Who here is on a statin?

[Badsanta]

I read all this from the beginning and man was that a long haul. Thanks for the excellent insights and info. My question is what would be the maintenance when a proper level of LDL/HDL is reached? For example taking a statin, ezitimbe and Bempedoic acid would one then just wean off the eze and BA and roll with the statin?

 

[Ghoul]

I read all this from the beginning and man was that a long haul. Thanks for the excellent insights and info. My question is what would be the maintenance when a proper level of LDL/HDL is reached? For example taking a statin, ezitimbe and Bempedoic acid would one then just wean off the eze and BA and roll with the statin?

If you want to cut down to one, keep the statin. While they all lower LDL, the potent anti-inflammatory effect of the statin protects the cardiovascular system and reduces risk beyond the improvement in lipids.

 

[Raiders789]

Hey everyone, just wanted to share something that happened to me yesterday -

So my dad and I were driving to a christmas party yesterday. He's a board certified MD in pulmonology, sleep medicine and critical care and outta nowhere as we're driving on the highway (he's driving) he starts having horrible foot cramps and literally had to pull over and let me drive the rest of the way. He told me its his lipitor (atorvastatin) and he'll just get horrible cramps every once in a while but said its worth it for its cholesterol lowering. I'm like "you know there are newer statins that don't cause muscle pain and other non statin cholesterol lowering meds, right?" and he literally just straight up was like "yeah but those ones don't work."

Convinced him to read up on the new statins like pita and rosuvastatin but idk, that was just such a shock to me lmao. I'm sure you all are familiar with how behind most doctors are with "new" info and drugs but that was a huge shock to me. And after that he was going on about how people are irresponsible because they don't take their lipitor but like ngl I'd be skeptical if I were getting awful cramps like he did lmao.

Atorvastatin is the most prescribed statin in the US by a lot even though rosuvastatin is much less likely to cause muscle cramps and is also very cheap. Most docs just start with lipitor or keep ppl on it because its "good enough" - but why not opt for the more effective/cleaner drug if its available? or throw in an ezetimibe because it literally has 0 sides and will let you lower the total mg of statin? Thank god for indian pharma lmao

 

[MentEFresh]

Hey everyone, just wanted to share something that happened to me yesterday -

So my dad and I were driving to a christmas party yesterday. He's a board certified MD in pulmonology, sleep medicine and critical care and outta nowhere as we're driving on the highway (he's driving) he starts having horrible foot cramps and literally had to pull over and let me drive the rest of the way. He told me its his lipitor (atorvastatin) and he'll just get horrible cramps every once in a while but said its worth it for its cholesterol lowering. I'm like "you know there are newer statins that don't cause muscle pain and other non statin cholesterol lowering meds, right?" and he literally just straight up was like "yeah but those ones don't work."

Convinced him to read up on the new statins like pita and rosuvastatin but idk, that was just such a shock to me lmao. I'm sure you all are familiar with how behind most doctors are with "new" info and drugs but that was a huge shock to me. And after that he was going on about how people are irresponsible because they don't take their lipitor but like ngl I'd be skeptical if I were getting awful cramps like he did lmao.

Atorvastatin is the most prescribed statin in the US by a lot even though rosuvastatin is much less likely to cause muscle cramps and is also very cheap. Most docs just start with lipitor or keep ppl on it because its "good enough" - but why not opt for the more effective/cleaner drug if its available? or throw in an ezetimibe because it literally has 0 sides and will let you lower the total mg of statin? Thank god for indian pharma lmao

Most doctors literally don't learn and especially don't care to learn anything beyond what they learned in medical school or residency. They just go with what they knew then and are comfortable with.
And with cramps that bad, I can see why there's so much hysteria about statins, its just widespread trauma from Atorvastatin. If they gave sides like that to me I'd probably refuse to take it as well, but with the new options, theres no reason not to take it.

 

[Meatgazer]

I read through this thread and have been taking rosuvastatin. I started Pitavastatin two days ago (from telyrx). I’m wondering , when you switch from one drug to another, how confident can you be that it is what they claim. Is there a concern that telyrx would send me a different statin instead. Is Pitavastatin more expensive and more likely to be counterfeited. Can janoshik even test for that?

 

[Ghoul]

Hey everyone, just wanted to share something that happened to me yesterday -

So my dad and I were driving to a christmas party yesterday. He's a board certified MD in pulmonology, sleep medicine and critical care and outta nowhere as we're driving on the highway (he's driving) he starts having horrible foot cramps and literally had to pull over and let me drive the rest of the way. He told me its his lipitor (atorvastatin) and he'll just get horrible cramps every once in a while but said its worth it for its cholesterol lowering. I'm like "you know there are newer statins that don't cause muscle pain and other non statin cholesterol lowering meds, right?" and he literally just straight up was like "yeah but those ones don't work."

Convinced him to read up on the new statins like pita and rosuvastatin but idk, that was just such a shock to me lmao. I'm sure you all are familiar with how behind most doctors are with "new" info and drugs but that was a huge shock to me. And after that he was going on about how people are irresponsible because they don't take their lipitor but like ngl I'd be skeptical if I were getting awful cramps like he did lmao.

Atorvastatin is the most prescribed statin in the US by a lot even though rosuvastatin is much less likely to cause muscle cramps and is also very cheap. Most docs just start with lipitor or keep ppl on it because its "good enough" - but why not opt for the more effective/cleaner drug if its available? or throw in an ezetimibe because it literally has 0 sides and will let you lower the total mg of statin? Thank god for indian pharma lmao

Thanks for sharing that. Unfortunately clinical inertia is a thing, and docs stick with the meds they’re familiar with. I nearly had a “breakup” with my PCP over Pitavastatin (she “caught me”, fucking Walmart reports all prescripts filled through them to a central database) though she called later and apologized, saying after doing more research I was right.

The “doesn’t work” thing was something I heard from my PCP too, initially, because Pitavaststin, developed by a Japanese pharma company 1/100th the size of the giants, doesn’t have the huge multi decade trials the statins from the big drug companies did. But the flaw in that logic is that in the last few years, it’s been firmly established that cardiovascular risk is reduced by the same amount regardless of the means by which LDL is lowered, so that removes the uncertainly over whether Pita reduces risk like statins from larger companies.

At least he’s smart enough to know reducing LDL, even with the sides, is crucial. There’s an army of flat earthers out there rocking 200+ LDL who think they’ll be healthier as a result. Even more prevalent are doctors who just don’t care enough to even adhere to the outdated guidelines they’re supposed to,

 

[Ghoul]

I read through this thread and have been taking rosuvastatin. I started Pitavastatin two days ago (from telyrx). I’m wondering , when you switch from one drug to another, how confident can you be that it is what they claim. Is there a concern that telyrx would send me a different statin instead. Is Pitavastatin more expensive and more likely to be counterfeited. Can janoshik even test for that?

Yes Jano can.

Pitavastatin is a fairly cheap generic, a niche med, and unlikely target of counterfeiters, especially in the US. What are the markings on the tablet, and what color is it?

By the way Telrx prices for Pita are outrageous the last time I checked. $150 for 3 months or something? You can get a prescription for $30 and 90 delivered from a US pharmacy for $55.

Once you have it should be easy to get your doctor to pick up refills. If you have insurance it may be $5-15 every 3 months, and if you’re over 40 it’s free. Most insurance companies are dropping the pre authorization requirement in 2026.

 

[Ghoul]

I read all this from the beginning and man was that a long haul. Thanks for the excellent insights and info. My question is what would be the maintenance when a proper level of LDL/HDL is reached? For example taking a statin, ezitimbe and Bempedoic acid would one then just wean off the eze and BA and roll with the statin?

Unfortunately genetics will spring back once the meds are stopped. However, if LDL is very low and you want to drop one, imo, Bemp can go first, it has some small risk of tendon weakening over the very long term, while Eze and Pitavastatin have nearly no risk of any issue. But if you’re only willing to take one, take the statin. Unlike Eze and Bemp, the statin will lower systemic inflammation by around 50%, which has major health benefits.

 

[Raiders789]

Thanks for sharing that. Unfortunately clinical inertia is a thing, and docs stick with the meds they’re familiar with. I nearly had a “breakup” with my PCP over Pitavastatin (she “caught me”, fucking Walmart reports all prescripts filled through them to a central database) though she called later and apologized, saying after doing more research I was right.

The “doesn’t work” thing was something I heard from my PCP too, initially, because Pitavaststin, developed by a Japanese pharma company 1/100th the size of the giants, doesn’t have the huge multi decade trials the statins from the big drug companies did. But the flaw in that logic is that in the last few years, it’s been firmly established that cardiovascular risk is reduced by the same amount regardless of the means by which it’s lowered, so that removes the uncertainly over whether Pita reduces risk like statins from larger companies.

At least he’s smart enough to know reducing LDL, even with the sides, is crucial. There’s an army of flat earthers out there rocking 200+ LDL who think they’ll be healthier as a result. Even more prevalent are doctors who just don’t care enough to even adhere to the outdated guidelines they’re supposed to,

For real lmao, I've been looking around online and seeing a bunch of anecdotes like that as well.

My dad and all his doctor buddies I've met are all incredibly intelligent people - and all doctors are - but they 100% like to just stick to what they know. And they are so busy treating patients I'd bet keeping up to date with newer, more effective options doesn't even cross their mind.

I was talking to him about GLPs recently, and he's prescribed semaglutide off label for a few patients but I got the feeling he didn't even really understand how the drug works. And when I asked him why not tirzepatide he didn't even know it targeted both the GLP1 and GIP receptors or how it compared to semaglutide. He's also under the impression that its just a "shortcut drug" (which i somewhat agree with), but wasn't even aware of their improvements in inflammation, endothelial function, liver fat, and insulin sensitivity. Obviously he's not a diabetes specialist, or a cardiologist/endocrinologist, but I wish there was more of an emphasis on learning about new treatment options/breakthroughs across medical fields.