afib/statins/joint pain

My afib has been under control for several years with the use of atenolol and diltiazem. ( I also have hypertension) The last time I had my cholesterol checked it was high. My doc perscribed a statin drug and since I read that statins can help in afib (decreasing cholesterol thus decreasing possibility of stroke) I decided to try them. I've been on Lovastatin for about a year and am beginning to notice some joint pain. I wondered if this happens to anyone else? If so, I may be faced with having to stop something that might be beneficial to my afib but harmful to my joints. Thanks.

Stevie, you might want to subscribe to the Afib Report. In this month's issue, Hans reports on a study that shows that lone afibbers are not any more likely to have a stroke than are members of the rest of the population. If you are taking statins for stroke prevention, and are a true lone afibber, it looks like you can drop them without fear of stroke.
PeggyM

How is a person to know what to do. I am a lone afibber and my "clinical cardiac electrophysiologist" has had me on warfarrin for two years. Perhaps my age has something to do with it---76.

Another problem is that I was scheduled to have a colonoscopy and I canceled it fearing I could awaken the day of the procedure experiencing afib and would not be in condition to go through with it. When I am in afib my blood pressure usually drops to the low seventies and I feel weak and dizzy. I'm going to have a sigmoidoscopy instead and if any polyps are found the doctor will have to advise me as to what to do.

Ray

Ray:

I had a colonoscopy about 3 years ago while I was having afib. The afib was brought on by the high salt content in the prep. Go litely is a prep solution I believe that has less sodium in it, you might want to try that.

By the way I told my GI doc that I only wanted a sigmoidoscopy but he went ahead and did a colonoscopy anyway. I got an IV solution with 5% dextrose and .9% saline prior to the procedure and Versed, my blood pressure was all right before and during the procedure....I usually have low BP. I found out 3 months ago that he had done the colonoscopy instead of the sigmoidoscopy. I hope this helps.

Isabelle

I am on statins for high cholesterol, I have not had any joint pain but I have had some muscle pain with it, it seems as if it makes the muscles weaker so that if you pull one it is more painful and lasts longer, I must not be so enthousiastic in yoga! Heather

Stevie - there is a wealth of information supporting the fact that statins deplete Coenzyme Q10 and one of the results of this depletion is muscle pain and weakness.

Years back, I was prescribed statins for a mild cholesterol elevation and ended up with muscle damage that is still with me today. (years before I was diagnosed with AF).

Remember, you heart is a muscle and depends on CoQ10 to help with energy metabolism in the mitochondria. The heart mitochondria is dependent on CoQ10. There is evidence to support that lack of CoQ10 in heart muscle can result in statin-induced cardiomyopathy.

You owe it to yourself and your health to become educated on why statins aren't good for us and what risks we face by using these drugs.

Check out these websites:

[www.westonaprice.org]
[www.statinalert.org]
[www.thincs.org]
www.mercola.com/2004/jul/31/statin_drugs.htm

Read anything published by these two of many leading authorities on the dangers of statins:

Peter Langsjoen, MD, cardiologist whose father was a pioneer in CoQ10 research.

Uffe Ravnskoff, MD and PhD... world renouned authority on statins - who wrote the article: The Benefits of High Cholesterol - and his book "The Cholesterol Myths" are must-reads.

Knowledge is power.

Jackie

Thanks for your input. I wish my doctor would surprise me with a colonoscopy, but as I would have had to stop blood thinner five days previous, I guess that is out of the question.

Ray

Thanks Peggy, Heather & Jackie. Jackie I will be sure to check out those websites. With afib one wants to make sure they do everyting possible to keep the heart safe. Within the medical profession it's difficult to find anti-statin docs. Except I recently had an MRI which showed a torn medial meniscus. I briefly mentioned to the orthopedic doc that I had been reading about statins and joint pain, thinking she wouldn't take me comment seriously. However, she said that it could be a possibility and that she had heard anecdotal evidence from her patients but was not allowed to tell me to stop the statins. Oh! the power of Big Pharma!!

Jackie - I have read about the CoQ10 connection. I normally take 30 mgs a day but might up it to see if it makes a difference.

Stevie - become informed. The power of Big Pharma doesn't mean it has to overpower your own brain. It's your health, your body, your consequences from side effects, and your responsibility to take control of your own destiny. Doctors are there to help but these statins are dangerous and definitely aren't worth the risk; shame on them for buying into that hype.

I doubt that 30 mg. is enough to counteract the side effects of CoQ10 depletion from statins. It's more like 100 mg. daily.

Be well, Jackie

Steve:

My husband was on Lipitor and wound up in the hospital due to such muscle weakness that he couldn't go up the steps. Try drinking some Knudsen's Black Cherry Juice, it comes in 8oz bottles.....

Remember it has to be reconstituted.....I add hot water to a small amount in a cup and have it as a tea...it is delicious and I hardly ever have any joint pains or other arthritic or gouty discomfort.....

Isabelle

Isabelle - I can relate to what happened to your husband. I had the same experience. I hope he is off the Lipitor.

I was talking about the Co-Q10 to help with muscle damage to the heart and other muscles. The cherry juice won't help with that but it will eliminate some pain. The best recourse is to get off the statins and use a natural product. It's just too risky to play around with damaging the heart muscle.

Jackie

I'm not sure about the reported problems with statins. A recent article I read reviewed a Heart Prevention Study involving 20,000 patients. Patients were randomised to receive either 40mg of simvastatin daily (a large dose) or placebo. All 20,000 patients were monitored carefully for signs of muscle toxicity and no differences were found between those receiving statins and those receiving placebo. There was no evidence that patients suffered from cholestrol levels that were rendered "too low" by statins (a concern raised by prior much smaller trials).

In the Uk statins are now recommended for a much broader selection of patients - equivalent to several million patients. There is certainly increased evidence that statins can help prevent AF, in fact to such an extent that the results appear superior to such dangerous but effective drugs as amiodorone. I would prefer to take a statin than the sotalol I'm on currently if it proves effective.

Mark

Mark - if you haven't visited the sites I offered and read the articles by the doctors warning against the side effects of statins, you should do so.
Among the many problems is transient global amnesia as one of the side effects.

I agree, amiodarone should be avoided at all costs so if that's the only choice, then I suppose a statin could be considered an option, but I'd want to explore all the other methods of lowering cholesterol first before giving in to a statin based on what I know and my own personal experience.

Knowledge is power.

Jackie

Jackie
I've had a look at the articles you quote. I'm afraid I'm not totally convinced by them, they have a feel of "quack" science to some of them, written by people who have a bit of a grudge or trying to prove a point.

I tend to prefer sources which are genuinely independent. This is difficult where drugs are concerned! But I personally go for the NICE recommendations of the UK NHS. These tend to be conservative and aimed at trying to reduce the NHS drugs bill as much as possible.

In their review of statins they have recommended nearly tripling the number of people in England presribed statins - from 1.8 million to 5.1 million. When bodies such as Nice recommend dosing the apparently healthy with drugs that could add as much as £80million a year to the NHS budget, then something unusual is going on.

In their review of side effects, they quote:
"Aggregation of the trial data included in the review of clinical effectiveness
revealed that there were six non-fatal cases of rhabdomyolysis among the
47,637 people randomised to statin therapy, and three cases among the
47,180 people randomised to a control. In the trials that reported myositis,
there were 22 cases among the 43,125 people randomised to statin therapy and 25 cases among the 42,678 people randomised to placebo. Not all studies reported the number of participants who experienced myalgia. However, in the largest study (n = 20,536), similar numbers of participants in the statin and placebo treatment groups experienced unexplained muscle pain or weakness."

So possibly some adverse side effects but not a big issue.

I've had some joint and muscle pain over the last few months - but I'm not (yet) on statins. If I were then I'd probably be blaming them.

There has been even more research recently linking LAF to increased CRP levels. Statins reduce CRP levels and have been shown to reduce AF. I have a CRP level of 3.5 mg/L, which is elevated. It's certainly something I'm following up.

Mark

Jackie, could you post some natural alternatives to statins, please? My cholesterol is definitely on the high side lately, even though my overall risk factors are low, so I want to lower it safely w/o getting big pharma involved...

I know that statins definitely are a no-no, or, if you do have to take them, at least take them with CoQ10. I have several friends who felt the muscle weakness and overall malaise, which disappeared once they added CoQ10 to their daily supplements...