Statin VICTORY !

[geomaes]

Yes, VICTORY ! Years of progressing back and joint pains (at levels 1 & 2) & digital neuropathy while on Zocor=Simvastatin, were ended nine months ago when I was put first onto Fluvastatin, then a month later onto Atorvastatin. The pains dramatically INCREASED to levels 6 & 7 under these statins, and SPREAD to INCLUDE most of my leg muscles. Needless to say, walking wasn't easy, and I needed to use a cane. Changing position (chairs, stairs, etc) was misery. I was quickly put back onto Zocor, but the damage was done, and there was no abatement of the pain. In early August I rebelled and stopped using any of the statins, cold-turkey. Within a week NEARLY ALL OF MY PAINS HAD STOPPED, except for the thigh quads in one leg, whose pain has dropped to a tolerable level 1 or 2. Quid pro quo? My doctors weren't happy, went stony-faced, silent, and never once voiced the word "statins" or admitted that they might be a problem. (Even so, my LDL had been only slightly elevated at 113). Last week I rejoined my hiking club for a half-day trek mushrooming, and felt no pains (until later that evening). Is my story familiar? Could there be a legal matter brewing here?

[Darrell]

I think my own doctor was also "stony-faced, silent" after I took myself off Zocor because he was afraid I might sue him. I wouldn't sue him, though, because he had done well by me for a decade or so and I thought I would fully recover.

His biggest post-Zocor mistake was basically dismissing my muscle complaints after my post-Zocor CK came back normal. That visit still haunts me. His specialty is internal medicine and the article about statin myopathy with normal CK was already published in a journal that he should study regularly. When I found that out over a year later, I couldn't forget it. He lost a patient.

Too many doctors are "shooting from the hip" rather than doing their homework. I had sent him a letter before the visit. He should have been better prepared because I didn't spring anything new on him in the office. I guess he's seeing the non-doctor, pill-pushing reps instead of properly maintaining his expertise.

[geomaes]

Well, "Victory", sort-of...and that's great for me (at least for now). NOW HEAR THIS: I truly feel for our doctors. They face daily countless different and differing ailments, from all of us...gas, headaches, sore ears, sore hair even...and we expect these human beings to focus in on our own individual ills. They're simply humans, and they can't measure up to what we want them to & need them to.....for us as individuals. AND...there's no way that they can possibly keep up with the voluminous worldwide "research" that's going on in each of the many fields, given that they have to keep office hours with all of us....and that they also have their own families to care for and to be part of. Of course they must rely on the drug company reps for the easiest 'up-to-date-info'....they have no choice. They have no time or freedom to keep up with the Journals. DO YOU? The Docs are victims as much as we are. I'll never sue a doctor, but so help me, I'm ready to sue the drug-makers & sellers who mislead them and us. There IS a tyranny going on, here. The REAL problem for all of us is this: How can our Doctors be kept up-to-date with "research advances" without the intervention of commercial interests? Where's their time for this? I AM a "Doctor" myself, but not a medical one (Geoscientist), so please don't mis-read my support of the medical ones. They all deserve support and comfort...(at least most of them). For now, the best thing I might say about the Pharmaceutical industry, is to own some stock in it. At least (in some cases) money might roll in. Don't be in a rush to take their pills.

[Darrell]

I'm an engineer and, yes, I actually DO keep up with the journals for my specialty. If I didn't, I'd be obsolete in five years or less.

"...they can't measure up to what we want them to & need them to.....for us as individuals..."
Well, that's pathetic. Maybe they can't at ten minutes per patient, but who made that law? What I do for clients typically requires anywhere from one to five days. I can't imagine telling them they have to settle for the best solution I can come up with in one day. Yeah, I know, it's ten minutes or they won't make enough money. Boo hoo. They would still make a far, far higher hourly rate than I do with my five years of college. Gimme a break.

[geomaes]

Dammit Darrell, I just finished a magnificent two-para ripost to yours, and it suddenly just zapped away into cyberspace...& it was of Nobel quality, too. Basically it was: "Been there, Done that"... I think that as you age, you'll loosen up a bit. Also, you surely will NOT continue keeping up with the Lit in your own and related fields, any more than the rest of us have been able to. Life makes too many other demands. Encourage your doctors, curse the Pharms (& carefully buy some of their stocks). Don't take their pills. Cordially, G.

[geomaes]

Darrell, -- this is actually a quick P.S. to my last....I shoulda said that in many ways you're right on track about Doctors: Too few minutes per patient, shooting from the hip on vital matters for each patient, too little time to keep up to date (or willingness to try it), NEVER pre-viewing or re-viewing patient's records before seeing them... etc, etc. Dammit, you're right ,( but so am I). The entire medical-pharm system is screwed up, rolling on on momentum. Trust me, both we and the docs are victims of this.