statins and scoliosis

[Karen Ocker]

I had an interesting experience with Lipitor:

The trend has been to put almost anyone with total cholesterol over 200 on statins and my personal GP was no exception. About 4-5 weeks into taking Lipitor 10 mgm I began to notice my legs getting very tired when I would go on my strenuous walks and when I climbed stairs. I attributed it to being tired-perhaps from 2 surgeries in 12 months(hysterectomy and gallbladder).
Then I noticed I was getting more winded with exercise. This progressed to the point where I got winded doing usual activities. This was rather frightening because before my revision this was usual and related to reduced lung function.

I decided to look up adverse effects of Lipitor just to make sure. Indeed, these were documented side effects of the drug. I made an appointment with my GP but stopped the drug a few days before seeing him. Sure enough!!! Those symptoms disappeared and I am back to my old self.

I write this because muscle pain and chest tightness/weakness can also
occur. We might tend to blame these side effects on scoliosis. I encourage anyone on statins for cholesterol, especially those with scoliosis, to be aware because we do not need any more problems that we already have.

[edd]

Below was taken from Dr. Kevin Lau website http://drkevinlau.blogspot.com/

Indeed, the drug may effectively impact that one marker. But here's where the problem starts: every drug has a systemic effect, and these systemic effects are not accurately measured (or admitted) in clinical trials. For example, statin drugs do, in fact, lower bad cholesterol levels. But they do this by compromising the ability of the liver to create all types of cholesterol, including the "good" cholesterol and important hormones that the body manufactures from cholesterol. Statins may have one measurable, positive effect according to the medical charts, but they simultaneously throw off the body's healthy physiology in a hundred other ways such as blocking your sex drive.

I had an interesting experience with Lipitor:

The trend has been to put almost anyone with total cholesterol over 200 on statins and my personal GP was no exception. About 4-5 weeks into taking Lipitor 10 mgm I began to notice my legs getting very tired when I would go on my strenuous walks and when I climbed stairs. I attributed it to being tired-perhaps from 2 surgeries in 12 months(hysterectomy and gallbladder).
Then I noticed I was getting more winded with exercise. This progressed to the point where I got winded doing usual activities. This was rather frightening because before my revision this was usual and related to reduced lung function.

I decided to look up adverse effects of Lipitor just to make sure. Indeed, these were documented side effects of the drug. I made an appointment with my GP but stopped the drug a few days before seeing him. Sure enough!!! Those symptoms disappeared and I am back to my old self.

I write this because muscle pain and chest tightness/weakness can also
occur. We might tend to blame these side effects on scoliosis. I encourage anyone on statins for cholesterol, especially those with scoliosis, to be aware because we do not need any more problems that we already have.

[Cakedec]

Statins are dangerous

My husband was on Lipitor and became extremely fatigued and had severe back and muscle pain (not scoliosis related). The dr. tried to tell him it had nothing to do with the Lipitor but we researched it also and read a lot of testimonies of people who had severe side effects from it, including a top scientist who says he lost mental capacity from taking it. As soon as my husband stopped taking it, all of the side effects went away.

My sister in law's mother was taking one of the recalled statins and became very ill and died (which they attributed to old age). However, after people started dying from it and they took it off the market, my sister in law wondered if the statin could have brought on her early demise!

For those of you who are afraid of having a heart attack if you go off statins, I have found that there are some nutritionists, scientists, and researchers who feel that what we have been told about the high cholesterol/heart attack link is not exactly the entire truth - that there are many other factors contributing to heart disease including nutrition, blood vessel strength, viruses and infections, etc. which have not been pursued because there is more money to be made by the drug companies selling expensive statin drugs to everyone with high cholesterol.

My mother in law has had high cholesterol which runs in the family for almost her whole life. It runs between 300-400. The drs. have tried everything to get it down - diet, exercise, and every type of statin drug on the market. She is extremely sensitive and unable to tolerate anything they give her; all have made her sick and one landed her in the hospital. Finally, there was nothing left for them to try, so she said (in her 80's) that she was done with all of their drugs and that if she dies from it, she dies from it. Is she on death's door from high cholesterol? No, she is one of the most healthy women her age we have ever seen! She walks and swims everyday, teaches exercise, swim, and craft classes to the other senior women in her trailer park, even helps look after and take care of some of the sick or dying elderly people near her. She has more energy and stamina than I do in my 40's and no heart disease!!! Sometimes I think they should market whatever is in her blood and give it to the rest of us!!

Just food for thought on the high cholesterol/statins thread.

Deb
age 48
posterior surgery 7/24/06

Deb

[Janet]

Statins & other "Wonder Drugs"

I have no personal experience with statins but I feel compelled to comment on how some doctors are heavily influenced by drug companies to prescribe costly drugs. Drug manufacturers regularly collect data from pharmacies as to which doctors prescribe which drugs; the doctors who fall short of the mfr's goals receive more visits from sales reps. The doctors who do write the
desired prescriptions are rewarded in some indirect fashion (not cash); the top performers are sponsored by the mfrs to speak at conferences and the honoraria received by the docs are significant. A few days ago the New York Times ran an article on this subject, citing instances where some doctors made hundreds of thousands of dollars per year in this manner. I think it is a fair question to ask our doctors if they receive compensation for pushing certain brand-name drugs.