Bile acids symptoms and conditions

I am 39 years old and work for an interventional cardiology medical device company in Tokyo, and so know the importance of controling one's cholesterol, keeping the LDL's low and the HDL's high. About two years ago, my doctor put me on 10 mg of Lipitor. Several months later I herniated a disc in my neck between C6&C7. From that point onward, I attributed all of my neck and back pain, and newly acquired total body muscle and joint pain, to the herniated disc, it made the most sense. Over the last seven months, I have really worked on my diet and began to exercise more (even though quite painful) and was able to lower my cholesterol. This resulted in my doctor lowering my Lipitor prescription from 10 mg to 5 mg. I noticed a slight alleviation of the pain I felt in my hip joints and calves. About two weeks ago I took myself off Lipitor completely and found further improvements in my total body muscle and joint pain. It's still there but greatly improved. In retrospect, I now believe the Lipitor may have been the culprit (or at least a contributing factor) to my herniated disc due to muscle degeneration in the neck, and all of the subsequent muscle pain, especially in my hips and calves. I fully understand I am not going to die from calf-pain, but may from heart disease. However, I have found my quality of life has improved tremendously over the last few weeks. Less irritability, better sleep, less pain, clearer head. I feel like I have lost two years of my life on Lipitor via personal suffering and lack of ability to do much of anything with my wife and two young daughters. We all need to take charge of our own health and therefore I encourage anyone who feels completely different after taking Lipitor to engage your physician, and make sure its the right option for you. If damage has been done to my musculature I hope I can reverse it. It is evident to me that some serious clinical studies should be done to investigate Lipitor's effect on muscle degradation and hope others will consider carefully whether or not do go on this drug. If you do, monitor yourself closely.

I am a 52 year old female and my bad cholesterol is fine but my good cholesterol is low. I have been taking Lipitor now for a few years and have numb hands and feet to the elbows and knees. My feet are extremely sensitive, worse at night and now I'm getting sharp pains that feel like a bug just bit me. My tongue is also always numb and I do get migraines.I have insane stomach issues and food intolerance. I also take medication for high blood pressure, acid reflux, & thyroid. I have now been diagnosed with type 2 Diabetes but control that with diet so far. Until four years ago I had nothing wrong with me. I am slim and healthy. I had a lump in my thyroid which was removed and there was a trace of cancer. Then like dominos all the other conditions lined up. I have had MRIs and all the tests and doctors insist that I am not a severe enough diabetic to have neuropathy. I can hardly wear shoes now and it hurts when I wear runners while I walk and exercise. Does any of this sound familiar to anyone? I hate that my health has become so much a part of my daily life. Does anyone have neuropathy as a result of Lipitor and am I even taking the the right medication since I don't have high cholesterol?

I have definitely noticed a weight gain! I started really watching my diet and running and it doesn't seem to be helping. Also, I have had problems with severe muscle aches and swelling in my right leg. It got so bad that I started taking prescription Naproxen for the pain, so I can sleep. I had no idea others were experiencing the same thing.

I have been on lipitor about 4 yrs. I am a runner and keep tract of my times. I have been losing about 4% of my speed each year and have recently had a large amount of muscle fatigue. Today a ran a 940 pace and thought I was not going to make it home. Three years ago my average pace was 805. Could the 20mg dosage be causing this problem?