Statin drug's side effects

So my heart rhythm problems could be a side effect of using statins?

Almost positively, certainly, no. Heart rhythm defects are electrical. Statins do not affect your hearts electrical conductivity or the origins of any impulses, they being the SA node and the AV node.

Heart electrical disorders come from damaged substrate in the myocardium, including from disease and from structural changes such as mitral valve or aortic valve degradations. They can come from occluded feeder vasculature that leaves certain areas dead and unable to help with the pumping processes. That puts a strain on other musculature and causes morphology changes, including prolapses of the mitral valve in some cases. Cardiac muscles that have to take up some slack change shape and dimension, which can cause fibrosis and valve problems. Atrial enlargement is a common result of prolonged supraventricular tachycardias of all kinds. This enlargement also encourages mitral valve prolapse, but also even more fibrosis. A fibrotic heart is a diseased heart, and it will probably succumb in time to an arrythmia.

Statins aren't to blame here.

Thank you for your quick reply. I am 80 years old and, up till now, lucky to have had no major medical problems and have lived a very active life. It seems turning 80 begins with the advent of taking statins and heart palpitations, brain fog, lethargy, shortness of breath, and some minor depression with a higher than average (for me) irritation level. Don't know how they all fit together and my doctor is testing everything possible...lung MRI, PET scan, sleep apnea test, echocardiogram. I have started using oxigen at night, but see--and feel--no difference. Oxigen reading on my pulsometer is still in the low 90s. I still go to pilates each week and aerial yoga and regular yoga, but my motivation to do more is lacking. I hope to hit the slopes once there is a bit more snow.

Sorry to see you losing ground like this.

If your O2 sats are that low, you DO have apnea...or a lung condition that is yet undiagnosed. Or anemia, mebbe? Something is inhibiting your O2 perfusion or its uptake. Most of us, even with AF (atrial fibrillation) manage to keep ourselves north of about 95%.

I'm glad you're open to trials of one kind or another, such as taking extra oxygen at night. However, even with a good strong flow directly into you nares, if you can't get air past your throat due to obstructive apnea................................................ You might want to trial a CPAP machine that can control hypopnea events or obstructive events.....or central apnea events. As we age, we lose muscle mass, including around our shoulders and in the neck. This means that, over time, your sleep position changes somewhat. It might mean that you are kinking your neck sufficiently that you are closing off your trachea just enough to cause a lot of resistance, which is what a CPAP machine can monitor with the manometer sensor built into it. These are called 'flow limitations', and they'll be part of the data recorded by the CPAP each night. The machines also record each hypopnea, obstructive, and central apneic event.

Keep chipping away at this big block of mystery. Eventually, it will show some big cracks developing, and you'll know you're on top again.

Dear Ginny, just a word on the statin issue. I’ve been on low-dose Pravastatin for my triglycerides for a couple of decades (now 79 yoa) and have had no issues with it, but there are many statin products out there and I actually switched to Pravastatin from another brand of statin that nearly immediately caused muscle aches and weakness in my forearms. I don’t believe your current complaints relate to the statin. When I got spells of lightheaded and shortness of breath during the pandemic I went to the ER, thinking it was anxiety, where they noticed my numerous preventricular contractions and recommended that my doctor put me on a heart monitor. That ended up probably saving my life. Maybe your internist will prescribe a month of monitoring and identify what’s going on? I’m not a medical professional, so this is just my take on your troubles… good luck.

Thanks, brightwood! I have a-fib & know all about heart monitors. I’m seeing my cardiologist in December & I’ll discuss the statin with him then. Take care of yourself. God bless you!