If the Doc says stay on statins, maybe they can trial a different one as some are better tolerated than others. In New Zealand, Atorvastatin is the default initial offering, and there are others options you can move to if it doesn’t do the job or side effects are apparent. Not sure where you are, but I expect it would be the same scenario.
Crestor 5 mg
For what it is worth, this is exactly what I’m on and have been for a year. Zero side effects. And I am someone who is hyper aware of how my body is feeling.
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Ah yes, the shocking!!! practice of prescribing a medication that reduces CVD by 30%.
I’m not sure why I still wander in this thread…
Please don’t stop it.
(yes none of these are perfect but the tl;dr is that stopping statins is associated with morbidity and mortality).
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Sounds similar to my experience. Got a stent 12 years ago, so started on betablocker and statin. I was on the betablocker for high resting HR though (BP was good before I started), and had to reduce the BB due to low BP issues, and finally got off the BB altogether 2 years ago when my fitness brought my resting HR down low enough. So stick with the workouts. I was on it for 10 years, and it wasn’t until I started focusing on building a good base and consistently did 4+ hrs of z2 per week for about 18 months that my HR really started moving down.
As far as statin, I went through a few different ones. I had muscle pain, but couldn’t tell if it was from the statin or being an almost fit biker with bad hip flexor/weak glute pain. Stopping the statin for a couple weeks would show some improvement (or was it in my mind). I also got caught in the crossfire during covid, and was off the statin (same Rosuvastatin) for over a year, and still have the same muscle pain Ive always had. So I’ve switched a few times, but have been on Rosuvastatin 20mg for a number of years now and still progressing in my bike fitness.
As for the internet doctor’s vs my doctor’s (the AMA) understanding of the effectiveness of statins, it’s tough because they are polar opposites on the issue for people that haven’t had an intervention. I’ve gone a couple rounds with my doctor on what I’ve learned from youtube. The one thing I’ve noticed, though, is that even the youtube docs (most of them) seem to draw the line at people that have had an intervention (heart attack, stent, etc) and don’t argue against the statins for that group. And that was the last convo I had with my cardiologist about it, the stent puts me in a different class in his mind.
eta: My doc put me on the rosuvastatin because he said it is in a class that seems to have lots less muscle achiness (water soluble or water metabolized, as opposed to fat…something like that)
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I’m glad you are still here.
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I am in the corner of believing in the effectiveness of statins for reducing mortality from cardiovascular disease. There are simply too many well conducted studies to dispute this evidence.
I am 53 years old and was sent for a coronary calcium score (CCS). When it came back at 430, I was shocked! My cholesterol has creeped higher, in the past few years, and I do have a strong family history of cardiac disease. No one in my family exercises, nor eats healthy, and many of them smoke. Once I received my CCS, I was embarrassed to tell anyone of these family members because I figured they’d all say “haha, look at you doing all that exercise to try and get in good shape and your heart is just as bad as ours”.
With the CCS above 400, my primary care doc wanted me to see a cardiologist and start a statin. Both of my parents are on statins and have always done well with them. No side effects whatsoever.
Atorvastatin was the first one I tried, at the lowest dose available. At first, I didn’t think it was causing me any problems, but after about 4 weeks, I started having terrible muscle fatigue. I thought it was weird since I was at a time in the season where I had cut back on training and my muscles should be more recovered (like I do every year). Also, I was having GI issues (constipation) I’d never really experienced previously. Worried all of this was from the Atorvastatin so I stopped the med, called my doc, and he started me on Rosuvastatin. I waited about two weeks to start this and all the muscle fatigue subsided, as well as the GI issues.
After being on the Rosuvastatin for 3-4 weeks, I would get little twinges in my calves. Not muscle fatigue but like miniature cramps occasionally. Even worse, I started having terrible constipation and bloating. No matter what I took, it did not go away until I stopped the Rosuvastatin.
I “failed” two statins and I am scared to take another one. Discussed with my PCP and I have chosen to be off the statins.
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@The_Conductor You are misinforming readers in the thread with that statistic. I didn’t see you reference your source but am guessing that you are citing the relative risk reduction - eg. 3 percent of patients not taking the drug had a heart attack within a certain period of time versus 2% that had a heart attack despite taking the drug. So for a 30% relative risk reduction, the absolute risk reduction would be closer to 1%.
This Mayo Clinic tool demonstrates what I am explaining:
https://statindecisionaid.mayoclinic.org/statin/index
@The_Conductor Yeah - I am not sure either. In my post above - which you ridiculed with a cartoon and snarky comment about tearing up your medical license - I noted to the OP that I had successfully dropped my numbers without the use of statins by changing my diet and including AMLA among other things.
You were not the least bit curious about that which I find very odd. You just keep going back to the drugs as the only answer.
Physicians have a duty to inform their patients about the risks and benefits of whatever they prescribe - not just in relative terms but also in absolute terms - so that the patient can make an informed decision.
I think you are missing an opportunity to hear and encourage other perspectives in this thread and even perhaps use that information to make an impact in people’s lives.
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In my case a 2.5mg dose of Crestor took my ApoB from 110 to 70.
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I think you are missing an opportunity to hear and encourage other perspectives in this thread and even perhaps use that information to make an impact in people’s lives.
@The_Conductor may just still be in this thread because the small chance that he prevented someone from discontinuing their statin on your recommendation and likely against medical advice would be worth it for the chance he prevented a stroke, heart attack or any one of a raft of lifechanging ischaemic events.
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@Neuromancer My initial reply to @oldandfast was based on the OP describing side effects from a statin and took into consideration he was on a low dose. I am not advocating that everyone drop statins. The choice is yours to make - it is your body.
However I am saying that diet can get you far and you may not need the statin. I have successfully been able to do that.
Obviously talk to your physician about that approach but if you don’t want to be on drugs the rest of your life know that it may be possible. There may even be some additional benefits - lower cancer risk, lower diabetes risk, etc.
What I found very disappointing with @The_Conductor response was his dismissal of how diet can successfully play a role in managing risk. He also cites a statistic (twice) that is misleading about how statins mitigate one’s risk of CVD. I certainly wouldn’t want someone like that to be my physician.
You might want to consider editing your original post for clarity. Your follow-up posts have consistently said you weren’t trying to tell anyone what to do, it is up to them, but the first sentence of your original post says to change diet and stop taking the medications
Personally haven’t had to deal with these issues, but have had family and friends deal with it - changing diet and introducing exercise seems like a great step for most people to take, but in conjunction with medical intervention and advice, not to the exclusion of it
Making a blanket statement that changing diet and stopping statins is a good idea, as your original post did, without a full understanding of the patient’s history seems naive at best
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I could not tolerate atorvastatin (Lipitor) nor rosuvastatin (Crestor). The lipitor made my legs feel like I had just complete a hard century ride, even though I was at a time in the season when I had reduced training volume and intensity. The Crestor gave me major GI issues (had these with Lipitor as well but much milder). It seems everyone in my family takes either Lipitor or Crestor and I am the only one who has experienced trouble.
With that being said, I still encourage anyone who needs to reduce cholesterol, to do as their physician advises. The large majority of people who use statins will never have any problems and the cardiovascular benefit provided is strong. I’m currently trying other meds to help me.
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FWIW, I switched from rosuvastatin to atorvastatin because of leg “soreness.” For example, when on rosuvastatin, walking up one flight of stairs made my legs feel tired/sore. I seem to be tolerating atorvastatin fine right now.
My doctor said to first try alternating to taking medicine every other day. if that doesn’t help, there are multiple cholesterol medicines to try.
I’m going to fork $5k year for PCSK9 inhibitor.
I’m on rosuvastatin and I experienced muscle soreness as well. My doctor recommended a CoQ10 supplement and it seems to work well for me.
The problem here is not the open and candid exchange of information, but the assumption some posters have that their results and experience represents the absolute baseline, and anyone else should experience the exact same thing if they do the same.
Human physiology varies dramatically from one person to another, even within genetically similar subjects.
One can assume that most folks who come here are generally in better cardio condition than the average T,D or H but that is NOT the only factor when discussing any of this.
Personally I think the discourse is valuable, even if only for stimulating thinking, and possibly encouraging a reader to have an informed discussion with their physician. If you’re making health decisions based on the advice a rando gave you on an Internet forum, regardless of what they claim their credentials are, you might want to reconsider how much life insurance you’re carrying.
I THINK I have experienced muscle pain related to statin use. I am not certain. In some very unscientific experiments, I think I found relief when I stopped taking them. I am absolutely open to other explanations.
I had a much worse experience with fenofibrate, and I can absolutely tie the cessation of consumption to the remediation of fatigue and pain.
I would describe my experience with both statins and fenofibrate as feeling like I was under a wet blanket all the time. I would not restart fenofibrate, regardless. I WOULD consider taking a small dose statin experimentally to determine how effective vs how impactful to my overall wellbeing it is.
YMMV
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There are many problems with anecdotes and medicine. The title itself encourages those with problems to voice them, you aren’t going to hear as much from the people who have no problems, and you are more likely to hear from those who have - making the thread in its entirety likely to skew opinion.
Add to that the nocebo effect that people suffer, simply by reading a thread title frequently will encourage them to start feeling problems where none exist. Let alone if they actually read the negative posts.
Then there’s reading my post about all this, certain doom will follow.
In summary, never talk to anyone, about anything, ever…and live a happier life. 
Or, as I’ve posted before - I’ve had no muscle pain at all. It’s all good people!
It was mentioned earlier about CoQ10 look into it and do some research about it and statins well worth taking.