Colesterol and statins

[mjr]

[...] Plenty of people on this forum that take them with no side effects and have a lowering of bad cholesterol. They work.

They work for some people. Maybe most people. But please don't over-egg it and claim they work for everyone.

They also seem to be amazingly badly prescribed, often in ways that ignore the NICE guidance. When that causes problems, does that mean they don't work, or that they've been misused? I don't know.

 

[mjr]

Anyone know of any studies that suggest an increase in dementure as that does seem to run in my Mum's family and scare me
but I am not willing to do anything about it unless I can see a study that shows in
after all - loosing my mind to dementure and loosing it due to another stroke is a bad choice!!

Not that I'm aware of but others seem to know more.

However, headaches and nausea are listed as common (> 1 in 10) side effects in the leaflet that comes with atorvastatin (Lipitor), with anorexia, insomnia, nightmares, loss of sensation, loss of memory, tinnitus and fatigue listed as "may affect up to 1 in 100 people". Not dementia, but all mind-affecting problems IMO. I had loss of memory... and of course, that means I probably don't remember all other problems I had.

So it happens. Probably for a minority and, as far as I can tell, it does usually reverse when you stop or change medication.

 

[Punkawallah]

Rather than that being true "in a very real sense" it's true "in no sense whatsoever".

It's also not true in any sense that everyone has a 50/50 chance of being eaten alive by shrews: Although it is true that it will either happen to you or it won't.

View attachment 788059
Be very afraid. They will either eat you or they won't.

Hyperbole is not your friend.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Not that I'm aware of but others seem to know more.

However, headaches and nausea are listed as common (> 1 in 10) side effects in the leaflet that comes with atorvastatin (Lipitor), with anorexia, insomnia, nightmares, loss of sensation, loss of memory, tinnitus and fatigue listed as "may affect up to 1 in 100 people". Not dementia, but all mind-affecting problems IMO. I had loss of memory... and of course, that means I probably don't remember all other problems I had.

So it happens. Probably for a minority and, as far as I can tell, it does usually reverse when you stop or change medication.

If you get these problems then there are other statins available
I would imagine that you could just talk to your GP and they would change you to another

different versions of the same basic drug have different effects of people - sometimes it is just a case of experimenting

 

[Dogtrousers]

Hyperbole is not your friend.

Phew. Good job I didn't use hyperbole then.

 

[mjr]

Phew. Good job I didn't use hyperbole then.

You've absolutely never ever used hyperbole. 😉

 

[mjr]

If you get these problems then there are other statins available
I would imagine that you could just talk to your GP and they would change you to another

different versions of the same basic drug have different effects of people - sometimes it is just a case of experimenting

More or less, but sometimes none of them will work. However, all statins list headaches among their potential side effects on the patient information leaflet, and all except rosuvastatin also list memory loss and other things I'd class as mind-bending which could easily be confused for dementia symptoms. Most of the concern with statins has been around the muscular problems, which are easier to see and often show up in detailed blood tests.

Yes, if you talk to your GP, they should change you to another statin, and if you can't take any, they should refer you to specialists, but one problem is that people who suffer memory loss might not remember that they're having problems! And then there's people who will write off the problems as the dementia that they've feared, especially if they have family history with it.

I feel GPs really ought to conduct a memory impairment test alongside the blood tests before and after starting statins, but until they do, the more people who can be aware and watching for this problem among the statin-takers they know and love, the better.