statins

juan motime

If you ask that question to a hundred people, you'll get a hundred different answers. If you ask 100 cardiologists the same question, you'll get 200 different answers.

It all depends on the person. I have taken all of the fab five major statins and had to stop them all.

According to most generally agreed-upon guides and evidence, the one that is the least potent of the five is pravastatin.

Here is how they are ranked according to potency (assuming all meds are of the similar strengths or mg count):

1. Crestor
2. Lipitor
3. Zocor (simvastatin)
4. Mevacor (lovastatin)
5. Pravachol (pravastatin)

For me, the most horrific side effects came from Zocor. I was only able to take pravastatin for five days due to severe nausea. I tried taking it twice a month apart just to be sure it wasn't a coincidence.

I took Lipitor for three years with no side effects, but once they began, they were nasty. Crestor caused severe depression within three weeks (and this was splitting the minimum dose 5 mg pill into fourths, which means I was taking 1.25 mg per day). No other statin caused depression, and only pravachol caused nausea.

All of them caused joint and muscle pain and severe neuropathy in my feet and toes.

Not knowing your personal situation, I'd say you should think about trying lovastatin or pravastatin first, and ask for the lowest possible dosage. If you tolerate it well, then you can increase it gradually.

Good luck.

thisworld

dont know but keep reading these posts. im new to this also. but doing everything i can to not go on statins. heard too many side effects. and also many people going off on them. a friend just today saids her last statin pill was last night. she is in so much pain by taking them. doctors dont want to hear this though. they keep giving them. dont understand that.

Buzzy523

Yes, you are right. Doctors don't want to hear anything negative about what they are prescribing. Do any of you know about Lescol (Flumastatin). Did not see this type of statin on your list. Only taking it 2 days and I feel strange things going on in my body. Of course, the doctor will grin and say no, can't be. I have been on Tricor (fenofibrate),Prescription Fish Oil, Zocor and Crestor. All have caused problems.

ACE28

LESCOL (Fluvastatin) would be last on the list. It is the weakest of the statins. There are 2 types of LESCOL, one is LESCOL (regular) 20 and 40 mg. capsules. There is also a newer drug called LESCOL-XL (80 mg) this is much stronger. It's a tablet.

Lulubells

Be warned, you may take them for years and not have any side effects then suddenly get hit with them. A lot of us had side effects start immediately and just not connect them to the statin. I had HORRIBLE knee pain and other side effects only 2 weeks into them and never realized it had been caused by the statins for 5 to 6 years. Once off, that knee pain was gone and has not come back.

I urge you to change your diet, learn what to eat, what to avoid, change what you are doing and get those numbers down naturally and save yourself from the worry of the side effects. Once they hit, you will be so upset with yourself for taking the easy way out by swallowing a pill and it is not worth it to risk your lifelong health when there is a better way.

You also need to educate yourself on the importance of cholesterol's role in the body and decide what numbers are best for YOU! If you do decide to take them, make SURE you take CoQ-10 with them... research that also and the importance of that in your body related to statin drugs and what that does to CoQ-10.