I was chatting at dinner the other night with some friends. Two of the men had stopped taking statins recently. The conversation, while clearly anecdotal, has stimulated my thinking.

One quit because of tendon problems. He had Achilles’ tendon pain. Now I have searched for a link between statins and tendon problems, and just cannot find any link.

The other complained of muscular discomfort. Statins clearly can cause muscle discomfort, even without elevated CK levels.

Whether the statins were causing problems in these two otherwise health men is unclear. What is clear is that they believed that statins caused a decreased quality of life. They clearly put blame on the statin for feeling less well. Despite being very intelligent, and understanding that their cholesterol levels were greatly improved, they decided to stop the statins.

Now in both these cases, one could argue that they need not have received the prescription originally. Neither has CAD nor diabetes mellitus. Neither smokes cigarettes and both have father alive at ages greater than 80. I generally reserve primary prevention for those with multiple risk factors, especially strong family history of premature CAD.

I do not know their baseline LDL levels.

Although the side effects of statins are probably less than most drugs we use, they still do have a risk benefit profile. When side effects are felf and the benefits are abstract, many patients will eschew the drug.

I would certainly appreciate other opinions on this issue – especially if you could share some personal anecdotes.