Muscle enzymes symptoms and conditions

I must be living in a vacuum without knowing it. I have been on Lipitor for a few years now. I do slur words on occasion... the cramps are occasionally unbearable. I get cramps in my rib cage, legs, feet and have to watch myself making move like reaching for something that requires anything other than a normal move or twist.. or I get a cramp. I also get cramps in my hands, muscles knotting up with horrible pain... I have to watch how grasp things my fingers.... occasional just cutting a steak holding the knife or fork and applying pressure... I had a discussion with a complete stranger today who said he had similar side effects with Lipitor... I thought it was old age (I'm 62).... and not very physically active. I looked it up on the internet and found this very informative site.

I have had trouble standing from a sitting position. My internal medicine Dr. ran some blood tests and discovered I have elevated muscle enzymes. My psychiatrist convinced my internist that I needed to have physical therapy instead of coming off the Abilify. If my muscle enzymes are elevated it indicates that I have had muscle trauma due to the Abilify.

I recently lost my brother Marty to ALS. Marty asked me to tell everyone about his experience and I promised I would. Marty began taking statin drugs in his early 40's. He took them off and on at the suggestion of his PCP. It began with Lipitor and progressed to Crestor. In Dec of 06 tests revealed elevated muscle enzymes, he was also having pain in his left leg. His PCP called and told him to discontinue the Crestor, which he did. The pain continued and other symptoms began to materialize. Symptoms included muscle weakness, toe drop, fasciculations and continued pain in his leg. In June 07 after many tests he received the diagnosis of ALS. He passed away in August 08 at age 52. He believed as I do that statins caused this most horrible disease in him. He also believed that cholesterol is a symptom not the causal agent of heart disease. Now you must decide.

Hi All,

I was diagnosed with dermatologists when I was 14 years old and put on very high dosage of prednisone to get my disease under control (40 mg a day at the beginning). My muscle enzymes were out of control (CPK was almost 8,500 when it should be less than 215) and I was barely mobile, huge amounts of weight loss, alopecia, Raynaud's, etc. That was 11 years ago and I am now almost 100% better. Prednisone saved my life, but the side-effects were TERRIBLE! Especially for a girl going through puberty. Kids at school don't understand you're sick, and they can be extremely cruel. Luckily for me a large number of my family members are in the medical profession all over the world and my parents were able to pool knowledge to find the best treatment for me without all the horrible side effects. An uncle in Germany suggested I take a Prednisone alternative widely available in Europe called Diflazacort. This medicine is not available in the states apparently because the FDA thought it was exactly like Prednisone so was unnecessary. I'm sure this is some pharmaceutical company lobbying to preserve Prednisone's monopoly on inflammatory diseases, but regardless it makes finding Diflazacort difficult for Americans. This is a HUGE shame since this medicine gave me ALL of the benefits of Prednisone with NONE of the side effects. My mood swings, water retention, increased appetite, hazy brain, thinning skin, etc etc etc ALL stopped with Diflazacort. This wasn't only true for me either. A family friend had been diagnosed with Crohn's at the time and he was put on Diflazacort from the beginning of his treatment after seeing how I reacted to it and NEVER had any of the negative side effects I had to deal with. Really this drug was like a miracle for me. Prednisone prevented my sure death, but Diflazacort gave me my life back in its entirety. I've now been off of any steroid for 7 years and my muscles are fully back to normal. Some of the fat deposits Predinose caused still linger, but to most people's eyes I'm totally back to normal. I wish I could find everyone having problems with Prednisone side-effects and tell them about Diflazacort. Even though it isn't available in the states (although I heard recently they are trying to get it approved again since a number of studies showed Diflazacort is much more effective treating Crohn's than Prednisone is) you can get it on the internet or if you have doctor friends abroad as I did. I'm always wary of buying drugs over the internet since there's no control so I would suggest contacting doctors in Europe or Asia directly or through your doctor here in the states. Anyways, I wanted everyone to know that some people do get better and I wish you all the best of luck!

Hi All,

I was diagnosed with dermatologists when I was 14 years old and put on very high dosage of prednisone to get my disease under control (40 mg a day at the beginning). My muscle enzymes were out of control (CPK was almost 8,500 when it should be s no control so I would suggest contacting doctors in Europe or Asia directly or through your doctor here in the states. Anyways, I wanted everyone to know that some people do get better and I wish you all the best of luck!

I was reading the various side effects and I have one more to add. Has anyone experienced vertigo--not dizziness but spinning. It lasts for about 15 seconds and it's enough to scare you to death! I've also noticed that the whites of my eyes turn red.
I've also experienced pain in my legs, heels and knees. It's so difficult to walk that I had cortisone shots in my knees and three series of epidural in my lower back. No doctor ever thinks it could be from medication. I've been on Zocor 10mg for two years
I've gone to more doctors now than I have in all my years. Everyone is a specialist. No one treats you as a whole. Now I have to go to a neurologist for the vertigo.
I'm thinking all this is related to Zocor. The only other medicine I take is Protonix.

I had been taking Zocor for 10 days when I woke up in the night with heart palpitations, wobbly legs, a severe headache and dizziness. Shortly afterwards, my legs began to twitch on their own and cramped up. This happened several nights in a row. Then the twitching spread into my arms and neck. My muscles became very sore, then weak to the point where I couldn't stand up long enough to take a shower or get out of bed without help. Thankfully after being off of Zocor for 3 weeks I am getting some of my strength back, but I am plagued with a constant headache and dizziness, sometimes nausea and vomiting. Tests for muscle enzymes, liver damage, etc. have all come back with normal results. I am 21 years old and Zocor has made me feel about 75. Like others on this site my doctor did not think the problems had anything to do with the Zocor, but helpfully suggested I try incorporating more fat into my diet.

Can anyone tell me from experience how long I can expect these side effects to last? I've been out of work for 3 weeks and can't go back until I stop feeling dizzy and can stand up/walk for a full 8 hours.

I had triple bypass surgury, and put on zocor as a preventative RX, along with other meds. Two months post surgery I started getting a pain in my right foot when walking 2 minutes and a continuous pain in left thigh all day and night long. Dr said I could take tylenol when needed. I started cardiac PT, walking on treadmill, exercise bike 3x per week. Pains persisted. 3 weeks later Dr agreed to take concern serious. Did blood work. Muscle enzymes elevated. Took me off Zocor taday to see if in a few weeks thigh would stop hurting. Ordered Ancle Bracial Index test to see if foot issue is circulation related.

I'm a 28yo male. I have already shared my experiences as guest #31827. This is an update of my condition.

It has been over four months now since I've stopped taking Zocor(which I only was on for one week at 10mg), and there has been little change in my condition. My neurologist said that I have drug induced myopathy and It can take six months to recover from, with 100% recovery, and there is nothing they can do as far as treatment for it right now. I found out that my muscle enzymes were up to almost 6000 when I was on the Zocor. I'm still very fatigued, weak, muscle tightness, bad tension headache, neck stiffness/pain, vivid dreams every night, very out of it mentally(brain dead). I'm a firefighter/paramedic for a living, and have been unable to work because of this. I'm really hoping and praying that I recover very soon and get my life and job back.

Does anyone out there know about any class action lawsutes going on? Has any of you been in my condition and fully recovered, and how long did it take you? I'm young and healthy otherwise. This shows you how powerful and dangerous statins are! If you have any insight for me and others about recovery write back.

I'm a 28yo male. my over all cholesterol was elevated at 248. I am a very healthy person otherwise, and active. My HDL chol is very good. My Dr. had me try to lower my chol by diet and excersise at first for a little over a year, but didn't work. About two months ago he decided to put me on Zocor 10mg. The day i started taking it I felt very tired, weak, very dazed. I told my Dr. and he said it was a likely side effect and to keep taking it. After a week I was still feeling bad to the point where I had to call in sick to work. My Dr. finally told me to stop taking the Zocor and come in to the lab to get my blood drawn. A few days later my results showed that my liver and muscle enzymes were way elevated. My Dr. called me and said to drink copious amounts of water to flush out my system. After about a week of still feeling terrible my liver and muscle enzymes were back down to normal range. That was almost two months ago and still feel terrible. I've been very fatigued,muscle weakness,muscle spasms all over my body,dizziness,very sharp headches, stiff neck,but mostly pressure in my head and in my ears which cause them to pop and ring. My back even got really stiff and sore for a couple of weeks. I've been in such a daze. After 8 hours of sleep when I wake up in the morning, I feel like I've only had about two hours. I've been back and forth to my Dr. many times over the past couple months, and he's started telling me that because of taking a low dose of Zocor for only a week, he doesn't think it was the statin that is making me feel like this and said it could be a virus, and has been drawing blood for lyme disease and mono etc., which have all came back normal. I believe this is ALL from the Zocor!! I think I have drug induced myositis. I am scheduled next week to see a Neurologist. Hopefully he can give me some answers. I hope my experiences can help one of you out there. Alot of Dr.'s out there aren't aware of how dangerous these statins really are!.

my father has diabetes and we got a letter in mail about a month ago and the letter simply stated to my dad to come off the zorcor. because he had elevated muscle enzymes or something to that effect. and he had stated that he had tingling in his arm along with chest pain. my fury is with his diabetes spclst, why couldn't she be honest and tell us that this medication could possible be the culprit of his elevated blood readings. i am very disappointed in this doctor.