Comments on: Cholesterol Drugs: To Take or Not to Take

By: J Lee, MD

J Lee, MD — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 21:59:43 +0000

The previous comment that these patients were not healthy is absolutely correct. Additionally, the average age of the participants was well above 60. The press releases insinuate that statins should be considered for otherwise healthy patients to prevent heart disease. This is hardly even close to the truth. These drugs have serious side effects and should be prescribed only very judiciously.

Also, besides the obvious conflict of the drug manufacturer being the sponsor of the study, another potential serious conflict is that I believe the chief investigator of the study holds patents on the c-reactive protein test that would be used to determine the “need” for the statins.

Sounds quite suspicious to me.

By: P Granger

P Granger — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 15:58:05 +0000

I realize that people with bad experiences are more likely to comment in a forum such as this but does anyone have anything positive to say about these drugs?

By: Kathy in Ontario

Kathy in Ontario — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 03:08:46 +0000

My mom is 77 and was a very active, slim lady. She had a huge garden, — canned and froze bushels of fruit and vegetables (no exaggeration) and entertained 12+ people for Sunday dinners on a regular basis.
She was found to have high cholesterol and blood pressure 15+ years ago. She was very careful with her diet. She has been on Cozaar and Crestor.
She is now in the nursing home “very” mixed up.

Would omitting either of these meds help her? I asked a CCAC worker about it recently, but she didn’t think it had anything to do with her meds.
After reading this, I wonder.
Comments?

By: Steve Franklin

Steve Franklin — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 18:58:06 +0000

I’m a 51 year old male, cholesterol around 220. I’ve been on Zocor, Pravachol, and Lipitor. Each one made be feel like I’d just run a marathon and then spent the rest of the day with an axe splitting wood. I’ll take a SLIGHT increase in risk of heart disease over a 100% guarantee of feeling like hell any day.

By: ellen gardiner

ellen gardiner — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 18:37:58 +0000

My husband took Crestor for 2 weeks…he got very ill on it…total muscle pain…problems with his kidneys, and other things…the list goes on and on…I took Lipitor, and had the muscle problems..it took me a month to get over it, my husband was sick for a very long time and we had a lot of medical bills…
Never would I suggest anyone to take either of these…we started to take red rice yeast…both of our cholesterol counts are normal now with none of the horrible side effects of the Rx drugs

By: Robin

Robin — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 18:33:53 +0000

I was one of the people with the “serious muscle aches” who was taking Zocor. When my left arm and right knee stopped moving and I woke up covered in huge bruises I began to realize where my severe mental disorientation was coming from and stopped taking it immediately. While the mental fuzziness cleared up very quickly it was a month before my arm would hold any weight and my knee was too weeak to hold my weight going up and down stairs for more than 6 months. In my circle of acquaintences I was 1 of 6 people with that severe a reaction – and I don’t think I know an unusual number of people! One of my Mother’s friends was putting her house up for sale and choosing a nursing home until she heard what happened to me and went off Crestor. It took a long time for her to recover, but now she’s as sharp and active as she was before and not in a nursing home. Statins are over-prescribed and I can’t believe they are fully safety-tested. What’s more, I can say from experience that once the mental fuzziness sets in it’s almost impossible to recognize that your muscle ache should have stopped weeks ago and you reaction is getting more severe!

By: Ronald A. Geiken

Ronald A. Geiken — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 21:20:41 +0000

I took Statins for several years, and all seemed to be well, but several months ago, I started getting disabling back pain. I suffered with that problem for almost a month or more, so decided to look on the Internet about the side effect of statins, and that is where I learned about the possibility of muscle pain. I stopped the statins, and after about 3 or 4 additional weeks the pain stopped. I do not want to go back to a medicine that can cause as much pain as a Statin. I now take CoQ10 and that has raised my energy level significantly. My energy level was significantly decreased while I was taking Zocor (simvastatin). If you are having muscle pain while using statins, check out the Internet for additional information.

By: Darrell Vest

Darrell Vest — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 17:17:53 +0000

I’m a 61 year old male with 1 stent due to cath look and see after my heart saver CT scan showed 1300+ calcium score. Before the CT I was put on the stress test and all: doctor doubles my prevacid for the GERD, not angina (which he correct after I showed him the heart saver test). Why did my stress test look great – I was doing 8 miles a day, mostly walking; 6′ 180. Doctor starts me on Lipitor, my muscles aches etc.; My total life long chlosteror total 150?, but we discovered the calcium problem was hereditary. Droped Lipitor, started Vitorin, dropped it due to negative research. I moved and new family doctor starts me on Crestor (Jan, 08) and got some muscle aches but also a peripheral neuropathy. Dropped Crestor until new Cardiologist puts me back on it. LDL dropped from 108 to 47; muscles hurt and neuropathy got worse (not a diabetic), presently still on. Cardiologist adds supplements 6000 mg Omega 3/day and 150 mg CoQ10/day.
Question is did his neuropathy show up in the JUPITER studies??
Suggestions – everyone talk the heartsaver test (although insurances will not pay for it – THEY SHOULD!) it will save lives and chatch a potental stoke or MI before the occurance

By: Steve

Steve — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 21:13:41 +0000

Interesting that “Dr.” Zimmer above is a chiropractor with a website that sells natural health alternative products (which are not FDA regulated). Yes, buyer beware indeed.

By: Linda in Nevada

Linda in Nevada — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:46:31 +0000

I have tried taking about every statin on the market. Read the information sheet early on but soon forgot the side effects listed. My cholesterol went down to 130s. I soon began having muscle and joint pain just about everywhere. Remember lying in bed one night because my right hip socket area was aching and it made me wonder if I would someday be needing a hip replacement. A few days later I was getting my hair cut and the receptionist (a senior citizen) was telling someone how she was forced to discontinue her statin use because of all the pain, especially in her arms and hands. I decided to stopped taking the statin. The pain went away
and my cholesterol went right back to where it started.