Statins do four things, and one of them isn't so great. The three that are great are that they lower the production of bad cholesterol, they stabilize the plaque that is extant anywhere by calcifying it so that it doesn't get broken up easily and wash downstream where it might lodge and cause a blockage/stroke, and they reduce systemic inflammation. This last one is very modest....there are much better drugs for that purpose.

The bad thing about statins, apart from the odd report of muscular pain and some other somewhat rare side effects, is that they increase glucose in the blood which leads to higher levels of insulin, which is a storage hormone. It makes adipocytes store more and more fat. Statins can make you fat.

There is widespread discussion in the medical field about the efficacy of statins. For many, they work well enough that they're worth taking and they can prolong quality life. For others, they're almost as much trouble as they purport to alleviate. And the data still shows that several thousand people have to take a moderate dose of the drug for it to show more than a few weeks of prolonged life in one patient....ONE!

However, nobody replying here is likely to have extensive medical training, and we aren't qualified to give advice. What we share here is anecdotal, and we hope it helps to frame an experience and to encourage the formulation of questions or challenges that should be put to one's own medical caregivers.