We are currently enrolling patients that have high cholesterol and have tried taking a statin medication but are intolerant due to the side effect profile. This can also include patients with a history of stroke or heart disease. If you think you might be eligible due to the side effects you experienced while taking a statin medication, reach out to us at THIS LINK and we will be in touch.
Statin medications can help lower your cholesterol while reducing your risk for heart attack and stroke. Statin medications include Atorvastatin, Simvastatin, Rosuvastatin, Lovastatin, Fluvastatin, Pravastatin, and Pitavastatin. Each statin medication has a different potency and lowering affect of your cholesterol, so within this class, physicians may switch which can help with some of the tolerability of the side effects while also receiving the benefit of the medication. It’s very important that we manage elevated cholesterol (referred to as hypercholesterolemia) due to the long term effects that this can have on the body, and this is typically used in conjunction with a recommendation for diet and lifestyle changes.
Statins come with many side effects inclusive but not limited to muscle aches and soreness, leg pain, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach cramps, insomnia, urinary tract infections, and increased liver enzymes. The percentage at which these occur in various patients is different across the board, but a majority of patients do experience the muscle soreness due to the function of the drug in the body making it hard to find tolerable depending on severity. Sometimes this pain can be an indication of rhabdomyolysis and kidney failure therefore it’s important to not ignore and let your doctor know when these symptoms arise.
Other side effects of statins may influence the patient to seek other medications that can lower cholesterol as there are other options as well as physical activity, lowering dietary cholesterol and lowering intake of saturated fats. With lifestyle changes can come weight loss which also aids in lowering cholesterol. Some other medications that might be better tolerated are Fenofibrate (typically used for triglycerides), Niacin, and Colesevelam (typically used for LDL lowering), and physicians may see benefit in prescribing you these as well.
We want to help you find other options for your disease state management, and as stated above, are currently enrolling patients that have trouble with tolerating statin medications. Here is the LINK again for ease to inquire further and we will let you know if you are eligible.