they weren’t terrible before and now my total cholesterol runs on the low side and ratio of bad to good cholesterol is goodpretty great
And just to upset you, here is an article from today’s New York Times on how Crestor http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/31/business/31statins.html?th&em… can raise your risk of diabetes. As if you did not have enough to worry about.
well aren’t you a bucket full of sunshine today 
ugh!
Hi Paul-
I completely understand your dilemma. Here is my experience with some complications from taking statins (warning, long story): I’m Type 1, was 26 at the time my doctor prescribed Lipitor for me. My total cholesterol was fine, but my “good” cholesterol was low, and my “bad” cholesterol was a little higher than he wanted it to be. He said that I should be on a statin as a preventive measure. I started on Lipitor, and it made me very sick to my stomach every night, it gave me heart burn. Also, it was expensive so I switched to a generic statin, pravastatin-which, incidentally did not give me heart burn. I was on statins for probably 3+ months, and started to develop severe muscle pain & weakness in my legs (specifically around my knees) and arms (around my elbows). I was very active, running several times a week, and it made it really hard to keep that up! Also, just standing up from sitting on the ground or walking up stairs was so hard, because my muscles were so weak and hurt when I tried! I didn’t know at the time that this was a possible (and very dangerous) side effect of statins. I only found out because I mentioned it to my mom, who had the same problem when she was taking statins for cholesterol (she is NOT a diabetic, and in VERY good shape). I stopped taking them, and it took me about 2-3 months to get my full muscle strength back, but I did noticed almost immediate improvement within a few weeks of stopping. I had since switched dr.s, and my new GP was great about the cholesterol/statin thing. She thinks that there’s absolutely no reason why I should’ve been on it in the first place, and that the possible risks definitely outweigh the possible benefits in my situation.
In retrospect I wish I would’ve done more research before taking them. I’m able to run again just fine now, but those 6-ish months of muscle pain/weakness were awful! I’m lucky I don’t have any permanent damage. My mom had to have physical therapy because of her muscle reactions to statins. She went for about a whole year before figuring out that a statin is what was causing her severe muscle pain/weakness, and some of her muscles atrophied during that time. I’m lucky I caught the problem early on.
I think, if your total cholesterol is good, but your doctor wants it lower, the best place to start is with diet and exercise. Especially if you’re healthy and active like it seems like you already are.
Hope I didn’t scare you, but I feel like people need to know that severe muscle weakness is a side effect of statins and that some doctors aren’t very good about mentioning it, or recognizing it when it occurs in their patients.
Good luck in making the decision that is best for you and your situation!
hmmm my endo put me on crestor he runs but don’t think he’s in my age group. or is he? :0
You know, a while back when I was on Lipitor, I had some severe back pain… Once I stopped taking all those meds, it took a long time before my backaches stopped.
I am a crestor survivor also. I switched endo’s early this year since insurance change and on the first visit i was put on 40 mg of crestor a day. I felt like crap after a few days so I cut it in half. I started to feel tired and weak and I could not figure out why. I thought I was getting sick. I went ahead in cut it into quarters so that put me at about 5 mgs daily. I like to bike a lot but i started feeling so weak that I could not bike. A couple of weeks ago I was so weak during spring break that I could not even lift a glass of ice tea without feeling weak. I would wake up with real bad cramps on my legs and bad joint problems in my toes and fingers.
I started to read about the bad side effects and freaked out since they were indications of possible kidney problems. I wound up first at urgent care and the next day my blood pressure went through the roof and I went to emergency. Dont know if the blood pressure issue was something else cause I do tend to go high on occations but this happened right about the time they put me on crestor and the point were I felt the weakest.
I had several test to check that I did not have muscle and kidney damage. So I went back to the endo and she told me they treat diabetes patients like heart attack patients so they max everything. I had a cimt test done and they found very little build up in my arteries to the point that the max amount of statins was not really necessary. I was on lipitor for 4 years before and the only time i was impacted was when the endo decided to put me on 80 mgs a day.
At this point I know I have cholesterol issues but I am not going to take the highest dose of statin which will make me weak.
My advince maybe have the cimt test done to verify the arteries do not need high dose statins. Also if its not broken why try to fix something. If you have more question feel free to send me a message
take care
Hmmm… Interesting article. I especially liked the last quote…
“The benefit is vanishingly small,” Dr. Seiden said. “It just turns a lot of healthy people into patients and commits them to a lifetime of medication.”
I’m leaning towards more exercise and even more healthier food choices over the Crestor option…
Paul
Hi Erin,
Sorry to hear about the problems you had… I’m a runner too so I wouldn’t be happy if this interfered with my exercise routine.
In just the little amount of time I’ve researched this and some of the feedback here I’m not sure if going on this drug is the best option for me… Maybe it would be best to monitor my levels and if/when they start climbing then decide whether to take it?
Or, do you think I’m just over reacting and “reading the net” too much and should just listen to my cardiologist?
Thanks, Paul
Hi Seagator,
I would love to hear what he has to say so please let me know how it goes…
Paul
Paul: I went on simvastatin (zocor I believe) when I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. I trust my cardiologist implicitly and he explained that it was a precaution and that he was giving me the smallest dose of a statin with a long history. I am very comfortable with this decision and furthermore have seen the following improvements in my lipid profile:
Triglycerides improved from 55 to 22
HDL improved from 67 to 98
LDL improved from 151 to 97
To me this is all very worthwhile. I respect others opinions and statin’s clearly are not for everyone, but for me it’s been a very successful exercise, with no complications and I’m happy with the improvement in my numbers.
Good luck in your deliberations.
Mike.
Hi Mike,
This sounds good… I’m glad your numbers have improved!
The one thing that concerns me is that Crestor seems to be the strongest statin on the market. I think I read an article that read 5mg of Crestor is equal to 20mg of Lipitor. And, someone would be on 20mg only if they have high cholesterol levels which I don’t…
Paul
Paul: It’s a judgement call and a personal decision. I was swayed by the large number of people who have successfully used zocor and the fact that it’s been around for quite a while. Evidently there are many others who don’t see any need for statins but in my case I wouldn’t have it any other way. Perhaps zocor might be a worthy alternative to crestor in your deliberations? Good luck. Mike.
I was not familiar with the term “statin” so I referred to one of our diabetes books and 'statins" did not even show up in the reference. Neither did Crestor, but both Zocor and Lipitor were referenced.
The book, Diabetes for Canadian for Dummies, co authored by Alal Rubin and Ian Blumer discuss abnormal cholesterol and triglyceride levels. The also make reference to www.hpsinfo.org , a heart protection study. The study indicated that if you have diabetes and are over 40 year of age or older, you can reduce your risk of developing a heart attack or stroke by about 25% by taking a cholesterol medicine (40 mg of Zocor) even if your LDL is less than 2.5 (which is within normal target). They went on to say that while the study results are compelling, but somewhat controversial, it remains to be seen whether or not this new therapeutic strategy will be widely adopted.
That being said, if you do some google searches on statins and I did, you will find alot of info on side effects, including some toxic reactions to statins. Research and be careful. I expect that your health practitioner wants to err on the side of caution as you already have the SVT to deal with.
Cheryl
I’m apparently the opposite of most posters. I was on Lipitor (don’t remember the dosage), for about 8-9 years. When I was diagnosed with T2 in August 2008, doctor took me off Lipitor. He’d been monitoring the protein enzymes in my blood (or something like that) at my last two annual blood checks, and because they were getting a little high, he told me to stop taking the Lipitor. Since I had about 2 weeks left on my prescription I asked if I should finish the bottle and he said no, stop taking it now. Now, I’ve only gone to my general practitioner for my diabetes testing every 3 months or so, last A1C was 5.5. And my last couple of cholesterol counts were better than they were when I was on Lipitor (I think the few diet changes I’ve made - which isn’t much - have helped that). I’ve thought about asking if I should see an endo but the diabetes educator in my area said in my case it’s not really necessary. Not any endos in my area anyway, I would have to drive about an hour to get to one, so I think I’ll hold off for a while. I don’t recall any problems with stopping the Lipitor, but did have problems on occastion with the muscle weakness, but luckily not a lot. I’m now wondering if I went to an endo if I would be put on something!!! I think I’ll just wait a while.
If you looked at the study, it does not suggest that diabetics have any different outcome, in fact it says that the results had “Similar proportional reductions in risk among people with or without diabetes ― irrespective of age, sex, vascular disease or lipid levels.” There appears to be little evidence that diabetics have any additional risk from cholesterol levels.
A major side effect from statins is myopathy, which is indicated by an elevated level of level of the muscle enzyme creatine kinase (CK). That is bad, bad, bad. It is good your doctor was on top of it, and he stopped medicating you before you suffered serious damage. That condition can then proceed to Rhabdomyolysis, which can cause muscle wasting and kidney damage. I’m glad things turned out ok.
I have hear disease. Coronary Artery Disease. I’ve had stents that failed and ended up with a quad bypass. For heart, I take 10mg of Atenolol daily. A low dose aspirin daily. They have had me on Crestor 10mg and Trilipix 135mg once daily. But my lipids and triglycerides have been way out of whack for years. Much of it inherited. Since diet and exercise haven’t worked I complied.
Now, that I’m diagnosed T2 January 2010. I’m dropping the crestor and trilipix.
Taking a low dose enteric coated aspirin will likely not do you harm. Taking a statin as a precaution. I wouldn’t recommend . If and when you cholesterol and triglycerides get really out of hand. You may want to temporarily try a statin to see if it makes a big difference. If not, stop.
Hi Thomas,
Sorry to hear about your troubles. I agree and decided not to take Crestor. I am watching my cholesterol intake and will have tests in a couple of months to see if it has made any difference. My cholesterol levels are not bad so I don’t think there is a real urgency for me to be on a drug that has been linked to complications. I think the longer I can go drug free the better it will be. If there does come a time when my cholesterol levels become out of control then I will re-evaluate it at that time.
Thanks for your comments and good luck with your health!
Paul