I have a bottle of Rosuvastatin on my desk and have had it for a week and a half. I LOOK at it every day. It's only 5 mg and it's generic for Crestor and supposedly water soluble and "better tolerated", but I can't bring myself to start them.

The COMMON SIDE effect of muscle pain frightens me because at the age of nearly 75 I'm in a djembe (african drum) drumming orchestra and our gigs can go for a couple of hours at times and I am in the full orchestra (approximately 35 drummers AND in the smaller ensemble orchestra that does some of the more complex pieces at a faster clip...and even though we're seated in front of our drums the entire time, we use our hands and arms (and BRAINS!!) the whole time to play the fully arranged pieces we do.

So I'm going to start because at 5mg I'm really hoping that the side effects don't happen.

FYI I don't have high cholesterol. I've had 4 lipid panels since 2016 and every one of them has shown normal cholesterol in all of the metrix (trigylcerides, LDL HDL cholesterol and total non HDL cholesterol). THIS last one from 5/10/24 is the same although my HDL did drop slightly and LDL did go up slightly...the assessment is my cholesterol is NORMAL and I'm not at risk for a CVD.

HOWEVER: I recently had a Thoracolumbar Spine XRAY which was ordered due to some nasty lower back pain and muscle spasms around the lower back and glutes. That xray series uncovered ATHEROSCLEROTIC CALCIFICATIONS IN THE AORTA which prompted my DR to order the statins even though I have normal cholesterol.

SO now I sit staring at a bottle.

I have a friend who has been on 20 mg of Lipitor since 2021. I showed him a list of 12 COMMON SIDE EFFECTS of LIPITOR and he had 6 of them ongoing for years. Most troublesome was PHARYNGITIS - he said he's been to 6 doctors over the past couple of years and not one of them connected it to Lipitor. And when he wrote to his doctor showing him the common side effects which include NASOPHARYNGITIS and his doctors office replied that they weren't aware of that side effect and told him to stop lipitor for 2 weeks and if the condition improved to let them know and they'd prescribe a different statin.

So, as with pretty much EVERY lab created drug, there are side effects because the substances are not found in nature and the human body will not likely have been exposed to those substances in their lifetimes.

I'm NOT a fan of prescription meds other than antibiotics for infections and pain meds if necessary. But they aren't meant to be EVERY DAY FOR LIFE medications.

I have made it nearly 75 years without an ongoing prescription med. I'm a big researcher and have handled every malady that's arisen in my lifetime with a more natural approach. And it's worked out well for me. My blood panels including LIPID have shown all of my values within normal range - every single time.

So..I'm on the fence about the statin because I DO have plaque in my aorta DESPITE my normal cholesterol levels. My dr is on vacation and when she returns my first question will be "HOW DO I HAVE PLAQUE IN MY AORTA when I've never had anything other than normal cholesterol levels?"

Then I'll tell her that I'm willing to do this low dose of Crestor generic unless I end up with a side effect that prevents me from completed my summer performance schedule. But I ALSO don't want MORE plaque in my arteries and perhaps die of an embolism or heart attack.

I also have been doing OSTEOSTRONG for 2 years at a cost of $200/month and one 1/2 hour visit a week. AND it has resulted in a large increase in my spine bones. WITHOUT DRUGS ! But I've read that statins can suppress VIT D synthesis and can cause bone loss...SO ALL of the money and time might be undone by the statins.