In response to MT (WDDTY vol 12 no 11, p 8) on simvastatin (Zocor), after blood tests, my GP informed me that my cholesterol was high. I was prescribed 40 mg/day of Zocor, later reduced to 20 mg/day with no explanation.
The adverse reactions came in the form of male-pattern baldness and my eyebrows vanished almost overnight. I began vomiting up to one pint of acid at a time. No connection was made by my GP between Zocor and these events.
Thanks to WDDTY, enlightenment came. I stopped taking Zocor, and the gastric symptoms have almost abated and my eyebrows are now making a modest reappearance.
I also looked up the drug in the British National Formulary. The 20 mg I was prescribed is for people with coronary heart disease, which I most certainly do not have. God only knows what 40 mg is for!- Janet Harris, London