Red yeast rice symptoms and conditions

I have been on simvastatin for 2 yrs . The past six months have had foot pain my doctor described as neuroma.By the time I started physical therapy the pain was in my arch + tendons. I went to physical therapy for two months, the therapist became concerned when improvement peaked. Still have burning nerve pain. I think its time for natural supplements . I hear "red Rice Yeast" is effective.
S. M.

I have taken Lurpron Depot 3.75mg June 11, 09. I am due another injection July 09,09. I had to get a prescription of prometrium 100mg from the OB/GYN because of the night sweats and hot flashes.Since the injection, I have had and currently experiencing migraine headaches in the frontal lobe and temporal lobe areas. I have slight pain in the temples. I am going to see a neurologist because I was told the lupron may cause brain bleed with people whom have pituitary cancer. I would like to know if the CoQ10 and red yeast rice interacts with Lupron.

I have been taking 40mg lipitor for over 9 years now.

I have had back issues since an injury to one disc (L4?), and had microdiscectomy in 2001? Took about two years to actually get close to normal.

The last few years, I have had multiple issues with shoulder pain, wrist pain, elbow pain, lower back pain, Upper rump muscle pain , and now both hips are killing me (the shoulder, upper rump muscles and hips are by far the worst). And I am now so weak in my lower back muscles, that it feels like I will (and do) pull out my back.

I have seen NO many doctors I can't even name them all. I have had operations, multiple injections (cortisone) taken pain meds, etc. Nothing has helped and in the last year and a half, I have gotten steadily worse. To the point where I can't really do much of any activity. Sleeping at night is painful. Can't lie on left shoulder, and can't lie on either hip for more than a few minutes. If I fall asleep on my side, the pain wakes me up. When I try to walk, 80% of the time, I end up with a pain in my upper right rump (sacroiliac area), that I MUST sit down to get the intense pain to go away, which it does. But comes right back when I walk again.

I have had x-rays, MRIs etc, and never reveals all that much. Disc issues, yes. NOt much else.

Recently, I have begun to get a nasty clicking (catching) on my left jaw (joint?). Not really painful, but something definitely wrong. My dentist sent me to his Chiro. I went and liked him right away. I had gone to another chiro for years and I believe in them. But this one is the best I have seen.

Anyway, one of the FIRST things he suggested, was that it was POSSIBLE that the Lipitor is causing all of my problems. Put me on COQ10, and doing multiple adjustments and treatments. I will be seeing my regular doctor 5/26, and my chiro wants me to see if he will take me off lipitor and put me on Niaspan instead.

I guess my question is: Can Lipitor be fine with me for so long, and then in such a short period of time, turn me into a compete wreck from the pain and wasting away of my body/muscles? I've told doctors for over a year now that there is SOME connection as to all these issues and pain. One Doctor, of course, gave me the "you are getting old" bull. Yes, I am 56 yrs old. But I understand the process of getting old, vs the complete failing of ones body.

Also, IF it is the Lipitor, can it possible all go away? Or should I expect some damage forever?

One more thing, the last ortho I went to the other day for a second opinion, wants me to do a EMG, to see if there is muscle damage. I was not planning on doing it, but wonder now, should I? He was not doing it because of lipitor, as he never even talked about that to me. I had shoulder operation and have not had the results I feel I should have had.

...See posting below...also I have tingling/numbness in my hands and forearms. I'm also taking the enzyme CoQ10, which is supposed to help. I was told by someone working in a health food/vitamin/supplement store to take red yeast rice.....NOT a good idea. Red yeast rice contains the same basic ingredients as simvastatin.

My cholesterol was 360 combined when my doctor put me on lipitor and I am only 25 years old. I had all sorts of side effects but dizziness was the worst. I went to ER because of it and doctor in the ER told me how lipitor does not cause dizziness. We all sure don't agree with that right?! The worst is that my cholesterol did not reduce much at all. After researching more about cholesterol I started taking red yeast rice and took that for 6 months and my cholesterol dropped down to 230. It is very important to take good red yeast rice because if you get cheap brand it won't do you any good. I got the brand called "NOW" ( u can get it online) and I wanted to share my experience with everyone else because I was able to reduce my cholesterol down to normal levels so fast without any side effects ! Now I am 30 and my cholesterol is 213 and just to mention it did not go back up once it reduced when I was 25 and i stopped taking red yeast rice after only 8 months. I also did not change my eating habits. I am thinking I should take it again for few months to get my cholesterol down to 170 range but I am not worried about it too much since It already so much lower than when I was 25 and it's not going back up. Another thing I thought was so great... When I went back to my primary doctor to have my cholesterol checked out after taking red yeast rice, when she saw how much my cholesterol dropped down in only 8 months she asked me to write down the name of the stuff I used so she can have her father use it too because Lipitor didn't reduce his cholesterol down significantly either !! I hope you guys will give it a chance for at least 6 months. My father is taking it now and he can't believe how much his cholesterol is reducing.

Besides having all over muscle aches with this medicine that 'doesn't get absorbed in the blood', I had so much hair fall out in 1 week. I called the doctor and she said it was not a side effect. Well, I had a huge hand full of hair to challenge that statement. I quit taking it and the hair is growing back in. I'm taking the red yeast rice capsules from the health food store and will see how that is working.

I decided to read about side effects of Welchol. I just got back from the doctor's and she gave me some free samples of this. In the past, I had been on Lipitor and Zetia but had terrible back, hip and leg pain. I went off of those and I was fine. Started on Crestor- same pain in back, hips and legs. Now my doctor says that Welchol is not absorbed in the blood stream so there should be no side effects- only possible heartburn. After reading all of these side effects that everyone is having on Welchol, I am not going to even try it.
I am going to record everything I eat and try to control my cholesterol with a good ,healthy diet. I also have heard that Red Yeast Rice- available at GNC or Health food stores can lower your cholesterol. I might try that but for now I'm doing the healthy diet and exercise.

Some good news re: my concerns in my Drs. note (posted the other day) "some buildup" and why such a high dose 40mg. of this poison?. I actually received something from the cardiologist on Fri. which made me feel much happier. 'NO SIGNIFICANT ABNORMALITIES - MILD CHOL. PLACQUE BUT NO SIGNIFICANT BLOCKAGE SEEN' so you can imagine how much better I felt - I had already made the decision to not take the Statins, but that report absolutely convinced me. If you haven't already had a doppler on your carotids, do so, it can ease your mind, since we're always being told we're clogging up our arteries with just about anything and everything, we're gonna have a stroke, etc. all these scare tactics. It's not an expensive test (about $80, not sure what will be added to that, as to cardio. reading the results), but worth it. Read up on the Red Yeast Rice - I've read several articles from several well known medical websites - it seems it actually can work better than Statins! Get off this stuff people, more risk than having a stroke!

I was prescribed Zocor for high cholesterol. Almost immediately I began to experience body aches -- some days more severe than others. I would take ibuprofen and it would help. Then, I started getting a pretty strong pain on my hip which radiated down my leg onto my foot. The pain was so severe, even the Motrin 800 mg. pills didn't help it. I am 53 years old, but I felt like a 90 year old. I had problems walking, especially after sitting for an hour or so. I had problems with stairs. Even laying down was painful. I tried heating pads, ointments, etc. When I told my doctor about it, she said that this was a typical side effect of statins, and that because I am diabetic, I need to continue taking Zocor to keep my cholesterol down. Just the other day, I stopped taking Zocor for 3 glorious days and guess what? NO pain!!! I resumed it because my doctor insists that I stay on it, but I wish there was something else I could take that wouldn't cause pain.

I am a male of 67 years old. I took Lipitor for a year, and after a few months of taking it, I felt muscle pains in my arms and shoulders, as well as my back. I felt weak and could hardly put my socks on by myself. I told my family doctor that I thought the problem was caused by LIpitor. He said it couldn't be possible, but he couldn't figure out what was wrong, so he sent me to a rheumatologist, who gave me an initial diagnosis of polymyalgia rheumatica. I went back for a checkup, and although the sed rate was normal, the C-reactive protein was elevated. He felt his diagnosis was an accurate one. He prescribed prednisone for me. I had some doubts about it, since I am diabetic, and was concerned about the elevated blood sugar it might cause. Well, it did elevate my blood sugar, and I weaned myself off it within three months. My blood sugar went back to normal, and while the prednisone helped the symptoms of muscle pain and aches, after I stopped it, the pain returned with a vengeance.

About a year passed after discontinuing the prednisone, and I felt worse and worse. Any time I engaged in physical activity, such as yard work, I was almost incapacitated for two or three days. I felt weaker and weaker, and by now, my activity is about ten per cent of what it was three or four years ago. I am unable to do anything physical without paying a heavy price.

I would tell the doctor that I felt the problem was caused by the Lipitor. He would dismiss my comments, saying that the pain should have gone away after discontinuing Lipitor. He sent me back to the rheumatologist with results of recent blood tests. Both the sed rate and C-reactive protein were normal. The rheumatologist touched my back and other areas, which caused me to jump. He said it might be fibromyalgia. I told him again that I thought it was caused by the Lipitor. He said the same thing my GP had said: if it had been the Lipitor, the pain would have gone away when I stopped taking it. I know the Lipitor caused the pain, because I tried red yeast rice for a couple months. The pain increased to almost unbearable, so I discontinued the red yeast rice. If I were not susceptible to the pain from the Lipitor, would the red yeast rice have increased the pain?

So here I am with a fuzzy diagnosis from the rheumatologist, and no clue from my family doctor (that he will verbalize, at any rate). My life has gone steadily downhill. I used to be a strong, active person, but now I can do very little, and my strength is a shadow of what it formerly was. What can I do?

Re: Dosage Confusion- Synthroid

This simple of communicating dosage became confusioning. To prevent confusion synthroid is always discussed in terms of (mcg). That is, micrograms (mcg) vs. milligram (mg).

This is of tremendous value The conversion factor is 1000, for example a dose of Synthroid represented as 0.025mg, would be converted as
.025mg x 1000=25mcg. To fully understand this blogger’s statement feel comfortable to talk with your pharmacist or physician.

Hello: Posting about simvastatin. I have been off of the medication for about six weeks. Initially the symptoms led me to hop on an ambulance gurney and visit my local ER due to dizziness, lots of palpitations, and the feeling that I was going to drop on the sidewalk. I followed the ER with two days on the heart unit, and have pretty much have had just about every test but a brain scan (or at least it has seemed that way).

My symptoms progressed to intense burning in my torso, pronounced in the shoulder blade areas, upper chest, and into my forearms. A week after stopping the statin much of the intense burning was gone.

I still have pain and discomfort, but I have not been "white knuckling" to get through the nights like I had been, which is a relief. I read somewhere that someone described the muscle pain as feeling like he had been repeatedly punched with a bag of oranges. I can relate to that feeling, and recently I have felt the symptoms in my thighs as well.

Pain management takes up my days (although I have continued to work). I have begun massage therapy, and I am going to attempt acupuncture next week. I am trying to sort out what supplements may be the best and which ones won't interact with each other or other medications that I take. I am taking CoQ10, Omega 3 capsules, a multivitamin, and a B complex.

Anyone with similar symptoms or comments, please jump in. We are in similar boats, as they say. I have gotten the impression that some people out there (not on this site) don't see this as real. For those people, unless someone is bleeding profusely from an artery, they remain non-supportive or non-believers....

Has anyone had hair loss? I have been on Simvastatin for 30 days adn I noticed hair loss.

I never thought about Vytorin being an issue until I went to the ear, nose and throat guy the other day for an earache and bronchitis I had been having for the last month. Reviewing my chart, he said what ever you have heard in the news about Vytorin just ignore and keep taking it. Long story short, every since August I have been having what the doctors might think is MS, but they can't peg it. Tremors and seizures, constant pain in my legs and arms, a vision problem, tired all the time, numbness in my face legs and arms, headaches, depression. the list goes on. I had stomach problems but they could never find anything wrong for my feeling sick all the time, so I'm on another med for that. I was just hospitalized again, this time for pancreatitis, again they have no idea why this occurred, they can't explain it. I just know that I am tired of feeling like crap and being sick and being in the hospital all the time. I am going to talk to my doctors about being pulled off the Vytorin and we will see how I feel then. Plus I guess I need to consult my attorney also.

I am absolutely amazed at all the side effects that may be a result of Lipitor.I have been on Lipitor for approx.4 weeks. Accdg to my blood work, my cholesterol was extremely high...possible genetic factor.(father had hight cholesterol).My diet is fairly low in fat, exercised regularly, etc. I have had muscle, joint, breast, and all over body pain, nausea, headaches,decreased energy. I actually think I am having heart attack or stroke pain....I have become very anxious due to these symptoms. Having lipid profile done tomorrow, see the doctor next week. I am going to go off the Lipitor and see about an alternative from a health food store.(I am also a registered nurse)

I have pain in my left hip flexor when taking Lipitor. I was on 40mg/day and went on a daily walk with my wife after her back surgery. My left hip flexor would cramp. Sometimes it would cramp so bad, I had to quit walking and catch a ride home.

I had a month holiday off of Lipitor and could run after a week with no pain.

I started back on 10mg/day and the pain has returned, but not as bad.

I did an experiment- Laying flat on my back, I could lift my left leg one foot off of the floor. I stopped the Lipitor for seven days and could lift my left leg two feet off of the floor.
Can anyone help me?

I started Zocor the night I had a heart attack and the leg aches and muscle problems started that next day. I was even taken to ulta sound lab looking for blood clots the pain was so bad. I continued taking 40mg twice a day for six months before the Dr. listened and then he tried other statin products. I am female and 57. This yo-yo affair with statin drugs continued for another 18 months before I refused to take them again. I am still having problems, muscle aches and etc. I have been sent to other specialists from gastric, arthritis, neurologist, and now I am seeing an orthopaedic Dr. I have had physical therapy to try to get my muscles working correctly, but no Dr. will even give the slightest acknowledgement it just might be statin drug side effects. The arthritis Dr. said I did not have any form of arthritis and did not fit the profile of any patient he'd ever had and sent me to the neurologist. My muscles respond to electric shock and are coming back according to the neurologist and as a bit of advice he said that even Dr.'s have had problems like mine and have had no problems until one morning the wake up weak, unable to exercise, and general muscle weakness. There is no way to prove our problems are because of the statins. My last blood work now show I may have liver problems and kidney problems. This slow death is not over for me, even though I am off the statin drugs. My last drug was red yeast rice used under Dr.'s care and it too is a statin. They all caused problems. I have tried them all. My advice is to listen to your body and your gut feelings about these products. I have had 3 heart attacks even on the statin drugs so they did not prevent future problems for me. I now have nine stents and am thankful to be alive, but my quality of life is deteriorating. I teach school and continue to do so, but I am having difficulties with extreme fatigue. I am looking at early retirement from something I have always enjoyed doing.

I began taking lovastatin in July, after three days on it my joints and back ached. I felt like I had the flu. My doctor told me to stop it for two weeks then retry. One day after trying again I had the same symptoms. They switched me to Zocor (simvastatin). After a week on that my muscles ached, had a CK test and it was fine, continued taking and woke up one night with all over muscle twitches. Stopped taking it four days ago and still have twitches. Has anybody heard of this. My doctor told me it would probably go away, but it is driving me crazy. When and if I get over the aches and twitches I am supposed to try red yeast rice with coenzyme Q10. Please let me know if anybody has experienced the same and when these twitches and aches will go away?
ph

Re: Mon, 24 Jul 2006 19:54:47 -0500 by olsen, #28334
RED YEAST RICE IS A STATIN--mevacolin K is the active anti cholesterol ingredient.

All statins, including RYR, cause "exercise intolerence". Quite ironic... our Dr's prescribe statins, then tell us to exercise... I'd like to see them do what they say.

As mentioned already (but just to tie things together),
CoQ10 deficiency is the reason for our painful joints & muscles, exercise intolerence and memory loss.

RED YEAST RICE IS A STATIN--mevacolin K is the active anti cholesterol ingredient in red yeast rice--this is the SAME ingredient found in the very first statin manufactured--mevacor. so if your husband is taking red yeast rice, he is still taking a statin, albeit a much milder version of one.....

started taking zocor for 2 months and some fatigue, joint
pains in knees but worst side effect was rashes and lost
hair in large spots on my legs. Where loss of hair the
oil in the follicle has dried up and became hard. Doctor said
no relation. Quit taking for 2 months stop spredding. Started
again symptom got worse. Stopped taking again. I am sure
its Zocor. If its doing this to my skin whats happening to my
body organs? Started taking Red Yeast Rice Plus CoQ-10 with
flush-free niacin all in 1 pill from health food store for now.

I took Zocor for a week, and felt weird - out of breath and kept awake at night with ringing in ears - I also developed or seem to have developed some sort of arrythmia or palpitation which hasn`t gone away even though I have stopped taking it - I am going to try alternatives ie lecithin and Red Yeast Rice