Cholesterol levels symptoms and conditions

I'am only 26 but I have been a insulin dependent diabetic since the age of three. Being a diabetic for so long has made it difficult for my body to maintain normal cholesterol and triglceride levels. (I'am not overweight and I am very active) At 19 I was put on lipitor but it gave me severe stomach pains when I called the doctor they told me "it was just a side effect" and should subside. I wasn't on it for very long when I found out I was expecting and had to stop taking it anyway (can't take statins while your pregnant it can cause severe birth defects) Anyways, after I had my daughter they said my cholesterol was fine and they weren't going to put me back on anything. Yes! Until just recently my doctor discovered that my triglceride and cholesterol levels were so high he had the lab re-draw my blood tests! Odd because I feel perfectly fine. Because of the stomach pains years ago with Lipitor he put me on Simvisatin and Antara. Every since I have been on the Simvastatin my cholesterol levels are perfect but I am soo tired all the time. When ever I tell my doctor he says it's because I am a young mother of three and work full time. But this is a different kind of tired. I seriously could drink a five shot extra strength espresso and fall asleep this isn't normal. All my blood work is fine. It has to be a side effect.

I am a 51 year old male. November 2007 jaw pain sent me to the hospital where they found a 99% block in my right coronary artery, yep 4 stent's. Three month late the same this time 2 stent's and two weeks later 2 more. I now have 8 stent's. My DR. put me on several meds including Zocor. The zocor made me very tired and headaches. He change it to Lipitor 10mg. I have been on it for 7 months and a few day's ago I have notice pain in both knee's and hip. I once again find it hard to concentrate, feel sluggish and have headache's. I NEVER have headache's. Stopped taken the Lipitor, hope the pain goes away. It a shame that the medical field is so quick to put us ALL on drug's, how about herb's instead. I'm going to look into a natural way to lower my cholesterol.

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?

i am a male 48 years old and have been taking zocor for only one month now and started getting a lot of heavy headache pain, and nausea,sinus headache and not feeling of working. ever since i feel always tired and not been able to proform at work also i m constipating with no bowel movements .

46 yr old male and was started on Lip. about a month ago. Overall cholesterol level was 116!! Within 3 weeks I began having soreness move across my legs and hips to begin with, Just a drained feeling. Then leg cramps in my left legs. The drained feeling intensified until I went back to my Dr. last week who immediately ordered me to stop taking any more. I had been off about 4 days when I began have severe pain, lost all color, was not able to get out of bed, could barely talk or walk and was taken to the Doctor's office this past Sat.. I was not able to set up.My wife had to basically talk for me because I was in so much pain, could not communicate, was feeling like I was leaving my body. I do not and have not taken any narcotics or alcohol, but I was given "the field sobriety test", or what I would call it, as I am retired from law enforcement and have given thousands..... But never one for lipitor!!!

I told the Dr. I do not want no drug, I want an answer. I was told to come back on Monday as the Lab. folks wouldn't be in until then. I would not have to wait.

I have used this facility for many years, but I am totally shocked. I feel I have came as close to dying as any situation I have ever been in. I have never hurt to bad. I have never have so many leg cramps. I have never woke up each morning feeling like I have never slept a minute but have been working my butt off chopping wood or digging ditches or climbing mountains all night, simply exhausted.......I will always advise people about this drug....

I am 45 and on BC to help control perimenopausal symptoms. I tried BCs (including NR) a couple of years ago but had to stop because I became severely fatigued and depressed (slept through the month of November!). I'm trying BCs again, and yes, NuvaRing again. I am exhausted, can't think or remember anything, all I want to do is sleep. I have gained 15 pounds and haven't changed my eating habits at all. I noticed that some of you posted increased cholesterol levels. I have not experience this, but I have recently (3 weeks ago) been told I am anemic (B12 deficiency). I wonder if BCs can contribute to this? Any thoughts?

I don't think that anyone can predict a time frame for getting over an adverse drug reaction. Below is my opinion but I see a lot of evidence that it is basically shared by other people maybe not exactly as I state it.

Adverse drug reactions deplete many essential nutrients from our systems. Inflammatory response is very stressful on the body. It is sometimes a very big effort to work on the diet to put back what has been taken away. It can take a long time.

Quinolines particularly deplete B-vitamins, folic acid (B-9), calcium/magnesium/zinc and omega-3 fatty acid. Sometimes the blood-lab work shows elevated homocysteine which proves that the body has suffered inflammation. Cardiologists now use homocysteine levels to show whether someone is at risk for heart disease due to inflammation. Deficiencies of B-6, B-9, and B-12 are known to cause elevated homocysteine.

Here is the pharmaceutical company ZINGER. Now companies such as Merck and Pfizer are going to offer niacin products to lower cholesterol. Well, yeh, duh !. All of these drug reactions are causing depleted B vitamins which elevate cholesterol. Then after they have tried to kill us by depleting our B - vitamins, they want to sell us another pill to give the B vitamins back to us. How many people out there are on some kind of a pill with side effects that cause inflammation? What a business? It is win, win, win.

I have been having upper back pain since I started this medication. In addition it has aggravated a shoulder problem that has bothered me intermittently for years. I am a 47 year old active male. I exercise 3 to 4 times per week and lift weights. I have had lower back pain in the past but never upper like this. since my activities have not changed with the onset of this pain I attribute it to the medication. It started after I started this medication.

Cholesterol was up to 260 so doctor prescribed zocor 20mg to lower it.
I have been on this for six weeks and head back for a recheck next Tuesday. I am hoping it is low again so I can get off this drug.

I am 33 years old and after a blood test about 6 months ago showed my cholesterol levels high my doctor prescribed me 40MG Zocor (actually generic Simvastatin). Since then I've started to forget things and just cognitively I'm slower and less capable. I also had more aches and pains and a weird creak in my knee showed up, but I really didn't key in on that stuff. I went back to my doctor and told him about the cognitive issues and he said "that shouldn't be a side effect of this drug".Well I am very glad I found this website because at least now I know I am not crazy. I stopped taking that garbage about 4 weeks ago and ever since that fog has been lifting.
I have also made a new commitment to myself to include more "heart healthy" foods into my diet and to completely eliminate all red meats as well. I realize there may be some validity to the studies done remarking that high cholesterol is an indication of something bad, but I am not convinced the medical community actually has a comprehensive understanding of cholesterol in the body. I will still go into the doctor to get my levels checked, but I will probably not go back to my old doctor. I'll probably find a doctor who is a little more open to other options. I hate to say it, but I have lost my confidence in my doctor. If I tried to pull something like that in my job as a computer network engineer my customers would simply say "it wasn't like this before you started". Jedi mind trick doesn't work buddy. My body wasn't like this before you gave me that stuff.

I am 39 years old. My cholesterol levels have been between 250 and 370 since my mid-twenties. I started on Lipitor and noticed after a few years that my loss of memory, muscle pain, fatigue and difficulty sleeping were just plain annoying. I quit talking in August of 2007. Since then I have changed my diet to a vegan diet where I have zero cholesterol intake. After 9 months my cholesterol levels are still 270. My body produces it anyway. The only time I saw my cholesterol levels drop (on Lipitor) was when I was doing Atkins (high fat, protein) and my levels were in the 170s. I was prescribed Zocor this spring by another doctor, however still found myself unwilling to take it. While only taking a diuretic blood pressure medicine, I began experiencing some chest pain, headaches, shortness of breath, numbness in the face and hands and got scared. I began taking the Zocor on Friday 4/25/08 - I haven't had a good night's sleep since. By Tuesday night I broke out with a rash on my arms and hands (itchy). I thought it was hives. By Friday 5/2/08 my head was in a fog - I couldn't remember what happened on Monday, it feels like it was 6 months ago. I stopped talking last night Fri. 5/2/08 and this morning the rash was gone and I slept fairly well. I believe in choosing the lesser of two evils; however, with the obvious effects of this drug I wonder what it does to the inside of my body where it isn't so obvious. As young as I am, I really worry about the long term effects of this medication, and others like it, that would make heart disease seem like a piece of cake.

Can Statins Cause Chronic Low-Grade Myopathy?
Statins (hydroxymethyl glutaryl coenzyme A reductase
inhibitors) are highly effective drugs for reducing serum
cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels.
Clinical trials have shown that they also reduce risk for
coronary heart disease events, coronary procedures, and
stroke by about one third (1). Millions of people in the
United States and worldwide are being treated with statins.
In clinical trials and in clinical practice, statins have proved
to be remarkably safe.
The one notable side effect of statin therapy is myopathy.
A small fraction of patients who are treated with
statins will develop severe myopathy (2). In the worst cases,
severe myoglobinuria, acute renal failure, and even death
can occur. The incidence of severe myopathy is low, perhaps
1 in 1000 patients (2). Predisposing factors for severe
myopathy appear to include advanced age, relatively low
body weight, female sex, certain medications, use of multiple
medications, multisystem disease, and acute illnesses
or major surgery (3). If statins were avoided or used in low
doses in these circumstances, it is likely that the incidence
of severe myopathy could be greatly reduced.
Less severe forms of myopathy undoubtedly occur. In
some patients, fatigue and muscle pain and weakness develop
with moderately high serum creatine kinase levels
but not acute renal failure. In these cases, the myopathy
resolves when statin therapy is discontinued.
Still more patients report various muscle symptoms—
fatigue, pain, and muscle weakness—but have normal creatine
kinase levels. These symptoms probably are unrelated
to statin therapy in many patients. In middle-aged and
older people, muscle, joint, and tendon symptoms are very
common. Naturally, if a patient takes a medication that is
believed to produce muscle problems, symptoms are often
attributed to the medication. On the other hand, the major
controlled clinical trials have not detected a higher prevalence
of muscle symptoms during statin therapy versus placebo
(1). This failure of detection has generally led clinical
trialists to conclude that statin-associated myopathy with
normal creatine kinase levels essentially does not exist or
that, if it does exist, it cannot be detected above the “background
noise” of muscle symptoms in the general clinicaltrial
population.
Many physicians in clinical practice nonetheless believe
that they can identify a subset of statin-treated patients
who have a unique set of statin-related muscle symptoms.
Some patients clearly relate the onset of muscle
symptoms to initiation of statin therapy. These symptoms
may abate after discontinuation of therapy, only to reappear
when statin therapy is restarted. The number of such
patients is not large, and thus it may have been impossible
to identify them in large clinical trials.
In this issue, Phillips and colleagues (4) report on a set
of studies in four patients who had muscle symptoms during
statin therapy that resolved during placebo use. Quantitatively
measured muscle weakness also resolved during
placebo use. Muscle biopsies were performed in three patients
during statin therapy and then during placebo use.
Several pathologic changes were seen on biopsy specimens
obtained during statin therapy: increased lipid content of
mitochondria, fibers that did not stain for cytochrome oxidase
activity, and ragged red fibers. The authors suggest
that these patients had statin-associated myopathy with
normal serum creatine kinase levels.
Despite the study’s small size, we cannot dismiss these
observations as random variation in muscle structure.
However, these highly suggestive results are clearly preliminary.
The number of patients was small, and all appropriate
controls were not used. Nonetheless, this study is novel
because it used quantitative measures of muscle strength
and muscle biopsy to address the question of myopathy
with normal creatine kinase levels during statin therapy.
To be confirmed, the current data would have to be
extended to many more patients in whom muscle symptoms
are closely correlated with statin use. Reproducibility
of symptoms during therapy and symptom resolution after
discontinuation of statin therapy would be necessary. A
definitive study would have to be carefully designed and
executed. It would need to be double-blinded and placebocontrolled
and include sufficient numbers of patients to
provide a valid statistical comparison. In addition, investigators
would have to carefully consider the appropriate
selection of patients. The development of a registry of candidate
patients at multiple sites could facilitate a multicenter
study.
Is a carefully controlled, sizable study of this type
worth the investment of time and effort? To date, no evidence
indicates that prolonged statin therapy leads to permanent
muscle damage or progressive myopathy in patients
with normal creatine kinase levels. Controlled
clinical trials attest to the general safety of statins, and
symptomatic side effects appear to be limited to a relatively
small proportion of treated patients. In addition, no therapy
prevents or treats statin-induced myopathy, short of
withholding the drug. On the other hand, statins are being
prescribed to millions of people, and are usually continued
throughout the patient’s lifetime. It is certain that statins
cause myopathy in some patients. For these reasons, a valid
argument can be made for a more extensive study of lowgrade
myopathy in patients treated with statins.
In the meantime, physicians should recognize the great
benefit of statin therapy in high-risk patients and their
documented safety for most patients. For high-risk persons,
the proven efficacy for preventing cardiovascular disease
outweighs the unlikely possibility of permanent muscle
damage. Phillips and colleagues’ preliminary results
certainly do not provide adequate information on the spec-
Editorial
www.annals.org 1 October 2002 Annals of Internal Medicine Volume 137 • Number 7 617
trum, scope, or prognosis of myopathy with normal creatine
kinase levels during statin therapy. For these reasons,
prescription of statins for eligible patients should continue
despite the current results. Moreover, before discontinuing
therapy, physicians should carefully evaluate any patient
receiving statins who reports muscle symptoms. In most
cases, the symptoms will be found not to be consistent
with chronic myopathy, and often they will not be related
temporally to statin treatment. High-risk patients in particular
should not be deprived of major cardiovascular risk
reduction just because they display symptoms not clearly
documented to be closely related to statin therapy.
Despite these comments, the actions of statin on muscle
metabolism and structure deserve further investigation
to clarify the confusing area of low-grade myopathy apparently
associated with statin use in a few patients.
Scott M. Grundy, MD, PhD
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas
Dallas, TX 75390-9052
Current Author Address: Scott M. Grundy, MD, PhD, Center for
Human Nutrition and the Departments of Clinical Nutrition and Internal
Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas,
5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Y3.206, Dallas, TX 75390-9052.
Potential Financial Conflicts of Interest: Honoraria (from Merck &
Co.; Pfizer, Inc.; Bristol-Myers Squibb; and Bayer); Grants (from Merck
& Co. and Pfizer, Inc.)
Ann Intern Med. 2002;137:617-618.
References
1. Executive Summary of The Third Report of The National Cholesterol Education
Program (NCEP) Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation, And Treatment
of High Blood Cholesterol In Adults (Adult Treatment Panel III). JAMA. 2001;
285:2486-97.
2. Staffa JA, Chang J, Green L. Cerivastatin and reports of fatal rhabdomyolysis
. N Engl J Med. 2002;346:539-40.
3. Pasternak RC, Smith SC, Bairey-Merz CN, Grundy SM, Cleeman JI, Lenfant
C. ACC/AHA/NHLBI clinical advisory on the use and safety of statins (1)
(2). J Am Coll Cardiol. 2002;40:567-72.
4. Phillips PS, Haas RH, Bannykh S, Hathaway S, Gray NL, Kimura BJ, et al.
Statin-associated myopathy with normal creatine kinase levels. The Scripps Mercy
Clinical Research Center. Ann Intern Med. 2002;137:581-5.
© 2002 American College of Physicians–American Society of Internal
Medicine
Editorial Statins and Low-Grade Myopathy
618 1 October 2002 Annals of Internal Medicine Volume 137 • Number 7 www.annals.org

I can't believe it's taken me so long to find this site. I have been on Lipitor for the past 5, going on 6 years. My doctor thought it would be a good preventative measure as 22 year old sister had recently had a massive heart attack.My cholesterol levels were all great but a CRP test indicated that I was on the high end of normal. Nearly three years ago, the muscles in my right arm became very achy and I could not rely on it to lift many heavy objects or even my 2.5 year old son at the time. The doctor recommended i see an OT, who, in turn, was not able to figure out why I always felt like I slept on my arm funny. After months of getting nowhere and chalking up to pulling a tendon while throwing a baseball, I decided to live it all. That summer, I also started having a hard time focusing. So, I saw an eye doctor, who said that I was slightly near sighted and that glasses would help strengthen my vision. I had never had any vision problems prior to that and it seemed like it came on suddenly. But, I figured that I was getting older and people need to have glasses sometimes as they age. Then, last summer, I began to get these crazy rashes, which I now know where hives that bacme irritated by touch. The rash would pop up any time, any where and never in a way that i could relate to anything I ingested. Then, all of my joints began to ache unbelievably. I looked up some symptoms, wondering if I contracted something through my son's preschool, which was dealing with a little fifth's disease breakout. My symptoms seemd in line with what an adult can experience if he/she had fifth's disease. The doctor was stumped and had me have blood drawn, which indicated my liver levels were a little high, but they could tell me "What you don't have"... lyme disease, any viruses or lupus. Okay. I was to have more bloodwork done in a week or two, but decided to see how this rash, etc. would play out. The pain went away (except of the arm on that started a year and half or so earlier) and the rash was something I thought would dissipate soon enough. After three months it did subside. We bought a house and my son started kindergarten and it finally seemed like I was on the upswing. Now, six months later, the rash resurfaced. I was completed disappointed. At first I thought the Fifth's was making a comeback. I looked online and found a site that showed different types of rashes. That is when I came across a picture labeled "Drug Allergy" and began looking into the two drug I was on. By the weekend however the pain started in, especially in my legs, the calves, and my ankles hurt so bad. I was having spasms in my arms and legs and noticed within the week, two bruises on my thighs that I am certain appeared on their own. I did not bump my leg at all. I became very nervous and thought that I was going to experience a blood clot as my mother had one at 34 years of age. I am 32. But, after researching and reading forums like this, I am convinced that I, too, am experiencing serious Lipitor side effects. On Saturday,I did not take my usual 10mg and saw the doctor. She recommended that i go off the Lipitor for now and have blood work done. I have been off it since then (not very long) but by Monday I was feeling almost normal. Today, I feel some cramping in the legs, but I think it will take a long time for this drug to rid my system. I have to go back on Friday for a follow up, but I haven't heard anything alarming about my bloodwork yet.
Again, I can't believe it has taken this long to find this wonderful site. Best of luck to the rest of you in your recoveries and a Lipitor-free life.

I am a 54 year old male who was put on Lipitor by my Dr to treat cholesterol levels of 6 to 6.5 around august 2007. I used the drug through until early Jan 2008 when I started to notice continuous muscle pain and injuries especially in my lower back buttocks and arms. I constantly had tingling/burning sensations in my large leg muscles, finger tips and hands. My eyesight was deteriorating rapidly and I had a constantly fuzzy brain which was hard to focus and concentrate. I thought that I had rapid onset Alzheimer's or similar. I was finding difficulty controlling/getting nerve instructions to muscles such as bowels, prostate, mouth. My Wife accused me of slurring words and my balance became unstable and I had a series of minor falls.
I started to wonder about my medication and as I only used two and Lipitor was the newer one of the two I stopped taking it. With in Five days most of the symptoms were disappearing or rapidly improving. After ten days I decided to reintroduce Lipitor and within four days they were all rapidly returning. It was at this point that I started to do a lot of research and found all of the sites highlighting the varied side effects attributed to this drug. None of which had I been informed of by my doctor or Pharmacist and most of which I was experiencing. Needless to say I now no longer take the drug and most things have returned or are returning to normal including the eyesight, balance and nerve control. This drug needs to be withdrawn from use before too many people suffer lasting debilitating damage or even worse, death.

Have been taking Lipitor for about 11 years. Fairly recently increased dosage from 10mg to 20mg. For about the past week have begun to experience tingling, numbness and general ache in legs, arms, sometimes cheeks and fingers. Spoke to doctor who seems stumped by these symptoms. Will be doing blood tests to test thyroid, anemia, B-12 levels etc.etc.etc. Given what I have read here I can't help but think I know what the problem is. I should mention I had quadruple bypass 12 years ago so the doctor doesn't want any spike in cholesterol levels.

This will not be a report on side effects because I have never taken this kind of medication (similar side effects with all lipid lowering drugs).

I don't work in the health field.. I am just an ordinary women I my sixties who is discussed at what I see around me and the stories that are told here.

The pharmaceutical companies and the brain-washed medical staff has really managed to convince the public, all over the world, that they need to lower their cholesterol levels.

Are you sure that they are right?

I am not convinced after reading lots of different books (please see suggestions in message November 3rd, 2007).

I have also visited many different sites on the Internet with other opinions.

Lipitor - and others - are the most prescribed medications in the world.

Many users are ignored when they want to discuss benefit/risk or side effects. The situation is the same if you live in the U.S. or in Sweden, where I live.

I think it`s time that people educate themselves and make up their own mind about this issue.

Also search for "Stopped our statins".

There are some very good article under "print articles". You can take them along to your doctor.

There is one that I particularly recommend - it`s from the Weston Price Foundation, Dangers of Statin Drugs.

In it you will find information about side effects - such as:
muscle pain and weakness, neuropathy, heart failure, dizziness, cognitive impairment, cancer, pancreatic rot, depression etc.

There is also a lot of information about different studies.

Hope I have encouraged you to learn more about this issues.

It`s the pharmaceutical companies that have the money - that`s why you seldom hear about different views.

Good luck!

I am 60 years old female & have been taking Lipitor for about 4 years. I recently went off the drug for 3 months, & in that time much of the muscle pain I was experiencing began to lesson. I have pain in both arms from the below up to my shoulder. Hip pain & leg cramps. I have trouble sleeping & absolutely no sex drive. Of course, my Cholesterol went sky high, over 300. I have only been back on 80 mgs for a month and a half, & all of the aches and pains are back ten fold. I feel a hundred years old.I have to make a big decision...die of high Cholesterol, or live a life of constant pain and sleep deprivation. This is really bad. I f I had to run or crawl to save my life, I'd never make it.

I was on 1000mg per day 500 in the morning and 500 at night. I had one or two episodes of flushing and if it was not for this site I would have gone to the Emergency Room because the burning of my skin was so severe that I was in a panic. I found this site and it calmed me a bit. After the flushing comes the itching. For me it is on the inside of the legs starting on the ankles and then the toes and then it moves slowly up the legs and sometimes hits the thighs. Sometimes it hits the underside of my upper arm. This was mild and tolerable and went away in a couple of days.

Now I have been moved to 2000mg per day and the flushing is under control, but the itching has gone out of control. I cannot deal with the itching. I sit in business meetings and want to scream. I find myself at my desk with my shoes and socks off rubbing my feet and ankles because it is intolerable. I have broken the skin many times and bleed from the scratching. I am intelligent enough to know not to scratch, but sometimes it just gets the better of me.

I have no idea what triggers this because I can count on it lasting three to four days and then it goes away again.

I do not know how long I am taking Vytorin, maybe a year or so. The doctors called me and whooped it up ( I thought it was a serious issue) but they were just so excited that my cholesterol levels and other levels went down by more than one hundred points. I am now investigating sleep maintenance i.e. I go to sleep and wake up many times during the night and then go back again. This never happened before. It is like I have a newborn baby. Besides that I am tired all the time and later in the day I want to nap, i.e. I feel bone tired and it is more like I am sick. I took this all into the idea of aging but I am beginning to look into my drugs that I am taking. Just read that Zocor has effect on sleep and Vytorin has Zocor in it.

I am a reasonably healthy 51 year old carpenter. A couple years ago my doctor prescribed Lipitor to bring down my cholesterol levels. I took it for over a year and then stopped, not due to side effects as I hadn't heard that there were any. I just don't particularly like taking pills all the time. After a few months passed I had blood work done and the doctor put me back on Lipitor. I noticed that I felt weaker and more sluggish than I had for the past few months. I still had not been advised of any possible side effects. I continued to feel weaker till one day while working I picked up a piece of equiptment that I have been using for over 30 years, so I was quite used to picking it up and carrying it around. Only this time when I picked it up my bicepts muscle tore completely off ! After getting an MRI on my bicepts and rotator cuff (which had also been giving me problems), I underwent surgery to have them both repaired. I have been out of work for 2 1/2 months now recovering. I'm told it will be another month at least before I can try to start working again. I am self employed so I get no pay to sit and recover. I WISH THAT I HAD VISITED THIS SITE A LONG TIME AGO.

I have been on Vytorin for about 2 years. Before the drug, I had not aches or pains. My cholesterol levels are good now but the quality of my life is not. I feel as if my joints have aged 30 years over the past two. Lower back pain has caused me to see chiropractors, physical therapists, and surgeons. Now, my feet are hurting so badly that I can hardly walk. I don't know if it's related, but since I've been taking vytorin, my 2nd toe on both of my feet has become crooked and it almost on top of my big toe. I've spoken to my doctor today once again with all these concerns and will be discontinuing the drug for a week to see if these horrible symptoms disappear.

I am a 54 year old male who has a chronic a-fib. My cholesterol was a wee bit high so my now retired MD put me on Zetia, which just about killed me- constant stomach pains and associated GI problems-we all can guess. So I went to see my cardiologist- he took me off Zetia and put me on Lipitor. It dropped my cholesterol levels significantly but the side effects are horrendous. My new MD was gooing to look into it because I was on 80 mg a day- but never did and never lowered the dose-229 is not all that high to warrant 80 mg a day.
I am now experiencing severe pain in my right rib-cage area, making sleep an event every night. Also have severe leg cramps the size of golf balls constanlty at night while sleeping. Pain in both elbows, and in the right foot, which when I can sleep wakes me up with a severe pounding pain. I am also experiencing severe neck and shoulder pain and am generally fatigued all the time- So I quit taking the stuff as of today on my own, I am seeing my MD in two week and I want to see what the difference is pain wise being off of the med for two weeks. I have always been a strong physical guy, played football all the way through college and am in pretty good shape for my age, but this stuff is killing me!! Hope this helps someone else also-Thanks for listening-John in Napa, CA.

I am so relieved to find this site. I was told by my doctor that my cholesterol levels and triglycerites are threw the roof. This is odd because I am a strict vegitarian. I chose the ring as the first type of b.c. after a diagnosis of cervical cancer. Apparently I don't want to get pregnant right now! The bad thing is in six months I have had nausea spotting and a light period, and I look six months pregnant because I have gained about 25 pounds. I am not pregnant doubley confirmed! I have felt sickly all this time too. i have had bronchitis and can't shake it. Please reply and let me know if this happens to be the case for anyone else.

I'm aged 51 and have had high blood cholesterol for years, diagnosed in my mid thirties. Over the years I have tried changing diet but it didn't reduce tha bad cholesterol. Three years ago I decided maybe I better reduce the cholesterol as they say it clogs up you arteries etc. I went to the doctor and he put me on Lipitor and within a few months my levels were down to normal. I got joint pains in my hands, back, neck , legs and had sore heels after long walks. The doc then decided I'd go off the Lipitor to see if my levels stayed normal but they went back up. After a week the new pains had gone away. I came up with a plan to take 3 x 10mG a week rather than one each day and this worked with a lot less joint pain. The last test I had my levels are back up again so he put me back on 10mG a day and now three weeks later the pains have built back up and I don't like them. Desperate for a different solution I was listening to one of the Juice Plus promotions and something they said set me thinking. They said that having a high level of bad cholesterol doesn't always mean it will badly affect your arteries as it has to react with free radicals in your body to cause the damage. Their theory is that a diet rich in antioxidants will combat the free radicals and generally reduce the risk of disease which also includes any bad effects from high bad cholesterol. Now I'm wondering two things, how do I know if my high cholesterol is causing me any harm? is there a test I can get done to measure how it is or is not affecting me? Can anyone throw any more light on this?

I'm a 66 year old nurse taking Lipitor 10 mg for approximately 4 years. I have not had any problems until last when I suffered a severe anxiety attack and went to the ER. This has never happened to me before. All tests were negative. I was given Xanax which relieved the anxiety at that time , but I 'm continuing to experience a lot of anxiety. I came across some info that low cholesterol levels can be related to anxiety. My total cholesterol
is 130 and the LDL is 71. I have no cardiac conditions other than hypertension. I stopped taking Lipitor a couple of days ago, but so far I have not had any change in condition. Dr ordered Zoloft for the anxiety but I had bad reactions after taking 2 pills.-severe nervousness, anxiety , and restlessness. I'm hoping I feel better when the cholesterol levels go up.