I am a 35 yr old male and have been taking lipitor about 7 yrs. I...

Good you stopped the lipitor/zetia dangerous drugs. I, too, took both of them for 8 yrs. I stopped in 2-08. I still have many side effects like you describe, but it is getting better. It takes time to get rid of the poison in your system. Unfortunately, the drs don't know anything about the side effects. There are many natural products to help the side effects and low the cholesterol.

If you are interested, I can help you.

M8 I'm a 54 yr male and every bit as bad as what you described. 1 advice for you take HYDROSOLUABLE coq10 100mgs 3 x a day. If it is not hydrosoluable don't bother with it. This reduced my pain by 25% and increased my energy by the same. 2nd advice google spacedoc dot com you will really learn. 3rdly The withdrawals were by far the worst part of this ordeal fro me massive spasms, hallucinations, crying, space gazing, unwanted ejaculations (after being bone dry for 3 yrs) sweats that soaked the bed. Even my eye balls spasmed that was terrifying. It took 3 months B4 I started gaining some confidence and now 7 months L8R I would be around 50% of my former self. You may be in for a scarry ride, but you can see there is a lot of support here. Try to be kind to yourself and your family easier said than done. Spacedoc will really inform you. The best to you from New Zealand.

Thanks to everyone! I look forward to hearing from more of your comments.

Hello KMJ,
You are too young (35 years old?) to be suffering from drug induced sickness. Statin drugs only lower your risk by 1% over a 5 year period if you have never had a coronary event (stroke, heart attack, etc) AND only lower your risk by 4% over a 5 year period if you have had a coronary event (stroke, heart attack, etc). Statins are RISK REDUCERS. Statins are not PREVENTATIVES. They will not PREVENT you from having a heart attack but rather they will only REDUCE your risk by a lousy 1% to 4% over a 5 year period. Is it worth taking it if its causing you all that suffering? Did you know that the body NEEDS cholesterol in order to function properly? Did you know that low cholesterol can lead to illness?
Did you know that LDL is used by the body to repair spots that need repairing? Did you know that only the damaged LDL (oxidized) are what causes the inflammationi that leads to plaque and that you can resolve this with non-toxic nutritional supplements? Do your research and stop believing in everything that your doctor is dishing you. Josephine (ruinedbystatins)

In my early thirties my health deteriorated severely like you describe has happened to you. I was only on antibiotics the mildest ones made for chronic sever acne and Spironolactin and occasionally took tiny (cut the pills into small chips) Percocet for chronic back pain. I felt acted and looked in my 70's at 32. I was having the total body flushed feeling and rash that you described. I also was loosing my hearing and my vision was dimming. I had no memory, was foggy brained, slept 10-13 hours a day, was very weak, frail, susceptible to infections of every kind, and constantly in pain. I lost so much weight that I looked like holocaust victim. I was a swimmer and weight lifter just prior to becoming so unhealthy. The medications gave me a severe case of total body system Candida albicans. My skin started turning yellow from the overload of medicines toxins in my liver. It couldn’t filter them any more.

I went to one of the best naturopaths in the country Dr Robert Jangarrd on Whidbey Island in Washington State. I went off all medicines, wouldn’t even take over the counter pain killers. He put me on a very aggressive cleansing and detoxing regime of Chinese medicine, herbal remedies, vitamins, minerals and holistic homeopathic medicines. He changed what he was giving me every three week visit because my condition was so severe. I was near death and was to unhealthy to even know it. The pain you are experiencing is a serious toxic level in your body.

I also had acute rheumatoid arthritis (your fingers hurting is a sig that you may also have it). The arthritis was so acute and severe that it deformed bones in my body almost literally as I watched them distort. Literally overnight. He immediately put me on some strong and high dosed of homeopathic medicines and stopped the arthritis in its tracks. Luckily the bones mostly returned to normal. I only have a slight bump of distorted bone on my skull and a slight bump on my right hand. And these seem to be getting smaller and more normal slowly as the years go by.

If I were you I would find the best natural holistic doctor (be careful there are many in that field who aren’t very good and even some charlatans (just like the mainstream AMA doctors)) and get off all medications and clean up your diet. I bought a champion juicer and made fresh beet carrot cucumber and also a green juice of lettuce, beets tops, spinach celery almost every day for three or four years to repeatedly detoxify the drugs out of every cell in my body. I also ate lots of fruit and vegetables (still do) and exercised as much as my poor health would allow. I stopped eating anything boxed, packaged, processed, preserved, artificial, with high sugar content, low pesticides (I wash everything in Bi-O-Kleen produce wash) etc. etc. You know I ate like we are all supposed to before we have a crisis. Very healthy and natural and common sense eating.

It took about 6 years for me to fully totally detoxify and heal the damage done to my body by the medications. But I did and now I am healthier then most people my age (age 52) and the only medication I take is a tiny scrap (remember I cut my pills to take the minimum dose possible) of Benadryl a few times a week for allergies. I still go to the best Naturopath in the world but only occasionally as a maintenance and prevention so that I wont have any of the major illnesses that every one else will have in middle age and later. I still use that champion juicer (the same one I bought twenty years ago that brand of juicer lasts forever) and several times a week I cleanse my body with beet/carrot juice and occasionally a green juice.

Bottom line is take action and do what is necessary to fix yourself and don’t let the AMA kill you with their overzealous prescribing of harmful drugs for anything and everything. Most of the time drugs aren’t needed. There is almost always a natural healthy alternative to stop or control diseases and health malfunctions.

Please see the complete article in LifeExtension Magazine http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2008/feb2008_Alleviating-Congestive-Heart-Failure-With-Coenzyme-Q10_01.htm by Dr. Peter H. Langsjoen, MD, FACC a "Blue Ribbon" Board Certified Cardiologist from Tyler, Texas, who describes in detail the trouble with statins: “All statin drugs block the biosynthesis of both cholesterol and CoQ10, which explains statins’ common side effects of fatigue, muscle pain and muscle weakness, and a worsening of heart failure. When CoQ10 levels are lowered by statin drug therapy, one of the first changes to occur is a weakening of heart muscle function… In 2004, a study published in the American Journal of Cardiology showed that diastolic dysfunction (heart muscle weakness) occurred in 70% of previously normal patients treated with 20 mg a day of Lipitor® for six months. This heart muscle dysfunction was reversible with supplemental CoQ10. Heart failure that develops after years of statin drug therapy can be termed statin cardiomyopathy and may well be playing a role in the epidemic of congestive heart failure in the United States. In an effort to determine the prevalence of adverse effects from using statins, we studied 50 consecutive new patients, all of whom were taking a statin drug at the time of their initial visit. All 50 patients were found to have one or more side effects from statin therapy, so we discontinued their statin drugs and began supplemental CoQ10. Patients were followed for an average of 28 months with the following observations in the prevalence of adverse effects:
• A high prevalence of skeletal muscle pain and weakness at 64% on initial visit was reduced to 6% in follow-up.
• Fatigue decreased from 84% to 16%.
• Shortness of breath went from 58% down to 12%.
• Memory loss was reduced from 8% to 4%.
• Peripheral neuropathy decreased from 10% to 2%.
There were no adverse effects from stopping statin drug therapy with no cases of heart attack or stroke during follow-up. Overall, there was an improvement in heart muscle function on discontinuation of statin therapy and addition of supplemental CoQ10. However, due to powerful propaganda surrounding both cholesterol and statin drug therapy, many patients and physicians are afraid to stop statin therapy…We are now in a position to witness the unfolding of the greatest medical tragedy of all time - never before in history has the medical establishment knowingly (Merck & Co., Inc. has two 1990 patents combining CoQ10 with statins to prevent CoQ10 depletion and attendant side effects) created a life threatening nutrient deficiency in millions of otherwise healthy people, only to then sit back with arrogance and horrific irresponsibility and watch to see what happens.”

Additionally, I found the following newsletters/medical information helpful:
http://www.vitacost.com/newsletter/newsletter.cfm?nl=189
http://www.vitacost.com/newsletter/newsletter.cfm?nl=234
http://www.vitacost.com/newsletter/newsletter.cfm?nl=370

In closing, I felt it important to share these finding with you and hope it permits you to "live life more abundantly."

God Bless You,

Dr. Mike