Lipex/statin

[Baldy]

Here are some notes I will be taking to my Dr. next time I visit, but I doubt I could be persuaded to try any alternative statin. Since stopping Lipex, while my diet has always been well balanced, I have modified it to lower exposure to cholesterol. I am now taking CoQ10, fish oil and vitamin C. It is remarkable that Drs do not warn their patients that statins suppress the production of CoQ10 and that it should be taken it as a supplement.
Two years ago I had an episode of atypical ventricular arrhythmia which caused me to be hospitalised overnight for observation and tests. I was put on Lipex, Aspirin and Metoprolol. My cholesterol levels were not particularly high, but both were slightly elevated. A subsequent angiogram revealed a minor amount of arterial deterioration, but certainly no need for stents.
When I first took Lipex I was not aware of the side effects at the time because, presumably, they came on gradually and I didn’t make the connection. Then when I stopped taking it I felt a significant overall improvement in my health. When, however, I re-started after a break of a few months it hit me like a train!
Here is what it has done to me.
Low level transitory headaches usually accompanied by low level pain/pressure behind the eyes. This is particularly noticeable when I re-started taking Lipex for a short time. Now that I have stopped again this reaction is very slowly diminishing. Sometimes I struggle to focus my eyes, but there is improvement.
I have a constant sensation of tiredness, but overwhelming tiredness specifically when using the brain – reading, playing Solitaire on the computer or writing on computer, and my head is quite ‘fuzzy’ most of the time. In fact, that reaction often starts instantaneously when I begin to concentrate on something. When I play Solitaire on the computer this is a real factor and the adverse effect is always instantaneous. I think that is because Solitaire involves a lot of rapid eye movement as well as use of what is left of my brain.
In the mornings I get up and usually do the crossword before anything else. This often makes me feel so tired; I just want to put my head down on the table and go back to sleep. Usually when reading I go to sleep after just a few minutes – morning or afternoon.
Diminished ability to concentrate and noticeable memory loss, particularly short term. I can now re-read a book and have no recognition of the contents yet I know I have previously read the book. I hope this improves now that I have stopped taking Lipex.
I am sometimes irritable and I suffering from inertia.
I have difficulty writing. My normally poor writing degenerated into a scrawl, which improved on both occasions when I stopped taking Lipex. Even my printing (when doing crosswords) was illegible when on Lipex, but is now very neat.
When I recently re-started Lipex I was waking two-hourly without fail, and also frequently having weird dreams. Having stopped again I am back to waking just once per night to ‘bail the boat’. Normally I do not remember dreams nor am I normally awakened by them.
Transitory twinges of muscle pain, short lived, but also significant generalised muscle weakness. Cramps, mainly in calves. Numbness in outer left thigh. Muscle pain mostly focussed in both thighs but some in the arms. Feeling is like a pulled muscle, but the sensation doesn’t last long.
Moderate major joint pain and some lesser minor joint pain. This could be arthritis but if it is I am sure it is aggravated by the use of Lipex, in fact the pain in my major joints now appears to be abating. The only joint pain I had before taking Lipex was my left big toe. Blood tests indicated it was not gout! A recent knee x-ray indicated little arthritis yet both knees were painfully inflamed
I suffer from some degeneration of my walking ability. I cannot no longer walk fast, rather I walk slowly, more like someone 15 years older. Sometime I even experience a slightly ‘stuttered’ walk, particularly on first standing, for example when getting out of bed, but not aware of giddiness at the time. I do, however, experience sensations of giddiness at other times, usually when just sitting, but occasionally upon rising from a chair.
I had a frequent pain sensation below my ribs on the right hand side which I had always thought of as a legacy from my cholecystectomy, even though it was well over to the right hand side. Perhaps it was more likely from my liver. Strangely, that went away immediately when I stopped taking Lipex. Recognising the effect of Lipex on the liver I do not believe it is drawing too long a bow to suggest a connection.
My first sign of hunger is usually not a hunger pang but a strong feeling of nausea in the stomach.
I spoke with to our next door neighbour yesterday. He is retired, a former horticulturalist. When on Lipex, after a couple of years he lost, among other memories, all memory of the names, both common and botanical, of hundreds and hundreds of plants. Because of that he stopped taking Lipex and the memory has returned. He did not try an alternative statin because his cholesterol level had never been anywhere near the red zone anyway.
I also spoke to J.P. yesterday, another neighbour. He had to give up Lipex because of muscle pain after a couple of years of taking it. The pain was affecting his work.
I also spoke to L.F. a couple of days ago. When I told him about my problems and he told me that he has been on Lipex for over two years and suffers memory loss and unaccustomed tiredness, and that he had not associated those problems with Lipex until I told him of my experience. He said used to go home after work and get out into his garden or do maintenance around the house. Now he just sits in a chair and goes to sleep.
Another friend on Lipex says is not aware of any side effects, but his wife and I do not agree that he has none, or that the problems he has are not probably related to Lipex, but he has blind faith in his doctors. He is tired, weak and forgetful.
And these are the only people I have talked with about it. I know of one other person on Lipex. He, a doctor, takes it but I have never heard him made any comment about side effects.

[Allen1]

Hi there Baldy and welcome to the forum.

What you are describing is OH so familiar to very many of us here, Lipex is also known as Zocor and Simvastatin and those symptoms and many more have taken a lot of us a great deal of time to find what caused them. I am pleased you realised the cause and I hope you get well soon, it is also good to see that you are taking co-enzyme q10 and other stuff to help you recover.

Please keep talking to your friends about your experiences as it could save them from further harm and maybe they will also mention this to their other friends, it can make one hell of a difference.

All the best,

Allen. (sorry its a short reply but it has been one of those days)

[Baldy]

Hi Allen. Greetings from paradise in the South Pacific, New Zealand.

Thanks for your email.

It is good to have my 'cure' confirmed. What is remarkable is that I have only spoken to five people about this problem with statins; three of them report significant problems, one, in my opinion has problems but denies it and only one has no problems that I am aware of.

From my perspective, one of the problems with these things is that the side effects creep up on you and so many of use fail to conect the dots and see the cause as statins. I was lucky that I stopped for a few months and when I re-started the effects were dramatic.

[cjbrooksjc]

Baldy: Welcome to the forum. I'd like to ask you, if you wouldn't mind, to cut and paste this post entry into the "My statin story" thread at the top of the "Statin Drugs" category. Its good for newcomers to have one place to go for a quick snapshot of other sufferers complaints and your story should be shared. Hope you continue to be symptom free.

Brooks

[Allen1]

Hi there Baldy,

its been very cold here in the UK but it looks like the weather is getting milder now. I had some business to sort out in my local city of Newcastle Upon Tyne the other day, it required quite a walk to reach the destination in the pedestrianised area I had to go to. Although I knew I was getting tired and my legs were aching from the walk, I really did not expect to still feel this bad and weak 4 days later. It just goes to show how much damage this stuff can do and still does 2 years after cessation and as we all know a lot of Doctors just don't know or want to know that this stuff is not the magic cure for everything they want it to be.

As you mentioned, the symptoms/problems also crept up on me and realistically there didn't seem to be any link to many of the different symptoms until you find a site like this and see how common this strange mix of problems are. There are days when I feel like there is nothing wrong with me, unfortunately that is short lived when I attempt to do something more strenuous than making a cup of coffee etc. I was on Zocor for between 10 and 12 years before I found the cause of the problems, I had never heard anything bad about statins or even anyone talking about this medication, I really would have appreciated someone warning me of the connection. Like I said before please mention your problems and the cause to people you know and hopefully they will pass on what they have heard and save so many people from becoming victims to this poison like we have.

Take care and all the best,

Allen

[Brian C.]

Hi Baldy. Have you seen this article in the NZ Medical Journal?

"The sorry saga of the statins in New Zealand – pharmacopolitics versus patient care"

*http://www.nzma.org.nz/journal/116-1170/360/

Note that was SIX YEARS AGO! :shock:



Allen, could you establish email contact with me please. Thanks.

Brian.