Statin drugs and Crohn's

I've posted something about this briefly before, sort of intermingled with whatever else I was going through at the time. But, having officially failed all available Crohn's medications, I requested that my GI prescribe Lipitor for me to just see how it does. Lipitor is one of the statin medications - typically used for treating a high cholesterol problem. More recently, the medical community is starting to recognize the statins as having an anti-inflammatory effects. (The link for the Crohn's trial with a statin drug is http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00599625)

So as most of you know, I've struggled for 4.5 years without any improvement, regardless of Cimzia, mtx, etc., etc. I started the Lipitor (20mg) about 2 months ago now.

In August my ESR was at 82. I've averaged 70-80 for years now, never going below 64 even with steroids. So Monday I had my ESR done again... It's *down* to 59!!!! Of course, it's *very* early and I am trying to keep my hopes at a reasonable level, but it was good enough news that I figured I'd share with with my HW fellow Crohnies. I'll let you guys know if it continues to improve. I have not changed anything else... I've been on Cimzia for nearly 2 years now, so it's not that starting to kick in. (A bit late!) Anyway, figured I'd share.

Best wishes to all!

dunny: me to but my statin is Zolcor . . . still in this boat . . . .

My dad has UC also. After 14 years of flaring on and off, it went into remission for the past 15 years. He says the timing correlates with his starting Lipitor... That's just conjecture, though. It's really early and I don't want to get overly excited. But, it's a good start anyway. Someone on here before told me that Lipitor can cause D. I haven't noticed any change, but that doesn't say much.

However, my doc is monitoring my liver function monthly. But, that doesn't differ from the fairly ugly potential risks of the other Crohn's meds. Mtx, the biologics, Tysabri... they've all got potential bad side effects. For now I'll shoot for quality of life and just see what happens. Though, I did scare away from Tysabri. (My CRP was only 1.7 on that, but I just can't go back to it right now. Too scary for this single mom)