Anyone else have trouble with statins???

Hi JUliet, i hate to be the first one to chime in but.... i have tried them all and had to go off.  the first one i took was Lipitor, and i thought i was doing quite well on it, but my liver count went from 31 to 120 in 6 weeks so i was pulled off it.  then i was on Zocor and was just feeling tired and sore all the time. especially my muscles, so i switched to Mevacor, and i was very depressed on it, bizarre i know but i was also having a hard time sleeping while i was taking it so i went off and did better alsmost immediately, then i tried Crestor, oh my gosh, i would never suggest anyone go on crestor. shrp pains running across my back. then there was the Zetia, i have IBS so that was just too hard for me to take, it works in the digestive track, so there you go. good luck if you decide to try them, i have just givin up and try to eat lots of nuts to elevate my good cholesteral.  what are your hdl,ldl, and triglyceride levels, do you know?

I absolutley hated Lipitor.  After 4 days on this drug, my stomach was killing me and I could not move....Got off that quickly and flushed them down the   Then Zorcor...I felt weird on that one....Then came Pravachol and had some sort of reaction to that one too....

I am on Crestor and have been for almost 2 years. (5mg) lowest dose. I take this along with all my heart meds and have never felt well since startingt all these meds so I cannot say Crestor is to blame.....It has done well lowering my cholesterol but something is causing my Ferritin to be in the cellar and now I am on RX of iron.  

DREAMGIRL,

I don't know my numbers of my cholesterol, but my doc says their fine.  I guess my body does bad things with the cholesterol I have, even if it's low. 

Juliet,

Since you have stents, first thing to do is find out what your numbers are and get in the habit of tracking them on a regular basis. It might require you to be a bit pushy with your doc, but that is a good skill to develop that you will need to use for the rest of your life. I bring a chart with me to each of my visits, ask, and write them down so I can track what happens when my meds are changed, etc. I started out just tracking my HDL, LDL, triglycerides, and total cholesterol...now I ask for TSH (thyroid), LFTS (liver function tests), and glucose (for reasons specific to me I won't waste time with explaining now).

Here is a good reference for cholesterol levels, though many cardiologists now want to see LDL below 70 in people like us with diagnosed CAD. (That is a level virtually impossible to achieve without statins):

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=183

My experience with statins is that I was started on 20 mg Zocor when they put in the stents (considered by many docs to be the most "natural" form of a prescription statin), increased to 40 when it didn't get the numbers down to where they wanted them, then changed to Lipitor 40 mg. for the same reason. I've been on Lipitor now for about 16 mos. with no problems I can attribute directly to it, and with great results for my LDL (now in the 60s). Last November, about 13 mos after my stent was placed, the doc added Niaspan (a high dose, timed release form of the B vitamin niacin) because the statins, diet, and exercise did zilch for my low HDL. (I have a personal belief, supported to some extent by at least one scientific study, that low HDL is worse for you than high LDL).

I've had nothing but trouble since, including elevated LFTs, but since it's done wonders for my HDL and triglycerides, I've decided not to mess with it until I can get off about 30 lbs.

I've begun to have terrible problems with my stomach in the last few months..gas, upper abdomen pain that feels a bit like angina, etc. I'm not sure what is causing it (neither are my doctors) but my stress test was apparently okay so I'm thinking it is probably an interaction of my meds. I stopped Prilosec (which is supposed to help my stomach but only made it worse) and my Zoloft (which was for anxiety...but I've decided anxiety is normal if you have heart disease) a few days ago and so far that seems to be helping...may just be my imagination that these meds were part of the problem, but it's my body and I can decide what works and what doesn't, even if it's a placebo effect. (I believe there is a critical mass of Rxs at which no one knows what the potential interactions are).

My current regimen is 40 mg Lipitor, 1000 mg Niaspan, 75 mg Plavix, 2 baby aspirin per day, and 25 mg. bid of Metoprolol (beta blocker), plus my Synthroid, milk thistle for my liver, CoQ10 to counteract possible negative effects of the Lipitor, Metamucil caps (the statins definitely make me constipated) and a multi-vitamin.

If I can get my weight off, I'm gonna try to decrease the Lipitor and/or Niaspan....and am still undecided as to when or if I'll stop the Plavix.

If your numbers aren't too bad, you might ask about red yeast rice....my sister (who is at high risk but so far has no diagnosed heart disease) is keeping her numbers fine with that and Niaspan alone.

Connie and DREAMGIRL,

 I talked to my Dr. and he said no more statins for me.  That's fine as far as I'm concerned.  I thought I was going to die from taking them.  I felt so awful.  Hopefully, my cholesterol will behave itself with diet and exercise (however, I was doing both BEFORE I was diagnosed, so who knows?)

DREAMGIRL,

I'm not sure why he decided to stop everything right away, but now I'm on Zetia (not a statin, but cholesterol lowering drug). I never mentioned not wanting to take them, except for the horrible rash I got with Lipitor.  The others just made me miserable with my stomach.  I guess he figured it wasn't worth it.  We'll see how the Zetia goes.  I just started it yesterday.  I'm crossing my fingers.  Good luck with stopping the Zoloft. 

Anyone here taking coenzyme q 10 for the reactions to statins - there have been a couple of reports on it helping muscle pains with statins ??

Hi Hope, granted it would be great if all of us could live well without meds to help us and alternative ways, that work.

I was on Lipitor, Zorcor, Pravachol and hated them.  Hubby was on lipitor and after one week threw them out.  We both needed help so new doctor put us on Crestor...Whalla!!!  No problems for either of us. My RX calls for 10mg.  Doctor told me to cut in half giving me 5mg.  (cheaper that way too)  5mg is doing the trick for me.  Hubby is on 10 mg.  We have been on this drug for about 15 months now and have regular blood work.  I am not endorsing Crestor but just sharing what worked for us.

 hi  let us know how you do on the zetia, i have ibs and i could not take it, wreaked havoc on my intestines. but that is just me. if you try eating almonds, just a handful a day and taking a couple of fish oil pills, your tirglycerides will go down, my went from 180 to 99 in about 2 months of consistant in take,i thought the walnuts would hurt me too since i have diverticullitis also, but so far so good , i mix them with my almonds. your  Hdl is good but not high enough to help you with the hi Ldl, things i mentioned should also raise your Hdl levels a few points, so start the regimenow i swear by it,  also, all nuts must be raw and unsalted, just throw a few semi sweet choclate chips in with them it will taste good. bye for now

I also have Zetia here but have not tried it yet.  Do not like to hear it wrecked havoc on the intestines.  I have no idea how I got that RX when I have been taking Crestor for months.  Hubby's trigylcerides (sp) are still high on Crestor (175 down from 300) so he is starting Fish Oil Capsules.  Crestor has done great with his other numbers (10mg) I am on 5mg. but doctor would like me on 10mg also.  But after what Lipitor did to me I take baby steps with all meds now.  I read an article somewhere that 40mg of Crestor was seen to reverse HD is some people.  No, I do not work for Crestor..

Hi,

I usually post on the fibro board but happened to see this about statins. I took Lipitor for three years and kept experiencing digestive problems until I finally saw a gastro doc to check things out further. He said all was OK (after testing) but offered me a script for Nexium. That gave me such pain in the gut, I stopped that one right away. Then later stopped the Lipitor. Felt sooo much better. My doctor has started me on Tricor, another one that works in the digestive tract and not in the liver. It has been difficult to figure out, because at first, I had no reaction to it. With FMS though, it is so hard to tell because we already deal with muscle problems and digestive problems can be related too. I stopped taking that for two weeks to see if I felt any different and I really can't say I do. So, back on it again.

It's not that I am glad to see others having difficulty with statins, but it seems like the doctors should have been well aware of some of the side effects related to it and take me off of it. Instead, they give me something else to try and cover the side effects of the first drug. I thought maybe I was just a rare case, but obviously, I am not. Glad I saw your post!!

I wish you success with the Zetia!

I haven't tried this but some people claim that Garlique works. That is an OTC capsule (odorless) I think that will be my next attempt if I have problems with the Tricor. Woke up last night with a twisting leg cramp I let out a scream--the muscle was rock hard and wouldn't relax for a minute or two of torture. I just don't know for sure what is causing this--it is sporadic so it's hard to figure out. If I was sure it was from the Tricor, I'd stop taking it again for good!