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Drug interactions

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I take 20 mg Simvastatin and Imatinib I have recently read that these drugs interact to cause myopathy which I presume is muscle disease Am I correct ? Does anybody else have experience of statin use with tki inhibitor
Jacqui

Hi Jacqui

I was on simvastatin some years ago ( as well as imatinib). I had dreadful pain on the soles of both feet for about 2 years - like walking on broken glass. I was tested for neuropathy, diabetes and everything going. At a CML patient conference in Cardiff ( maybe 2011??) Prof Steve O'Brien was a presenter and I asked about imatinib and statins (there was nothing about a contraindiction back then). His answer was that anyone on imatinib should be very cautious about statins. I stopped my statins ( prescribed as a precaution rather than high cholesterol) and within 3 days my feet were back to normal.

So be careful with statins - especially simvastatin. I would speak to my GP and see if another statin can be prescribed.

Take care and keep safe,

Best

Chrissie

Thank you Chrissie I will speak to my GP Keep well

You need to think about going on to Candesartan if you wish to avoid any interaction between the tki and the statin;with all the other statins the tki increases the uptake and effect of the statin leading to substantial musculo-skeletal problems and issues with peripheral neuropathy, myositis and similar.

I trust that this helps

John

I was taken off simvastatin on the day of diagnosis and had this replaced by pravastatin. My consultant was not keen on statins but delegated the decision to the GP.