WHY I’M TAKING STATINS AFTER AVOIDING THEM FOR NEARLY A DECADE
I understand why so many people are sceptical of statins. Until very recently, I was too.
Despite ticking all the boxes for a prescription – I had a mini stroke at 53 and my father had a heart attack at 57 – I dodged NHS advice and my consultant’s suggestion to take statins for nearly a decade. Frankly, I believed the benefits were exaggerated and the side effects weren’t worth it.
I remember when statins first came out in the 1980s and were heralded for lowering cholesterol and rates of cardiovascular disease. I was an NHS rheumatologist at the time, and recall many colleagues even then being against them, after a Lancet study found that up to half of users developed terrible muscle pains. When patients came in complaining of full-body aches – and had recently been prescribed statins – we would blame the drug.
So, I decided to ignore the advice and rely on my healthy diet and lifestyle to look after my heart.
It was only last February, when a doctor told me that statins could lower chronic inflammation that I decided to take another look at the research. By this point, I was dedicated to lowering my inflammation, as it is a driver of so many illnesses, from type 2 diabetes and cancer to heart disease and dementia.
The muscle cramps woke me up at night
I decided to give statins a try and started taking a daily 10mg rosuvastatin tablet (also known by the brand name Crestor), which I was prescribed by my GP.
I was already suffering from occasional muscle cramps at night – they’re very common as you get into your 60s and beyond. Two weeks into taking statins, I experienced severe cramps at night that woke me up.
I took it as proof of my concerns about the side effects and stopped taking the tablet for a few months. But the muscle cramps continued. The drugs actually didn’t seem to be the cause, so I started taking them again and put up with them.
The nocebo effect
Then, a Lancet paper came out in February which compared the side effects reported by people taking statins versus people taking a dummy pill. The findings were remarkable. 62 side effects, including muscle pains, were reported by people taking the dummy pills, just as frequently as by those taking statins.
This showed me how much we subconsciously over-report side effects and that this is probably what was happening to me.
It’s known as the “nocebo effect”, when a negative expectation leads to a negative outcome. I was so convinced that I would suffer from muscle cramps, that it happened. It doesn’t mean that I or others imagine this symptom – it is real. But it shows how vulnerable we are to the power of suggestion.
Research has previously shown that when people are given dummy pills and told it will cause nausea and stomach discomfort, a third of them will develop these symptoms.
If I didn’t know about the muscle cramp side effects, chances are I wouldn’t have felt them worsening.
What the research actually shows
Not only did the majority of the worries about statin side effects turn out to be rubbish, I saw first-hand how they can actually benefit your health.
My inflammation levels – measured by a high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) test – have fallen by 40 per cent since I started taking the drug. All the latest studies show that inflammation (not cholesterol) is the best predictor of future health problems.
The research is also conclusive on how statins can save lives, preventing one major cardiovascular event – like a heart attack or stroke – in every 30 people who take them. New research has even shown that obese adults can have the same risk of heart-related conditions as people with a healthy weight, because the majority of them are on statins.
Then there’s the observational research that suggests statins reduce dementia and have anti-depressive effects which, while not concrete yet, are very promising.
What’s more, there are signs that, by lowering inflammation in our gut, statins are changing the composition of the microbes that live in our intestines, reducing levels that are thought to harm our health.
It’s all so encouraging that I’ve decided to stay on statins – I’ve been taking them since last February, with just a few months’ break when I thought they were behind my muscle cramps – and monitor my progress as time goes on.
I’m 67 and will likely be on the pill for life – though the type and strength of statin may change. The risk of having a heart attack or stroke increases with age, so the benefit of staying on the drug increases as we get older.
Statins are a good example of a drug that we take for one reason – preventing heart disease – but seems to have much wider effects across our whole body, including our brains.
The supplement that has eased my leg cramps
I still get the occasional leg cramp, particularly on hot days. But I don’t think it’s linked to my statin intake and, vitally, nobody as far as I know has ever died of them.
While there’s really no magic treatment for them, I’ve found that vitamin K2 helps. After taking a supplement for two weeks, most of my cramps vanished. It’s hard to know for sure that the supplement is to credit, but it is the best studied in a clinical trial for easing muscle pain and I continue to take it daily.
Research has also looked at potassium and magnesium supplements, but they haven’t been proven to work for the average person versus placebo, despite many people telling me they have improved their cramps.
Why it’s really worth taking statins
Around eight million people in the UK take statins, yet I know many have stopped taking them for the wrong reasons: fear of side effects. I’d encourage anyone who has stopped them to reconsider because there is no doubt that they are proven to work.
My practical advice is to try statins with an open mind and your health will likely benefit.
The latest science all indicates that as well as exercise and a healthy, gut-friendly diet, statins will give you extra healthy years of life. Avoiding them because of misunderstood side effects could be one of the biggest missed opportunities in modern medicine.
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