[AllAmericanAmy]

Hi all-

Just saw on Fox News that Lipitor (cholesterol lowering drug) is being forced by FDA to warn peeps that taking it may cause diabetes.

Article went on to say that Lipitor must also warn peeps that it also has an "adverse reaction" in that it can cause memory loss and confusion. The cognitive issues can be quite dramatic and sustained, but go away when lipitor is discontinued.

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/0...other-statins/

Hubby has been on Lipitor since 1/9/12. In the past 2 months while just the 2 of us were hanging, he has out of the blue said about 5 or 6 times "I just feel so confused today". Though he has some cognitive issues and does get confused in large group conversation settings, etc, it didn't happen when just the 2 of us were talking (unless I overwhelmed him with too much info, etc).

So, we immediately discontinued Lipitor. He was also in the process of making a transition from 100 mg Zoloft to switching to Wellbutrin to see if it would help with the lethargy, etc. After reading up on Wellbutrin, we've decided to wean him off all meds and clear out his sytem to see where he is at with no meds on board. Hopeful some of his issues may actually be side effects from drugs (gotta have hope, right?).

Will keep you posted on drug-free progress.

[Jomar]

I got pretty cog fogged when taking Lipitor in 03/04.

I also had a RSI/TOS work injury at the same time, so wasn't sure which one caused the major brain fog. It was really bad, I thought I was getting Alzheimer's & ADD all of a sudden. luckily I searched the web for info on statins and found the negatives on many of the "natural" websites. I discontinued it after consulting w/ some pharmasists.
The same info that is now admitted to .

[Mark in Idaho]

Good for you. I hope he can get to be med free.

There is plenty of conflicting reports about statins. Many doctors prescribe it when the only risk factor is the total cholesterol and lipids. That is not enough reason to take such a strong drug.

My positions is to focus on a healthy blood pressure and blood sugar and let the cholesterol take care of itself. My mother is 87 with a 240 total cholesterol and a healthy heart. No statins for her.

Amy, you may try adding L-tryptophan to his regimen. It can help with serotonin levels that the Zoloft was effecting.

My best to you both.

[Jomar]

Supposedly the triglyceride numbers can be the more important one healthwise. But you have to search to find that info.
I think dr wasn't happy that I won't take a statin.

[comeback_kid_11]

I am a pharmacy student and out of interest I searched to see just how bad statins (ie the class of drugs lipitor belongs to) would be to someone with head injury.

I came across this article (http://journals.lww.com/jtrauma/Abst...mproved.5.aspx) which basically says older adults with traumatic brain injury had a lower risk of death and improved recovery if they were talking a statin prior to the injury. This is believed to be due to the many other mechanisms of action (decreased free radicals, decreased inflammatory cells, etc.) this drug has besides lowering cholesterol.

By no means am I saying patients with brain injury should take a statin. I'm just trying to point out I'm not sure its fair to make a blanket statement that statins are a terrible thing. I think each case would be different based on risk/benefits.

While yes its true there have been reported cases statins causing cognitive issues and for these patients stopping the statin has fixed the problem. I just wanted to point out the link between statin slightly increasing the risk of diabetes (its thought that it actually just causes diabetes to occur sooner in patient who would have gotten in later in life anyways) is more strongly accepted and has greater evidence than for the link between cognitive issues and statins. But again, any decision on drug therapy should involve a discussion with your doctor/pharmacist!

[MsRriO]

Very interesting. Hubby is on Lipitor post-heart-attack in May 2012. He has mentioned feeling "in a fog" and likens his memory loss to my own (postTBI) which has caused us to argue... Looks like I'll be apologizing. ;-)