40 Years of Drugs

[allani]

Hi,

I am 54 and found out when I was 14 that I had inherited high cholestrol from my mother. Since that time I have tried probably every cholestrol lowering drug (powders & tablets) without much success and ongoing impact on my health. My level without drugs is about 11.5 (in Australian measurement) which probably equals about 300+ USA measurement.

As with most of the people posting on this website I have suffered with ongoing bowel problems, headaches and severe muscular pain and cramping in my legs and arms/hands. Liptor was bad but Crestor appeared to have the worst impact on me. My doctors and several specialists always told me the statins would not be the cause of my health problems. When I complained to a specialist about taking Crestor (then new to the Australian market) he became very upset with me and told me not to worry and keep taking the drugs!

Subsequently after refusing to see further specialists my doctor put me on 40mg Pravachol which I have taken for the last few years (I tried larger doses of Pravachol but could not cope with it), I also take a mini asprin daily. For the first couple of years I seemed to cope with the 40mg but over the last 12 months my muscular pains and cramps have become worse. I also now have iching all over without any obvious rash, I'm not sure if this is caused by the Pravachol.

My doctor (who I have been seeing for the last 25 years) finally admitted recently that the statin was probably causing my problems (seems the statin side effect message is finally getting acknowledged?). My doctor ran a number of blood screens and advised that all the tests were fine, I read in other postings where others have had the same results but still suffer muscular problems etc, in particular, apart from a high 'bad cholestrol' reading my doctor says all the results are good.

I had a heart scan/MRI about six years ago that showed only a slight blockage in one artery. My parents are 88 and 78 years old in reasonable health, I do not have any other health issues, I'm not over weight, don't smoke, only drink moderately and have good blood pressure so I was thinking to go off the Pravachol (but keep taking the asprin) and just have a heart scan every 2 years(?).

Has anyone else taken this approach to a statin free monitoring of their cholsetrol?

Cheers.

Allan.

PS: Is ichyness without a rash a common?

[Allen1]

Hi there allani and welcome to the forum.

I am glad your doctor has now seen that the problems you have experienced are probably due to Statins. The itchiness without a rash is a common event from what I have experienced and heard from others. I use Betnovate RD (betamethasone valerate) [which comes ready diluted 1 in 4] and use it in the affected areas. There is also a creme called Doublebase which comes in a pump dispenser and that keeps things quiet after the Betnovate has worked.

The itchiness will flare up now and then, but as long as you have the Betnovate etc you will be able to calm it down fairly easily.

You mention that you are thinking of coming off the Pravachol, although I haven't been on that version (it was Simvastatin that got me), it would probably pay you to reduce the dosage over a few weeks to let your body get used to the difference. Most of us just came off the Statin we were on, but Spacedoc recommends tapering off ie :-

http://www.spacedoc.net/stopping_statins.html

I hope things will improve and settle down when you come off this medication, as you have inherited high cholesterol you are the main target type that this rubbish was meant to help, it just goes to show that for many years our doctors have had the wool pulled over their eyes when it comes to cholesterol and many other fad treatments that becomes available at any point in time.

All the best,
Allen.

[David Staup]

allani,
welcome to the forum.

a couple of suggestions in addition to Allens'.

First
look at the info on cholesterol levels and mortality where you will find that a cholesterol level of 272 has the lowest mortality and that mortality doesn't change "much" between TC levels of 200 to 330. Given your parents age and health, your TC level may concern YOU much less.

second
there is a fairly complete list of symptoms here: (remove the " )

"http://www.spacedoc.net/board/viewtopic.php?t=1653

third
use this site! there is a wealth of information here!

David

[agnesmagnes]

Allen,
the itching could be a sign of your liver not liking the statins. They are synthesized in your liver. Ask for a liver function test. There are also other blood tests, which indicate normal liver function.
As for getting off statins, if you have a bad side effect, I don't know if living with that is worth it.
If you check out this site, you will see all kinds of problems caused by this drug, from setting you up for diabetes to ALS, to memory problems.Read the articles, they are written by some very qualified people. The more you know the better prepared you are in life.
Doctors like to dismiss sites like this, because the stories people tell here are considered "anecdotal" and not scientifically rigorous. The only accepted 'truth" for them are statistical mega studies and double-blind studies.
I say that these methods are fine, but medicine is more of a pseudo science, not a true science such as mathematics or physics. Medicine produced its greatest discoveries when it was based on observation and observation also meant listening to patients and observing patterns. The most significant discoveries in medicine have been made in the past. Since medicine had decided to become more "rigorous", they have thrown out the baby with the bathwater.
Now, doctors dismiss their patients complaints, observations and symptoms. They will pick out a symptom and latch onto that and treat that. Or send you to a specialist. Specialists have divided the human body into parts. You may have digestive problems, cause by your liver, but your guts will belong to a gastroenterologist, and your liver to internal medicine.
There is no one to put your problems together, to puzzle out the mystery of your symptoms. The days of the general practitioner who lived in your community, knew you, your parents and maybe your grandparents, are gone. And not replaced with anything approaching that kind of care.
So, I say, look at your family's medical history, listen to your body, and if you have a problem, insist on it getting checked out to the point of becoming a pest. It is your body and your life. If you get sick, your doctor will still go home at the end of the day and forget about you altogether.

[lars999]

Hi Allan!

Should your experience after quitting statin be similar to mine, you will be quite happy you did quit AND you will continue to notice various adverse things that more or less go away, some for good, some will return from time to time and go away again. A persistent rash and itchiness was one I had not associated with Lipitor until I quit taking Lipitor. A recent major improvement in bowel function may be another, almost 2 years after quitting. My list goes on and on and I suspect I still do not know all the adverse things Lipitor did to me.

Like you, I have had "high" cholesterol all my life, especially as they keep lowering the boundary in order to sell more statins. Like you, I have no detectable plaque in any artery that can be monitored without invasive methods. Like you, there is no family history of deaths from "heart attacks" or cardiovascular disease, back for 100s of years. I also have low, but not lowest, concentrations of that special lipoprotein LpA, which has a remarkable correlation with cardiovascular disease and heart attacks -- lower concentrations correlate with lower incidence of cardiovascular disease.

Happily, my cholesterol, etc. concentrations are back to normal for me and my health is more or less back to normal. I now put ALL statins down as medicines I am allergic to when visiting doctors -- that always gets a response and gives me still another chance to talk about the pervasive and massive adverse side effects of statin drugs.

Best wishes for finding your own path out of the mess statins make of our bodies.
Lars