Simvastatin

[smurfchops]

Could someone please tell me, how long after taking 40mg Simvastatin per day, should one expect side effects (if any ??) and if the dose is lowered, is there permanent damage ?? i.e. to the muscles or liver.

[McMouse]

I've been on this dose for nearly 10 years.............no side effects to report.

[smurfchops]

Puts my mum's mind at rest. There are so many bad reports of Simvastatin online, we are getting worried .. Has your dose been lowered from 40mg by the way? It does seem high, although mum's cholesterol level was 7.7 when she started taking Sims last week.

[Sqad]

Side effects can come on at any time.

Liver damage is reversible on stopping the drug.

Muscle damage is reversible on stopping the drug.

[smurfchops]

Thanks sqad you're a star .. as usual ..

[smurfchops]

tony, what was your cholesterol before you started on Sims ?

[Sandy-Wroe]

I'm not sure that 'on line' is the best place to be looking for information about medications.
I've taken the same dose of Simvastatin for years without any side effects. I hope to be using it for many years to come.

[jrtv]

I have been on 1 tablet of 80mg a night for 2 years without any problems

[carlton23]

I`ve been on them for about five years with no noticeable side affects, although, now I come to think of it........I do occasionally get pain in my arms muscles which may be due to them, but a rub in with `Algesal Cream` soon dispels them.

[Booldawg]

I think you get screen annually for liver damage if you're on Statins. I've recently started taking them along with metformin.

[DEN53]

This is just my personal opinion - my Mum has been on 10mg for 25 years along with other meds for blood pressure. She now has vascular dementia - do I blame these tablets. yes I do. When my Mum was diagnosed with cholesterol 7.7 - she literally took every bit of fat out of her diet along with taking the medication.

If you were to see the state of my Mum (who I have been with today) you would'nt touch these tablets with a barge pole. She was in her 50's when put on these and has been ever since. I know it is not proven that statins cause dementia - but even though my cholesterol is 6.8 and I have been advised to take them - I won't, I will take my chances.

[Sqad]

DEN .....just pretend I am not saying this but:

If I was over 70yrs of age, I would not take statins.....whatever my total cholesterol showed.

[tamirra]

Hello Sqad, can i ask you why you wouldnt take them?

[Sqad]

tamirra ......if one got to the age of 70yes, then in my opinion you would have "bucked the system" and the genetic card would come into play.

Statins in that situation would not lengthen your life and one would expose themselves to the side effects,i.e muscle damage and liver damage.

Now if I was under 60yrs old, with a bad family history of strokes or heart attacks then my opinion MAY differ.

tamirra......this is a personal opinion.

[theonlyone]

my cholestrol was 8.6 and it bunged up an artery ,so I had no choice , i've been
on 40mgs for a year no side effects that I know about .I've never been offered
a scan on my liver , or any follow up on the drug .

[DEN53]

I know where you are coming from Sqad - a friend of my Mum & Dads is 90 next month she looks around 60ish and is in relatively good health, yet your GP put her on 40mg of statins because her cholesterol was slightly raised.
She felt terrible on them. She has now come off them.

I am of the same opinion as you, if she has got to the age of 89 without these tablets, then why put her on them now. I am sure these GPs get cash incentives to prescribe them.

[scotman]

I have been on 10mg/night for several years along with meds for high blood pressure. I have no noticeable side effects and have never been told I need liver scans or anything. My level was 7.x and is now about 5 ish.
I am 55 and like Sqad I am coming to the time when I won't give a *$£# anyway.

[smurfchops]

Do you think the doctor would lower the dose if mum's cholesterol is noticeably lower in two months ?

[Sqad]

smurfy.......yes he would reduce the dose.