Insidious Side effects

[Jo Ann]

I am a 52 year old female. My cholesterol readings have always been in the 200s, since my first blood test at age 26. As a practicing chiropractor I have always been health minded, with a great aversion to prescription drugs. I have taken supplements and vitamins since my teens and have always been active and healthy. I am rarely sick and it’s been over 10 years since I took any antibiotics. In 2002, my MD prescribed 40 mg pravachol to lower my cholesterol (total 279), since a 30lb weight loss, exercise and other natural methods failed to lower my cholesterol numbers. I also took CoEnzyme Q-10 concurrently, hoping to avoid the known muscle pain side effects of statins. I thought I had manageable side effects: such as burning urination at first, which subsided. All was well, or so I thought. In 2004, I started getting high blood pressure numbers, like 140/95-again I was still at 135 lbs and exercising almost daily. I was shocked and dismayed. My MD prescribed lisinopril for the blood pressure, which I took for 3 months and then switched to Diovan in early 2005 because I had the dry cough side effect. In the fall of 2005, my cholesterol numbers were still in the 250s so my MD switched me to Vytorin and changed my blood pressure medication to Diovan HCTZ (beta blocker with diuretic). I had my last menses in December 2005 – the timing was such that I attributed a lot of my symptoms to menopause. During this time weight gain was relentless. The “good news” was that my cholesterol numbers were perfect: below 200 for the first time ever.

For many people like me, statin side effects are insidious, creeping up so gradually that one doesn’t realize the severity and scope of complaints. For me it was odd pain in the bottoms of the feet, especially at night; quadriceps muscle weakness with inability to exercise for more than 20-30 minutes. Daytime lethargy, lack of initiative, numbness in the hands, pains in the thumbs. I would wake every 2 hours, sometimes lucky enough to go back to sleep, sometimes I would lie awake for an hour or more. Also, I wasn’t as sharp in remembering the names of my patients. I would run into somebody outside my practice and couldn’t remember their name; yet I could easily remember their occupation, spouse's name, cause of the chief complaint, where they worked, etc. Odd and disturbing.

The side effect that caused me to stop Vytorin was memory loss and garbled speech. When I realized that my memory was being so badly affected, I knew it was one of my medications. Since I didn’t want to mess around with high blood pressure, I stopped the Vytorin in April 2007. I didn’t ask my doctor’s permission, either. In June, my total cholesterol was a whopping 380 and my internist suggested I try the pravachol (pravastatin) again since my earlier experience was minimal side effects.

Unfortunately, the pravastatin’s side effects started insidiously over the course of 6 months. Most notably was the memory loss and strange garbled speech problems – not remembering the right word or substituting the wrong word. I was no longer a witty conversationalist. I couldn’t do simple addition, remember what I ate the day before, or even realize that a television program I was watching was a rerun from a few months before. This is frightening! No one wants to admit to anyone that their memory is failing. I felt physically like I was 62 not 52. Terrible sleeping problems – I could fall asleep without difficulty, but I would awake an hour later and then stay awake for hours. Needless to say, insomnia causes daytime lethargy and lack of initiative. I didn’t want to do anything. In February 2008, I stopped the pravastatin because I wanted to enjoy a vacation, be able to sleep, talk normally, and have enough stamina for all the cruise side trips.

Within 2 days of stopping the pravastatin, my sleep improved markedly to 7 hours a night (even interrupted by bathroom needs). Within a month, most of the complaints I listed above subsided. Just to test it, I resumed the pravachol prescription in April, and I immediately had burning urination and insomnia. I lasted a week on the medication, and gave it up again so I could get some sleep. I am able to exercise 5 days a week (aquatics 3x, stretching 2x) and have amazing energy and initiative. I can carry a conversation and I’m not forgetful.

Last week I had a blood test and I know my high cholesterol numbers will shock my MD. Oh well. I’m still taking CoEnzyme Q-10, flax seeds, flax seed oil and fish oil in addition to a multivitamin, 81 mg aspirin and calcium supplementation. I’ll still avoid red meat and eat oatmeal and salmon regularly. Other than that, I can’t see that there is ANY benefit to taking a statin when it impacts an otherwise healthy and happy lifestyle.

[Ray Holder]

Hi Jo Ann, and welcome to the forum.

Just one point from your story, carnitine deficiency is a feature of statin damage, and you mentioned your Quadriceps weakness. Carnitine is necessary to prevent muscle wastage, it is still a daily necessity for me after 6 years off statins. However, red meat, particularly lamb and beef are the best dietary sources of L Carnitine, animal fats are not the major cause of raised cholesterol, hydrogenated fats have much greater effect.

You may find that higher doses of Q10 will lower your blood pressure by improving the strength of your heart action, high doses are not harmful, I take 900mg a day, but I am 87.

Ray

[Ray Holder]

Jo Ann

I should have warned you that as Q10 may well reduce your BP, if you are still taking medications for it, they can easily take it down too far and possibility make you feel faint, so monitor your own BP if you can, but beware of any signs of low BP.

Beta blockers also can lower your Q10 supply, and negate the effects of supplementation, it's a vicious circle!!!

Ray

[catspajamas]

into the 300's too when I first went off zocor for many of the same reasons you did joann...I took fish oil, niacin, and policosanol..( there are good supplements you can get from the health food store if you like)...It took the better part of a year for mine to come down to 229(which I am satisfied with)...The major reason for my cholesteral coming down was cutting out sugar and a lot of carbs from my diet...Did you know that studies show that statins don't protect women from heart disease anyway?.....I had vasculitis too...so now I know its the inflammation not the "cholesteral" that is the culprit.....I am not a Dr..just one who has suffered nerve and muscle damage from statins and since then have read so much about cholesteral I probably know more than the dr's too...Take the good advice here

[Jo Ann]

Thank you Ray and catspajamas for your kind and informative replies. My current BP med is an ACE inhibitor/diuretic combo (not a beta blocker as I wrote in my original post), so I will increase my co-Q 10 gradually and monitor my BP. How much do you take at a time, and do you take it in divided doses throughout your day?

I did lower my carb/sugar intact to virtually nothing for several years 2001-2004, while I maintained my 30lb weight loss. With menopause came the cravings...

I will also investigate adding L-carnitine to my daily supplement routine. I see there is a forum and information about it on this site.

Again, thanks for your insight.

[Ray Holder]

I take 300mg of Q10 three times a day, with breakfast, dinner and tea, but I need a lot to keep my heart working at my age. !00 mg 3 times daily would be a good starting point and add another hundred if you think it is helping to either of the doses, and watch the results, if you get to a plateau, don't waste your Q10, try a little more later on if you thnk your BP is tending to rise, but don't try to control it on a day by day basis, watch the trend over a week or so at a time. If you can get your doctor onside, so much the better, but people have varying experiences in that regard.

Some people are able to dispense with some of their BP medications when using Q10, I now only take 2 of my previous 3 BP drugs

Ray