The statin drug manufacturers would like us all to believe that their product needs to be put into our drinking water. I can personally attest to the fact that painful muscle aches and weakness are a side effect. (Not to mention the potential death from blood clots and liver damage or failure.)
You are very right. I ahve had the same problems with the statin Lipitor. I now take Simvistatin for high BP.
Statins that are approved for use in the U.S. include lovastatin (Mevacor), simvastatin (Zocor), pravastatin (Pravachol), atorvastatin (Lipitor), fluvastatin (Lescol), and rosuvastatin (Crestor).
More important info on statins:
http://www.medicinenet.com/statins/article.htm
That statins are indeed known for causing arthralgias and muscle pains, and I’ve seen it happen frequently. But they are a pretty remarkable drug class: cardioprotective in that they stabilizie plaques in your arteries by limiting inflammation, lower LDL, elevate HDL, and now this.
Frankly, I’d just cut through all of the crap and ask for Crestor if your doctor is going to put you on a statin. It’s the strongest statin, so you need less of it to achieve optimal results—and the muscle aches are directly related to dosage of the statin, not its strenght. It also employs the least use of the liver’s commonly used CYP 450 enzymes, so it’s less likely to interact with other drugs.
I’m just a medical student, but I saw quite a few patients who had problems on other statins do quite well with it.
“The statin drug manufacturers would like us all to believe that their
product needs to be put into our drinking water.”
I’m all for use of helpful pharmaceuticals.
But I have noticed that every couple of months another benefit of
statins gets in the mainstream press.
I’ve gotten the same impression: they are being almost promoted as
a panacea.