Cholesterol symptoms and conditions

I started taking 20mg of Simvastatin on 10/17 due to high cholesterol. Five days later I came home from work feeling very tired and fell asleep. I woke up feeling severe flu like aches and pains in places I didn't know could hurt and then got the chills. I stayed home from work the next day and it's a good thing I did. I awoke with a severe cramp in my upper right thigh. I have always been prone to calf cramps so wasn't too concerned. However I stopped the meds on 10/22. This continued on a daily basis and I went to the dr on 10/27. I had an x-ray done which showed a bulging disc and some uncushioned discs. She put me back on the meds BUT with a COq10 am and pm and cut the pill in half. Do you think she knew it could be from the med? I foolishly restarted and by 11/4 took myself back off, had an MRI and such severe nerve pain in my right leg that I thought I would die. It was a bolt of lightening starting at my upper thigh and coming out the bottom of my foot. It felt like a hot poker running down my leg. The episodes were on a daily basis, would come every two hours, and could last as long as 45 minutes with no relief. I am now going for pain management and had an epidural a week ago which got rid of the nerve pain but I am still numb down my right leg to my right ankle. I have been healthy for years and feel that this was all brought on by Simvastatin. Any idiot can figure out that your nerves are running through your muscles. I am angry to think that this could have caused me permanent damage.

I started taking Lipitor in April 2009 and my Dr prescribed 10 mg per day. As I usually have negative reactions to medications I compromised & agreed to take it every other day. I am a healthy 56 year old woman and the only medication I take is hormone replacement therapy. I am also in pretty good shape physically. At the end of July I herniated two disc's in my lower back, the L6 & L7, after a day of normal yard work. I could not move for two days and experienced the worst pain of my life. At the time I did not make any connection between Lipitor and this event. The recovery was slow and painful. In Sept I also began to experience sharp pains in my thigh. I read the side effects again regarding Lipitor and determined that this drug is most likely the cause. I decided to stop taking the drug and after three to four weeks the thigh muscle pain disappeared and my back pain significant decreased. Just to make sure I was not imaging the whole thing I took Lipitor twice in the past week and my back pain symptoms returned and I experienced the muscle pain in my thigh again. I was so bad it woke me up. After reading more about Lipitor and the effect it is having on my quality of life I am done with this drug. Although it did reduce my cholesterol I will find another way to control the LDL's & HDL's.

2 genetic mutations in the gene that encodes for the transporter protein responsible for moving anti cholesterol statin drugs into the liver to be detoxified. have been identified. This gene is "SLCO1B1" (also referred to in the scientific lit as "OATP1B1"). Drugs must be "detoxified" by organs within the body and then eliminated, otherwise the drug stays in the blood stream, building up to toxic levels. With either of the 2 mutations, statins have been found to be (from various studies) anywhere from 122% to 400% ABOVE NORMAL plasma statin levels. How many people have either of these mutations? (Population genetic studies were done in Finland on Caucasian pop--so all the #'s refer to Caucasian population) 25 % to 38% of ALL Caucasian possess one of these 2 mutations. Thus, for however many yrs someone with one of these mutations has taken a statin, the level of the statin in their blood stream conceiveably could have been 400% ABOVE normal statin levels. ALll those pharmacologic effects of statins--decreased coenzyme q10, depressed manufacture of dolichols, depressed manufacture of selnproteins and thus glutathione, interrupted production of GTPases and glycoprotein function, decreased brain cholesterol levels--neuron synapses and new growth of neurons depend upon brain choelsterol--are intensified unrelentingly for the length of time the drug is taken.

I have been taking 20mg of Simvastatin every night for about 4 years now and after coming across this site I have decided to stop taking it. I have been feeling particularly unwell for a couple of days, decided to do some research and can't believe what I am reading on this site! For the last year I have suffered terrible pain and loss of movement in my neck shoulders and arms and shooting pains in my legs along with muscle tics. More recently dizzy spells and quite severe tinnitus and headpain and fatigue. I have also found that my muscles tire very quickly when doing the smallest of tasks i.e: changing a duvet cover! The night sweats are particularly bad which I have been putting down to my age but may be to do with the statins. I am praying that these symptoms will reverse once I stop taking them but remain skeptical after reading other peoples comments on here!

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'm a 70 year old woman, I have taken this drug for 3 1/2 yrs. I was prescribed Spironolactone 25mg for high blood pressure of 140/80. After researching the side effects I chose to stop taking this drug 2 days ago. First off, it's a potassium sparing diuretic and one isn't supposed to eat foods high in potassium, like fruits and vegetables a contradiction to what is needed for both high cholesterol and high blood pressure, does this makes sense no it doesn't. Also I was taking a potassium supplement, maybe I'm lucky to still be alive?
I don't think Dr.'s read about side effects or what one isn't supposed to eat or take along with the drugs they prescribe. They only look at what the drug is supposed to do, then prescribe it to thousands of patients their, victims. This is probably why they're considered, "Practicing Physicians!"
This drug is known to cancer. This drug is known to cause muscle pains. This drug has caused me to go Bald on the top of my head. This drug plays with ones hormonal balance, it can help make someone grow hair, or lose it. This drug should not be prescribed for simple high blood pressure, it is a very dangerous drug!
I have huge rashes on my ankle and now my hands, they say it's eczema or drug induced atopic dermatitis.
Please do yourself a favor and research the many side effects and cancer causing of this drug. If you're taking simply to lower your blood pressure find a safer drug and try to stop taking this one particular diuretic and use supplements and foods to lower it if you can.
I'm taking this and Lipitor which I stopped one week ago and this one two days ago thank God, I thought I was going to be a cripple for the rest of me life from the toxic side effects, all drug induced.

I am a 70 year old woman, I have been on 20mg Lipitor for high cholesterol, 200 total and 25mg of Spironolactone for a not so high blood pressure, for 3 1/2 yrs. Oh, my God, the Spironolactone is a potassium sparing diuretic that is very dangerous and has many uses I didn't know about or the terrible side effects, it causes breast cancer. It's also used to treat women who have an over growth of hairiness, or on a higher dose to treat hair loss and I've gone bald on the top of my head! Plus all of the good foods we're supposed to eat for high cholesterol, fruit & veggies one isn't to eat on this drug, because of lot's of potassium, what a huge contradiction. And muscle pains, and rashes, (eczema, atopic dermatitis) that I've suffered from both.
Anyway, Lipitor, had know idea about the side effects until I looked it up on the internet and read these posts on here.
I stopped taking Lipitor last week and Spironolactone 2 days ago.
I had cholesterol test last week too and saw my dr. Wednesday. He said it was okay that I stopped the Lipitor, but not the other one, why not the other one worse then Lipitor and why am I on this strong drug, geez.
The pain and burning started in my hip for no reason, then my ankles with eczema which started soon after Lipitor, then my fingers, numbness, can't pick things up, tingling, burning. Then my feet, yes, just like all of you I have these same problems. This is not just coincidental, this is from the drug Lipitor. I get severe joint cramps in my legs, feet and fingers.
For now on before I take any drug I've prescribed I will thoroughly check for side effects and not take it if they're seriously impairing like Lipitor. I feel like a cripple and older then I should feel, I almost just felt like why live anymore if this is how it's going to be.
Since I've stopped Lipitor I feel a little better, I read that it causes permanent muscle and nerve damage though, oh I hope not, I can barely walk anymore or get up out of my chair. This is all drug induced toxicity of my system. Thanks so much everyone who posted for sharing and enlightening all of us who are suffering from this drug and others.
It should be banned along with Baycol, (a statin) which was banned a few months ago because of these same side effects. With the studies that it only helps maybe to prevent heart attack, well I'd rather be able to walk again and hopefully all this will go away, the rash, etc.

Dizziness, back ache, severe hip and shoulder pain, transient global amnesia, after discontinued taking of Lipitor, speech problems, loss of words.

That's it!! I have had it. A couple of years ago, Dr prescribed Lisinopril HCTZ for my high blood pressure. 6 months later, 'Hey your cholesterol is really high.' So she prescribed Crestor. Then 6 months later, 'Oh Crestor can cause liver damage, we'll need to check your liver.' I know doctors mean well, but they seem to all be trained to simply prescribe a pill. The average senior citizen takes 12. Daily! I have had it. I refuse to take the lisinopril any more. Last night: zero sleep due to the cough. Hacking and coughing, trying to 'hock-up' the crap draining down my throat. The wheezing at the top of my bronchial tubes. Unable to inhale enough air to cough. Peeing in my pants. Disturbing everyone else in the house. This is just bullsh--. Hey, how about another tip: Did you know the HCTZ can cause artificial inflation in your cholesterol numbers?? Guess what: after switching 5 months ago to the lisinopril plain, not with the HCTZ... you got it cholesterol went down. Down by 80 points, too! I made no other change during that time, not in my diet, exercise or anything else. So effective today: (1) No lisinopril (I'll check my BP daily), (2) increase my Kelp and selenium for my thyroid, (3) stick on my insulin-resistant diet, (4) reduce my caffeine intake. I'll keep this site posted on my progress.

Are there any meds that are safe? I was taking 10mg norvasc. I started taking 20/25 mg lisinopril. I was doing ok on the norvasc but the added lisinopril has almost killed me. They had cut my norvasc down to 5 mg then to 2.5 mg when I started the lisinopril. 4 days ago I stopped the lisinopril and added back 2.5 mg norvasc. Back to 5 mg. The side effects seem to be letting up. Now im wondering is all of my meds are killing me. I can't live without them. My BP sores. Im so scared of what I should do. Im afraid of all my meds.

I have been on and off Lipitor for 2 years approx.
After a typical week on LIP I have left arm weakness, can't breathe fully, can't walk far, my pulse slows down to almost nothing, I get chest pains, my left side chest and around my shoulder is in such pain that if I try to gasp for a deeper breath my heart starts jumping missing beats. If I have some cheerios (low bad stuff) with soy milk (cow products are bad for anyone middle age or above) I can push what ever it is through my system to make it through the night; however if I don't have something to eat or an aspirin I'm sure with the worsening shooting chest pain and shooting pain in my neck and left hemisphere of my head area with accompanying foggy feeling, i'm really feeling that i'm having a stroke....
Get off th LIP and you heart muscle will attempt to repair itself somewhat.
There may be long term damage, so this needs to be solved.

On separate notes:The food companies like Zehrs keep adding fats and sugars into our foods, then the drug companies and doctors are scooping wads of cash to treat the symptoms. When they finally forced the food companies to eliminate trans fats from kids snacks, they added twice as much sugar so now along with obesity they can get diabetes. They rarely work on a cure or fixing the problems because they won't make money on it....
I find it strange that a lot of ladies getting cancer are working hard to raise money for treatments (the pink ribbon effort) but no-one will speak up against all these companies dumping tigger chemicals into our environment (water, air, landfills, products etc) as long as we all have cool hair dyes and appliances and stuff that is on the market making dollars before properly tested. We are the guinea pigs especially now that we are eating cr_p from China.... Guys, get off the drugs if you can;;; Too bad also, my kids are getting bombarded by tv commercials pushing sugar cereals and drugs for every little problem which cause worse side effects. I would like to invent a new good pill so I can become rich!!! ...Thanks, I have enjoyed reading that a lot of people are having similar side effects that I have had.
A higher power (not Al Gore) has given us internet technology to help solve a lot of problems, and protect innocent people from the huge worldwide companies. They have the money, we have the internet hopefully to use for the common good.
P.S. Nothing against Al, He is a great leader trying to do good things for mankind.

I took Zocor for 25 days when I suddenly had such pain at night in my upper arms that I couldn't raise my arms up at all. It's been 2 full weeks since I stopped taking Zocor, and every single night around 7 I develop severe pain somewhere in my body, usually in my hands, knees or feet. It's in a different place almost every night. Tonight it's in my left hand across the whole top of my hand, below the wrist. Can Zocor cause this kind of pain so long after stopping taking it? And I only took it for 25 days! Please help - this really hurts and I hope it will improve.

Joint pain in fingers, joint pain in knuckles, wrist weakness after a week on 10 mg daily dose of Zetia. Amazing reduction in bad cholesterol and triglycerides when used with daily maximum 80 mg dose. Zetia was discontinued because of these painful side effects. 68 year old male.

Today is 10/28. I am Weezie1 and I posted on 10/26 about my severe drug reactions. They have gotten worse since I wrote my first post. The fever and chills are gone. But now I have been dealing with a rash/hives over all parts of my body. They are worse where close contact to sleeping clothing are - back, chest, neck. The one side of my face that I usually sleep on is purple every morning, along with that same side of my neck. I managed to get myself back to the doctor on 10/26 and am now on a 6 day dosage of steroids for the rash/hives. The steroids have stopped the hives from getting any worse. But it is taking awhile to go away. Any heat, anxiety, frustration brings them out again. I see I will be dealing with this for awhile. I go back to the doctor on 10/29 for a recheck. I lost 2 days from work because of this. My skin felt like it was on fire with hundreds of bee stings. Now I feel like I have a severe case of poison ivy. I have found some relief using Aveeno's oatmeal powder to do a bathtub soaking at night. Then I follow that with Aveeno's rich moisturizing lotion. The doctor may want me on steroids for longer than first prescribed.....not a med you want to be on for too long. All because of an UTI last week that could have been simply treated with a regular antibiotic if my doctor was not able to prescribe this sulfa drug to me on 10/19. Next time I will go with my initial gut feeling and refuse to take a medication when I see its extensive side effect list. I wish I had done so last week. I am suffering much more now than I was last week with my UTI. I filed an online complaint at the FDA's website. They mention it at their phone number that Weezie1 reported in my 10/26 posting here. I, unfortunately, expect to see additional patient complaints here every few days when I check back at this great medications site. And now I see that someone has internal bleeding. What next? A death? My blood pressure and heart rate were both increased for several days due to this drug. I could feel my heart pounding when I was sitting still and laying in bed. Thankfully, my BP is normally on the low side, but all the numbers went up by 10. We have to band together to get this crap off the market and out of the hands of doctors and unsuspecting innocent patients. Our voices will be heard if we speak in large numbers. Keep talking!Good luck to all.

I am so annoyed that this medication is still on the market.
What is it going to take for it to be banned??? It took me almost one year to get my life back together. The side effects from this medication are horrible. Only the people who have gone through them know how severe it is. I had anxiety, insomnia, chills, numbing in the hands and feet, palpitations, vomiting, tremors, twitching, vision problems and the list goes on. My body was out of control. My blood tests were even coming back with all sort of problems thyroid, high blood sugar etc. When retested a few months later, everything was normal.
It took me lots of hard work to get myself back to normal. Thanks to Chinese medicine/acupuncture I now have my life back.
Please don't take Avelox!!!!!

I have been on Lisinopril 20 mg for the past 9 years. I can't believe I have taken it for such a long time. I noticed some strange chest sensations 2 years after taking it but pushed through it. Then I developed breast cancer and went through the chemo and radiation while continuing to take it. In the last 2 years and more recently in the last 3 months, I felt so many skipped beats that I had to check it out and I also have had significant hair thinning. I had a holter monitor, resting EKG, lots of bloodwork and was told that everything was normal. Normal???? Then why was I feeling so rotten and scared every time my chest decided to heave or get funny sensations in my throat. Doctors do not want to hear these types of complaints especially when you think it is related to a medication that they ordered.
So I decided to try an alternative approach. I have been taking fish oil, coenzyme 10, cholesterol nutritional supplement, Vit C, Vit E. I started these about a month ago while still taking Lisinopril. I finally stopped the Lisinopril yesterday so I'll see if I have any improvement of my symptoms.I also went to a website that showed 1% of people can have skipped heartbeats while on Lisinopril Here is the URL
******
Hope this helps many of you who have similar episodes. MHS

I'm only on 10mg Simvastatin and 10mg Lisinopril. I have type 1 diabetes and a minor TBI from a heat stroke. If I stop taking these then after a day or two I will start feeling barely controllable fits of rage. Sometimes I still get angry but for some reason the lisinopril and Simvastatin seem to ease it. I also have hypogonadism. I like my combo of simvastatin and lisinopril in the morning with my 20mg adderall. Little bit of redness on face but the benefits seem to outweigh.

My total cholesterol was 220 and LDL was 157; I started taking 40mg last week and within 2 days I just felt horrible. I felt weird and yuck in my stomach. There was a fog in my head and 2 days ago I was so dizzy I was almost falling over; I had to catch myself with the walls and doors. The next day, yesterday, I started having higher blood pressure and racing pulse with heart palpitations every 45 seconds or so, which makes me breathe deep often. I have felt pain in the back, arms, neck, and hips. I have also had weight gain and stomach irritability. Last night was the first night I did not take my medicine and even though I don't feel all that better I will see how it goes. I fought taking this medicine for over a year now and since my cholesterol went up I figured I'd try it in hopes my level would drop, but I can't handle this, I'm only 38!

Just had to comment on these side effects I'm reading about Lipitor and other Statin drugs. I don't take anything and I never will after finding this site. Guess what, I have had high cholesterol since I was in my early 20's. When I say high... it ranged from 240 - 260...remember when 250 was OK? Well folks, it's 30 years later, my cholesterol is just about the same range, and Oh My GOD...I'm still here without any drugs.!!! They lowered the range so they could pass out the pills!!! Greed, greed, greed. Do you wonder why our Healthcare system is out of control? Well, when you keep feeding people medications that are presenting the side effects they do, making them sicker, they just keep testing and testing and testing for other things. Let's do blood work, MRI's, CAT Scans, Spect Scans, Pet Scans...Scan away...and guess what...all comes back OK...hmmmm why not look at the drugs you're prescribing. We need to see "all the side effects" listed. Not just some. They're misdiagnosing, Alzheimers, Fibromyalgia, MS, Lupus, Dementia, Arthritis, and on and on when it's been the drugs causing the diseases!
Ween off everything and anything you can...take your chances...when God wants you, he's going to come and get you no matter what you're doing...right or wrong!

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 don't know if I can blame Zocor on my weak thighs--my doctor says that muscle weakness as a result of the drug should include all of my muscles. I've also developed an extremely itchy neck-also not sure if this is related. Weight keeps going up in spite of increased exercise and limiting daily caloric intake to below 1500 calories.

I am a generally active and fairly healthy 77 yr old who had been taking 10 mg of Lipitor for over 12 years with no obvious adverse effects. Recently I started having pain in my right leg, severe enough to wake me at night. This was followed by a significant weakness in both legs, and for a while, accompanied by a lightheartedness. The doctor had me take a series of lumbar and leg x-rays which didn't show much of significance. He wrote a prescription for physical therapy, which I did not follow.
I did internet research on my own which made me aware that Lipitor could be the cause, in spite of the fact that I had tolerating the drug for so many years. I told the Doctor of my suspicions and we agree to stop the Lipitor for at least 6 weeks to see. A few days later, all my symptoms were gone. So be cautious, adverse effects from Lipitor can occur anytime.

I am currently weigh more than ever before. I really do watch what I eat and go to the gym at least 5 days a week and do 45 min of cardio. I recently went to my PCP and was told I now have high blood pressure; high cholesterol; and sky high estrogen levels....anyone else out there??? I am thinking that I need to get the Mirena removed for my health!

Started taking the Zocor generic Simvistatin just 2 days ago. My legs hurt so bad that I can not sleep. My right knee is swollen to the point I have very limited range of motion and can barely walk up stairs. It is after midnight and I can't sleep. Also having some angina and my little toe on my right foot is somewhat numb. I will be contacting my physician about this tomorrow. My cholesterol was 105 and this doesn't seem to be worth it to me!

I have been on vytorin for about a year and a half now and I do experience some side effects. I get up at night at least 2 times to urinate. Now about a week ago I started getting double vision. I will be calling my doctor in the morning because it is getting worse. I stopped taking vytorin until I consult with my doctor. But I know I will not go back on vytorin any time soon. I just hope my double vision clears up. I can't even drive a car now. Vytorin is a poison that we are putting into our systems.