Cholesterol drugs side effects:
some patients report muscle pain, neuropathy, confusion, memory loss after taking statin drugs
Cholesterol drugs side effects should be explored before starting a cholesterol-lowering medication. It just makes sense to understand the side effects of any drug you put in your body. Cholesterol lowering drugs, and their benefits and side effects, are the subject of many scientific papers and countless articles.
Some experts don't agree with the medical community's current obsession with lowering cholesterol levels, noting that cholesterol plays important positive roles in our bodies. Cholesterol is linked to digestion, muscle repairs, brain and memory, adrenal function and production of hormones that impact blood sugars, libido and sexual function. These doctors argue that too low cholesterol can produce other imbalances in the body.
However, a large volume of research points to the benefit of keeping cholesterol levels under a certain threshhold and for 30 years, medications have been developed for this purpose.
Statin Cholesterol Drugs Side Effects
A class of cholesterol drugs, called statins have been shown to consistently reduce cholesterol levels. Some trade names of statin drugs are well known from television commercials: Lipitor, Zocor and Crestor.
In the 20 years statin drugs have been prescribed, a number of side affects have been reported by patients and documented in research. Information on some cholesterol drugs side effects is found below.
Muscle pains, aches and weakness - Since the late 1990s Dr. Beatrice A. Golomb at the University of California San Diego has been studying side effects of statin drugs. Her research found that 98 percent of patients on Lipitol and one third of patients on Mevachos reported muscle problems such as pain and weakness. Researchers believe this cholesterol drugs side effect results from the drug depleting CoQ10, a nutrient important to muscle function. Some medical experts suggest that individuals taking statin drugs supplement with CoQ10.
The University of California San Diego School of Medicine has sent up a website that allows people to report adverse cholesterol drugs side effects. The website is http://www.statineffects.com.
Adverse side effects related to cholesterol-lowering drugs are common enough that online message boards have popped up so affected individuals can connect and share stories and tips. To find some of these boards, go to Google or some other search engine and search for "statin drug forum" or "cholesterol drug forum."
Neuropathy - This condition, also called peripheral neuropathy, has symptoms of numbness, tingling, burning, prickling or pain in the hands and feet and can result in difficulty walking. Dr. Golomb's research found that people who take statin drugs for two or more years are 4 to 14 times more likely to develop idiopathic polyneuropathy. Her studies have found that patients had reported symptoms to their doctors but were told the symptoms could not be related to cholesterol-lowering drugs.
In some cases, patients found the condition disappeared when the stopped taking the drug. In other cases, the patient's neuropathy did not disappear when statin drugs were discontinued.
Confusion and Memory Loss - According to Dr. Golomb, approximately 15 percent of individuals taking statin prescriptions have cognitive side effects. A study from the University of Pittsburgh found that subjects who took statin drugs for six months performed poorly compared to subjects on a placebo when tested for problem solving skills, psychomotor skills and memory.
If you don't want to risk cholesterol drugs side effects, check out ways to lower cholesterol naturally with foods that lower cholesterol.
The phenomenon of mental impairment when taking statin drugs resulted in a February 2008 article in the New York Times titled, "Do Statins Make You Stupid?" The article retells the story of a 69-year-old woman who was so forgetful her family was investigating Alzheimer's care for her. The woman stopped taking a statin drug and within 8 days she was normal again. The doctors tried other statins, and each time the woman experienced cognitive problems. Eventually the woman decided she did not want to live with cholesterol drugs side effects and made the decision to try to lower her cholesterol with diet changes.
A dramatic story of a cognitive side effect is told by Duane Graveline, MD MPH, a former NASA Astronaut, former USAF flight surgeon and retired family doctor. After being put on Lipitor after a routine flight physical, Graveline says he suffered total memory loss, transient global amnesia (TGA), for six hours. A year later, he was restarted on Lipitor at half the original dose and for 12 hours Graveline thought he was 13 years old in high school. He had lost 56 years of memory. After these experiences, Dr. Graveline began researching side effects of statins and has written two books, Lipitor: Thief of Memory and Statin Drugs Side Effects.
The pharmaceutical industry says in its trials cognitive side effects occurred in just 0.5% of cases.
Other side effects of cholesterol-lowering statin drugs, according to natural health writer Mike Adams, editor of naturalnews.com, are:
- liver damage and abnormalities
- destruction of CoQ10, a vital nutrient for health
- irratibility and short temper, hostility
- temperature regulation problems
- erectile dysfunction
- kidney failure
- problems sleeping
- problems sleeping
- constipation or diarrhea
That's quite a list of side effects most of us would want to avoid.
To avoid cholesterol-lowering drugs and their side effects, consider lowering cholesterol naturally with herbs or cholesterol supplements.
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The information on this website is for informational purposes only and is not intended to replace medical advice or diagnose or treat any health condition. The statements on this site have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
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