I had been taking Lipitor for well over six years to help lower m...

I am suffering from the same problem but my doctors refuse to admit it. I was only on Lipitor for 2 months but nerve damage started almost immediately. Idiot doctors (3 of them) kept telling me it was a pulled hamstring muscle. Finally a physical therapist confirmed that my hamstring muscle is fine but there is nerve damage and his first question to me was, "Do you take Lipitor?" I have been off the Lipitor for three weeks but the nerve damage continues to worsen. I can barely walk and rarely am I able to sleep because the pain is so severe. I am scared to death that the damage will continue to grow. I am a single mother of a small child and I don't know how much longer I can continue to care for her. Thanks, Lipitor! I can't even sue them because I can't get a doctor to confirm that the damage was caused by Lipitor. In the meantime, the medical bills pile up and my life continues to unravel.

Keep the faith. It took two months, but the pain finally went away. In the meantime, instead of the 16 Aleve pills I'd been taking, one doctor gave me a prescription for Celebrex, once a day, that really helped with the pain.

Thanks for the info on Celebrex. I've heard of it but I'm not sure what is actually for. I am also on Aleve (4 pills a day) plus vitamins (Magnesium, CoQ10, Potassium, Fish Oil, B Vitamin Super Complex.) I am also doing physical therapy. I think the combination of all of that is slightly helping the pain, but I know that I have a long road ahead of me. The tingling and numbness scares the bejeezus out of me, though. And last night I kept having spells where I was short of breath.

And thank you for giving me hope. I go back and forth between telling myself that it will get better to worrying that the damage is worsening. Did you have any side effects from the Celebrex? I had no luck with Cortisol either and now my doc wants to put me on Prednisone, which I am very nervous about. I don't want to take it because it causes its own problems but if it is the fastest way to heal this problem, then I may need to try it.

And thank you for posting your story. Since the doctors are not doing their part (whatever happened to the hippocratic oath?) it is only through stories such as yours that we are all able to finally get the answers and help we need. If it weren't for all the stuff I found on the internet, I would have believed my doctor when he said that Lipitor was not causing my problem and I would have continued to take it with potentially dire results. Through stories like yours (and there are many) I was able to piece together what happened with me. I have recurring back problems (misaligned discs.) Last December it flared up again. When the discs in your back move around, it is common to end up with pinched or pressured nerves. I went to see a chiropractor who realigned me and, I believe, unpinched or took the pressure off the nerve. Unfortunately, right afterwards is when I started Lipitor and that is what prevented my nerve(s) from healing properly even though the initial condition was corrected.

Are you taking anything else for your cholesterol (to replace the Lipitor)? My cholesterol isn't that high (overall is within normal but ldl is higher than it should be) but I am taking the CoQ10 and some Vitamin C because I read that they can help.

I had no problem with Celebrex. but obviously I quit taking pain pills when the pain ceased. I don't take anything for high Choleserol levels. My doctor is monitoring my levels and says it isn't necessary at this point. It's nice to not have pain this year, except for some arthritus. They've already rebuilt my other shoulder. That was before the nerve problem.