Crestor

Crestor is a good and safe medication. I’ve taken 20mg for 12 years with no side effects whatsoever. It lowers vascular inflammation, LDL and apoB, while raising HDL slightly. It’s also stabilizes soft plaque make it less likely to rupture.

YouTube video creators who scorn statins are fear mongering in hope of more clicks and followers. They often are selling unproven theories and supplements. Beware of these idiots.

A minuscule percentage of people experience myalgia. It is usually remedied by adjusting the dose or switching to a different statin.

Statins are very effective for lowering cholesterol, but you’re right and some people do experience side effects. The trouble is there’s not really a way to know how each person will respond… My dad was put on the highest dose of generic Lipitor, which in retrospect was probably a mistake because he’s really sensitive to medication and he experienced side effects. It would have made more sense to start at a lower dose and observe the effects.

Fast forward a few months and many problems later, and he was out on Crestor, which we were told is much less likely to cause side effects like muscle pain. But a common side effect is it causes liver injury. His liver enzymes (a sign of acute liver damage) doubled twice in two weeks, at which point he was taken off it. It’s a known adverse effect of Crestor, to the point they intentionally check liver enzymes shortly after starting the medication.

Technically you have to fail three different statins to be considered statin-intolerant, but we decided with his other health conditions, at this time it would be too difficult to manage potential side effects of a new statin and the other health conditions.

But there are many options at varying doses and newer cholesterol lowering medications. For example we considered Zetia which is not as potent when lowering cholesterol but it’s less likely to cause side effects than statins for people who haven’t responded well.

It’s up to what you think would work best, while working with your doctor. As I understand it, the evidence is pretty clear that it lowers risk of heart attack and stroke.

Can you talk to your doctor about your concerns and maybe come up with a plan for starting slowly or what side effects to look out for, and how it would be handled? That usually helps me feel better.

The evidence supporting the use of statins is at best weak. That's for the whole population. For individuals, now we're getting into the weeds and it bears some careful learning and thinking.

Is this a CAC score you mention? Yes, that's high, and there's evidence that statins will actually increase the deposition of calcium in some people's coronary arteries. If you elect to take the statin, make darned good 'n sure you are imaged every 12 months to see if your calcium deposits are enlarging...if you have any.

I don't see it hurting you to at least try the statin...for a year, maybe two. Get that important baseline, with the CAC being one, and imaging showing the extent of extant calcium deposits. If you don't have any objectionable reactions to the statin, and you tolerate it well, maybe you are one of those individual cases where it actually will extend your life by about 7 months. Which is what the average person assigned statin therapy can expect.

I take the smallest dose of Crestor (5mg, I think), and smash or cut it into 4 pieces with a pill splitter, than take only 1/4 or 1/2 of the original pill. It keeps my cholesterol numbers in normal range, so it must be pretty powerful. The first statin I tried caused leg cramps, so I was switched to Crestor, but it doesn't even require the full dose to have a powerful effect on my cholesterol levels.

I take a small dose of Crestor. I think it’s tolerated, except I have recently had leg cramps. No sure if it’s related. I used to take Zetia with good results. Total cholesterol was around 150. Doctors want me even lower and on a statin due to my type 1 diabetes. I’m a Zetia fan.

I've been taking Rosuvastatin for 20+ years since a heart attack. I've taken 40 mg since 2008 with lipids well controlled and my coronary arteries are clear (according to a recent angiogram). I started to have a burning sensation in my quads a few months ago and stopped taking the drug to see whether it would ease (at cardiologist's suggestion). It did and when I resumed 20 mg because my lipids went through the roof, the sensation returned and then eventually eased again. My lipids are back in the right range with 20 mg Rosuvastatin, no symptoms. Moral of the story: (1) statins seem to work for me, (2) chronic pain is a complicated business and I think it is possible that some of the myalgia attributed to statins may be borne of fear.

I have been on Crestor for four years and my stents have no buildup whatsoever. I have no side effects. The side effects attributable to Crestor could well be another problem. Don't assume.