Thief symptoms and conditions

Can anyone tell me if you can just stop Lipitor cold turkey or do you have to stop it slowly? I have been taking Lipitor for 5 years now and I have been trying to find out what is causing my leg weakness. I mentioned it to my doctor who said it si just a fact of getting older. The problem is getting worse and I noticed it started about 3 months after taking the Lipitor and has steadily gotten worse. I am 49 years old a little over weight {which I am working on}. I also noticed my asthma which I haven't delt with since a small child has come back. This may or may not have to do with the Lipitor but the pain in my knees and legs I believe do. It really hurts in the joints of my legs and sometimes in my shoulder area.

Hi and please feel free to email me. I was on Lipitor for quite a while (20mg)without any issues. Due to insurance etc I was switched to 40mg of simvastatin-(Zocor-generic)--with in a short time i noticed i was waking nearly every morning with a mouth full of junk requiring a deep throat clearing. Then a low level sore throat that persisted for more than two weeks. I went to my doctor who agreed that it may be related (though I think she doubted it) and had me stop. Now i have been off for 5 days and still my throat is sore (though not sore to swallow) and mouth generally feels "messed up".

If any of you have had any sore throat experiences etc please let me know. Also how long did your side effects last once you came off the drug?

Have been on simvastatin on and off for 15 months now. First of all 10mg came off for a while - cholesterol level up to 7.6 again so was put on 40mg. Very nauseous and came off the 40mg. Went back on to 10mg in Nov. and since then no nausea at all. At present I am getting terrible pain when laying down in my right leg from my hip into my buttock right down to my foot. It is similar to cramp in leg but it lasts sometimes for a couple of hours. Cramp usually disappears in a few minutes but it is the same sort of sensation. Also needle-like pains in my hand and foot. Above symptoms only since going onto Simvastatin. Would be interested in any others have these symptoms too. Trouble is damned if you take them and damned if you dont. Current research does show however that there is no benefit to women over 60 taking these wretched pills - everybody reading this should try and get or borrow the book by Dr Malcolm Kendrick entitled The Great Cholesterol Con (Dundee UK GP) written in 2008 who also is of this opinion. I am not advising not to take Simvastatin but please do research and read this book and reach your own decisions.

I started taking simvastin (the lowest dose) about 6 months ago with amazing results when it came to my cholesterol. After about 2 months I started getting headaches. I went off the drug for about a week and the headaches went away. I went back on the drug and 3 weeks later the headaches came back. This went on for a few cycles. This last time I went off the drug was February 7. I have not taken it since and I have had a headache since then. This time it has not gone away. I HAVE NEVER had headaches before taking this drug. And all I know now is that for the last month my life as I knew it completely changed. Of course the Dr. put me on some pain meds for the headaches that made me sick, sick, sick after 3 days. I just can't take the pain meds as they are worse than the headaches themselves. HAS ANYONE HAD THIS and if so how long did these headaches take to go away.

omg, im 32 years old been on zocor for 3 months now and am experiencing dizziness and disassociation with myself. I know now that it is from the drug. It seems like i want to sleep all the time. I was pretty convinced it was from stress but i have been in war in Iraq and under stress-post war depression and its nothing like statin side effects!! I went on statins because of a genetic disorder that runs in my family, the cause, well high cholesterol. Now my levels are fine but i feel like im a zombie most days? i know in the long run its healthier for my heart and veins to have low levels but at what extent? i think im going to go off for a few weeks and then back on it.

Wow! I must be the latest in a long line of Lipitor users and apparently pain sufferers. I have been on Lipitor for over a year. I am 56 years old, active and healthy (thank God). Around November 2008, I noticed a "twinge" in my left hip while sleeping. This has gotten progressively worse over the months and I thought it was due to arthritis (which runs in my family). But after reading these blogs, I am not so sure. If anyone has anything definitive regarding this, ie: tests, studies, etc., I would really appreciate a point in the right direction for more information. I was thinking (until today) that I was headed for hip surgery or something equally drastic. Now that I have a clue that it may be the Lipitor, I want to investigate further and then, if necessary, change to another medication that won't break me down like this. My heart goes out to anyone that has suffered through hip pain. It is a miserable, painful condition that saps your energy and your desire to even move sometimes. I appreciate any help you can offer. God bless all of you. - L. B. ******

My mother took Zocor and has the similar side effects. But has anyone
had shaking hands or been told they might have ALS (lou Geric's disease)?

Please contact me if this has happend to you. My mother thinks she has less than 3 years to live.

Contact me at ****** Please! Thank you.

I am 38 years old and had my second child 7 months ago. My family history for heart disease is very poor and my cholesterol was 6.2 so my doctor prescribed 10 mgs of simvastatins in November. Before taking them I felt fine in myself, since taking them I have felt exhausted, not just tired, I have insomnia, very bad nightmares when I do manage to sleep. On top of this I have started to feel depressed and anxious, short of breath and my hair is falling out! I had myself convinced that i had post natal depression but decided to stop taking statins a few days ago, feeling slightly better. My doctor prescribed me an anti depressant today, should I take them? Does anyone know how long statins stay in our system?

Hi-I am a 59 year old female have been taking 20mg Simvastatin for 3 months for a cholesterol level of 238 and have noticed significant symptoms that cannot be from any other origin than this medication-dry skin, change of hair texture, psoriasis and bulging in thumb joints, stomach flu, shoulder pain and tingling in hands, vision problems. I am a healthy flight attendant except for all these things that have happened in the last 3 MONTHS!!! I am seeing my doctor tomorrow to discuss a change. I want to take a natural medication to lower my cholesterol.

My 6 1/2 year old daughter has been on Singulair for 3 1/2 to 4 years now and we have had horrible experiences! She was having night terrors, mood swings, angry issues, self control issues, crying over small things, etc. We have been to psychiatrists and psychologists who have diagnosed her with mood disorder, sensory processing disorder and anxiety disorder! Well she has recently been having stomach problems so we have been going to a GI to figure that out. I got online to research and found numerous sites that told how Singulair causes all these things in children. We took my daughter off the meds and within 3 or 4 days seen a tremendous difference! She is a totally different child! It just really frustrates me and saddens me that all these children and their families are going through all this and the doctors do not seem to care. The allergist or psychiatrist didn't believe me. They say no study has ever proven such things. I don't care what they say we as parents know our children and we are the experts when it comes to seeing how they change when on this medicine, we are the ones that live with them and are with them everyday not the doctors! I think they just don't want to lose out on their money from prescribing this drug 90% of children with allergies and asthma!

I have been on lipitor 10mg for about 6 mths (after reacting to lipex with severe hip pain and going off that). Am now experiencing abdominal pain, severe headaches, excruciating neck pain and to top it off a droopy eyelid and loss of extreme peripheral vision after a bout of flashing auras and fluid like waves in the outer edge of my eye. After tests my retina is not detaching so what is the cause then. My cholesterol is high when not on lipitor and am wanting to lower it without drugs. I could do with losing 10kg weight but will that bring down the cholesterol. I walk every morning for 30-40 mins. Diet is healthy, a few junk things each week but not overly so.

PLEASE HELP! My father, age 74, was on lipitor for a year or so and then was switched to zocor a few weeks ago to help control his cholestorol. In the past week, the tightening he experienced in his leg, while on lipitor, has become debilitating leg pain now while he is on Zocor. Ultrasounds have ruled out a blood clot. He has no pain when he sits, but he describes the pain has his calf wanting to explode when he stands and he cannot walk with out the help of a cain. The pain radiates from his leg up to his hip.

His cardiologist has taken him off the zocor for a few weeks to see if there is an improvement. It has been 3 days and he feels a bit of relief. SO here is the million dollar question: His labs indicate his cholestorol is normal now, most likely thanks to the statins.....can anyone suggest another form of meds that will help regulate his cholestorol....say COeq10 and fish oil? Any help is SO appreciated!!! Thanks to each of you for your posts. It is so comforting for my dad to know he isn't developing a new issue and that it can be resolved with the removal of zocor!

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 had 95% occlusion of the major artery in my heart July 2007 with no symptoms except slight shoulder pain on 3 occasions. They did a cath and inserted 2 stents. Started with Lipitor 10 mg. and my LDL dropped from 75 to 112. The MD wanted to double the dose, but I refused because of intermittent nocturnal nausea. MD switched me to another statin and I had immediate muscle involvement and severe nausea at night. She wanted me to try another statin drug and I refused. After a 2 month period of no statins, she put me back on Lipitor 10 mg. daily. I decided to cut the pill in half and take it twice a week, then move to every other day and gradually go to 10 mg. daily. Immediately, the nocturnal nausea started again. Last night I awoke at 2 a.m. with nausea, sweating, sore muscles around my rib cage. Still no sleep at 4:30 a.m., so I got up and tried to eat something. This has been the pattern every night since I went on Lipitor.

I don't know if I can take this any more.

CK

I Take loads of medications & have always tolerated all side effects but Lipitor has floored me. I have only been on it for a month but have ceased last night after waking up vomiting. I spent a day where I had so little energy I hardly moved & was almost suicidally depressed. I have no sex drive, such an itchy scalp that my colleagues were worried I had fleas !. No appetite, flu like symptoms & muscular aches that were unbearable. I still feel woozy headed but can feel some normality returning, my doctor will not be happy as I have scarily high cholesterol that needed urgent treatment, but I am afraid that I have to find an alternative as my reactions to this drug actually made my life unlivable.

I have never taken any statins. Hardly any other medications either, but I have seen the consequences in people near me, particularly a close friend who died on May 1st, 2007 after several years of suffering from pain all over, weakness, ringing in his ears, loss of taste, difficulty to swallow, loss of memory and concentration and so on.

As he had several medications it was heard to know which caused a particular symptom.

I am sure the doctors doesn´t have a clue either and they know nothing of what statin treatment can do in the long run.

My advice to everyone is to search on the Internet - that`s how I discovered this site and many others.

Also read as many books as possible.

Here are some:

Overdosed America (John Abramson)

Lipitor - thief of memory (Duane Graveline)

The Great Cholesterol Con (Antony Colpo)

Book with the same title (Malcolm Kendrick)

The Cholesterol Myths (Uffe Ravnskov)

Also search for - stopped our statins.

I am so glad my English is good enough to share this advice.

I live in Sweden and I do my best to tell as many as possible about this site because there is no such thing here and more and more people are put on this kind of medication without having a single clue what could happen to them.