Side Effects of Cholesterol Lowering Drugs (Statins)

ferret wrote:This is but one article
http://articles.mcall.com/2012-03-10/opinion/mc-statin-side-effects-meade-yv--20120310_1_statins-crestor-people-without-heart-disease

If you are using these medicines please, do yourself a favour, and google the side effects. Are they worth it?
1) muscle pain and weakness 2) joint pain 3)urinary problems 4) kidney problems

They won't happen to everyone but thought I'd give everyone a heads up to be aware. Big Pharma at it again.

Thanks for posting this article. Back in the states, my husband's doctor prescribed statins for high cholesterol.
Before going that route, he asked the doctor what other options were available. The doctor said people could change their diets, exercise more, lose weight, etc. but "they won't do it, so I prescribe statins". After which, people go right back to chowing down on the foods that caused the problem in the first place, thinking they now have a "free pass".
My husband didn't take the statins. He changed his diet, did some research, discovered the benefits of Nopal (sold in pill form everywhere) and in three months, lowered his cholesterol 50 points. That was eight years ago, and he is in excellent condition, according to the last exam.

What we have noticed about the people who went on statins is a curious personality change. Creative people such as sculptors and painters tend to lose their edge. No way to measure that, but that's my anecdotal comment. Big Pharma is making a bundle on this shuck and jive. Most seniors are on 5 or more prescription drugs.......and that can't be good for them in the big picture. But, as the doc said: "they wont" make the lifestyle changes. Too bad.

Hey you two, you've been reading my mail! Great to hear your experiences, mine are the same.

I'm now 90% vegan and sport a total cholesterol of 171 - down from 245 and daily statins. Of course, I took myself off the statin. It is a total Big Pharm 'shuck and jive' (thanks for that!) and only proven beneficial for men - men who have previously had a heart attack!

Thought provoking observation on creative people losing their edge, Gringal.

Yay for us!

Total cholesterol is only part of the story. Triglycerides are important, too. As are the two components of total cholesterol -- LDL and HDL. If you look only at total cholesterol, you can miss problems in these other factors. If you don't know your scores on all these factors, you know only part of your story.

These are the generally accepted goals:
Total Cholesterol less than 200
Cholesterol HDL greater than 40
Cholesterol LDL less than 100
Triglycerides less than 150

Gosh..........WHO would want to do that?

Exactly! It was the pharmaceutical companies that got the threshold dropped from 250 to 200.

Rolly, I didn' t want to bore everyone with the whole panel, but here is how it went:

Oct 2011
Total - 245
HDL - 72
LDL - 145
Trig - 140

6 mos later after fairly strict vegan diet:

April 2012
Total - 177
HDL - 64
LDL - 87
Trig - 130

Another big factor in heart disease, besides cholesterol, is inflammation. Here is a great video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zQAOQRpG8k&feature=player_embedded

If you want to watch some interesting health videos, go to: www.ihealthtube.com
Simply type in "search" the subject that you interested in.

The funny thing about statins is they do lower cholesterol, but cholesterol has very little to do with heart problems. Cardio-vascular problems are due to inflammation which statin drugs have nothing to do with. Dr.s RX them because some salesman came in with some brochures and sold him on the "greatness of statins". My father went on statin drugs for a while and it dropped his total cholesterol level to 127. His doctor proudly proclaimed, during a physical, that he was healthy as a horse and would never suffer a heart attack. Two weeks later my father suffured a massive heart attack and almost died. He had to have stents put in.The Cardiologist said the "widow maker" was blocked along with three other coronary arteries,

My total cholesterol at last count was 125, HDL was 48, and triglycerides were 130. No problems, right? As most of you know I suffered a heart attack about 5 or 6 weeks ago in Bob Klugs apartment in Chapala. Again I repeat, what I've said over and over to my patients as I took them off statin drugs...cholesterol has very little to do with cardio-vascular health.

Rolly, Ferret and Gringal,

Each of you are correct. A few years ago "high" cholesterol was lowered to the levels Rolly says. Why? Because the statins were beginning to hit the marketplace and the Pharmaceuticals had to sell drugs. They convinced doctors that cholesterol was the bad guy (wrong) and statins could lower it (correct), Cholesterol is an important part of your health, it is used by the body to make certain hormones, it is plugged into cell membranes to make the cells stronger...thus work better, amongst other things. Actually Rolly, the one part of cholesterol that doctors are now watching is VLDL (Very Low Density Lipoprotein) which may actually cause some, I say, some harm.

Now the newest changes are blood pressure ("normal" has now been lowered so more people can be placed on blood pressure lowering drugs), and "normal" blood sugar levels have been lowered to 90 or less to be considered normal, so of course more people can be placed on blood sugar lowering drugs.

If you believe all the crap that comes from the pharmaceutical companies and doctors...your a fool.

I have been on every statin for high chloresteral despite a very low fat diet - no gallbladder. I've had problems with every one including the charlie horse pain in the legs plus abdominal pain so bad the GI doc thought it was a blockage. Stopped Crestor and the pain went away the next day.

I've been taking low dose niacin with meals (to prevent flushing) as recommended my my doctor. Chloresteral has not returned to former highs. I saw a friend for lunch yesterday and I'm sure he told me he was taking statins awhile ago. Yesterday he was talking about the terrible leg cramps he gets in the morning that are so severe they sometimes last for days.

Another thread on Fosamax - stopped that after my dentist said he had to be informed before any proceedures if I am taking it - causes weak jaw bone problems. No longer taking that either.