Hello I'm a 41 year old female, and I took Lipitor 20 mgs for 6 m...

You are not alone . . . .I am a victim of Lipitor also. I stopped taking this dangerous drug almost 11 mos. ago and still have many side effects. Unfortunately, most drs. don't know or don't care about the side effects . . . they continue to push drugs instead of natural products and alternatives.
VERY SAD . . . . The drs. / drug co's is a HUGE racket.

Look at the drugs that interact with the lipitor and increase the intensity of the side effects. You can find the list of the medications that interact at http://www.internationaldrugmart.com/lipitor.html

Yes, you have been injured by a statin drug. And Yes there are physicians who are fully aware that these drugs are killing and injuring people. You have every right to be angry. Your physician and Pfizer are responsible for your injuries. In my opionion, you have every right to compensation.

Your desire to help others avoid the pain you have experienced is most appreciated. You can help by speaking up. Share with your family, friends, co-workers, and neighbors what has happened. Become active on the net in cholesterol forums.

At your choice, you have the option of filing a criminal complaint against your doctor for the injuries and dissmissing the injuries as not being from the statin. If you are in the states, Your state board of medical examiners is the agency that can take away your doctor's license to practice medicine. I encourage you to file a complaint.

I am on the net everyday trying to intervene to help prevent what happened to you. I hope you will join me, and others, in the effort to BAN STATINS.

I HATE white collar crime, and sadly millions of people are victims of the great cholesterol scam. I beleive that one day the world will be rid of statins. But, just like when we got rid of Hitler, we are gonna have to stand up and do something about it. Otherwise they are going to continue injuring us, and we will be a nation of cripples.

Are you with me?

Following is a short youtube video EVERYONE should watch. The data is from the World Health Organization. Dr. Kendrick explains the relationship of cholesterol and death rates from heart disease. You will be stunned.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=i8SSCNaaDcE#GU5U2spHI_4

This is a five star video. In 30 seconds Dr. Kendrick dismantles the cholesterol theory.

For the persistent muscle weakness I hope they did a full neuro workup. I'm sure all is fine as most of your other symptoms resolved. However, I would really suggest you have all your B vitamin levels checked - esp. B6, B1 (thiamine) & B12. Deficiencies (as well as toxicity) can lead to many of the symptoms you described. I know about this becuase of four years of misery due to B6 toxicity (from a multivitamin, 50mg. -much lower than they say can cause toxicity however I have collected much data from many personal accounts at similar doses) that was missed by about 15 of the "best" doctors in a major city. Toxicity and deficiency symptoms are very similar. Lipitor can block the absorbtion of many dietatry nutrients - such as CoQ10. The only way to know is a blood test. Supplementation could be an easy fix and could help you regain muscle strength quickly if you are low in your B levels. They are so essential for proper neurological function and involved in about 100 other metabolic functions in the body. (My toxicity led to tachycardia, adrenal crisis, paresthesia, extreme muscele weakness etc.) Something maybe borderline in your system and the Lipitor accentuated it. I am just wondering since it has been a quite a while since you are off the Lipitor...lots of luck & happy holidays. -E

It was such an awakening to read comments such as yours. I thought I was going crazy with my symptoms (see my concerns Forestseaski 1/2/09) thinking they were caused from stress. But the pain in my joints, mostly shoulders, neck, legs and knees, have left me unable to walk to climb stairs without difficulty. I should have known better than not to have looked at the Lipitor info until recently. All these unexplained sx's -which moved throughout my body etc. You always try to imagine what is causing the problem. I am so glad you have recovered somewhat, but your muscle weakness is very unnerving. Thinking of you, Connie (Forest-sea-ski)

I would like to submit the following article that I recently wrote. I have many more like this on ezinearticles.com under the name of Carolyn Hansen
I care deeply about what is happening with the "sickness treatment system" and encourage people to start taking responsibility for their own health. This involves proper strength building exercise and less reliance on doctors and drugs.

Our Destiny Involves Each of Us Taking Responsibility for Our Own Health

We have reached a stage in our development as human beings that we need to make some important decisions regarding our health and well-being. Maybe it is time that we take some of the focus on this constant development of technology and focus on our very own health.
Almost all of the activity in daily life has been removed, we have to do absolutely nothing to collect food, keep warm and have shelter. Our enemies are ones we have created ourselves such as cars on the roads and our chronic worldwide serious health problems that are on the verge on becoming epidemic.
It is a fact that one out of every two people on this planet has a chronic disease or illness and many have multiple conditions. Two thirds of us are overweight or obese and others feel lousy, are tired, worn out and are mistaking living for merely existing.

Is the connection not apparent between these two factors - lack of activity and chronic disease? How could such an intelligent collection of people allow this to happen?

Children being born now are predicted to have a shortened life span of between 20-30 years. Shame on us for leaving them a legacy such as this.
Every one of us is touched by this, we all have people that we know around us becoming sick and dying before our very eyes (many long before their time) yet no one does anything about it. The people in the “sickness treatment system” do not mention the fact that our bodies need a certain amount of physical activity to stay healthy and well as opposed to drugs and treatments after symptoms of sickness appear.
Our bodies are hardwired and programmed for hard physical activity to allow us to survive in the harshest of conditions. Our prehistoric genes do not know that the fridge in the next room is full of food and that we have cars to take us from A to B. These genes do not know that we need to sit and do nothing for almost every waking moment each day.
You see it is only with intense vigorous activity that the necessary chemical reactions take place that tell every cell, tissue, organ and system in the human body to repair, rebuild and renew itself. Without this happening on a constant basis there is no way that we can stay healthy and well.
Is our financially driven “sickness system” behind this, is it that lots of sick people are needed to keep feeding this money sucking monster? This system has nothing to do with health and everything to do with sickness. A sickness-based system does not provide or promote health, statistics show the health of the global population has steadily declined since World War II.
The fitness/exercise industry is being flooded with sick, desperate people looking for solutions. Whose job is it to help people stay well? Incredibly powerful money motivated forces are preventing people from taking control of their own health by withholding the information and solutions to keep people healthy.
Who allows the pretty boxes of so called food in the supermarkets full of dirt cheap ingredients that offer little or nothing in the way of nutrition? This is actually encouraging people to gain weight and become unhealthier. These forces that control our food sources and “health” care are so powerful that nothing short of a revolution will be able to stop them and that is what must happen.
A much greater awareness must be created in each of us that recognize the importance of the environment, the quality of our food, and the quality of our health. This new way is called wellness and can be defined as living to the best of ones potential and is more than the absence of disease.

It involves taking personal responsibility for one's health, taking positive steps to avoid disease and living a lifestyle that promotes health, strength, fitness, vigor, and energy. Wellness means practicing self care by the use of proper strength building exercise, eating well and taking care of your top life priorities, your health. Rather than living your life slowly going downhill, losing strength and energy until sickness finally catches up with you.

The emerging wellness industry is as much a reaction to the dictatorship of the sickness and the food industries as it is to every person’s desire for the freedom, good health and longevity that wellness can offer. Each one of practicing wellness is the next natural step forward in our destiny and in the advancement of mankind.

Do you want to discover the secret to rejuvenating your body, regaining lost vitality and improving the quality of your life? Download my free ebook "I've Found the Fountain of Youth - Let Me Show You Too!” here: Fountain of Youth

Carolyn Hansen is a certified fitness expert and fitness center owner who coaches clients to look and feel younger. In her nearly 30 years of fitness and bodybuilding competition experience she has helped thousands of people start their journey towards being strong, fit and youthful at any age.

Ive suffered with EID(exercise induced asthma) which basically never effected me.Then afew months back i was prescribed lipitor 20mg for high cholesterol.Over the last few months i have been regularly suffereing with my asthma and even find the turbuhaler doesnt assist.Thought id do a search to see if there was a coincidence between the liptor and my recent asthma problems and to my suprise ive stumbled across this thread.I will be off to my doctors as of tomorrow!!!

Hi I am so sorry for all your problems with your statin drug. I took crestor for 3 years. I had such memory problems from it I got so scared i was loosing it. I told dr. he said we all have memory problems. So what does he do he increases my dosage to 10 from 5. I was driving to work and couldn't remember where I was going. I then realized it had to be the crestor that was doing this. Sure enough I read on line how people have gotten a slight amnesia from statins. How awful so I stopped taking it abruptly. I have such withdrawal from this. My head feels like I am in a tunnel, poor vision ears ringing a balance problem my head feels like a medicine head. Nowhere on the side effects does it list you have to ween off this poison as I now call it. I called the manufactorer and they said the same thing you can just stop. Sure if you want to feel this way. I will never take another statin ever. It is a killer and people should report this to the FDA. I am feeling like this for a month now. Hope you are feeling better. Write a letter to the FDA if we all do maybe they will stop giving these horrible drugs to people and the Dr's have got to recognize these awful problems we are all having from them.

Have you ever had your thyroid checked? While I have not taken lipitor, I have had many of your symptoms. After many trips to the doctor I was finally diagnosed with hyperthyroidism. Now I have bursitis/joint pain and am seeing a rheumatologist which is helping with the pain, caused by the thyroid. Just a suggestion if you have not had it checked.

Dear Ouchie,
Your on line comment is the one that is making me stop this medicine today. I am 42 and I was taking Lipitor 10 mg. for 6 months and then was in the process of moving and was off it for about 2 months. I went to my new doctor and got put back on it. It has been 6 weeks and I am experiencing joint pain in my left shoulder. It feels like the joint is loose and should be pushed back up but that doesn't seem to alleviate the dull pain. I have some cold and numbness to my toes. I have heartburn often. I noticed that when I brush my hair after showering I have more hair coming out similar to after having a baby and your hormones try to readjust. Enough for me to notice though. Fuzzy in my thinking. I too gained 30 lbs. I blamed it for the stress I was experiencing with raising three kids and trying to sell my house to move across country to be reunited with my hubby. I am connecting two and two. I heard that taking fish oil can naturally lower cholesterol and my husband was talking to a friend about his severe shoulder and neck pain (not due to statins) but just getting old and he takes a concentrate cherry juice he gets at Kroger's. It cost $20.00 but last you six months. He swears by it. His pain is gone. So maybe this could help some people out there. It is natural so I don't think it could hurt you to the point these statins have done. Thank You for this blog. I am going to continue reading these posts. I will get back on in a month or so and let you know how I am doing with my new treatment.

Dear Ouchie,
Your on line comment is the one that is making me stop this medicine today. I am 42 and I was taking Lipitor 10 mg. for 6 months and then was in the process of moving and was off it for about 2 months. I went to my new doctor and got put back on it. It has been 6 weeks and I am experiencing joint pain in my left shoulder. It feels like the joint is loose and should be pushed back up but that doesn't seem to alleviate the dull pain. I have some cold and numbness to my toes. I have heartburn often. I noticed that when I brush my hair after showering I have more hair coming out similar to after having a baby and your hormones try to readjust. Enough for me to notice though. Fuzzy in my thinking. I too gained 30 lbs. I blamed it for the stress I was experiencing with raising three kids and trying to sell my house to move across country to be reunited with my hubby. I am connecting two and two. I heard that taking fish oil can naturally lower cholesterol and my husband was talking to a friend about his severe shoulder and neck pain (not due to statins) but just getting old and he takes a concentrate cherry juice he gets at Kroger's. It cost $20.00 but last you six months. He swears by it. His pain is gone. So maybe this could help some people out there. It is natural so I don't think it could hurt you to the point these statins have done. Thank You for this blog. I am going to continue reading these posts. I will get back on in a month or so and let you know how I am doing with my new treatment.