Too many statins? Help!!!

[nannipatti]

I have a dear friend who is going through a lot of muscle pain and is also having kidney attacks that come and go, she is 77 years of age and has the energy of a person half her age, she is awesome in her abilities in every day life. In discussing her health problems I discovered that she is taking what I think may be high levels of statins. She is at present taking Vytorin 10/80 once daily,Lovastatin 40mg 2 times daily and is soon to be put on Atorvastitin 80 mg. She is also on two blood pressure medications as well as plavix. She has been on these medication for years and I am concerned for this good friend and wonder if the statins are causing her health problems.
She did have a stunt put in many years ago which may be the reason she was put on these medications, she does not know what her cholesterol count is at this time and is trying to find that out.
Am I right to be concerned that the statins are contributing to her health problems? Does anyone have any advice to offer?

[Allen1]

Hi there nannipatti,

I am pleased you decided to post this question here as most of us will look here first. Hopefully you will soon get some sound advice from the other members who know their stuff (too many to name) and that your friend will then know what's what and be able to make an informed decision about what to do next.

You know how I feel about what has happened, and I hope the experience and advice of many others will help to get a realistic view on what to do next.

All the very best to you and your friend, Allen

[Allen1]

Hi there nannipatti,

I really am surprised and a bit shocked to see that no one has offered any advice about this predicament. I think that a couple of the sites main helpers are ill as they have not posted for a while which is out of character for them as they have always helped whenever possible in the past.


To John and Ray,
I really do hope you are on holiday and if so, I hope you have a great time, if on the other hand you are ill, I wish you a speedy and full recovery. Although the site is running ok, it isn't the same without your input and I dare say you both would have given some good advice to this particular problem if you were able to.

Until then I hope that someone else will try to help nannipatti out. Even if they are unable to give medical opinion (we are not doctors anyway), they can at least say what they think about what this lady in question should do, the main thing to think of is, would you want a member of your family to go through this or even have it happen to yourself. Now with that in mind you have a good reason to think about what you would do in that position and maybe offer a little advice.

All the best,
Allen

[David Staup]

hello nannipatti

you are right to be concerned about the statins...search this website for "women and statins" and you'll find an article that shows that women especially gain no cardiovascular benifit from statins.

I too suffered from kidney attacks and have been able to eliminate them by drinking only gatorade (the g2 is low sugar) or pedialite to make sure my electrolite levels are maintained, when active I can require as much as 100 oz of liquid or more. I started this when I found that dehydration follows from the rhabdomyolosis. my kidney pains were accompanied by dark, often cloudy urine, stronger muscle pains, constipation (from the dehydration), and weakness. since starting on the electrolite therapy (and reduced activity) I rarely experience kidney pain, even after overdoing it, and have also seen my blood pressure come into line (I've been able to get off the meds) and have bowel movements daily now instead of once every four or five days.
If/when I do too much I will still have dark, sometimes cloudy urine and mild constipation along with the pain and weekness but the electrolites seem to keep the kidneys clear. I have been adding 1/8 cup of apple cider vinager to 32 0z gatorade once a day and that has seemed to help even more (find braggs raw organic apple cider vinager). Add some honey to the mix for better taste.

This and the suppliments you will find mentioned on this site should help.

David

[nannipatti]

Thank you so much David and Allen as well, any information is a help and David you seem to have had the same problems that my friend is having. I have sent her my well worn and heavily underlined "Statin Drugs Side Effects" which has helped me especially when I had a TGA but Opals prescriptions of statins really had me questioning what would be the best advice to offer her,especially since she is a grab a bull by the horn type of gal and I was afraid she would go off completely and possibly harm herself. I am giving her a few days to read the information and will go to the "woman and statins " area for the information you have suggested.
Thanks again for your help, I t is much appreciated.

[ironic]

The women and statins page:

http://www.spacedoc.net/women_statins.htm

.

[David Staup]

Nannipatti,
No thanks are necessary... Helping someone else in this same boat is one of the few rewarding things left for some of us....

I should add that the kidney pains did not go away imeadately but over the course of a few weeks and months as my kidneys cleared..the constipation mostly stopped in a few days and my blood pressure came down as my kidneys cleared over the course of a few months...I started getting dizzy when I stood up and when I checked my bp it would be like 90 over 50 so I stsrted cutting back on the meds...whith my doctors approval and guidance I've monitored my bp daily and found that if I do some physical activity in small amounts daily and can avoid over doing it my bp is fine usually without meds... the only time it seems to creep up is when I'm forced to do nothing for several days. It's hard to find the right balance but is doable if your not to stubborn.

David

[David Staup]

sorry for being forgetful but well it's part of the deal...

vitamin D deficiency is also part of the string of side effects so in addition to 1,000 units of vitamin D I also drink 2 glasses of milk per day and eat 2 bananas per day to help with the electrolites...

I think that's all but may remember more later


David

[Cat Mom2]

I am no expert by any means but if she is on Vytorin 10/80, Lovastatin 40mg 2 times daily and is soon to be put on Atorvastitin 80 mg, it sounds to me like that doctor is trying to kill her or is using her to experiement with! To me, that is extreemly alarming! She is a statin disaster waiting to happen... Also at 77 years old, the last thing she needs to be worrying about is high cholesterol.. I would be FAR more worried about the side effects of that many statin drugs than high cholesterol!

Unless she eats only fried foods every day with a side order of trans fats and has cholesterol levels of 1000, she shouldn't have to be taking near that many statin drugs.