I'm 58 years old and I've been on 10 mg Simvastatin for 14 months...

Correction to the last post I made.... the dose is 20 mg in the evening, not 10. I stopped my dose last night for the first time in 14 mos and today I feel a marked improvement in the muscle ache. My hands feel normal, no aching at all so far and my legs feel much better. I'm hoping for continued improvement as time goes by. I agree with the assessment someone made, this junk is poison..... and there should be clarification as to the possible side effects from the doctor as the prescription is written!!

The following Board Certified Cardiologist has tried since 2002 to have the FDA provide a Black Box Warning about the serious adverse effects of all statins without success. See article below:

July 8, 2002
STATIN-INDUCED CARDIOMYOPATHY
INTRODUCTION TO THE CITIZEN’S PETITION ON STATINS
By Peter H. Langsjoen, MD
The medical profession has, after more than 30 years of excellent propaganda, successfully created the wholly iatrogenic - "pseudo-disease" dubbed "hypercholesterolemia" and the associated malady "cholesterol neurosis". After decades of dismal failure to cure this "disease" of numbers with low fat diets and a host of cholesterol lowering drugs, the medical profession stumbled upon the magic bullet, the cure for this dreaded artificial disease - statins (HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors). First released on the US market in 1987, statins have rapidly grown into one of the most widely prescribed class of drugs in history. Statins do three things:
1. They block the body's ability to make cholesterol, thus lowering the blood level of cholesterol, thereby curing cholesterol neurosis. Doctors and patients equally neurotic have immediate gratification. The "evil" high cholesterol has been dramatically lowered and the future is bright and promising. So far...so good.
2. Unrelated to their cholesterol lowering, statins have been found to have anti-inflammatory, plaque-stabilizing properties which have a slight benefit in coronary heart disease.
3. Statins kill people - lots of people - and they wound many, many more. All patients taking statins become depleted in Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), eventually - those patients who start with a relatively low CoQ10 levels (the elderly and patients with heart failure) begin to manifest signs/symptoms of CoQ10 deficiency relatively rapidly - in 6 to 12 months. Younger, healthier people who's only "illness" is the non-illness "hypercholesterolemia" can tolerate statins for several years before getting into trouble with fatigue, muscle weakness and soreness (usually with normal muscle enzyme CPK tests) and most ominously - heart failure.
In my practice of 17 years in Tyler, Texas, I have seen a frightening increase in heart failure secondary to statin usage, "statin cardiomyopathy". Over the past five years, statins have become more potent, are being prescribed in higher doses, and are being used with reckless abandon in the elderly and in patients with "normal" cholesterol levels. We are in the midst of a CHF epidemic in the US with a dramatic increase over the past decade. Are we causing this epidemic through our zealous use of statins? In large part I think the answer is yes. 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 - as I see two to three new statin cardiomyopathies per week in my practice, I cannot help but view my once great profession with a mixture of sorrow and contempt.
Statin-induced CoQ10 depletion is the topic of a recent petition to the FDA requesting that this drug/nutrient interaction be identified in a black box warning as part of statin package insert information. A comprehensive review of animal and human trials addressing this issue has been submitted to the FDA as a supporting document. We, of course, do not expect any response from the FDA, but 10 years from now when the full extent of statin toxicity becomes painfully evident, at least we can, in good conscience, know that we tried and who knows, sometimes small sparks may spread in dry grass.

See Also:
Cholesterol Drugs And The Depletion Of Coenzyme Q10: A Review Of Human And Animal Data.
By Peter H. Langsjoen, MD
Citizen Petition: Needed - A Change In The Labeling Of All Statin Drugs

All sounds like symptoms of statin poisoning. Go to lipitor side effects another statin. I was on your one and very very nearly died. Also go to spacedoc dot com you will really learn. Check all of bobby and drmike profile and answers on this site (lipitor) these 2 are informed and a huge help to a lot of us. You would probably really benifit from coq10 but it must be the UBIQUINOL form (3-5 times more effective than other formulations) 2 - 3 x 100 mgs per day plus magnessium citrate powder 400 mgs per day these were both recommended to me and helped considerably. Be patient in the end it comes right for most people. Best for your health.