Statin Muscle Toxicity

I am a massage therapist. I have noticed that some of my clients on statins seem to have hardened bodies. I didn’t know if this was due to a dehydrating effect. The muscles and even the fat tissue feels thick. There muscles are usually hypertonic all over. I didn’t know if the medication or the high cholesterol itself did this.

Thank you for publishing this, Dr. Greger. It feels good to have confirmed what my body has always “known”.

Diagnosed with Familial Hypercholesterolemia at age 22, my overall cholesterol level has been high since it was first checked almost 20 years ago. In October of 2011 it was in the 400 range. As a reference, my siblings’ cholesterol range is between 400-500, despite the fact that they are athletic and thin. Neither of them is taking statins, backed by the advice from a cardiologist at an internationally renowned research hospital. This MD believes that cholesterol, its effect on the arteries/body and whether it indeed needs to be regulated with medicine is not that straightforward at all.

In my twenties I was prescribed statins, and took several brands for a total of about two years. After complaining of muscle pains that kept me up all night, as well as other ailments, my PCPs kept switching me from one pharma product to the next. Finally, despite being told repeatedly it was important to stay on the statins, I decided that they were probably the culprit for many of the ailments I started having, ailments very a-typical for a twenty-something year old, and I stopped taking them. I changed my diet moderately, and exercised, hoping it was going to be enough to battle cholesterol. Fast forward 14 years, when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Since then, I have spent much of my time doing research on “healthy living”, or what is known about it thus far. – In an effort to recover from “treatment” and avert possible recurrence, I have drastically altered my diet. With a homeopathic doctor’s guidance, these are some of the changes I implemented: Increased intake of vegetables, especially cruciferous vegetables, as well as fruit, nuts and seeds. I reduced my intake of meat and dairy products, as well as cut out coffee, and replaced it with organic green tea, or ginger “tea” (hot water with fresh pieces of ginger). One other change to my diet – I started taking Curcumin pills daily, which greatly seem to reduce the arthritis pain that began immediately following my chemotherapy “treatments”. Lastly, I use grapeseed oil for cooking, and on days I don’t use it, I take a grapeseed supplement.

In less than a year after implementing these changes, my overall cholesterol level went down nearly 100 points, albeit allowing myself to “cheat” quite a bit (eating Pizza and/or processed foods, having Starbucks etc). In the past few months I have minimized those “cheats”, and therefore I am really curious to see what my cholesterol levels (HDL, LDL, tri-gyc) will be at my next blood draw in April. – Based on my personal experience, I will continue to do what I am doing, and would never agree to go back on statins. However, it would be gratifying – and beneficial to other people, if conventional medicine finally acknowledged the problems with statins, and scientists/researchers started looking into other options of solving the underlying condition.