Lipitor and fear

I am a 52 year old male from South Florida. Two years ago my Dr prescribed Lipitor. I started to feel weakness in my legs after mowing the lawn but I dismissed it as just being worn out from the summer heat and humidity. About six months ago the little toe on my left foot became numb and it spread to my other toes. I get continuous spasms in my left big toe and now the toes on my right foot are becoming numb. When I sleep at night I am continuously being woken with leg cramps in my feet, calfs and thighs. My feet feel heavy, my legs feel weak. There are times that I just lose my balance. I have a physical job and when I get home I don't want to do anything. I am going to see a neurologist on 3/31 to see what he thinks. My biggest fear is that I now have permanent damage. I have not read any articles about individuals having a full recovery after stopping the medication.

I was on Lipitor for either two or three years, maybe more, can't remember, it was around 2003. About a year after starting the meds I started losing my balance, like my feet were heavy and wanting to not lift themselves up when stepping off a curb. I was in fear of falling. After being a professional dancer for many years and still having excellent muscle tone I was shocked by this muscle problem. Then I developed shooting pains in my thighs, and eventually I had an incident where my one leg just gave out and I couldn't walk. It was something in the hip/leg joint. Went to an orthopedic doctor, got x rays and m.r.i., he found nothing. I stopped taking Lipitor because I had spoken with other friends who were having leg pains. My regular doctor would not admit to anything wrong, just kept telling me I needed to stay on the drug, which infuriated me. He also kept blaming the muscle weakness and pain on my weight; which I have never had a problem with before.
The shooting pains in my thighs was all the time, including at night and woke me up at night. This was unreal. Even after walking miles I had these shooting pains, so it wasn't an exercise issue at all, but it certainly did deter me from exercising more often.
Now the pain and swelling is mainly in my knees. I can hardly walk, feel like I am crippled, and have lost my job over not being able to walk around and show apartments! I can't walk steps anymore at all, I am only 55 years old! No matter what I do, the pain and muscle weakness is progressing, I've seen a Chiropractor, a nutritionist, and now I'm going to see a Rheumatologist. I believe I have permanent muscle damage from this drug, no one can tell me otherwise.
Also, I have experienced the gradual increase of brain fog over the last two years. I am scared to death this damage is irreversible.

Wow-reading everyone's side effects scares me to death. I was just prescribed lipitor-I am a 44 yr.old female with vascular disease in my family(dad had diabetes and Congestive heart failure, mom-stroke). I have not taken the meds yet for fear of the side effects and being told I would be on this med for the rest of my life. I know I can lose the pounds and lower my cholestrol(which was not alarming to the doc if I had not had heart disease in the family). What has happened to those of you that stopped taking the lipitor? Were you prescribed another med?

My health has gone downhill; because I was on Lipitor for 3 years. By the time I saw a Heipatologist my liver was damaged. He tested me for Hipatitis A,B&C, which showed NEGATIVE, but my liver was enlarged.

Biopsy showed .. Abnormal Liver.. in transition to Cirrhosis - Stage 3.
Blood profile.. High Liver, Hemoglobin 8.70 (excellent) NON-DIABETIC LEVEL.

The doctor ignored my concerns and kept prescribing the Lipitor.

I am now seeing so many doctors because of all the problems I now have. My liver is cirrhosis, nerve damage, neuropathy, muscle damage, erectile dysfunction, and now I am diabetic.
My greatest fear in being in a wheelchair becase I am having problems walking.

To Twinkle, yes, I had all those side effects.
If you are not taking CoQ10 please starts right now. It's available without Rx at any pharmacy or drug store. Lipitor is known to deplete the body's store of this important substance which is also known as Ubiquinone. A new statin is being developed which includes it. I'd talk to your doc about easing off the Lipitor or at the very least cutting the dose before you do permanent nerve damage like I fear I have done.
Good luck!!

My son (28) was put on Lipitor about six months ago. He has severe sleep apnea and has gained weight; cholesterol also has gone up, hence the script for Lipitor. Recently he has appeared confused, and extremely slow at completing tasks. He goes into a room several times, forgetting why he is even there. I also suspect paranoia. The only medication script or otc he is using is Lipitor. We have not been to the doctor yet as things just came to a head this weekend, but after reading about others problems with Lipitor I'm insisting he immediately stop taking it. My fear is that he would be left on it, and the medical professionals would suggest "counseling", which would not help. Lin.

May 2005 I've been on Lipitor since 2001, but quit taking it Nov. 2004 due to muscle aches - I was aware of my legs, particularly my calves - and my wrist joints hurt. I'm a healthy weight, work out at the gym, am active etc. but am worried when my cholesterols levels went back up to 376 total. I started back on the Lipitor out of fear, at 20 mg instead of my prescribed dose of 40 mg. Guess what? Within two weeks my back is aching again, my wrists, and now my neck. I stopped the Lipitor again but am not sure what to do. I'm thinking of having an ultrasound done on my arteries, and looking into natural solutions. HELP!

I am 53 (female) and have been taking Lipitor for about 5 months. I haven't read the whole list below, but is anyone having problems with mental clarity and thinking that it might be related to the Lipitor.? I am experienceing short term memory loss and mental confusion. My M.D. is sending me for a brain MRI this week. While I don't fear this is early dementia, I am beginning to think it might be a side effect of the Lipitor. I stopped taking the Lipitor 7 days ago and it seems I am more clear minded.
I have felt a general overall "puffiness" since starting the Lipitor. This combined with the mental clairty issues are making be suspect of the Lipitor.
I also am experience an overwhelming fatigue. This too seems to have lessened since stopping the Lipitor.
My M.D. just stares at my blankly! I am starting to think I am really loosing it. Anybody having similar reactions?
Thanks for any responses!

I am a 49 yr old physically fit female who began taking Lipitor around 2 yr ago. I began having leg pain/cramps and went off of them for two weeks or so. I have to admit I felt much better. I went back on them for fear of having heart problems with high cholesterol. Two weeks ago I started having severe pain in my left leg/hip area running all the way down like muscle strains. I can literally push on the muscle and it is so sore like someone has beat me. I can't lay on my left side anymore when sleeping. I think I am going to go off of it again and if the pain subsides, find other ways to lower the cholesterol. I am worried that this has caused some type of muscle degeneration. I am also experiencing numbness in my right hand more than ever. I am scared...