Do Statin drugs affect memory

starfire · Post by **starfire** » Sat Feb 12, 2011 8:32 am

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/artic ... coq10.aspx

I'm not a huge fan of Dr. Mercola, although I do agree with a lot of his positions on meds. This is the first time I've seen memory loss associated with statins (however, I could be behind the times. I'm the first to admit that I don't "keep up" very well).

I do have a persistent and strong resistance to taking statins. I plan to tell my new doctor (when I get one) that it is a waste of time to prescribe them because I won't take them... and if I wanted to take them I already have at least a 6 month supply on hand.

My pattern has been to take them for about 2 weeks after seeing the Dr. and him telling me my levels are too high & my mix is not great. Then I'll cut back to every other day or 3 times a week for maybe a month and then stop altogether. I just can't convince myself to take them on a regular basis.

Just wondered if anyone else knew of any association between statins & memory loss.

Love, Shirley

Post by **tex** » Sat Feb 12, 2011 9:39 am

Hi Shirley,

Interesting article. I've read Dr. Graveline's complete story before, (on his own website), and I found it to be compelling. I read all that back when I was first considering whether or not to take a statin, and I concluded that obviously, he is very susceptible to adverse effects from statins, (or at least from Lipitor).

And then I began taking Simvastatin, with a mental note to keep a watchful eye out for changes, such as muscle weakness, polyneuropathy, (since I already have some problems with that issue), cataracts, liver enzymes, etc. I had forgotten about the memory issues, though, because I hadn't come across anyone else complaining of transient global amnesia as a result of taking a statin, (other than Dr. Graveline).

I've been taking Simvastatin for about 9 months now, and as best I can determine, the markers that I have been monitoring, have not shown any significant changes. I had a blood draw yesterday, but I won't know the results of that until sometime Monday, (they will fax me the results). I'm curious to see if anything has significantly changed with my serology, because it is apparent to me that other changes have been taking place, that I have not been monitoring. For example, you have probably noticed that I have had, (or am having), personality changes - I'm becoming more aggressive, less tolerant, less considerate of others' feelings, etc. And, while I haven't noticed any signs of transient global amnesia, so far, I have noticed a few glitches in memory that are "idiopathic".

So, the question is, am I suddenly getting old and crotchety and forgetful, or is the statin responsible? And, to complicate matters, I'm not sure that I can risk terminating the use of the drug, because then I wouldn't have any excuse for being crotchety and forgetful.

Thanks for posting that link, Shirley, I had forgotten about the memory and personality issues raised by Dr. Graveline.

Love,
Tex

MBombardier · Post by **MBombardier** » Sat Feb 12, 2011 5:17 pm

Several years ago, my husband started taking Lipitor to lower his cholesterol. He started feeling like someone was touching the top of his head on the right side. It was annoying, but livable. Then one night he was chairing a meeting, and suddenly what people were saying became gibberish, and he felt disconnected to his surroundings. I told him about Dr. Graveline's story, and he stopped taking the Lipitor. The touching of the top of his head disappeared, and he has never had another of the disconnection episodes.

My husband may be more susceptible to effects like these. A couple of times when he was taking antidepressants he had the same feeling on top of his head, and tingling and numbness in his hands, especially his left hand. So he stopped taking those, too.

Gloria · Post by **Gloria** » Sat Feb 12, 2011 6:30 pm

I've been taking different statins for years and haven't had any obvious problems.

Gloria

Mags · Post by **Mags** » Sat Feb 12, 2011 9:02 pm

Dr. John Abramson of Harvard wrote a book in 2004 called "Overdosed America". One of the types of drugs he studied was [color=red]statins[/color]--he is a Robert Wood Johnson Fellow. These guys are specifically trained to analyse data of this kind. Look him up, and I highly suggest reading the book. It confirms many of the forum's ideas about drug companies and how drugs are marketed.

Love,

Mags

P.S.

Tex--Do you have any Morris's in your family tree? That's the excuse we use in our family for being grumpy, crochety, and having legendary tempers which we seldom lose....to everone's relief.

Post by **tex** » Sat Feb 12, 2011 10:37 pm

Mags wrote:Tex--Do you have any Morris's in your family tree?

Not that I'm aware of.

starfire · Post by **starfire** » Sun Feb 13, 2011 7:41 am

Thank you all for the responses. I will look into Dr. Abramson and his book, Mags. Thanks

Tex, glad if the link helped at all. I understand about the "excuse" also. HaHa It's nice to have a "reason" for some of our actions which we don't especially like. I think we all have them though. I know I do.

Love, Shirley