You Shared, We Listened: Life With Statin Intolerance

Statins are a commonly prescribed medicine used to treat high cholesterol and lower the risk of heart attack and stroke. While safe and effective for most people, they can also cause certain side effects in some, which we refer to as statin intolerance.¹

We recently asked our community members some questions about their high cholesterol treatment journeys, particularly those who are taking medications to try to manage their cholesterol. With 80 percent of respondents reporting that they have struggled to lower their cholesterol, many community members had experiences to share.

We asked, you answered

Here are a few questions we asked the community members of CardiovascularDisease.net, and here's what they shared.

How many people have tried medication?

When we asked our community members, "Have you tried medication to treat high cholesterol?" 71 percent said they had, and that the medicine had worked for them (treated their high cholesterol). As statins are so commonly prescribed for the treatment of high cholesterol, 95 percent of our respondents said they were placed on a statin for the treatment of their high cholesterol.

Prevalence of statin intolerance

Research has shown that statin intolerance has been reported in around 5 to 30 percent of people. Around 60 percent of adults in these studies said that muscle symptoms were a primary reason for discontinuing treatment with a statin.²

About 44 percent of our poll respondents reported that they experienced the symptoms of statin intolerance while taking a statin. This is close to, but still exceeds, the range reported in current research.

Experiencing the symptoms of statin intolerance

A few commonly reported symptoms of statin intolerance involve muscle pain, tiredness, digestive issues, and brain fog.¹

We asked, "Which symptoms of statin intolerance have you experienced?" Respondents were able to select all options that applied to them.

Here's the breakdown of symptoms that were reported:

• Muscle aches, pains, cramps, or weakness: 41 percent
• Nausea or indigestion: 10 percent
• Tiredness or fatigue: 23 percent
• Headaches, brain fog, or memory problems: 20 percent
• Liver problems: 1 percent
• Other: 5 percent

Exploring other treatment options

We then asked, "Have you tried other treatments for your high cholesterol besides statins?" and the most common answer was, "No, but I would like to try other treatment options" at 39 percent.

The second most common answer was, "Yes, and other medications worked for me" at 30 percent. Around 15 percent of respondents said they tried other medications but those medications didn't work for them, and the remaining 15 percent said they haven't tried any other medications besides statins for the treatment of their high cholesterol, and they do not want to try a different treatment option.

Risk factors and comorbidities

High cholesterol can be genetic. That's why we asked our community, "Do you have a family history of high cholesterol?" Resoundingly, 82 percent said yes, while 5 percent said no and 13 percent said they weren't sure.

Some people with statin intolerance also commonly have other health conditions, which we call comorbidities. We asked, "Have you been diagnosed with any of these comorbidities of statin intolerance?" and respondents could select any option that applied to them.

Here are the comorbidities our respondents reported having:

• High blood pressure (hypertension): 41 percent
• Heart disease: 31 percent
• Diabetes: 20 percent
• Kidney disease: 8 percent

Thank you for sharing your experiences

We deeply appreciate the time our community members took to tell us about their experiences with high cholesterol treatment and statin intolerance.

If you missed out on sharing yours, you can still make your voice heard! Visit this article to vote in our polls.