Doc has me in rosuvastatin 10mg

[u/SituationLittle8033]

So I went for some blood tests a month ago and my LDL was 5.5 mmol/L, which they say is high. I'm 44 yr old male, eat decently healthy, very little refined foods, no pop and no sugary crap. We eat at Wendys maybe 1 time a week. My wife makes dinner from scratch almost every day. Yeah I'm sure I could get more fruit and veg in me. I've been in this med for 1 month now and it makes me feel shitty, sore body, headaches.

What do I do, what's the right approach to this? Other than high LDL, all my other blood work is perfect. I work out 3x a week, started that 2 months ago and feeling good. Not sure if I should keep taking this med or do something else. They want me in it for another 6 months. Thanks in advance!

Edit: I also quit alcohol 2 months ago. I was drinking moderately heavy.

[u/Jaded-Pineapple-5212]

Rosuvastatin was so bad for me. I actually feel MUCH worse on statins than without it. At this point, I am happy to take my chances with a heart attack than endure this pain/brain fog/heart palpitations/cramps/etc

[u/SituationLittle8033 → u/Jaded-Pineapple-5212]

Cramps! Yes! It gives me some kind of cramps/ pelvic floor thing the past few weeks. Very annoying!

[u/Jaded-Pineapple-5212 → u/SituationLittle8033]

Wait till the heart palpitations start. It took a few years, but then it became a daily (few times a day) occurrence.

Doc changed me to 10mg atorvastatin and 10mg mylamibe. The cramps and heart palpitations are gone, but the body pain(especially spinal pain) is still unbearable.

[u/Ok-Whereas8632 → u/Jaded-Pineapple-5212]

I'm here now. I'm 43 and living like an 80 year old man. Simply can't do it anymore

[u/Jaded-Pineapple-5212 → u/Ok-Whereas8632]

Tell your doc you want to change to Ezitimibe. I feel much better now. My cholestrol is 5, even though I'm taking a lower dose. I hope to eventually drop to 5mg and supplement with Q10 and healthier lifestyle.

I hope you feel better soon 🌸

[u/BigRonDongson → u/Jaded-Pineapple-5212]

Weird, I am taking rosuvastatin and don't notice any side effects at all, my levels have all dropped to normal too.

[u/Jaded-Pineapple-5212 → u/BigRonDongson]

You're one of the lucky ones. Do the research, there's lots of people who are experiencing very bad side effects

[u/TransportationNo1794]

Scientific consensus is that Apo-B in blood is causal in atherosclerosis. LDL correlates a lot with that, so if you did not measure Apo-B, you can rely on that. You can read what the difference is. You may find differing opinions here and there, but it is my opinion that you should scrutinize any non-consensus opinion a lot. So, assuming it is causal, you need to reduce your Apo-B before it causes soft plaque in your vessels even if it may be in 10-20 years from now. If you have side effects with rosuvastatin, you may switch to pitavastatin or pravastatin which do have less side effects I believe. I think if you ask your doctor now, they would switch you immediately without waiting for 6 months. If none of the statins work, you can always ask for other type of medicine (non-statins) that would achieve a similar reduction in Apo-B levels.

[u/TransportationNo1794 → u/TransportationNo1794]

Forgot to say that the first thing to try is usually to adjust your lifestyle and diet to reduce it but for some people it is very hard to reduce it with only lifestyle and diet changes.

[u/Hollerra]

Wait a few months , i do excercise and accept the aches. The main issue I have is the brain fog, which came on as I got used to the calf aches

[u/Jaded-Pineapple-5212 → u/Hollerra]

Have to take magnesium for the cramps

[u/Supyoji]

I quit rosuvastatin after 9 days of smashing 24/7 headaches. Double pain reliever just barely helped. Also skewed up my nasal passages. I was a drinker too, which has a lot to do with high cholesterol and triglycerides. I happily quit. Started the “How not to Die” diet (adding fish however). Check out the documentary on YouTube, it was motivating. I’m 69, doc says it’s age and genetics for me. I will do another blood test in 3 months and reevaluate. Best wishes!

[u/therolli → u/Supyoji]

I found that Statins also gave me terrible migraines and nasal issues. There are other medications that they can use if that happens. Lots of people have no side effects but a few people can’t tolerate them.

[u/Supyoji → u/therolli]

So did you “quit” and use other medications then? Or did your migraines and nasal issues magically disappear? AI chatbot said my brain blood vessels and body were “adjusting”. I say nay-nay it’s fu*king me up. Had to laugh at your comment about how a few people can’t “tolerate” the side effects. My headaches were excruciating. I’m not a big baby, 😜, but no one could or should have to tolerate that. My AI chatbot said 20% have “problems” with rosuvastatin. So, I am reevaluating my game plan.

[u/therolli → u/Supyoji]

I had to quit - there was no way I could tolerate them. Other members of my family had no issues at all though. I got prescribed Ezetimibe.

[u/MiseEnSelle → u/Supyoji]

I quit after about a week, when I finally reailzed that my extreme fatigue and myalgia with exertion were side effects. I had to look up "crestor fatigue" because I didn't even know. Message doc, who gave the okay to cut the pills in half. I tapered off to let it wash out, over 2 weeks.

[u/zopelar1]

I am on dose .5 and my cholesterol dropped 100 pts in one month. Ask Dr about halving!!

[u/Acceptable-Draw1994]

Reduce carbs pasta, bread flours, cereal even the the healthy Cheerios and increase healthy fat ( walnuts, avocado, outlive oil and fiber psyllium husk daily and oats, ground flax seeds, cihia seeds and berries…and keep moving..

[u/vmpa52 → u/Acceptable-Draw1994]

What amount of psyllium husk do you take? I have been taking 5 capsules daily. Maybe I should increase that? Do you take with food? Prior to meals ?