Simvador (Simvastatin) & abdominal distress, please help

[karma_train]

Hi,

My name is Charlie, I'm a 52 year old first time visitor to this fine forum from the UK, please be kind

Over the past few Months I have been suffering from increasingly severe bouts of stomach upset. My symptoms begin with gas being produced in vast amounts which causes my gut to swell up alarmingly, this in turn leads to agonising cramp style pains which debilitate me entirely. Sometimes I wish I could just plunge a knife into my guts to get shot of the trapped wind but as this wouldn't be a particularly life enhancing remedy, I end up parked on the lavatory for hours on end, trying to pass that which will not be passed! Eventually the pain will subside, usually after about four or five hours and something approaching normal life can then be resumed. These attacks seem to be occurring on pretty much a weekly basis.

Naturally I visited my GP and shared all the gory details with her, she diagnosed me as having IBS which as I'm a pretty stressed out kinda guy, I accepted as being highly probable. However the anti-spasm drug she gave me has no effect on my distress what so ever, so now I'm not so sure about her diagnosis.

Quite a few friends of mine suggested that I might have a wheat intolerance but I can eat a whole bakery and the symptoms won't occur, my stomach problems seem, to me at least, to have a rhythm all of their own which is regardless of diet or life events.

So I started thinking, if it's not IBS or an allergy, what in heaven's name could it be? what am I doing different to when my guts was behaving itself.

My memory is somewhat shady when considering events of over a year ago but it was about that time I began taking Simvador (Simvastatin), I had particularly high bad cholesterol which diet hadn't affected so a 40mg tablet of the above was prescribed once nightly.

If I recall correctly, I seem to remeber that at about the same time as taking the Statin I became increasingly flatulent (not something I made notes of in my diary!) again, if I recall correctly, about six Months into taking the drug, I started getting bad bouts of stomach pain, nothing like now but bad enough to mention to my GP, from then on the severity and the frequency of the attacks has increased until today, as I said, these interludes happen about once a week and are completely debilitating.

When one Googles the common side effects of Statins, high on the list is always, gas, bloating, nausea, stomach upset, abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhea, etc, all of which I can hold my hand up to and say, "been there, done that, made a mess on the tee-shirt!" and yet when I searched this fine forum in the hope of finding some corroberative evidence, it appears that nobody else seems to be suffering from the same symptoms.

So dear forum members, have I gone mad on top of my gastric disorders? is there a chance that what I am going through could be down to the Statins I am ingesting on a daily basis? Please, if any of you have suffered on a similar scale, be so kind as to let me know.

I have a further GP's appointment next week and I just know that she will tell me to not be silly, it's IBS and keep taking the tablets! but if my 'gut feeling' is correct and the Statins are the root cause of my constant grief, having a few supportive statements from the kind people here would be incredibly useful.

Many thanks for reading this epistle, I truly appreciate it.

Kind regards from the UK, Charlie.

[Cat Mom2]

I am shocking myself by not jumping on my usual bandwagon against statins but it could very well be IBS. I suffered like you with the exact same symptoms for over a year. It was so bad, I ended up in the emergency room a lot. Only after I came down with dirreah for 6 weeks did they figure out I had "colitis" (That is what it was called back in those days.) I had to get on a srtict bland diet for many, many years, cut out sodas, any form of caffene, nothing fried, and nothing raw and that included juices. Could not eat ANY KIND kind of roughage.. Later, in expiermenting with getting off that bland diet, I found it took exactly 3 days for the offending food to make me pay for eating it. My advice is to keep a journel of what you eat every single day (by DATE) and see if that is your case. I was put on vitamin E for another problem I was having and found it helped my colon more than the problem I had and was told to take it for.

Fast forwards to statin drugs and my quitting them and taking the supplements suggested here for cholesterol, I am able now to eat things I have not been able to eat in almost 40 years! My colitis/IBS is GONE!

Now, I am getting on my anti statin bandwagon.. It could very well BE the statin drugs causeing this, it attacks everything else and pre statin drugs, I never had any polyups when I had my colon scopy, on statin drugs they found FIVE and all were precancerous.. I am looking forwards to my next one!

I had a long list of gastric problems while I was on statins, gas, bloating, indigestion that went into horriable acid reflux that would wake me up at night with a mouthfull of acid/vomit.... HOURLY!

[vipergg22]

Well I can tell you when I was taking statins they caused me all kinds of stomach problems . There was very few foods I could eat for dinner that after dinner I had better be near a bathroom because dinner would run right thru me . This was statin caused , very soon after stopping statins this all went away and I can eat anything I want now without any problems . My brother in law had the same type of stomach problems on statins also . I say stop them for awhile and see . I think you will see improvements within a month or so .

[vipergg22]

PS Charlie , its your body don't let the doctor push you around . you don't have to take anything you don't want to . They will try to give you the old scare tactics about stopping them but don't let that stop you . follow your "gut" instinct , no pun intended . I think you are correct in your assumption because I too have been there done that . It has gone away completely since stopping statins . Take the time to go thru this site and all the info it provides it will open your eyes to the BS that pharm companies are trying to hoist on people.

[karma_train]

Thank all you so much for taking the time out to read my post, I really appreciate it, I truly do.

The thing that I'm finding ultra-curious is that all these gastric problems come pretty high on the list of published side effects and yet I have gone over this forum with a fine toothcomb and can find little mention of that particular branch of misery!

However, having read of the other Statin related issues, I'm pretty sure that stopping them is a good idea whether it solves my current problems or not.

If any more of you have tales of hideous Statin induced gut traumas, please post them, misery loves company as the saying goes and it might just help make my GP listen for once!

Thanks again for the considered replies, you are very kind people

[garystil]

Hi Charlie,

I had extemely nausea, diarrhea, dizziness, painful bloating, couldn't fart, couldnt tolerate fructose and was losing plenty of weight.

Within a month of stopping zocor, almost all my symptoms had gone.

http://www.spacedoc.net/board/viewtopic.php?t=555

Stop taking that crap and you will be fine.

Cheers,
Gary

[adec]

Hi Charlie, and welcome to the forum. I hope you continue to read, post, and share your statin recovery story so others can benefit.

I will take the counterpoint to Dee's on the whole statins irritable bowel and other gastric intolerances issue. Statins can eventually distrupt enzyme and hormone manufacture/regulation necessary for digestion and energy production. I believe part of the solution to statin-induced digestive disorders/intolerances is healing damage to the liver and pancreas, using milk thistle as one example, and by increasing good digestive bacteria and enzymes.


I would start on these supplements as soon as possible:
***1. Milk Thistle 600mg daily
***2. Probiotic containing friendly bacteria such as: L. acidophilus, L. casei, L. rhamnosus, L. plantarum, B. bifidum.
***3. Digestive enzymes for healthy pancreas/intestine function containing such ingredients as: Pancreatin, protease, lipase, papain, bromelain etc.


=============================================================================================
Now here is the technical stuff. Statins most definitely cause disruption and inflammation of the liver. The liver produces bile, which aids digestive function and efficient lipid emulsion. Bile is especially important for the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins. It further seems any vitamin, plant, herb that inhibits HMG-CoA along the mevalonate pathway can create further intolerances. This cross reactivity can then trigger symptoms similar to statin side effects. The difference being that statins contain inactive lactones or mevalonolacones which decrease CoQ10, while these supplements such as vitamin C, magnesium, aged garlic, cinnamon etc. do not. I write this for anyone believing all HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors are created equal. Being these supplements act more like regulators of HMG-CoA rather than true inhibitors.

The liver plays an especially valuable glandular role in metabolism, including storage of glycogen and plasma protein synthesis. Eventually enzymes and proteins are chased from the liver (where they are most commonly associated) and diverted to the blood stream. These enzymes work as a catalysis transferring from vital amino and fatty acids. A deficiency in these enzymes causes major disorders of glycogen metabolism. The worst case becomes an inability of the liver to produce glucose just before major liver failure.

We already know that CoQ10 is greatly diminished by statins. Statins decrease melavonate synthesis, which takes with it CoQ10, squalene, and isoprene production. CoQ10 is responsible for a great majority of cellular energy production through ATP. However, this same metabolic pathway is responsible for the production of acetyl CoA, which is tied to the metabolism of carbohydrates and fats. The citric acid cycle is further responsible for converting all carbohydrates, fats, proteins into usable energy.

With this cellular energy process broken, the pancreas is indirectly affected in its ability to produce insulin. Yes, what most people don't realize is how statins can cause pancreatic inflammation and rot, leading to pancreatis. Ordinarily this is a disease strongly associated with disease of the gall bladder (gallstones) and/or alcoholism/drug abuse, now perhaps associated with statins.

The pancreas is the main digestive gland in the body responsible for major digestive enzymes. These enzymes are capable of breaking down triglycerides into fatty acids, peptides into individual amino acids, degrades proteins, major nucleic acids, starches, carbohydrates, and of course glycogen etc. Insulin acts on liver cells to stimulate the action of several important enzymes, including the enzyme responsible for converting excess glucose into glycogen.

It's also pancreatic insulin that's needed to decrease glucose by synthesizing fatty acids in the liver. A disruption of this process could eventually lead to diabetes. With these functions inhibited/broken/reduced a backlog of nutrition is likely created, which further reduces cellular nutrition... and the vicious cycle continues indefinitely.

[adec]

Here are some anecdotal user comments for NSI's Mega Digestive Enzyme formula, in particular.... just one of many in this class of supplements.

"I have had digestive issues my entire life...more so now. I went back to a vegetarian lifestyle which helped but taking the digestive enzymes has kept me from the painful bloating certain foods cause. I am pleased with my purchase."

"I have been using digestive enzymes (along with other products) for several years to help combat IBS. My favorites were by Enzymatic Therapy or Garden of Life, but the price - oh, my! This products delivers the same benefits and for a great price."

"I used to have a hard time staying asleep at night due to digestive problems. This product has helped me enormously, I cannot otherwise have a restful sleep."

"I take these enzymes with every meal. I have struggled with candida albicans overgrowth and intestinal parasites, so the enzymes have been very useful at helping me get the most out of my food. Perfectly clear skin has been another pleasant result of taking these enzymes."

"I will never go without this product and probiotics which help a LOT with my digestive system."

"I take this before meals and found that my overall digestive health has been improved 100%. A must for people without gallbladders!"

"I have been searching for an effective yet easy way to increase motility and absoption for my intestinal tract. This product seems to be doing the trick. I recommend this for everyone as all of us do not get what we need for the most important organ of our bodies."

[karma_train]

Again I just want to tender a hearty thank you for all the contributions made to my thread, you are indeed generous people to a fault.

I have to say that garystil's advice, ie, "stop taking that crap and you'll be fine" was the pearl which I will carry with me for the next few weeks, I sincerely hope you're right mate, I also hope that since you stopped taking the stuff you have been able to fart in an efficient manner, it is every mans divine right after all

So thanks again and if there are any more tales of abdominal purgatory out there please post them, every little helps!

Charlie.x

[adec]

There aren't many things on which I would completely bet my life. Without any reservation or hint of hyperbole, high-dose statins and their clinical use as an insidious pharmaceutical poison is definitely one of them.

[vipergg22]

Go to the post by "ironic and read the second businessweek article "Do statins do any good " . A great article and what we have been saying all along . People the word is finally starting to get out about the whole false hypothesis about cholesterol lowering . This article will really get things out there along with the failed vytorin tests.

[garystil]

Keep us informed Charlie, but don’t expect any changes for a month.

If you are having trouble having a bowel motion at present, balance yourself and SQUAT on the toilet seat. Rock gently from side to side (each knee should alternately press your tummy as you rock).

If you’re bloating, you might be able to expel some air by lying on your back and bringing both knees up. Refer “gym fartâ€

[SusieO]

I had minor stomach issues prior to taking statins and they have continued long after statins and have also gotten worse after statins.

I just got out of the hospital and found out I have ulcers and diverticulosis. I did some research on natural healing and found I should eat raw cabbage or cabbage juice as well as taking the supplement Deglycyrrhizinated Licorice. This is all ready in two supplements that I take and it had helped, but my Wellness doctor cut back on them thinking I didn't need as much - I guess I need more as I had been doing really well until last week.

Also, try buying some Manuka Honey - it is only found in New Zealand and is quite expensive. Look it up online and read about all the things it can cure - I started taking it yesterday and hope it will give me relief.

I wish you all the best and most of all "stop taking that crap" statin!

[garystil]

Susie,

I had ulcers about 10 years ago and resolved them by drinking a cup of raw cabbage juice before each meal. The juice must be drunk immediately the cabbage is juiced.

I continued doing this it for 10 days. All symptoms were gone on the 8th day and I have not had a recurrence.

I also drank chilli tea (add one teaspoon of chilli powder to hot water). It burns the throat on the way down but its soothing for the ulcer.

Cabbage juice and chilli tea; now there’s an appetising duo.

Of course, it goes without saying – stop taking that crap, before you try anything different.


Cheers,
Gary

[bucho]

I had severe diarrhea for my last 6 months on Zocor (I was on 20 mg daily for over 3 years). Also chronic bloating. Shortly after dinner I would need to be near a bathroom as the "liquid" would soon begin to flow. In the final 3 months I experienced severe upper stomach pain nightly that, along with an overabundance of adrenaline, would keep me awake until 4 AM every night.

The final two months made the above seem like paradise. I would awaken at night confused and disoriented and walk into walls -- in my home where I have lived nearly 20 years. My heart rhythm fell apart and I would awaken with bradycardia, i.e., a heart rate of about 30 bpm (missing every other beat) and fighting to stay conscious. My entire body felt like it was pulsing 24-7, with waves pulsing at about 4 pulses per second. See my past posts for the other dozen bizarre physical, mental, and emotional aspects of my statin-induced disintegration.

I now think this was caused by the digestive problems, which had put my entire body of cells into a starvation regime and undermined every aspect of my physical and mental functioning. BTW, I'm now about 90-percent back to pre-statin normalcy, going on 2 years off the statin.

So, yeah, digestive problems were my first indicator of the whole mess.

[karma_train]

Sweet merciful crap Bucho, that's some list of side effects you had going on there, so good to hear that you are 90% back to normal now though.

Well it's been nearly two weeks since I stopped taking the Simvador and although my guts is far from back to normal, the signs are most definitely encouraging.

The symptom I suffered from the most was incredible gas production and really agonising bloating. I never suffered with 'the runs' though although at those times I almost wished that I did. My entire stomach, up to my ribs, would swell up like I was eight Months pregnant, that combined with being constipated was such a powerful combination that at time I just wanted to plunge a knife into my guts to let a bit of the trapped wind out.

As I said, two weeks into my Statin-less existance and although at times it has felt like I was in for another bloating episode, somehow it has never quite materialised, I am quite optimistic if the truth were told.

However, I do suffer from hereditary high cholesterol, so heaven knows what I'm going to do to control that if I can no longer take Statins, diet has no affect on my numbers whatsoever

I saw my doctor last week and she was very dismissive of my idea that Statins could have caused these chronic stomach problems, she still firmly believes that I have IBS, only time will tell I guess.

Anyhoo, thanks again to all who have contributed to this thread, it's nice to know that you are out there and I wish you all well from the bottom of my heart.

All the best, Charlie (UK)