Statin drugs for high cholesterol

[del]

My cholesterol has been slightly elevated and my doctor put me on a statin drug. First one was lipitor and I had to stop taking it because of muscle pain.  Then she tried me on 5 mg Crestor. Been taking the crestor about 2 weeks now and I have been VERY itchy the past 2 days. Same thing happened with lipitor after I had been taking it for about a week. Just didn't associate the itching with the lipitor until now. I'm wondering if it is a side effect or an allergic reaction to the med after taking them for a week or too.  I'm going to make an appt with my doctor for Tues and ask about it. Not taking any more of the meds until then though!!!  Had to take benadryl a little whle ago the itching was so bad!!

[Willis]

One of our members who is also a nephrologist takes Pravachol (generic version is pravastatin) and that is what my doctor recommended for me. I haven't had any side effects from pravastatin that I can tell, unlike other statin drugs I had been on before.

Read this thread: http://ihatedialysis.com/forum/index.php?topic=22560.msg369738#msg369738

 

[monrein]

I also take Prevastatin without any problems following awful muscle trouble with Lipitor.  It was my pharmacist who advised me to ask my neph about it and he agreed to try...I was on a very low dose (10 mg) for a couple of years but now take 40 mg. a day.

[MooseMom]

I broke out in a rash with Crestor.  It wasn't itchy, and it didn't bother me, but I showed it to my neph and he took me off of it immediately.   I was really disappointed because it had been very effective.  He put me on pravachol, saying it was an older statin, not quite as effective but didn't have as many side effects, and it has worked very well for me.  Interesting that this exact same thing happened to Willis and monrein.  But I also take Zocor and Zetia.

[monrein]

http://www.consumerreports.org/health/resources/pdf/best-buy-drugs/StatinsUpdate-FINAL.pdf

This is an interesting and informative consumer report that compares the statins in a number of ways, including effectiveness and cost. 

[Gandalf]

Thanks Monrein - the article was really helpful, and offered a pretty broad perspective.  Places the huge amount of information one reads in the media, into context!

[del]

When to the doctor today and she says no more statin drugs for me.  I may be allergic to them.  She prescribed an older kind that doesn't work quite as well.  Not going to start taking those until next week.  We are going away for the weekend and I don't want any reaction while I'm traveling!!

[rsudock]

Del I have talked to my docs (neph & gastro) that explain that with statin drugs you do have to watch your liver enzymes b/c the statin drugs can affect the liver. Being itchy is a sign of elevated liver enzymes....ask them to run a hepatic panel as well.

xo,
R