Quote:
Originally Posted by Stu from NYC
Statins seem like a very good drug with the only major side effect pain in legs (my wife had it and doc switched her to another one and no problem.
What reason did she have for not wanting to take a statin? Or if you would rather not answer about your wife, is there a good reason for not taking it if medically indicated?
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Sorry, I should have clarified. My wife is a RN, BSN, and has a Masters in nursing and another masters in health administration. She knows the criteria for treatment with a statin and knew she was not likely to be at high risk for CAD. If she met criteria, she most certainly would accept treatment with a statin.
As an educational aside, there are patients who are afraid of taking statins because of "muscle damage"
Here are approx. risks:
Rhabdomyolysis (severe muscle damage): 1 in every 500,000 patients
Statin induced myositis (let's call it muscle inflammation): 1 in every 3500 patients
Statin induced myalgia (aches and pain, no damage) about 2% (1 in 50)
So, if anyone out there meets criteria for treatment, don't be afraid of that "side effect". If you take it and get muscle aches, it can always be withdrawn. But the risk reduction for AMI (heart attack) is tremendous.