Calf pain 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.

Stay away from this medication !!, I started a 7 day course of doxy last week for a sinus problem. The following morning from taking the first tablet i developed an unusual calf pain, this then resonated to my ankles and some other areas like my arms. I like other people have experienced the feeling of having my feet feel like they are on fire. Yesterday i went to see a consultant in my near by hospital in Glasgow and was told that my symptoms were a side effect of doxy. I have suspended the medication yesterday. its horrendous.

To everyone who is taking Desogen....STOP immediately!! I had a DVT in my leg because of this junk!!! NO birth control pill is worth your life!! I am now in the middle of being diagnosed with a possible benign liver tumor which could also be caused by the pill. I always knew there was a risk of blood clots with any bc pill but NO ONE ever told me that desogen almost TRIPLES your risk of blood clots!!!

I took 20 mg. of Lipitor for about 6 months only, severe pain in my right forearm and right bicep, Muscle weakness in both arms, Neck pain developed and pains in my feet. I quit the Lipitor when I read that the muscle damage could become permanent. the pain in my feet continues and I quit taking Lipitor about one year ago. As I walk, the pain eases up and goes away. It is when I am in a resting position and then start to walk. The first few steps really hurt. I also have calf pain. Will this ever end? Is there a way to speed up the healing process? I guess I don't have a lot to complain about but I hate most meds because of these side effects. Thanks for any feedback, Juleeegirl

I am a 65 year old female taking 20mlg of lipitor for almost 10 years. All of a sudden I started having severe pain, shaking and weakness in the calf muscle. The pain is unbearable. Doctors after doctors including a cardiologist, rhoumatologist and internist don't know the reason. I have stopped lipitor for 3 days. I cry and pray to god to help me everyday. I cannot exercise which is my passion for many years. I am hoping the lipitor is the reason and not something else. I have to wait and see. But I suspect it is.
SR
I do have nausea, depression and low back pain and arthritis and frequent headaches.

Heres my Levaquin horror story:

In hospital for bowel obstruct. Took LevaQ. at home. 1/2 way through I noticed I wasn't feeling any better but worse while recovering. Starting sleeping for 3 hr intervals, while up I would feel as if I wanted to jump out of my skin. Calf pain. Dizziness. Intermittent instenseTingling around mouth and face. Called my MD.
I was put back in hospital due to a platelet count of 'one million'. My MD who is wonderful, consulted with others, even an oncologist. I refused a bone marrow aspiration, so they came up with a game plan -- possible reaction to the Levaquin???? So... 'flush out the Levaquin'. With each day of continuous mass flushing of IV fluids....my platelets decreased daily.
3 years later...I getting intermittent tingling, flu like symptoms, dizziness, heart palpitations, extreme fatigue-------------still looking for answers to my illness. Just had more blood work - lymphocytic profile was drawn, waiting on results. Definitely am anemic, chronic slight rise in liver enzymes with last sed rate and wbc count in norm range.

Just wanted to add another little bit of fun side effects for everyone.

Last month, I woke up with a pain in my right groin. Since no gymnastics were involved, I treated with ice and ignored it. After a few days, pain was worse, so went to the ER (My home away from home) where a bone density scan was ordered. 4 weeks later I find out that I have a stress fracture of the lesser trochanter (part of the femour just below the femoral head - English translation hip fracture).

Turns out that long term therapy on warfarin (ie. over 1 year) also increases your risk of fractures.

And what does one do for this? Nothing. Orthopedic guy said just go as usual and no physio required. Easy for him to say since he does not have groin pain, and associated thigh/Knee/calf pain associated with accommodating my gait. Needless to say, seeing a new orthopedic guy.

I have started iron infusions monthly as my iron and ferritin levels are low (but hemoglobin is fine).

Still wondering which came first - the insanity or the warfarin!

Fiona

I have been on Warfarin since Sept 2004 when I had multiple blood clots in both lungs. Since then I have had two more PE's (one with a therapeutic INR) and a blood clot in my left arm (INR was also therapeutic). Genetic tests show nothing.

Since starting Warfarin I have had
- dizziness issues,
- eternal extreme fatigue
- hair loss
- short term memory and cognitive issues,
- joint pain and
- head aches all the time. I think the headaches are the worse since I can't take any NSAID's for them.

I have lost weight and push myself to exercise because it is supposed to make you feel better, right? Well not yet. I keep waiting.

I have not been able to return to work and worry about the long term implications of this.

Many times I have wondered about my sanity and if I was imagining all of this, so finding this forum at least lets me know that there is a possibility that it is not all in my mind.

I have been seeing a psychiatrist to help me work through the almost dying 3 times thing, but it is hard to accept since no one knows why I throw the clots. My INR is not stable in spite of close monitoring of Vit K and other drugs, and my INR must be taken twice a week.

I was on advair for almost two years, It worked wonderful for my breathing. I been battling chest pain, hip pain, skin rashes, short term memory loss/complex problem solving, severe calf pain when sleeping, and always feeling lazy. I been to three doctors about my problems and have ask if advair is causing my problems. They all said there is no way it is. I spend thousands of dollars trying to figure out what is wrong with me and the doctors and my wife think I making everything up, that it is in my head. Last month I thought I'll try to quit using advair. My chest pain has be occurring alot less, like once a week instead of 8 hours a day, my rash is gone, I still have light hip pain and haven't had any calf pain while sleeping yet. I just hope nothing is long term. My breathing is kind of bad now because I'm not taking anything but its better then ever the effects. Has anyone notice their cholesterol being higher on advair?

I started taking yaz about 8 months ago January 2007. I started getting some calf pain in the morning but didn't think anything about it, then when I went on vacation at the end of June both calves were hurting, I ended up going to a doctor on vacation and she gave me some muscle relaxers. By the time I flew back home in July, I ended up in the emergency room and given a strong pain reliever. I ended up going on line and went to my doctor the next day and told her that I thought it was Yaz, she send me for an ultra sound and I had a superficial clot in my left calf. Since I have ended up going to a vein specialist and am wearing support hose. Both legs are still really hurting (including my knees and ankles), I also have had severe eye pain and have gone to the opthalmologist, I have been prescribed glasses but feel now that it is the yaz, I have been off yaz for about 2 months and still having severe muscle pain, does anyone know how long this lasts...

Hi, I was switced from Atenolol to Toprol-XL 50 mg about 1 year ago for palpatations and it seemed to work very little papations now. However, I am currently experiencing right upper quadrant pain and my triglycerides are over 500. I am told I it is drug induced fatty liver disease? I am slowly weaning myself off this medication because you can not just quit per/pharmacist. I also have gained weight which I can not lose, hair thinning, hard to concentrate, elevated triglycerides, calf pain after walking or excercising, fluid retention, feet swelling etc..... for those of you who are on it I would suggest having your triglycerides and liver enzymes checked.

Basically I have nothing new to add, but to confirm the many reports here. I under went some Upper and Lower GI testing back in May, and to clear up some infections the doctor found, he put me on a 10 day course of Levaquin and 14 days of Metronidazole. After the 2nd day, I was very sore in every muscle and tendon in my body. I had been doing work in the garden and just thought it was from that, but a couple more days, the muscles in my calves and the tendons around my knees felt like they were being pulled out of my body and it didn't matter if I was at rest or up moving about. Getting up in the morning was excrutiating. It was all I could do to put weight on my legs, and my arms and back muscles felt like they were on fire. I also had headaches, but the muscle and tendon pain overshadowed anything else. Doctors need to know this very debilitating side effect of this drug, and prescribe it only in the most dire of cases, and not to anyone already suffering from joint, muscle or nerve disease. The flyer I received from the pharmacy had a brief warning about tendonitis..but listed it under additional side effects. This should be listed as a critical warning. It has been 2 months since I finished the prescription, and I am still having problems walking and a great deal of pain in my legs. The calf pain has mostly subsided, but the muscles in my calves still feel very tight and the tendons around my knees feel sore all the time. This is a very dangerous drug!

Get lowere back and calf pain. Hurts to stand after sitting or laying. Subsides somewhat while up but then severe pain again to lay down or sit after being up.

blurred vision?

calves in legs hurt

depressed mood

I have been on Toprol XL (25 mg/daily) for 6 months (F/41). I was really glad to come across this message board in a frantic search of "weight gain with Toprol XL". Have gained 10 pounds in these 6 months and for the life of me I cannot get any weight off, my body is just stuck where it is at. My problem is I have to lose weight since I am overweight about 40 pounds right now so this is so frustrating to me. At least I am not alone, thanks for posting your problems also with weight gain. I take Toprol for my fast beating heart, was having bad palps last January. Toprol does work well in keeping my B/P down (tends to be just a bit high) and the palps are non existent for me on this drug. I do have swollen ankles (at night) ok in the mornings. But the weight gain is really making me go crazy especially when I need to lose weight. This just isn't going to work so this morning I am cutting that pill in half and getting the heck off of it. I do find that if I stay away from sugar/caffeine my palps really don't bother me nearly as much. I went on it because the job I had was very stressful and brought back my palps again after not having them (as bad) for several years. I just hate those "fluttering" heart beats, they are hard to deal with and Toprol takes them away and keeps me "calmer" so I will miss Toprol for those effects, but not the weight gain! Thank you for this message board, it's been so helpful.

Chest pain , calf pain, shortness of breath and caused a peptic ulcer. I reacted strongly to this drug and would not reccomend it. It took weeks to feel better, and this was after two days in the hosptial.. the cardic unit because it felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest. Be careful....

I want people to know my story. I am an RN of 23 years currently 44 years old. I was on Lipitor for 5 years started at 39. It did it job with lowering the blood levels etc.

Ten months ago I developed numbness, tingling and burning pain in my entire lower legs. I could not stand in one place it made the pain worse. I work ten hour shifts and I am on my feet the whole shift. I remember coming home and I could not stand the pain in both legs. Feet both would go numb. No back or disc problems. They ruled out diabetes. I had developed a perpheral neuropathy. Neuroton does help take the pain away folks. I would take 300mg at night at needed. I had the restless leg at night. My MD did not think much of all this ran the blood tests and that was about it. I kept mentioning it. Mind you my 47 year old MD also takes Lipitor.

Next fatigue exhausting I can't get out of bed fatigue. I have missed more days at my job in the 20 years I have been employed there. I knew something was wrong as I was so exahusted. I could hardly finish me shift. I got short of breath at the end of me shift.

I took MYSELF off the lipitor. Things got better a little. Four weeks later I still have the severe calf pain, fatigue still missing work, . Now more lab tests are orderd.

Ask your MD to do CPK levels on you this tells you if you have muscle injury or damage.Ok I have been off Lipitor for 4 weeks and my CPK level that I asked to be drawn is 1,225 normal high is 190. I have muscle injury and damage. I hope it is reversible. No wonder why I could not get out of bed.

Ask for those CPK levels. I think any prudent MD should check CPK levels along with the liver enzymes periodically.

I still have more lab test pending. I am on steroids prednisone for 10 days. I hope I can make it to work soon -they are shooting up all my vacation time with this.

This drug caused me a lot of pain , emotional distress, time lost from work.......... stress period. With my RN knowledge I have thought of possibly looking more legally into a Pfizer lawsuit. However; I live in Kalamazoo a lawyer my take my case but I would bet not many MD's in this town who their drug reps bankroll in free lunches and lavish gifts may not back me.

Educate yourself from my story and don't have to suffer atleast 10 months maybe 12 by now. I missed social and family events........... I was always in bed and could not get up just to shower and get ready for work.

Any questions email me. Vicky RN

I have been on lipitor for about 2 yrs. Six months ago I developed tendenitis in my right elbow also bicipitel tendenitis in my right shoulder for no reason , I am not a tennis player or a golfer....... I knit. funny but not really. I can hardly lift a dish cloth . Now for the last 2 months I have developed calf pain. Last night woke in the middle of the night with upper thigh pain, thought I should check out more indepth side effects on the internet and am shocked to find all of these entries, but I also feel thankful because as of today I am stopping my lipitor and will go for natural remedies.

Hi
I started taking Yamin 3 weeks ago because I have terrible cramps due to having endometriosis. My doctor said to take Yasmin continuously (without taking the placebo) so I don't have a period. I thought I was being a hypercondriac but I am suffering from headaches, nausea, I gag once in awhile and now I have calf pain. After reading these notes from all of you I am wondering is this going to get better once my body gets used to it or will I be feeling worse. Plus I am extremely tired and I was wondering if anybody feels that too. I am at a loss because without something I can't function with all my severe cramps. I am not sure to switch pills or keep going to see if things get better. Any suggestions?
Thanks!
Lynn

Tremendous pain and pressure in eyes. Broken ankle feeling. Sprained wrist feeling. Unnatural headache. Less frequent peeing. Insomnia. Severe fatigue. Depression. Detachment. Anxiety. Crying fits. Nightmares. Manic episodes. Saying wrong words and dropping things from my hand very easily. Confusion while driving in my own neighborhood. Calf pain, as though it were going to split wide open, and at other times as though on the edge of a charley horse, lasting for several hours. Extremely DEEP shoulder pain. Funny taste in mouth. Substantial decrease of appetite. Misc deep and quite disturbing pains in fingers and toes and hands and feet. Strange 'bubbly' sensations under skin. Strange 'wet' feelings (like blood running down) under skin. Sore to the touch 'sunburned' feelings on skin. THIS IS AN ABSOLUTE POISON AND MUST BE TAKEN OFF THE MARKET!!! STILL AFFECTED 3 WEEKS AFTER STOPPING PILL AND COUNTING!!! DO NOT TAKE WITH STEROIDS OR IBUPROFIN OR CAFFINE - MAY LEAD TO MULTI-SYSTEM ORGAN FAILURE!!!!!!!

This is an additional comment to ershry's question since I am the daughter to which the question refers to. Not only has this rash steadily worsened throughout the past few years, I am now having random chest pains, and it feels as if I have something stuck in the top of my throat and along the tonsils. The doctor says that these new symptoms might be related to the GI tract since I am taking prednisone to keep the rash semi-under control, but it sounds as if numerous people have these symptoms without any other cortisones.

For the people who have been stuck on advair for a while, have you noticed a pattern to how the side effects occur? I started with a rash on my face and neck that has now spread all over my entire body, then severe, debilitating calf pain that the doctor wrote off as shin splints, then the throat irritation, and now the chest pains.