Heart medications symptoms and conditions

August 12, 2009. I have been on Zocor/Simvastatin (40mgs) off and on over 5 years. I do not have any muscle mass left. I am an avid walker and exercise as much as possible in addition to still working in a high pressure position at the age of 72 (thankful for the job). My entire body hurts constantly, hands, fingers, legs, knees, neck, back, head and other parts to numerous to mention. My sex life is the pits. My doctor tells me I have high cholesterol that must be controlled by medication. I had a quad bypass in 1999, a cardiac defibrillator installed in 2003 (Actually 3 of them, first one was defective and went off, got a severe infection on reinstall #2, and 3rd one still is in and working hopefully). I never had a heart attack, no high blood pressure, just clogged up. I take enough medication to kill an elephant. At 72 I am going to trash the Simvastatin because I know it is the basis for my muscle loss and severe pain constantly. Doctor also had me on Lipitor for a long time (5 years). Statins really suck!

I have taken Vicodin for 12 years now after open heart surgery. My chest bone did not heal right and in 2002 had injuries to both my knees. My doctor took me off of the medication last week since all my heart medications that I take along with this is damaging my liver. I will tell all who is reading this that I have been taking 750mg 5 times a day for 12 years and I am having a tremendous amount of trouble coming off of this drug. I have not slept in days and all you can do is think about the drug. Diarrhea is a another problem with not taking it and major cold spells and sweating. Anyone that can avoid this I hope you do. Because of the damage to my liver I had no choice but to stop cold turkey, I hope and pray that these symptoms go away soon......

I AM A 63 YEAR OLD FEMALE WITH A GENETIC IRREGULAR HEARTBEAT. OVER A YEAR AGO I TOOK LIPITOR FOR ABOUT 2 MONTHS. THE LEFT SIDE OF MY BODY - FACE, ARM, HAND, LEG, AND FOOT, STARTED TINGLING AND GOING NUMB. ONLY THE LEFT SIDE, AND IT WOULD LAST SECONDS, MINUTES, OR TWO HOURS AT A TIME. I COULDN'T RELATE IT TO ANY PARTICULAR ACTIVITY OR MOVEMENT. MY CARDIOLOGIST INSISTED IT WASN'T CAUSED BY AN INTERACTION WITH MY HEART MEDICATIONS (TOPROL AND RYTHMOL) AND REFERRED ME TO A NEUROLOGIST.
THE FIRST MRI SHOWED WHAT APPEARED TO BE A CYST IN THE THIRD VENTRICLE OF MY BRAIN. VERY SCARY. SO I
INSISTED ON A SECOND MRI. THERE WAS NO CYST AND I LEFT THE NEUROLOGIST WITHOUT ANY DIAGNOSIS AND A HUGE BILL. MY HUSBAND TOLD FAMILY I HAD "MAD COW'S DISEASE" WHEN I WAS UNABLE TO WALK PROPERLY DURING AN EPISODE.
DESPITE THE CARDIOLOGIST'S OPINION I STOPPED TAKING
LIPITOR AND WITHIN A WEEK THE SYMPTOMS DISAPPEARED.
A FEW MONTHS LATER I EXPERIENCED VERTIGO EPISODES,
EVEN WHILE TURNING OVER IN BED, BUT IT ONLY LASTED A WEEK, AND IS PROBABLY UNRELATED - WHO KNOWS - THE CARDIOLOGIST STILL WON'T BELIEVE THE LIPITOR CAUSED
ME A PROBLEM. I TOLD HIM I KNOW MILLIONS OF PEOPLE TAKE IT SUCCESSFULLY, BUT I'M HIS ONE IN A MILLION THAT CANNOT TAKE IT. NO MORE PRESCRIPTIONS!

I was on 2 heart medications for over a year. In April I started taking toprol alone. I have been gaining weight rapidly like 6 or 7 lbs. in 2 months. I also have tingling in hands, a numbness, and burning which wakes me up at night. Is this from the toprol? I was happy to hear others had the same side effects. I have lower back pain and my legs hurt. I couldn't figure out why I was gaining all this weight. Maybe it is the toprol taken alone.