust this particular family medicine doctor since he's a cut above the rest, better knowledge and experience than most, before becoming a physician he was a PhD biochemist in medical research, thinks inductively, has a shit ton of common sense, and actually likes medicine and keeps up with the difference between medicine politics vs medical science, and always has good advice regarding staying alive and as healthy as is reasonably possible.

There are lots of docs like that, but can be hard to find.

A few years ago, my family doctor put me on a low dose of Atorvastatin to get my numbers down. It gave me leg aches that interrupted sleep, I quit taking it for a couple years. At my physical earlier this year, my new Dr said it would be a good idea to try another one to get my cholesterol down. There's a little diabetes history in the family, not affecting me yet. She put me on 5mg of Rosuvastatin for 90 days. It lowered my number by about 90 points. It doesn't cause leg aches like the other, I'm gonna continue on it for now.

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:
Do you have faith in your cardiologist? If so, take his advice. If not, get a different cardiologist.

My GP had me on Atorvastatin for several years. Now Crestor instead. I’ve experienced no ill effects with either. All told, I’m a pretty healthy old fart.

I heard though I don't know, that as we age, our cholesterol is supposed to increase to some degree, and by taking stronger statins we get older, the lower serum level can be harmful. If that's true that makes me more suspect of the stain industry even more, since it seems pretty much all older folks are on them, even though they may be healthier than people half their age. From what I gather the natural increase is protective of the brain and nervous systems.

Cholesterol is needed for everything. So, with a LDL of 44, your doc is thinking a statin will "stabilize" soft plaque? Indeed, an NMR to determine Apob numbers and size distribution is medicine 3.0. Trigs/HDL ratio under 2 is excellent (HDL could be higher). As the video points out, a fat focus diet increases fat traffic but it's the quality of those lipoproteins that matter. Overall metabolic health may be higher up the ladder than just LDL. I don't see anything a statin could do better than you could do with diet, exercise, and lifestyle.

Thanks a lot for the replies so far. I am going to stick to my guns and just say no.

Over the last 20 years or so my GP Doctors have given me statins. I the beginning I started to feel very weak. It got to as point that I wondered how I was going to go to work everyday and do the physical part of my job. I thought about it and decided that I did not have this weakness before I began the Statin. I stopped taking it and within a few weeks began to show a huge improvement in strength. When I went back to the DR. he was horrified that I quit the statin. He prescribed another, this had the same effect as the first. He then prescribed another, same outcome.
I switched Dr. and told him of my Statin problems. He put me on Pravastatin. I tolerated this one better than the others and stuck with it for years.
In the last year I have had a bad pain in my lower back. I hesitated to go see a back surgeon because I thought for sure he would have me headed to the OR. I just recovered after having both knees replaced and did not want a back surgery.
The pain was so bad when I would get out of bed that I could almost not stand it. After about 1 hour of moving around I would get better.
A month or so ago I ran out of the Pravastatin and decided to not refill it for awhile.After about 1 week my back began to feel better.Now a month later my back no longer has pain. I have changed nothing else in my daily routine except to stop the statin.

They wanted to start me on a statin when I was diagnosed with type II diabetes simply because it was recommended and I have continuously refused. Just because we think you should isn't a reason to take drugs.

I have been, and will continue to be a "no" on statins. My latest doctor told me to avoid them.

All I know about statins is that I have two BIL's that were prescribed statins (at different times) and they both quit taking them after about six months.

They both experienced lethargy and dizziness or balance problems. One also complained of severe headaches.

I'd stay away.

I'm on the other side of the question: Always had high cholesterol, no matter my diet/exercise regimen. Was on a statin for 10-15 years with no side effects. Started reading stuff that was really not well researched and stopped for about 6 years. Then I had a heart attack. Back on a statin for the past 6 years and cholesterol went from 200+ to the 90's. No side effects.