“Man paralysed after taking cholesterol-lowering drugs: A case of necrotizing myopathy”

Jakarta –

A man is suddenly paralyzed after taking cholesterol-lowering drugs. The drug left her with a severe side effect, causing her muscles to become weak.

Mark Freeman, 47, started taking statins, which lower cholesterol, four years ago and had no problems until he started having trouble getting out of bed one morning. He started to feel strange about his body since April 2020.

reported The UK Express, at that time he experienced muscle pain, consistent fever at night, until the muscles weakened for 9 months. After that Freeman began to lose the ability to walk and must use a wheelchair until recently.

“I became miserable and very upset because I couldn’t stand or walk. I had difficulty moving around in a wheelchair, kept up with other people’s schedules and needed a sitter to go to the toilet,” said the man from Wales, London.

Doctors diagnosed him with necrotizing myopathy, a rare autoimmune disease that causes chronic inflammation of the muscles. Doctors hoped that his symptoms could be managed with a plasma exchange however, Mark’s condition is currently not well enough for the procedure.

“There is a lot of information to show that statins are safe and muscle soreness while taking statins is not caused by statins. My story is the opposite and is proof that it can happen,” he said.

His doctor ran some tests and found Mark to have very high creatine kinase (CK), which is an enzyme released by muscles into the blood when muscles break down. The normal level of CK for men is 40-320 units per liter, but Mark has 12 thousand units per liter.

He was rushed to Ealing hospital and told to stop taking statin drugs, as well as undergo an MRI scan. The biopsy results confirmed that Mark had HMGCR antibodies, confirming his diagnosis of necrotizing myopathy.

Mark was hospitalized at Charing Cross Hospital for 7 weeks and was taking immunosuppressive drugs before being sent to the muscle rehabilitation unit at another hospital. However, the disease is still progressing, so Mark must wait until his condition is under control. Now he is waiting for a second plasma exchange to relieve his symptoms.

“I’ve been taking statins for four years to help control my cholesterol and haven’t had any problems. Suddenly, my body developed a reaction to the statins and caused my immune system to attack its own muscles,” he said.

“Myositis in general is not uncommon. It’s an immune-suppressing muscle disease. But I get the necrotizing variant which means it kills muscle tissue, not just causes pain,” explains Mark.

Watch Video “Tips from Doctors for People with Cholesterol to Safely Run Fasting“

(knock/naf)