Could statins cause a demented person to be more confused?

Not that quickly, unless there is an interaction with other medications. Go to website drugs and enter a list of all her medications. If she is anxious about her husband, that is totally understandable and treatable. Distractions like the concern for a loved one can knock anyone off kilter.

Statins did not agree with my husband. He slept all the time and said that he wanted to die. He felt sick on them. So I will not let any doctor give him statins. Better to be dead than to feel like you want to die! That is my theory. I can't see living if you have no quality of life. I don't care if his cholesterol is high. He has Alzheimer's. I do not want to prolong the disease in any way!

There have been conflicting studies (surprise!) about statins and their effect on memory and people with dementia. I've heard from people who swear their loved one's dementia was connected to statins, though not all studies will agree with that.

That being said, I do feel that the trauma of her husband's illness could be responsible for her condition. It's hard to tease apart the two changes since they happened so close together. Check with her doctor and see if she can temporarily go off the stains until she is more stable. This step may or may not help, but it rarely hurts to look to medications when confusion or memory issues arise or worsen.

Please let us know how you are holding up.
Carol

On the contrary, Yes it could be that quick, if statins are not detected as the culprit immediately, after a year the damage done by them to the brain is irreversible - as soon as you start taking them they suck the much needed cholestoral out of the brain,

Statins deplete the body's Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10). CoQ10 is an enzyme that converts the food we eat into cellular energy. It is one of the most important nutrients for circulation, and a strong heart and arteries. Good circulation is important for the brain. (Dr. Mehmet Oz recommends 200 mg of CoQ10 daily for anyone using a statin drug.)

Some people do have some memory loss and confusion when they start a statin drug. Your mum may be one of those people. It is hard to know for sure in this situation, since having a spouse in the hospital can be very confusing for older people. Talk to your mum's doctor about the confusion if you think it may be statin related. He/she may want to change the dose or try another statin that might be more agreeable.

I may be wrong but i read that statins are linked to dementia later on? My doc wants me on them but no way im on a diet now and will get my chol down naturally mum has been on statins for years????? how do we know this didnt cause her dementia? Also i believe they slow down your metabolism my sister eats very well excercises but cant shift any weight shes on statins?? go figure? no i personally wouldnt take them and i will bring this up with mums doc about maybe her been taken off them. Mum goes around like shes "stoned" most of the time i wonder if taking her off these would perk her up?

I'm concerned about the dosage and the muscle cramps that dosage often causes. I am on 10 mg a day and it is keeping my cholesterol down. If I were you I would question your mom's doctor as to why he prescribed such a high dosage for an elderly person.

On the other hand, any sudden changes can send a person with dementia into a tizzy, and the sooner she can see her husband again the better.

I personally think statins are over-prescribed. Doctors check to see the ratio of low-density to high-density lipoproteins. If the LDLs are too high or total cholesterol is too high, they can prescribe a statin. However, all LDLs are not bad. Only the smaller ones are, since they are the ones incorporated into arterial plaques. There are people pushing now for more complete cholesterol tests to see the particle size of the LDL. From recent research I've seen, if the LDLs are mostly the larger size particles, they pose no risk in plaque formation. "Foam cells" of plaques will not take them in.

It will be interesting to see how thoughts about cholesterol evolve in the next few years. There are people challenging the model that has been used by doctors for years. I think this is a very good thing, because they are asking how low do we really want cholesterol to be and what can we eat to avoid getting the low-particle size LDL. The preliminary results have been surprising, but I don't think the sample size is large enough yet to make sweeping generalizations.

There is already a USA FDA Black Box warning for Statins concerning memory loss, if you're young enough, 40s 50s & you realize something is going on with your memory, and stop them immediately you will be okay, but after a year on them they have already done the damage. My husband 10 years ago started having memory loss after starting the L Statin, when I brought this information to the Dr he had us stop the Statin for 3 weeks, and my husbands brain fog was back to normal, but he also had A-Fib and Statins had to be started again, alas symptoms resembling Alzheimers, non reversible now, neither him or I take them anymore, hes 83 going into final stage, I'm 68 and trying to ward off anything that wants to attack my brain cells as I'm way too busy taking care of him

I'd heard this before, and talked to Dad's doctors about it, as the dementia was progressing. But Dad was already on them for a few years at the time, but the dementia had begun way back also. Can't remember which came first.

We tried lowering the dosage to every other day, and it made no difference to either cholesterol level or to Dad's mental status; cholesterol staying normal, and dementia slowly progressing. I took him off totally, for a few months, and that made no difference to the mental status either, but the cholesterol started to rise again. So were back to every other day, and holding there. Cholesterol staying normal, and dementia slowly progressing.

Some folks use Red Rice Yeast to lower cholesterol, along with CO10. Check out Dr. Andrew Weil about this. I found difficulty with Symvostatin, (cramps in thighs, mental issues that were clearly brain related (recognizing faces)), so stopped and went back to Red Rice Yeast. With all things, it helps to weigh the severity of the consequences vs. benefits.

Still I would expect your mother to be confused, upset, scared, depressed about her husband right now. That is too big a variable to ignore. Good luck to you both.

I wont take iot either and aai will go on diet before I do that with exercise

Oh boy, you got me started on the statins vs cholesterol scam. It's a windfall for the drug companies but a disaster for the majority of people taking them! Astronaut and physician Duane Graveline has been campaigning against the pervasive prescribing of statins following his own devastating experiences. You can read his amazing story here: spacedoc/rest_of_my_story.html

I recently took Mom off statins without consulting her doctors. There is absolutely no evidence that a woman of her age (93) benefits from that junk and plenty of evidence that it contributes to mental impairment. A year ago I started her on CoQ10 (ubiquinol) and fish oil as well as a couple of other natural supplements. I continued her daily low-dose aspirin, but that's it for "drugs." (Sorry, Big Pharma; find yourself another patsy...)

Whether or not the statins cause dementia directly or through diminished cholesterol levels is a matter for scientific study. As we age our cholesterol should be increased, not decreased, because it helps brain function. My mother's gradually progressing dementia can be traced back to when she started statins after a heart attack some 15 years ago. The capper is that she had another heart attack two years ago while on TWO DIFFERENT STATIN DRUGS and in spite of a VERY LOW CHOLESTEROL COUNT!

Do the doctors ever ask themselves "What's terribly wrong with this picture?" Nooo, instead Mom's cardiologist added two more drugs to the cocktail. He had her on Plavix, Coreg, Crestor and Zetia. Even her regular physician was shocked and immediately took her off Zetia, which miffed the cardiologist.

Even if statins did prevent heart attacks, the price is too high. My mother's quality of life is in the toilet, not to mention the sanity of those of us who are dealing with her issues. Frankly, my brothers and I wonder why she goes on living. I could handle it better if she were just a smiling, loopy space cadet, but it's so depressing to see the negativity, the sitting for hours just staring glumly at the wall and the lack of interest in her old activities.

When I informed my brothers about my decision to chuck the statins, they were all on board. I also told them that, in light of our mother's current condition plus the fact that she had a heart attack while on the full prescribed regimen, if she were to die of a heart attack I would feel no guilt whatsoever, and I meant it. She IS 93, after all! I have enough guilt over the coulda-woulda-shoulda of other issues, but I am at peace with how I managed her medications and supplements. Whether or not the brother she is living with for the next several months follows through is another matter, but not for me to uselessly fret over.

you guys should read this book by Barry groves.....trick and treat very interesting he dosnt believe in good and bad cholesterol eat more fat and less carbs he reckons we could avoid all these illnesses its a good read!

Do not assume that the deterioration is permanent. I wish i had a dime for everytime my mother's dementia waxed or waned to the extant that she would become so much that one would think she was fine. I found that the level of her state if mind changed due to many factors: sickness in close family member, change in living conditions, uti, skipping meds, etc. U probably know all of this from reading this site, but i feel it is important not to assume these worsened states r permanent.

Thank you all so much for your answers to my present concerns.
Its made me feel a bit more optimistic that her present ultra confused state maybe temporary due to whatever reason.....im hoping such a drop is not permanent.
I've stopped her statin today and she wont be taking it anymore.
i know the present data is that stating are saving lots of lives, but i think she's a bit vulnerable to be starting 40mg at 78 years old. (Its not worth taking a lower dose of simvastatin coz that isn't proven to work)
I will see what shes like in a few days -weeks and let you all know.
Hate this bloody mind robbing disease!!!
Thanks again for replies

Joseph, at the same time as stopping your mother's statins, managing her diet is of extreme importance. (This advice is not directed at curing dementia, but for cardiovascular health.) Assuming she eats meat and dairy, make sure that all beef, butter, cheese, etc. come from cows that are entirely GRASS FED. The reason for this---and the key to why so many, both young and old, have been dropping from heart attacks in the last half century---is that grains and corn are NOT a cow's natural diet. When they started feeding surplus grain to cattle it changed the composition of their blood, diminishing factors that actually PROTECT against fat deposits in the arteries. As a young girl I remember the advertising of corn-fed beef as if it were a superior method of cattle raising. We were all duped and the deception continues, because it is more cost effective to confine thousands of cattle in muddy, trampled enclosures and feed them cheap surplus grain than to herd them to and from clean, grassy fields morning and night.

You can search the internet for more info, but two web sites to go to are westonaprice.org and blog.grasslandbeef.com. Dr. Mercola's site also has information about diet for optimum health. It is important to point out that the notion that we are living longer than our ancestors, who ate plenty of meat and fats, is patently false. I have done a lot of transposing of data from church and civil records and over the years have noted that it was the infant mortality rate, combined with the occasional deadly epidemic that lowered the average life span. We have improved childhood and maternal survival rates along with sanitation and eliminated most of the diseases that kill in a matter of days, but now are plagued with diseases that take years to kill and in the interim leave the victims disabled and miserable and drugged. Sure, our parents may live into their 80s and 90s after battling crippling disease and mental deterioration for decades. I don't call that "living."

Best of luck to you and your mum!

Yes, Joseph, please keep us posted!
Take care,
Carol

Strange! Very strange. Mum and her husband, (husband had bypass op two weeks ago), came for dinner today. Mum was back to her pre simvastatin/husband bypass state.
Her condition definitely nosedived last week and i was really concerned, hence my posting on here.
Simvastatin been stopped for two days and today she is back to 'her' normal. Im so relieved and yes it could have been combination of two things but she will definitely not be taking simvastatin again.
Thanks for your replies everyone.

Wow! 40mg seems like an awful high dose, especially from the onstart of the med. I would see if the doctor is ok with a much smaller dose at the very least. Sounds like a combination of the event as well as med. We are concerned with statins as well.

Re: Red yeast rice, while it is natural, it is actually a natural form of a statin drug. See this article for more info: spacedoc/red_yeast_rice.htm

I agree with what's been said about statins. While some research shows that they are okay, more and more we are seeing exceptions. They were given out to anyone with slightly high cholesterol ten or so years ago but many doctors are more careful now. Still, there is pressure to lower cholesterol and statins are the go-to method. For many elderly people they do more harm than good.

It's good to see that many people here have done their own research. We need to be our own health advocates, although finding a doctor we can trust is vital, as well. One who respects our reservations about prescriptions is usually good.

Carol

if you suspect a Statin cause AD like symptoms in your loved one you cand report it here Medwatch Voluntary Report

https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/medwatch/index.cfm?action=consumer.reporting1
I just did, if it's not reported then it will continue to disable our husbands and wives, all who we love. When the numbers start tripleing of AD with what is being blamed on the baby boomers, it will be too late to stop this epidemic.

I found this thread very interesting.

As a Type I diabetic, they want my cholesteral and blood pressure quite low. After taking a statin for awhile I noticed severe brain fog. It's scary. I came off the one I was taking and feel much better and brain fog is gone. I discussed it with my doctor. I'm going to try another statin, but honestly......I don't know what to do. I used to think the controversy was over nothing, but now....I'm not so sure.

Statins were horrible for my husband. He went on them while he was relatively good, Maybe stage 2 or 3. He was depressed , wanted to die, felt horrible, and generally was not good. I told the doc I would rather lose him suddenly from a heart attack or stroke than live like a zombie for the rest of his life. HE is not on Statins and never will be. That was about 5 years ago. He is now in stage 6, needing help with nearly everything but walking and eating. Even the eating needs some assistance.

Just a warning: I did not do well on statins, tried Red Yeast Rice but took too much (recommended is 600 mg twice a day). I ended up with liver troubles. Be careful to get and follow trained advice.