@rowan47, I can understand why you’re trying to balance reducing your cardiovascular risk with maintaining your quality of life, particularly since you already have hip and thigh pain before starting Crestor.

You mentioned that both cardiologists are recommending Crestor 5 mg with Zetia 10 mg because of your CAC score of 1282, but that you would prefer to try pitavastatin and go more slowly. Have they explained what LDL level they are trying to reach and why they prefer Crestor for you over pitavastatin?

Since you already have muscle pain and are also being evaluated and treated for your thyroid, have your endocrinologist and cardiologists discussed whether the thyroid could be contributing to any of the symptoms you are experiencing now? It seems like knowing what is present before starting Crestor could also be helpful if you later need to determine whether anything has changed.

I’ve had to work with my doctors to find a cholesterol-lowering regimen I could tolerate, too. At one point, I started rosuvastatin (Crestor) at 5 mg only twice a week, and with my doctor I have also used a lower dose of ezetimibe. That experience taught me that there can sometimes be more than one way to work toward an LDL goal. According to one PubMed study I found, intermittent rosuvastatin has also been studied in people who have had difficulty tolerating other statins, although how well it works and is tolerated varies from person to person.

Since you’re being asked to start Crestor and Zetia together, another question you might ask your cardiologists is whether there is a reason they want you to begin both at the same time, or whether introducing them separately would make sense in your situation so you could better understand how you respond to each.

You also asked specifically about muscle symptoms with Crestor 5 mg. Members who have taken that dose, how did you tolerate it? If you developed muscle symptoms, what did you and your doctor do next?