My GP surgery has had a kick up the bum from somewhere, things are improving recently and about time. Maybe a change of management, but they do seem to be getting their act together, although getting appointments are still a bug bear. I do my own blood pressure checks and hand them in.
I take Atorvastatin 80mg and have done for the last 9 years. I take them after I have had my evening meal, a good 4 hours before bed. I go for an annual checkup with the nurse since I started medication after having a heart attack at the age of 46. I spent 48 hours in intensive care, even though I felt fine after the op for stents. The consultant and nurse both said they would not have had me down as being a smoker for 30 years. My mate lost his nephew last week, heart attack, only just turned eighteen.
Those kind of books have been around for as long as Statins, we know as we also read them at the time. However time has proven by many large scale and long term trials that Statins do work and save lives, hence the nhs offering them to all over a certain age , heart problems or not. Yikes, that is a lot ! our GP always used to say our 40mg was a massive dose. Obviously worked ok for you and being able to work again.
My GP started me on 20mg and when I had no side effects upped the dosage to 40mg. Found this quite interesting. NHS site: Take atorvastatin once a day. You can choose to take it at any time, as long as you stick to the same time every day. This prevents your blood levels from becoming too high or too low. Sometimes doctors may recommend taking it in the evening. This is because your body makes most cholesterol at night. If you're not sure when to take your medicine, ask a pharmacist or your doctor for advice.
I take 20mg Atorvastin each evening about 6 o clock. I have taken these for longer than I care to remember. I don't have vivid dreams, but do suffer from aching legs. I have heard of the statin leg problem before, I may need to google this for some more information.
I was told that people dont have much leg problems with this as its one of the newer ones, must admit I'm sceptical, but if it did cause problems there are other types to try, I assume Atorvastatin is the cheapest one.
Certainly do not think its a cheap one, though only the chemist etc will be able to tell you the price. When Pfizer introduced Atorvastatin it did cost, but once its 20 year long patent ended in 2012 other companies we able to produce it, so what you get will likely be one of the cheaper generic brands like Teva. Read somewhere using the generic Atorvastatin saves the NHS £350m a year. If you are just starting on them, suggest you do a weekly log of how you feel eg aches and pains and how sound you sleep, so if in future you do develop any problems you have some reference to look back on. As everyone is different it could be weeks, months or even years before you might notice any problems , hopefully none, but by that time it could just be typical of old age anyway ! Not moaning about our dreams problem, probably the tablets have kept us going much longer than without ! but it would be nicer if we could reduce them.
I'll be taking my first tablet tonight, so if you dont hear from me tomorrow .................to be continued.
Have been taking Simvastatin for 8 years no side effects ,recent study’s suggest you can take at any time and results are the same.
Hope all went okay @pete. I take mine at 8pm (evening suggested by Neurologist) plus prescribed 150mg aspirin for the morning. you could always cut in half as I do ... I figure perhaps a little is better than nothing.
I've also been on Atorvastatin 20mg for at least 6-7 years. I take mine in the morning. They were prescribed for me when I had heart problems & was seen by the cardiologist. She said my cholesterol levels were OK but to take these statins to keep them that way! She also prescribed me a low dose Aspirin that I've also been taking every day all these years! I rarely, if ever, have vivid dreams & most nights I couldn't tell you if I'd had any dreams! As for painful legs I haven't had that either though some mornings for the last few months I have been experiencing the start of cramps in my legs though they very rarely develop into proper cramp.
