Lipitor and few days

I have just started taking Lipitor this week and starting searching the internet about side effects. This site has really helped me. I am already having light cramps in my legs and my diabetes has already done nerve damage to my feet so I sure don't need any drug doing it. I also had nausea the first two or three days.

And now that I think about it I have also had headaches off and on for the last few days and I never have headaches. A rash has broken out on my shoulder and I never would have connected it to Lipitor if not for the information I read here.

I am calling my doctor Monday. I got myself into this mess by not eating right, I can get myself out by eating right. Already take CQ10 and fish oil, glad to know that was a good decision.

Thanks

I posted several months ago on this string and wanted to update. I had bloodwork done for the 1st time since I quit the 20mg of Lipitor in August. LDL went from 123 to 210. Total Chol went from 191 to 285. HOWEVER all shooting pains I had been experiencing in legs, feet, and chst are GONE! Went back to my Dr. today, told her that same result and my serious objection to taking any kind of statin and she prescribed CRESTOR while telling me it was more potent than Lipitor! WTF!!!

I refuse this course, am drinking 30 - 40 ozs. of water each day now like I should have been, doubled my CoQ10 to 200mg/day, finally getting back into the gym to lose weight and get the HDL up from the level of 36 it is now. also started to drink the new yogurt type "shot" of Promise for cholesterol that provides 2 grams of plant sterols per day.

I will not take statins ever. I WILL find a natural way to keep my Chol under control. I've also been convinced that you don't have to be at or under the 200mlg of total chol to be healthy. Look at your C Reactive Protein and Homosiytes (sp?) If they are in range you should be good.

I know Lipitor was the cause of my rupturing each of my Achiller tendons a year apart while playing tennis in my late 40's Muscle pain soon followed.

Bobby you are so right "BIG Pharama" and thank you for your well researched comments that you post.
BUT let's not forget big pharma whom I do hate over this issue does state a lot of the adverse side effects on the labels.
SO MR and MRS DOCTOR why don't you read the instructions and advise us of what to watch out for. I told my doctor over a 3 year period of leg cramps that made me squeal and physically dropped me, I also told him over 3 years that my swimming speed overnight dropped by 25% which I now know is a dangerous condition called loss of muscle power. In the end I went to him knowing I was dying, I could only shuffle not walk straight and my whole body was hunched like an ape, people in the street were looking at me. My speech was slurry. This clown who was previously highly respected and revered by myself and wife asked me if I had a low pain threshold, he stood up behind his desk imitated my ape like shuffle then told me to stand up and walk straight. So in my mind there are 2 very clear issues.
1) The big pharma criminal scam.
2) The doctors failing to be safe, read instructions and think for themselves.

I'm in New Zealand a couple of months ago a 69 yr old fellow in Australia with an axe chopped up his wife and grandchildren killing them. A neighbor said they were an ordinary family and the man had become deeply withdrawn.
I stopped a car in the middle of the street and attacked it with my walking stick, I heard "voices" and stalked my house at night with an axe in my hand.

Go to space doctor DOT net and type in Allen Woodley suicide. There are 3 examples here where people lost their minds and took their own lives through statins.

We the "small" people have to originally put the pressure and file the complaints against the doctors then they can resist the pharmas.

No I am getting my faculties back make no mistake I will be filing a police complaint of criminal negligence.

Get the instructions and front the doctor after all he/she is the "retailer" and they can take it up with their "wholesaler"

These b#$%^&&ds are not only wrecking us but they are demonstrably negligently and criminally wrecking the lives of society's grandparents whose golden years we must protect.

Incidentally when I asked my doctor in January for an apology he rammed his bunched fist in my face in his surgery and said how dare you doubt my ability as a doctor. Not bad some of these clowns.

Then of course as we who have been forced to research ourselves we all now know that cholesterol and elevated cholesterol as we get older is absolutely essential for longevity.

These practitioners are totally unbelievable.

Besides hair loss, vision problems, pain all the time, dry mouth, diarrhea, sleeplessness, pounding heart, I also had a problem with mucus filling my stomach and my food would get stuck. So I had to vomit to get the mucus up so I can continue eating. The first time I quite taking this poison pill, I got to feeling much better and my stomach got much better too. But never connected Lipitor with my problems. When I started taking this poison pill again, all my problems returned. But only worse, because I was in so much pain that it was hard for me to climb stairs and I had to hold on to everything just to go to the bathroom at night. Than I quit taking this poison pill again and haven't taken anymore since. All my problems disappeared again. I told my new doctor what this poison pill was doing and he told me to stop taking it, which I had already done.

So how many more people is this poison pill going to hurt and kill before Lipitor is taken off the market? I'm once again seeing Lipitor advertised on TV claiming this poison pill is FDA approved. Wasn't Baycol approved by the FDA as well and was taken off the market because it was too dangerous?Scary!

I'm 62

I am a 46 y/o male whom took lipitor 20mg for about 10 days. It was the first medication taken for me aside from occasional antibiotics. Within a week I began to develop severe nausea, weakness, postural dizziness and worst of all, chest pain at rest! I took my last dose last Saturday 8/9/08. Because of the chest pain, I went to the ER on 8/10/08 and discharged the next day after I ruled out for an MI and a negative exercise stress test. My chest pain recurred on 8/12. This AM awoke with nausea, dizziness and chest pain again. I'm going to have an adenosine stress test this PM. I consulted a pharmacologist yesterday about the metabolism of Lipitor and she told me indeed these side effects are not uncommon and in my case, Lipitor will not be eliminated from my body until probably this Sunday or early next week. Anyone experience what I'm feeling?

I HAVE BEEN ON LIPITOR FOR ABOUT A MONTH NOW AFTER HAVING 3 STENTS PUT IN I AM A 50 YEAR OLD MALE THAT HAS ALWAYS BEEN ACTIVE IN SPORTS, MY LIPITOR SIDE EFFECT ONLY STARTED A FEW DAYS AGO, I HAD SEVERE PAIN IN MY RIGHT SHOULDER SO BAD I COULD HARDLY USE MY ARM THE PAIN GOT SO BAD LAST NIGHT, WE WENT TO THE ER, NO PROB FOUND JUST INFLAMMATION, SO THE DR PRESCRIBED MOTRIN 800 AND A MUSCLE RELAXER, WHICH DID GIVE ME SOME RELIEF IN ABOUT 25 MINUTES .
TODAY WHILE SHOPPING I NOTICED A PAIN NOW IN MY LEFT SHOULDER AND NOW THROUGH THE DAY IT IS JUST ABOUT AS BAD AS THE RIGHT ONE THEN AFTER DOING THIS RESEARCH I WILL AS OF RIGHT NOW STOP TAKING MY LIPITOR I WILL POST MY UPDATE TAKE CARE

I found this web site in February, and posted my side effects at this time, and stopped taking lipitor. I have been getting better every day and most of my muscle weakness has gone away. I started including Co Q-10 100mg daily and 2000 of vitamin C if i don't take the Co Q-10 for a few days my burning pain seems to be back especially in my arms and calfs I have no health insurance so I have been unanable to have any blood work done. or even seen a doctor for any of my concerns regarding the Lipitor. I just know that when I did go to the doctor with complaints about weakness and pain they would give me more medications for the symptoms.

One Jan. 2 of 2008 I had a stroke where the whole left side of my body was completely paralized. My speech was slurred and my son called the ambulance to take me to the hospital. I am 52 years old and am a Pastor. When the ambulance arrived and the paramedics began working on me to take me to the hospital I began to pray. I asked the Lord to heal my body. I asked him to take all my symptoms away and clear out my arteries if there was any blockage. By the time I arrived at the hospital I was completely back to normal. I give God all the glory. After the MRI the doctor acknowledged that I indeed did have a stroke and there shows damage on the right side of my brain but they just couldn't get over the fact that I had no residual disability. Now to the statin. Even though after all the tests they found out all my arteries were indeed clear with no blockages anywhere and all the tests on my heart were good I do have high cholesterol of about 260 of the bad stuff (this runs in my family). Before I left the hospital the doctor prescribed me to take 1 baby asprin a day and the generic version of Lipitor.

I know this sounds weird but that night I took only one capsule of that statin drug and by the next afternoon I began having pain in my legs and they got all wobbly and hard to walk. I had asked the doctor if there were any side effects of these statins and she told me that they were safer than asprin and that they should be sold over the counter without having to even obtain a prescription. She did mention that there were some very rare side effects (that only happen to 1 in 10,000 people) of it attacking peoples muscles but told me that if that happened I could just stop taking the medicine and the muscle pain would go away.

I never took another one of those pills but for about 3 or 4 weeks having muscle pains and cramps in different parts of my body. It was like something was moving around and attacking different muscle groups. I noticed one day that the muscle in my left arm was sore and very weak and it was like I didn't have as much muscle as before. Then the next day it was doing the same thing in my other arm.

Fortunately after those weeks all the symptoms have went away and I feel fine. The funny thing is I had felt great before taking that statin pill and only took that one. It was like poison.

Now since that happened to me I have been talking to many family and friends that are either currently taking or were taking statin drugs and every single one of them have had terrible muscle, memory, emotional problems since beginning the drug.

My uncle had surgery (not heart or artery related) about 8 months ago. I noticed that he was in very bad shape not being able to get around because of severe muscle pain and weakness. He was crippled. I was driving him one day and he was talking about all his pain and weakness in back and legs and shortness of breath then it hit me, statins? So I asked him if he was taking statins. He set and thought for a few seconds and said he had started taking them right after his surgery 8 months before and his muscle pains and weakness started right about that time.

I encouraged him to stop taking them for a few weeks and see what happens. Within 2 weeks he was much better and not about 8 weeks he is pretty much totally back to normal. He thanks me all the time. He said it must have been the Lord that prompted me to warn him about the statins.

I still have a cousin my age that has severe back pain and muscle spasms in his back that started about the same time he started taking statin drugs. He is no longer able to golf like he used to. I'm trying to get him to stop but the doctor has him convinced that the statins aren't causing the problems and that he must keep taking them.

I'm on a quest now to warn as many people as I can about these dangerous drugs. The truth is we are ultimately responsible for what we put in our mouth and if it hurts us we need to not swollow it whether it is the wrong kinds of food or bad drugs.

Hope this helps someone:

Male 53, 5' 10", 180 lbs, slim
Occupation: Engineer/small biz owner and operator
Total cholesterol now is 4.53 (175), LDL 2.30 (89), HDL 1.43 (55), TriG 1.73 (66)

Presently on 20 mG Lipitor for last 2 months.
40 mG Lipitor for previous 8 months because lipid levels deemed too high.
20 mG Lipitor for 3 years before that.
20 mG Pravachol for 2 years before that.

SIDE EFFECTS I BELIEVE ARE DUE TO STATINS:

1) Difficulty learning/performing new tasks. I can read a technical article and forget most content almost immediately. I can read a book and forget what it is mostly about...difficulty forming new memory.
2) Difficulty communicating. I often stop a conversation in mid-sentence because I have completely lost my train of thought. I often cannot form difficult technical words properly.
3) Several times over the last year I have suddenly forgotten where I was going or where the location was...this was in normally familiar territory.
4) For the past year, I have often felt like I have a low grade flu.
5) I have decreased statin dose and improved my diet and recently significantly increased exercise. I am noticing some exercise intolerance and muscle stiffness that cannot be only due to exercise.
6) Extremely vivid dreams a few times a month (embarrassingly, howling in my sleep according to family members). This was the main reason for reducing dose back to 20 mG.

Most side effects were worst at higher doses of 40 mG. There has been some improvement since dropping back to 20 mG Lipitor. Symptoms first noticed to some degree at 20 mG Pravachol...got worse when switched to more potent Lipitor at 20 mG. Initially, I thought it was age. Both my doctor and specialist do not believe statins are related to any problems I've experienced and are convinced that any risks are outweighed by the benefits. I would like to see them competently run their practice under the conditions I've had to try and operate my biz.

I started taking fish body oil two weeks ago and have noticed a significant cognitive improvement. This may be partly due to reduced statin dose, however, there is lots of evidence online as to why fish oil will help some statin users. I started 50 mG CoQ10 a couple of days ago. My goal is to absolutely minimize statin dose or to eliminate it all together.

I am educated, intelligent and analytical. I am not a doctor. That said, no one can, and ever will again, tell me that the degradation in mental function I've experienced is not related to the statin drugs I've been prescribed.

If you look online, you can find a growing and disturbing number of statin induced side effects reported. This is especially true considering what was considered acceptable LDL a couple of years ago is now too high...doctors are prescribing statins in higher and higher doses.

THESE ARE DANGEROUS DRUGS.

I hope this helps someone. Recognize the symptoms and make your physician take appropriate action.

After being on Lipitor for over 3 years, I decided to stop taking it in OCT 07 and start seriously working out to try to control my cholesterol. I started feeling much better within a month. I was not near as stiff and my plantar fasciitis was much better. I attributed this to loosing about 12 pounds and the physical exercise. At my physical in JAN 08, my doctor said I should get back on Lipitor. Within a few days of starting to take Lipitor again I was very stiff and sore and my plantar fasciitis was getting worse. If I sat for a while it was very painful to get up and start walking. I stopped taking Lipitor again and saw an improvement in my stiffness and soreness.

I initially took Lipitor and stopped because of the side effects (muscle pain). My cholesterol went higher and my doctor. put me on Lipitor again and added Zetia. I took both of them since 9/06. Slowly, I started getting muscle pains in my left elbow,arm, shoulder, neck, hands, face, etc. My doctor told me it was arthritis and I tried several natural products to no avail. In the mean time, I continued to research for something natural to lower my cholesterol. I decided to try Pantethine while I was using the Lipitor/Zetia. I was surprised my blood tests showed that my cholesterol was lower due to Pantethine. Last week, I decided to stop the Zetia and when I saw this website and so many people and their side effects, I stopped Lipitor a few days ago and increased the Pantethine I am taking. Hopefully, in time, the pain will ease or stop.

I hope this information will be some help for other people.

In general, most doctors,nurses, health care people, etc need courses for natural/alternative products . . . . . . instead of surgery and dangerous drugs.

i am writing about my son who was put on Lipitor 10 mg after five days on it he started to get a sore neck blamed it on cross country trip he went off of it for a week it took a few days for the terrible soreness to go away he said he could not even touch his neck soreness was on left side anyway he tried again and after 5 days on comes pain so severe in the left jaw that it brings him to tears and says he feels like he got hit with a sledge hammer its been 4 days since he took the POISON and his jaw is still painful hurts to talk very sore when will this go away i am very nervous about this spoke to some other people who were on it they all complain about severe pain on left side in their chest arm back why the left side all i can say is THROW OUT THE BOTTLE OF LIPITOR NOW

42 Year old male; Active, have been on Lipitor 9 months. Started back on the drug last spring, Ride wave runners every weekend, thought I've had whiplash for months, extremely sore/stiff neck, severe muscle pain in shoulders and neck I am convinced its Lipitor not whiplash. Only advice my doctor can give is "see a Chiropractor", no help! I am stopping Lipitor right now and will await changes, Cannot believe after multiple visits to my doctor concerning my shoulder/neck issue he never once considered Lipitor. After doing an internet search for muscle pain, I stumbled across Lipitor's relationship to muscle pain. If my pain stops I will be very grateful.

I am a 48 y/o Caucasian male and am writing to describe the terrible effects Lipitor had on my health. These side effects gradually worsened over years of use. I did not associate my symptoms with Lipitor use until I depleted my supply for about a week...until my mail order prescription was renewed. I began feeling better after just a few days, but the symptoms recurred when I resumed its use. I questioned this link and discontinued its use after a few weeks to determine if the symptoms would subside, and they did. I then conducted another trial, taking Lipitor for a few weeks. The symptoms appeared once again, so I have stopped taking Lipitor and will not use it again.

My symptoms have been well documented over the years by my physician, who did not indicate a relationship between Lipitor and these side effects. Accordingly, you might understand my surprise when I started reading about Lipitor's significant side effects in recent published news articles.

I have suffered from dizziness, confusion, depression, memory loss, painful joints and muscles and severe prostate pain, and I could not determine a cause for these for years. I have been free of all these symptoms since I stopped taking Lipitor about 6 months ago, except for a few recusing leg pains.

You can't imagine the money I have spent on doctors trying to determine the cause of my ailments, confusion and depression, not to mention money lost due to resulting poor work performance.

As far as I am concerned, Lipitor should be totally discontinued. If it isn't, then the side effects, of which there appear to be many, should be fully documented and disclosed to everyone to whom this medication is prescribed.

Cure for side effects? CoQ 10 helped me it could help you to. I don't think the private mail on this site works. You can contact me: seekers999@hotmaildotcom if you're a real person you know what to do with the"dot"... "." But nobody needs me, do the research yourself! checkout coq-10 and how lipitor and other statin drugs deplete your body of it causing muscle atrophy. (see my previous post for link)
I don't recommend websites or charge (even though I'm on social security disability w/kids and financially challanged ;-) I;m just trying to help people get better by pointing them in the right direction.

I was crippled up on crutches! Worst pain in my life! Couldn't even get to the bathroom 15' away WITH THE CRUTCHES!! If felt like muscle was tearing with each step, within a week the pain was gone!! The mental fog was gone also and I quit taking the Prozac, but this might have been also due to the Acetyl-L Carnititne.(500mg 3X a day)

I just know that stopping the lipitor didn't stop the pain and confusion!

God Bless all as they try and work their way through these terrible side effects! Remember I had to increase the coq 10 to 900mg a day before I saw benefits on the 3rd day.... There is hope! I hope it works for you!