After by-pass heart surgery in 2002, my cardilogist put me on 40m...

Hi there Trap72,
I had a heart attack when I was 38 and soon after was put on a low dose of simvastatin (Zocor). over time it was leveled off at either 10 or 20mg per day until just 3 years ago when it was put up to 40mg when they found out after an angiogram that I needed a triple bypass. For years I have been saying I had aches and pains and extremely tired all the time and memory problems including slurred speech, unable to recall names etc and general fogginess, all of which became much worse just before the operation for my bypass and up to the present. I had put all the symptoms down to my health problems and getting older as my Dr had thought. I did have an MRI for my headaches and memory problems and loads of other tests to see why I was not improving after the triple bypass, all of which came back as reasonably normal other than a recent blood test with raised CK levels. The heart specialist I see took me off the simvastain for a around 2 months and had 3 spaced out blood samples taken to see if the levels would return to normal (which more or less they have). During the time I was off the statins, my memory did improve slightly although that was all that did. This is when I had, had enough of being so constantly tired and did an online search into tiredness and its causes, on the 14th April 2007 my questions were answered, the common factor in my search was Statin side effects and when I looked them up I was SHOCKED!. All the symptoms I have mentioned and even the ones I didn't are all there, some of the symptoms you could say could be coincidental due to age and health issues but not that many!!! I have since told the specialist and my Doctor that I will not take another Statin, I was offered different types and other Cholesterol lowering drugs but after almost 12 years of this poison I am not willing to gamble on what the other stuff can do to me. It is now 4 months since I took my last Statin, I have actually had a few conversations recently where I have not been searching for every other word or forgetting what I was talking about, some days are not so good though and my general physical health has not yet picked up at all. My Doctor still won't accept that my medication has played any part in my symptoms or that Statins have any bad side effects, He is generally a great Doctor and I just can't believe how adamant and Pro Statin he is.

As far as my Doctor is concerned Statins are perfectly safe and the internet has loads of misinformation about them. He should maybe swap places with a few of us and see what it is like to be like this.
Good luck with any future health issues,

Allen in the UK

I posted here last february (07) when by chance I found this site. My Wife had been on ZOCOR for over 4 years,and had severe fatigue,muscle pain &weakness, pains & aches all over and had a general feeling of just not being well. Despite many visits to her doctor and being sent to specialists and having numerous tests and scans, we only could be told what was not wrong with Therese !!!!!!!!!
As an ardent gardener Therese found it very hard not to be able to do any gardening at all during 2006,and was finding it more and more difficult to do housework(I had to learn where the hoover was kept ! ! )
By feb 07 I was at my wits end to know what to do next as we had been everywhere there was to go and could get no answers, a chance remark
led me to this site and EUREKA ! ! ! ! WE FINALLY HAD AN ANSWER
........ZOCOR YES THERESE WAS POISONED BY ZOCOR ! ! !
FROM THAT DAY ON SHE HAS NOT TAKEN ANY MORE OF THIS POISON ! ! !
It is now just over 3 months since she stopped and slowly but surely
the aches and pains and fatigue have subsided .
ONCE AGAIN THE GARDEN IS WEED FREE AND THE HOUSE SHINES
THERE IS LIFE AFTER ZOCOR POISON ! ! !
TO ALL THOSE WHO ARE IN A SIMULIAR SITUATION WE OFFER YOU OUR BEST WISHES AND HOPE YOU GET SOME COMFORT FROM KNOWING IMPROVEMENT IS POSSIBLE.
TO THOSE WHO MAKE AND PROMOTE THE USE OF STATIN DRUGS WITHOUT EXPLAINING THE POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS AND REFUSE TO SEE WHAT IS IN FRONT OF THEM.............A PLAGUE ON ALL YOUR HOUSES ! ! !
Pat
DUBLIN IRELAND

What are you taking for your cholesteral now, naturally?

Thanks for the info. This damaging effect of Choleterol lowering drugs was told to me by a scientist. I was so stiff and painful while taking lipitor, simvustatin, etc. that I stopped taking them. The scientist told me not only will I lose muscles, but by me cntinuing to take statin drugs my heart muscle will also get weak. Thank God fo him telling me the truth.

I now make myself eat 5 fruits a day and four vegetables per day in addition to my other foods. I also drink 64-100 ounces of water a day. I drink the water 30 minutes before eating or 30 minutes after eating. Do not drink any fluids while eating. This might be hard, but do not drink while eating and within 30 minutes of eating; this will keep you from having heart burn and acid reflux disease.

My doing the above, my choleteral dropped from 298 o 180 within one month. I hank the lord for lettng me meet Dr. Ron Schneider from Montana, for sharing this info with me. If you need his phone number, I will be happy to send it to you. Thanks, Gwen

I took Lipitor for 13 days and was hurting so much by that time that I had to stop taking it. I made up my mind to lower my numbers on my own. I began eating more fruits and vegetables, raw walnuts and almonds, egg beaters and really watching the fat content of everything I ate. I added to my daily diet, one small bottle of Promise Super Shot. I had seen it advertised on TV, it has plant sterols that claim to lower cholesterol. I had noting to lose, so I began. I had taken this for approximately two months when it was time for my lab work. The doctor was stunned to see that my overall cholesterol had gone from 224 to 169 and the LDL from 150 to 103!! I was so excited that I had done it by myself. I can whole heartedly recommend Promise. Some friends have said they couldn't take it because it causes some gas, but I take either a Gas-X or Beano and have to problem. I try to tell everyone that hear talking about their statins and the problems they cause.

Yes! It is true that Simvastatins and Astrovastatins can have severe side effects. Some so serious they are not even mentioned by the Drug Companies. For some years I had wondered what was wrong with me? I was too often just not feeling the best. Lack of concentration, not being as focused as I should be, feeling as if walking in a cloud, Headaches, tension down the back of my neck. It all kind of creeped up on me very slowly over time. At times I did wonder if the Medication Liptor could be the course of these things? Just as I questioned previous Medications such as Zocor that is being mentioned here. I did mention my symptons the Doctor. He was no wiser and pretty much could not tell me what the problem was after some blood tests where taken.
I suspected that perhaps Lipitor may be the course? I searched up on the Net. What a wonderful thing the Net can be for seeking information!
I was so astounded and very relieved to read of how many people where having the same and similar symptons as i was having. Some so serious from Lipitor that some where getting Alzheimer symptoms and other where having their memory effected as was in my case also.
I stopped the Lipitor and i started to feel better.
At a later stage my tiredness was discovered after a Heart Stress test to be due to my left ventrical artery being blocked 70 to 80%. I needed a bypass operation and it turrned out to be a triple bypass.
Now i am on a combination of Tablets to keep my Cholesterol down. One is called Crestor of 8 mg as well as Lipidil 145 mg.
I am pleased to not experiencing side effects from neither of these. Yet!
A Friend of mine has been on Lipitor. He came of it because he was having drastic side effects too. So" It is true in what is being said about Simvastatins e.t.c. Then again" Many People can tolerate them and are ok with them. But" In case you have been wondering too?
Ray
I am now on a combination of Tablets

Hi there howdy2,

Please google "crestor side effects".

Crestor is a statin and can possibly and probably give you the same problems and make you as poorly as you were before if not worse.

It is 11 months since I posted here, I still have memory problems which have lessened a bit since my last post, the fatigue problems are still here although not quite as rapid as before but still overpowering and now sleep apnoea amongst other problems. My doctor finally believe me when I mention statins being the cause of my problems and a lot more folk are paying attention to the side effect issues, sooner or later someone is going to pay for all the suffering that this poison has caused us all.

To all that may read these posts,

I hope that you will only be looking at the posts on this site and many others like it just out of curiosity or as you are about to start using the WONDER DRUG called STATIN. Please don't be a sheep and follow unquestionably the advice that the sales rep has taught your doctor, you are a human being and you now have the information about side effects that many people like myself did not PLEASE USE IT WISELY.

Allen :-)

Thank you for this website. My husband has been a gym freak for as long as I have known him and even before that. We were always active and went to the gym everyday. We went walking every day and did so much outdoor activity until one day a Dr. put him on Zocor. He also took something for pre-diabetes as it runs in his family. She also gave him something for his blood pressure. This was 3 years ago. Since that time my husband has pain all over his body. He has muscle tightness. He complains of headaches and sometimes thought he was having a heart attack or stroke. He had trouble breathing and sometimes he can't even sleep.We have gone to 10 different Dr.s and we even went to a heart specialist. We went to a gastonologist and they all come back with there is nothing wrong. They even suggested he go see a psychiatrist. I didn't always believe my husband and thought maybe it is in his head. But one day he looked at me and told me I wouldn't lie to you and that is when I knew something is wrong. I didn't link it to the Zocor. I just stumbled upon this website searching for something that would help us find out what is wrong. My husband used to be a construction worker and he has not been able to work and support his family for the last 3 years. Sometimes I feel like bringing a lawsuit against the companies that make these drugs. My husband is not taking the meds and he still sometimes feels the muscle tightness and gets the headaches. He's only been off it for a few weeks. How long will it be before he can do the things he used to do? Will he be able to do the things he used to do? The sad part about it is that we have a 5 year old and my husband is only 43. He never had any problems until this DR.gave him those medications. I don't ever want this to happen to another family. It was so hard for us financially and emotionally. Right now we are trying to rebuild his health.