My primary care provider wants to start me on a statin, for good reason — my LDL is kind of high. I'm reluctant, though, because of their tendency to cause muscle pain. Motivating myself to exercise is already sufficiently difficult without adding an actual deterrent. Especially since, based on what I've read, exercise is the best control for unhealthy cholesterol levels.
The Mayo Clinic web site (
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases...rol/in-depth/statin-side-effects/art-20046013) says that smaller females are more likely than other patients to experience side effects from statins. I'm only 5'1" and quite slim, which puts me off taking one even more. One of my friends had crippling muscle pain when she first started taking an atorvastatin. Her PCP changed the prescription to a different statin with a slightly different formula and the pain vanished.
My 75th birthday is next month (and BTW my profile photo is only 2 1/2 years old, so I'm not trying to put one over on you). Everyone on my father's side of the family in my generation and older except for one still-living female cousin and my sister died fairly young of heart disease. Apparently, they and I didn't inherit the fatal genes, as we've all lived much longer than they did and we're still going strong.
BTW, I'm one of the verbose members that someone (was is Rick?) mentioned.
