Such a pleasure to see you here too!
I do take a statin “because I am a guy with family risk factors” btw. Since I have started taking it, my blood tests are absolutely stellar. Not sure if it makes a difference, but it does feel good to read them 
2 Likes
ARRRGGHHHJJ!!! How could you be such a stupid terrible fool to take a commonly prescribed medication as directed by your doctor??? Unforgivable!!!
(Inside joke… for those who don’t know us well)
9 Likes
I am a guy with “family risk factors” - but not of the CVD type. Both my parents experienced multiple adverse side-effects from taking statins. In my mother’s case, she continued to take the statin, but the side-effects seriously impacted her quality of life, until her passing. My father experienced so much muscle and joint pain when taking a statin that he, a man who was used to walking for miles and climbing mountains of stairs, couldn’t walk 2 blocks. He stopped taking the statins on his own over twenty years ago. (And… at his current age, no one would tell him he’s doing anything wrong 
)
Though my mother’s death last year at 86 from a heart attack, it was most likely not as a result of her cholesterol (which was well-managed), or even her diabetes.
As for me, some DNA testing results indicate that I’m at higher risk than the general community to adverse side effects from certain statins, but that I’m also likely to respond more strongly than average to small doses.
At my last endo appointment (last week), my endo said he’s “tired of the conversation” about mt cholesterol , so he prescribed a 10mg “baby dose” of prevastatin and, though it say daily, asked me to at least FILL is and to try to take it once a week. Still, he knows my reservations against statins, so his real goal is to try and convince my insurance company to cover a PCSK9 inhibitor. He gave me a month’s worth of Praluent. So far… I tried taking the prevastatin once (yesterday) and have seen what seem like mild side effects even from one dose. Last night I took one of the Praluent injections – a MAJOR feat for me, which anyone familiar with my fear of needles would know! I’m still not convinced I need any of this, though, but I guess, if nothing else, I’ll see next month what the outcome is. I don’t know yet if I’ll take any other doses of prevastatin, though.
2 Likes
When I have started and stopped statin therapy, the side effects have persisted for a week when starting and a week when stopping. They have fortunately, been mild to non-existent the rest of the time. It might be worth giving it a shot.
2 Likes
That is shocking. I knew of side effects but never realized they could be that serious.
So you have family history on both sides 
I had no idea that DNA testing could be that helpful on predicting the effects of statins. DNA knowledge base grows so fast it is difficult to keep abreast of it. Amazing.
That’s really too bad, so sorry But congrats on the Praluent injection!
How often would you have to inject?
Smart. Demonstrating side effects of regular statins might do the trick (if you have a track record of having them prescribed).
I’d love to find out practical experiences of PCSK9 inhibitors.
1 Like
Only took it for a day - not sure if I should take it again today, try the 1/week like my endo minimally wants, or… what…
1 Like
Yes - in my dad’s case, the impact was profound, but not irreversible - it stopped when he stopped taking the statin. My mother’s side effects were more persistent. I, of course, worry more about irreversible side effects. Likely unrelated, however, I’ve developed a sort of “history” of getting intolerable side effects from nearly every medication (mostly Type2 meds) I’ve been asked to try these last few years - some of which took as much as a year to reverse.
There is a lot of information - some more reliably provable than others - that can be derived from DNA today. Regarding statins, the most reliable indicator, so far, is the relationship between a particular gene variant and myopathy as a side effect from simvastatin (a variant which I have). There’s also reliable data regarding improved statin metabolism (again, present in my DNA)
The injection of Praluent is bi-weekly, so two injections covers a month (some people can/do take the max dose in two injections at the same time once every 4 weeks). It stings a fair bit going in (sorta like Symlin does), but the auto-injector is a slow-delivery, so it takes around 20 seconds to fully administer the dose. There was some very short-term soreness at the injection site, but a few hours later, I just barely know where I took it – no other obvious reactions, so far.
1 Like
I’ve been on Simvastatin for over twenty years and I feel exactly the same. My doc started me on it because my total cholesterol was over 100 and I am diabetic.
My total cholesterol now stays under 100, but I’m still diabetic. 
. I guess the stuff doesn’t work.
7 Likes
I totally cracked up on this
1 Like
I took atorvastatin for a few months when first diagnosed because my cholesterol levels were a bit high… they came down as my bg levels were normalized and I started exercising more… they seem to be creeping back up to the concerning levels again… I suspect statins are in my future. I’m also not particularly thrilled with my blood pressure levels lately, don’t doubt that should be addressed either…
I experienced no side effects whatsoever
3 Likes
Mine was right around 100 at diagnosis… I could look it up but I don’t feel like it. We shall see next year if closer to normal blood sugars have helped with that
1 Like
Have you tried reducing salt? It sucks for a couple of weeks, but then it’s amazing how used to new levels you get, and it can be really effective at treating mild hypertension. Increasing acids in your cooking (citrus, vinegar) also compensates for salt nicely. Requires eating out and eating processed/premade foods less though, since both tend to be super high in salt.
3 Likes
I’m almost certain that that would help, and I also have a lot of control over my lipids with my diet and exercise but there are limiting factors in my world
-
Primarily, honestly, I’m extremely lazy.
-
Secondarily, I work away from home about half the year where I pretty much have to eat what the cooks make unless I was extremely motivated to do my own thing outside of their meal service… which leads us back to #1
5 Likes
Ha, yeah I can understand that. I know for me, preparing my own food more was a factor in losing weight, but it definitely takes up time and energy, and I certainly do it a lot less when it’s grant-writing season or such. The more I’ve done it, the more I’ve found shortcuts that work for me, but that would be harder when away from home for sure.
1 Like
When I was originally diagnosed I saw an endo. She put me on an anti-cholesterol drug too. My numbers were good so it didn’t make sense. When i realized what all the additional drugs were costing me I dropped that because not if my subsequent blood tests showed any changes in my numbers.
3 Likes
If you are going to treat one thing, make sure it is the blood pressure. There is lots of data and some confusion around the benefits of statin therapy, but there is a huge body of very solid work on keeping blood pressure in normal range, and the long term effects of high blood pressure often lead to strokes which for large ones, patients rate as a quality of life worse than death. i.e. treat the blood pressure, make your own decision on the statins.
5 Likes
@PerfectHorse, she might have done a bad job of prescribing ? Several drugstores have programs where a month of statin generics costs less than $10.
I am not pushing statins Only mentioning it in case cost was the only reason you dropped it.
1 Like
Atorvastatin $4 / month cash price at Walmart for 30 day supply. Generic Lipitor.
3 Likes
We’ll see… ideally id just do a better job of eating healthier and exercising and reducing stess and the bp would be fine too… been running about 130/80 generally lately which doesn’t seem to concern my doc too much
2 Likes
My blood pressure has been up and down over the years. At my last endo appointment it was ridiculously high, like 180/90, so I got put on BP medication again (I’ve been on and off BP medication in the past). My endo wants me on cholesterol medication, but my cholesterol isn’t high except that I have diabetes and the standards are lower, so thus far I’ve resisted that. I’m not sure what to do; I want to do what’s best for my body, but then I read so much about side effects and the fact that cholesterol isn’t related to heart disease… At least with the BP, there was no question, high BP is dangerous. I looked into taking alternative treatments for cholesterol, but then I found out that red yeast rice is basically an unregulated statin, so I’d much rather take the regulated drug than some unregulated substance. And I’ve also gotten older in the past 10 years, so I care less about “taking so many medications” in my 30s than I did in my 20s…now that I have a few more chronic diseases under my belt, I’m willing to take whatever treatment/medication I need to keep me going in the long run. We’re going to be discussing cholesterol at my upcoming appointment, and I’ll probably let him prescribe the smallest dose of a statin to see what effect it has (he prescribed 5 mg of Crestor once before, but I never filled the prescription).
1 Like