Hi Everyone:
New to the forum here. I'm 54 years old, female, with mild hypertension (controlled by low dose of Losartan) and hypothyroid (also controlled by meds; Armour) plus GERD (I take rx Prilosec.)
Since my 30's my total cholesterol has been creeping up, but my HDL was always good (70) so my doctor always told me I didn't need statins.
Well, last year, my cholesterol hit almost 300. LDL was high (over 150), tryglicerides were okay, and HDL was excellent. My doctor told me if he were me, he'd go on a statin. In fact, he told me that every single physician he knew, regardless of their cholesterol numbers, was on a statin.
So...I said okay. Started at a low dose: 10 mg/day of atorvastain (generic versin of Lipitor.) I started having muscle aches, so I take Co-Q10 every night (200 mgs.) It helps, but truth be told, I'm always in pain all over my body; I just suck it up (I have high pain tolerance.)
But back to the subject of my post: Since I started the statin, but stomach and bowels are a mess. I've always suffered with IBS, but through diet and exercise it was well under control for the past 20 years.
Starting in October 2015, I began having digestion problems, nausea whenever I ate ANYTHING, gas, bloating and diarrhea. My doctor thought I had food poisoning (my symptoms were that severe) and put me on several courses of antibiotics. Finally he referred me to a GI who ran stool tests, blood tests, urine tests, endoscopy, colonscopy.
All NEGATIVE. He threw up his hands and said "I don't know what is causing this. You just have a bad stomach."
I fired him, and started looking for a new GI. Then it hit me. The GI issues started in October. What also started then? LIPITOR.
So I stopped taking it yesterday. I want to see if it makes a difference.
My question is this: Has anyone else had diarrhea (severe) and other GI issues with statins? When I look up side effects of Lipitor, the very first one listed is always "diarrhea" but I only see folks complain about muscle pain, memory issues, etc.
Thanks everyone and anyone who can give me their experience/opinion.
-HC