The question "What dose of statins are you on?" was recently asked on a large diabetes patient forum. Here is a summary of the responses.
2 said they no longer took statins, but did not specify why
1 had recently started, without side effects
1 said statins were only OK if you also took CoQ10
10 said statins had such bad side effects they would never take them again or start them.
The internet is no longer just a soapbox. People of all opinions and experiences are posting. Patient support and discussion forums like this one for diabetics are full of genuine and helpful people giving well meaning advice based on real experience. Of course people with bad experiences are more likely to post, but in this case there is none of the usual warm fuzzy support.
The question posed was not even about side effects. Yet it elicited many reports of them, principally muscle aches, often exercise related. If medical researchers survey a group of largely sedentary patients, many of them on analgesics, the prevalence of muscle pain on exercise is going to look small regardless. Add to that the several reasons why muscle aches are more likely in diabetics compared to non-diabetics
I was not one of the respondents, but I too no longer take statins due to muscle aches while running. Nor do I take ezetrol.
How often do statins cause side effects in physically active diabetics? Ask your doctor why they can't give you a good answer to this question.
More on serious inconsistencies in statin research later.
