A man can't walk after statin medication he took for his high cholesterol made him develop a rare muscle-weakening condition, he claims.
Mark Freeman, 47, from Wales, started taking the medication four years ago and had no problems until he started to struggled to get out of bed in the mornings.
He had fevers, muscle aches and temperatures at night and, over nine months, he lost his ability to walk, had to quit his job and now uses a wheelchair all the time, Wales Online reports.
He has since been diagnosed with necrotizing myopathy - a rare autoimmune disease which causes chronic inflammation of the muscles and weakness.
Mark says doctors hope his symptoms can be managed by a plasma exchange - where the liquid part of his blood is removed and replaced. But for now he's too unwell to undergo the procedure.
He's speaking out to warn others of the signs of a reaction to the commonly prescribed cholesterol medication. Mark said: “I get miserable and very upset that I can’t stand or walk.
"I struggle with moving around in a wheelchair, being at everyone else's schedule and needing carers to go to the toilet. I’m very upset about my life and what has happened, I’ve lost my job and my career - I was a food technologist and I loved it.
“I was doing really well for myself and suddenly muscle disease takes it all away from me and I lose it all, I don’t know what to do, I'm stuck. There is a lot of information that suggests that statins are safe and muscle aches while on statins are not caused by statins.
"My story is the exact opposite and is proof that it can happen and when a reaction does happen it can be life changing.”
Mark first started suffering from fevers, muscle aches and temperatures at night in April 2020. Despite not noticing symptoms during the day, he realised he was becoming weaker until he was struggling to walk or get out of bed.
His doctor ran some tests and discovered Mark had high levels of creatine kinase (CK) - an enzyme which is released by the muscles into the blood stream when the muscle is damaged.
Normal levels of CK for men are 40 – 320 units per litre – but Mark’s readings showed 12,000 units per litre, he said.
He was rushed to hospital where he was told to stop taking the statin medication and underwent an MRI scan. This confirmed he was suffering from a rare autoimmune disease which causes chronic inflammation of the muscles and weakness.
A biopsy confirmed Mark had the HMGCR antibody present in his system, confirming his diagnosis as necrotizing inflammatory myopathy.
He was then transferred to Charing Cross Hospital where he stayed as an inpatient for seven weeks and put on immunosuppressive drugs before being sent to a muscle rehabilitation unit in another hospital.
However, as the disease was still progressing, Mark was told they would have to wait until the disease was under control. Now he is waiting to undergo a second plasma exchange in the hope it may help his symptoms.
Mark said: “It’s had a tremendous impact - it’s broken me as a man. I’ve found it hard to come to terms with the fact I can't walk or stand again, and it’s hit me in the middle of life at 46.
