IMPORTANT NOTE
Do not stop taking medication without doing thorough research first and consulting with your doctor. However, you should certainly ask your doctor a lot of questions before starting any medication and you should monitor your own symptoms carefully, in a diary.
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Each day in U.K, about 8,000,000 people swallow a statin tablet. Let's suppose each one gives just one penny net profit to a pharmaceutical company; that means that, in one year, drug companies are making about £29,000,000 net profit on this one drug alone. The cost to NHS is enormous.
Atherosclerosis is" a disease of the arteries characterized by the deposition of fatty material on their inner walls". Doctors are taking a prophylactic approach to this disease, by prescribing statins to middle-aged men because these drugs lower blood cholesterol which, they say, is the reason for the fatty deposits. They reason that, since middle-aged men are most at risk of heart attacks and stroke because of high cholesterol, administering a pill to lower cholesterol must be a good idea. Some go so far as to say that statins prevent heart attacks, which is untrue.
Heart disease and stroke can be avoided by leading a physically active life. People who exercise regularly, are at less risk. While there are correlations between lowered heart attack/stroke incidents and statins, there is certainly no definitive proof. Quoted figures of increased life expectancy sometimes amount only to extra days of life, which is not a high return when we consider the side-effects of statins.
Cholesterol is a precursor for the biosynthesis of hormones, bile acids and vitamin D in the human body. It is the principal sterol synthesized by animals. All kinds of cells in animals can produce it, but particularly hepatic cells.
Statins work by blocking chemical pathways in the liver, which produces more cholesterol than we consume in our diets. The problem is, by blocking those pathways, other important chemicals are blocked too, further down the line. One of these is Co-Enzyme Q10 which is essential for heart health and generation of ATP for energy in our cell mitochondria. In some countries where statins are prescribed, Co-Q10 is prescribed with the statins, but not in Scotland, as I found out.
Here now, is my experience with statins;
Two years ago in March, I visited my friend's new house near Crieff on a Tuesday and stayed overnight. The next morning, I enjoyed a large, delicious breakfast of muesli, milk, wholemeal bread with honey and black coffee (I'll explain my reason for mentioning this shortly). About an hour or so later, we went for a walk in a wood nearby. Suddenly, I felt dizzy and my eyes wouldn't focus. I was afraid to take a step because I felt as if I couldn't plant my feet safely, so I stopped for a minute or so and the dizziness passed.
On the Thursday, I went to my optician. She could find nothing wrong with my sight. She advised me to see my GP which I did. I was lucky to get an appointment at such short notice. The locum doctor decided I had had a mini-stroke episode and, after talking to a professor at a local hospital, he prescribed Simvastatin and Aspirin. He also arranged an appointment for me at Edinburgh's Western General on the following Tuesday, to see a stroke specialist. This was a Friday night at 6 p.m. and I was due to fly to Madrid at 8 a.m. the next morning. I cancelled my holiday flight, very reluctantly, because I had felt fine since Wednesday evening.
On attending the hospital, I was given a brain scan and thorough checks. It was decided that I had some atherosclerosis, which is not uncommon in later life. In his report, the doctor described my incident as "a very curious case" because there was no evidence of a stroke. Anyway, he advised me to continue the Simvastatin and he prescribed Clopidogrel, instead of Aspirin.
At this time, I was working toward one million metres on an indoor rower, so I was training several times each week for 30 minutes or so and strength training twice. I also changed my diet overnight (not that it was particularly bad). I decided to eat at least 10 portions of fruit/veg each day and I cut animal fats right down.
It was only after a few weeks that I started noticing side effects of the drugs. These may include loss of memory and depression, but as I said to my doctor later, how is one supposed to know when memory is lost or if one is depressed?
Anyway, the most obvious thing was extreme fatigue. This is not surprising (see Co Q10 above). I was awakening each day, after a sound night's sleep exhausted, wiped out. With this, came severe muscle pain. This was not due to DOMS (delayed on-set muscle soreness), with which I am familiar.
Next, I noticed that my urine was brown. I don't mean dark yellow due to dehydration. It was the colour of cola. On researching this, I realised I probably was suffering rhabdomyolysis. This condition is so serious that I'd like you to read about it yourself.
Essentially, it is due to damage to skeletal and heart muscles and can lead to kidney failure
Then, one morning I woke up to go for a wee (as one does, first thing) and noticed that something was missing........ You gentlemen will know what I mean when I say there was no stiffness (and I don't mean my back). I thought about this and realised it had been some time since I had been functioning normally, at least a week or two, I guessed. Another side-effect is sexual dysfunction.
Well, I went to my doctor, told him all of this, asked for Co Q10 ("we don't do that here" he said) and insisted on a lowering of the statin dose. He ignored my concerns about the other symptoms, virtually patted me on the head and told me to "keep up the diet and the exercise".
Meanwhile, I was doing more research and was extremely lucky to come across this article by Dr Stephanie Seneff of MIT
I wrote to her, explaining my symptoms and history and she kindly replied the very next day, attaching three research papers and advising me that people who exercise are at most risk from statins.
I thought about this for a few days and, three months after starting statin medication, I stopped taking them and decided to be responsible for my own future health, by continuing exercise and diet.
Today, I am fit and in good health (so far, as I always say now.......)
As for my "mini-stroke" episode, I don't think it was a stroke at all. I believe I had an insulin surge due to too much carbohydrate in my breakfast, combined with strong coffee, which stimulates insulin production further. This would have lowered my blood sugar levels quickly, inducing a hypoglycaemic episode, making me fatigued and dizzy.
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