Well first, my OP was about Atorvastatin. Even though I have never taken a statin before and my doctor was only suggesting it, because actually my lipid panels still are good, I thought that because of my T1 status, my age, and being female it would be a good idea at this stage in my life to start taking one as an additional precaution. I also had been having some troubling symptoms which led me to worry about my heart.
The first statin I tried was Atorvastatin, which wreaked havoc with my blood sugar levels. Not for me. However, since I last participated in this discussion, I have seen a cardiologist, and after taking several tests which only work for detecting MACRO vascular issues - stress test, EKG, electro cardiogram, she suspects a microvascular cause. This is totally in line with being a woman, as microvascular issues are very common with them, as opposed to men (which, I might add, were the sole subjects of pharmaceutical research up until 3 years ago, when the NIH required testing on female subjects). Microvascular issues show up during perimenopause but are often not diagnosed, and can lead to heart attacks in later years, post-menopausal years. Hormonal fluctations, particularly the loss of estrogen which is protective against heart disease, are a huge factor before “the change” - and doctors who specialize in women’s health are starting to see the connections and treat the perimenopausal period as a vulnerable stage of a woman’s life. Anyway, I have started taking nitroglycerin tablets to handle episodes of angina, I have a low-dose nitroglycerin patch for periods of time where it lasts longer than the tablets will treat, and I am trying a DIFFERENT statin to help with flow in my microvascular system, which statins are known to help with and which was a factor in my diagnosis because once I stopped Atorvastatin, my blood sugar improved greatly but the chest pains came back more painfully and more often. The statin I am now taking is Pravastatin. So far, it seems to be ok but as with many medicines, it takes time to settle into your system so you can see the bigger picture of the effects on your system. I don’t have any expectations, but I am vigilant.
So as is usual with this complicated disease, a one size fits all approach is wrong - but you can start with that, and drill down to the particulars. The important thing is to communicate with your doctor, and make sure you have a doctor who is not on auto-pilot and is willing to be a real scientist, i.e. an investigator, a thinker, a person who is actually interested in the best qualities required (yes, required) for a career in medicine. It’s tiring but really having a chronic disease for which there is no cure IS a constant experiment, and if you’re not up for that it’s going to be hard to carry on.