all I can say is this. I was on statins after my heart attack in Jan of 2020. They worked well for a year and then the side effects hit, and hit hard. Debilitating joint and muscle pains started in my knees any the end of spring they were all the way up to my neck. I thought I was going to die. Got off the statins and am very successfully controlling my numbers with diet. But it took until the fall of 23, almost a year and a half for the pains to gradually disappear. So I will just say to stay vigilant and watch for the side effects. I hope they never come.
OT: Statins
- Thread starter RUboston
- Start date
That is correct, in most cases, from what we were told by my wife's cardiologist - she had tried 4 different statins (and zetia) before he put her on Repatha and it was covered only after trying the statins.
Health insurance companies suck.
We should take a poll to see howany people on this board are on statins.
Lovastatin was discovered by Sankyo/DSI and licensed it to Merck. Nice try.
But the term granddaddy means the most widely used and through of what people say "statin". Not the oldest, which is actually mivastatin (also discovered by Sankyo).
Sounds like this board has a lot of people on statins then.....
An important note to this. Statin side effects, most notably muscle aches ( people may see the term myalgia), fatigue, and a bump in liver enzymes can be transitory and last about a month. So there's not always a rush to change unless symptoms get worse or don't resolve.
Your body makes approximately 75% of the cholesterol circulating in your blood. The other 25% is dietary.
Nice to be able to take a dose of Repatha one or two times a month. As mentioned, insurance companies will go the cheapie, cheapie route and opt for generic orals unless they fail before they cover trade name medications. As a side note, and no one yet has mentioned Lipoprotein a. LPa is gaining traction as a more harmful makeup within your cholesterol than LDL. LPa is not part of a normal cholesterol panel, and there is no medication that specifically targets LPa, but Repatha studies have been shown to reduce it by 25% on average. There should be FDA approvals at the end of the year earliest for LPa specific medications.
Early on, it was thought that the muscle aches were a significant warning that the,statin should be stopped, and as recently as 2014 there was effort to put a box warning about muscle pain
Attempts to.lower levels with drugs that would remove dietary cholesterol had minimal benefit
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Went on a low dose of Atorovasin 10 mg. Marked improvement of cholesterol . Diet was good, has worked well for me
Wrong again. it's really not hard to find this information out. Perhaps you should spend a minute or two researching for accurate information before spouting off like you know what you're talking about, embarrassing yourself yet again. Sometimes I wonder how you stay employed, between chronically being wrong and your trolling personality. Merck discovered lovastatin. Period, as per the excerpt/article below.
In 1978, Alfred Alberts, along with his colleagues at Merck Research Laboratories, discovered a potent inhibitor of HMG-CoA reductase in a fermentation broth of Aspergillus terreus, which was named lovastatin, mevinolin or monacolin K.
https://www.news-medical.net/health...s, along,lovastatin, mevinolin or monacolin K.
Merck did not discover the statin class, obviously, but in addition to being first to market with a cholesterol lowering statin, Merck also was the first company to demonstrate that lowering cholesterol actually led to significantly beneficial outcomes, via the landmark 4S study, which, in 1994, showed significant reduction in recurrent heart attacks (as per the excerpt/link below). This is what opened the floodgates in the statin world.
The trial results led to FDA approval in 1987, but Merck had to stipulate in its product label that no clinical outcome benefit could be inferred from those findings—all they could say was that statin safely lowered LDL cholesterol levels in blood. Only when the results of a landmark clinical trial (4S) were unveiled in 1994, revealing that lowering of LDL cholesterol significantly reduced the recurrence of heart attacks (secondary prevention), was the association between cholesterol reduction by statins and the inhibition of cardiovascular events established (Scandinavian Simvastatin Survival Group, 1994).
https://www.cell.com/fulltext/S0092-8674(08)01127-6
66. For the past 2 years been on 10mg of Simvastatin.
Cholesterol down to 190 from 270.
Cholesterol down to 190 from 270.
Yeah, Sankyo discovered statins in 1973 and then mivastatin and lovastatin a few years later. Licensed to Merck for US development soon afterwards. This is common knowledge in the industry.
Been taking 5mg rosuvastatin for about 7+ years. I have a family history of high triglycerides and levels all good now.
My wife and daughter would interested in this since they mention this to me all the time but I think living in NJ/rooting for Rutgers has more of an impact.
Tried 2 different types of statins. Both gave me muscle soreness. I'm in the no statin category.
I hope your doctors can find something else to help you, or that you have the discipline to exercise and carefully control your diet. I didn't and that's why I'm on a statin. Good luck!
Don't eat ANY sugars or anything made with white flour and you will improve your health.Do moderate weights slowly and with sets of 12 reps.Go up and down stairs for your cardio.Worked well for me.Buenos suerte
The KING has spoken! Be like beaced!!!
Absolutely true. With statins i would chase the lowest effective dose. So if you start in 20 of crestor and it works try 10. If still good, try 5. My general thoughts. Your mileage may differ.
When does the pill form of psck9 inhibitors hit the market? Merck was in phase 3 of trials 2 years ago? Any word on if the oral form is as effective as the injectable form?
My feeling is a little different: if it ain't broke, don't fix it. My point was that a patient should start low and move up only if necessary. But if 20 is working and you're not experiencing any side-effects you might as well stay at 20. I don't see the sense of gambling with your cholesterol level unless there's a need to change. Keep in mind that 20 is not a terribly high dose. But, as with you, your mileage may differ.
Your advice is excellent. But, for better or worse, it brings to my mind:
Careful where you step and watch what ya eat
Sleep with a light and you got it beat!
The Band, When you awake
My brother is a cardiologist and has the same view. He's big believer that genetics plays a big role in it as well. I'm not on any statin, BP is fine, lean and not overweight and eat pretty healthy (lots of healthy foods go in daily) and exercise regularly (not a gym person but just at home body weight stuff and brisk walks). He thinks I should be on one regardless of numbers and the rest, just because of family history. He says some might have lousy numbers or whatnot but never get any blockages or heart problems but some have excellent numbers and such but still get problems and blockages regardless (genetics). I haven't given in yet but maybe as the years go, it's something I'd consider.
My mother couldn't handle any of the statins. She tried a handful of different statins (even a powdered one) and always got palpitations and what not so didn't like and couldn't take them. I don't think that is a known side effect though. She seemed to tolerate the Repatha injection without any issues though.
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Good podcast here that just dropped with a cardiologist. Talks about using CT scan and CCTA scans to check presence and/or progress of atherosclerosis. I don't mind spending the money for scans every 5-7 years to stay off of drugs that I may not need. I could change my view on that. Like you, I eat clean and exercise.
Also, more info on oral "Repatha" (pcsk9i):
76 years old. No heart attacks. 2 JNJ cardiac stents placed 2007 and on atorvastatin ever since. Cholesterol good since then but triglycerides up and down depending on beer consumption. Quit smoking in 1973 when my dad died first MI. Only advice is find a good cardiologist (English as a first language is a plus) and do what he/she says.
I have been on statin medications for 20 years. I started out with Simvastatin (Zocor) but over time, I started having short-term memory issues. After switching to 10 mg Rosuvostatin, I still have some degree of short term memory loss but not as bad. Early on when I first started, I drank a Sunny D which I found out later has grapefruit juice in it. That gave me nasty muscle pain for a few hours but that was an isolated incident. Otherwise, I've avoided grapefruit and no issues with pain. I eat whatever I want and my blood work is good. Given a family history where both parents had bypass surgery, the pros outweigh the cons for me.
Add a fish oil pill to your daily regimen. It fixed my triglycerides. Worth a shot.
Been on Lipitor for 2 years now. Cholesterol levels are amazing right now. Just had a physical and the doctor couldn't wait to call me with the results because they were that good.
No real side effects. Aches and pains I contribute to being 55 years old. Pretty good shape, though I could lose 15 pounds. Eat fairly healthy, but have my share of pizza and burgers. Couple of beers on Friday/Saturday, maybe wine instead at times.
No real side effects. Aches and pains I contribute to being 55 years old. Pretty good shape, though I could lose 15 pounds. Eat fairly healthy, but have my share of pizza and burgers. Couple of beers on Friday/Saturday, maybe wine instead at times.
Hopefully by 2026 based on 2 of the 3 phase III trials that are ongoing; the 3rd phase III trial is a huge 6-year outcomes trial that if successful (2029 end date) could catapult MK-0616 from a "successful" drug to a blockbuster drug. Our Process R&D area started working on the incredibly difficult chemical synthesis (its a macrocyclic peptide that originally took 50+ chemical steps to make the active ingredient) about a year before I left in 2020 and it took a few years to make enough drug for even phase II trials, but the synthesis is in much better shape now from what I hear. There are things I know that I can't reveal, but I can certainly share that some very high level folks are very excited for this molecule's potential to improve health and, of course, make a few dollars, as an oral PCSK9 inhibitor would have major advantages in patient compliance and satisfaction vs. the existing injectable PCSK9 drugs out there, like Repatha and Leqvio.
https://visiblealpha.com/blog/merck...ld-change-the-hypercholesterolemia-landscape/
I can imagine the scale up from the lab was a herculean task. Have been "involved" (more peripherally) on a number of these projects. This is just one reason why new pharma products can be very expensive. As we have seen with GLP-1 products, supply/demand has caused these products to escalate in price.
You said your better half has/is taking Repatha. Was looking at the side effects of Repatha, and they seemed to be pretty bad, but have not parsed through at the frequency of those side effects.
I tried that fish oil pill...was horrible with the side effects (ex. after taste, etc.)...especially since I don't like fish. I am glad it seems the rosuvastatin works for me. I generally agree to go natural first.
Grapefruit juice is a problem with *many* common meds because it slows the liver's ability to get rid of the med and so it leads to bloodstream levels that are higher than they should be.
I hope a solution can be found to your memory issues -- I would find that very frightening.
My triglyceride levels were high even with the LDLs in the normal range. Yes, you have to watch your carb consumption. My doctor wanted to drive down my LDLs even though they were in the normal range and so she increased my atorvasatin dose. My triglycerides were much lower this time and I suspect the increased statin is why.
I agreed to take 5mg of statins just to stop the VA from pestering me. My LDLs went way down, but so did my HDLs, such that my ratio of LDLs to HDLs was much higher. I have always thought I would be OK as long as my ratio was under 3.5. I always thought LDLs are like marshmallows and HDLs are like bbs, the HDLs removing the slow moving LDLs as they flow through arteries. Please tell me if I have been misinformed all these years. I am 83 with good blood pressure and low pulse rate. I run? up a 25 yard concrete spillway (the only hill in the area) 20 times every other day and do light weights. I consider that interval training and as long as I don't get short of breath, I feel like I am good to go. I have exercised my whole life and so far so good. My cholesterol has been elevated (230?) for as long as I can remember. I have been taking fish oil for about 6 months, will have all blood work done during my next annual physical in Sept. and consider taking a low dose statin. My attitude is that I am grateful for being able to do what I do and not to fix anything that isn't broke. I appreciate all the information provided in this thread and feel like I will be well equipped to make a good decision pending the results of my blood work in Sept. Thank you.