Lipitor and muscle pain

Eight years ago I started with 10 mg. Lipitor and took it without problems for about five years. Doctor wanted me to change to Crestor and within four months I could hardly walk, shuffled my feet and had pain in muscles. Switched back to Lipitor two years ago and this week began to experience muscle pain so I stopped taking it three days ago. Any time I am in a prone position, or sitting, the leg pain is incredible. Walking there is minimal discomfort. Tried a massage today to no avail. Any way to alleviate this withdrawal reaction, if not, when might it dissipate?
J. in Pain

Boy, after reading all the negative testimonials on Lipitor, I will throw mine in the garbage. That is what they are meant for. I have severe headache, and muscle pain, and foggy head, and I have only been on the crap for 2 months. I believe a lot of people's health is being ruined, and a lot of deaths are happening as well because of Lipitor and other statins. Mark my word, one day this drug will be withdrawn from the market, and the poor Pharmacutial companies will be in huge trouble.. They have the world convinced that we all need statins to bring cholesterol down.. The era when my parents lived , and lived long lives, and on farms, with butter, bacon, lots of fats, and never heard the word STATIN. I think every one that is writing to this forum and complaining about LIPITOR, should make a phone call to PYzier and tell them your side effects, that is the only way anything positive will come from this forum.. thank you for listening... I have called Pyzier and told them as well.

I'm a 38 y/o woman. For 7 yrs I knew my cholesterol has been high. I refused to take cholesterol medication and decided to diet and exercise but that didn't work. I've had 2 children in the past 3 yrs. In May of this year I started having chest pains and palpitations. I had blood tests done. I was given Inderal and also prescribed Zocor 20mg for my cholesterol. It was 243 with and LDL of 178. I took Zocor for a week. I felt so awful. I was weak, I lost my appetite. I was constantly tired. I couldn't even carry my 10 month old son, yet alone care for him. I informed my physician and she changed it to Lipitor 20mg. I thought I was doing fine. I checked my levels again after a month. My cholesterol was 113 and LDL 58. I trusted the doctor knew what she was doing. At the same time I also was taking Omega 3's. I asked my doc to lower the dosage to 10mg. From the time I was taking Zocor and the start of Lipitor. I was feeling tingling and numbness in my arms, hands, fingers, toes, feet and legs. I also was having muscle pain. I asked my doctor about that. She mentioned because of my heart palpitations, it could be symptoms of anxiety and panic. I had feeling of pins and needles throughout my body, not knowing when it would occur. I had muscle pain in my arms and legs and neck pain. I went online to see the side effects of Lipitor and came across this website. I decided to do an experiment. I stopped taking Lipitor 9 days ago. I was on statins for almost 4 months. I don't have the feeling of tingling and numbness, but I still have pins and needles and muscle pain. I have to say, I feel so much better. I hope to get better. I 'd really like to know, how long does the medication stay in your system? What are the effects of getting off it so suddenly. I'd love to feel myself again.

I am a 54 year old male who started taking Lipitor about 4 years ago. It seemed OK at first, but over the next several years I began to have increasing amounts of joint pain after exercise. Nor muscle pain, joint pain. And it seemed to be a result of exercise. By the time I stopped it, I was hurting after everything, not just exercise. I felt better within the first two weeks, but it took about 4 months for me to be able to exercise vigorously again. Over the years I seemed to have forgotten how much vitality I used to have. I am a physician, and because of the long lag time until I felt better, I wondered whether improvement might have related to other factors, so after about 5 months I decided to restart Lipitor. It surprised me that after just one dose, I got back all of the joint pain and fatigue when I was at my worst on Lipitor. I was really hurting. Needless to say, I didn't take any more.

Coincidentally, a physician friend of mine who had statin induced polyneuropathy had a similar experience. After his symptoms went away he found that after only one dose the entire polyneuropathy came back.

Stopping and restarting the drug is a way to test the correlation between the drug and the side effect. For such a large spectrum of side effects to recur after only a single dose, it argues that the problems that my friend and I had was due to some sort of immune memory response. I have not seen this in the medical literature.

I am off it now for about 8 months and am able to comfortably play singles tennis and jog - much more energy (and I took 200 mg of CoQ10 a day with the Lipitor).

I was given 40mg Lipitor for elevated cholesterol. I took it until I started having muscle weakness .I am a retired nurse of twenty five years, and knew this symptom was not correct. So I stopped taking the medication and told my doctor of this.He did not protest in any way.My symptoms now include;two torn ligaments, sob,mental deficits, muscle wasting, night sweats, weakness,h/a's, and more. I have not taken Lipitor for two years now. Damage is done.My doctor said it should be out of my system by now. Is this a cover up?

I have been on lipitor about 4 yrs. I am a runner and keep tract of my times. I have been losing about 4% of my speed each year and have recently had a large amount of muscle fatigue. Today a ran a 940 pace and thought I was not going to make it home. Three years ago my average pace was 805. Could the 20mg dosage be causing this problem?

I am taking lipitor for 3 months and sinds one week i have pain in my left arm and a constant twinkle in my left hand. i stop now for 3 days and wait to see the results

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 am a 35 yr old male and have been taking lipitor about 7 yrs. I have a genetically high cholesterol and it has been up to 275. On lipitor its around 175. Over the years I have been on this drug I went from being a normal weight and active to pretty much lethargic and sedentary due to lack of energy and gained ~50 lbs. I couldn't sleep. I got random nausea and fogginess in my brain to the point I could not remember how to perform my job. I usually had minor aches and was bloated. the past year everything has gotten much worse. For a year now, I have been getting large rashes on my body that itch severely and no medications have worked to alleviate them. I found out recently from my doctor that I have a genetic marker in my cholesterol that makes me 3 times as likely to have a heart attack. Its a portion of the cholesterol, i think its called LDL-b or something like that. Anyways, My doctor prescribed zetia to help with my cholesterol since the lipitor wasn't doing it alon. I begin feeling very sick when taking the zetia and after a week or two stopped it. The problems didn't end. As long as I remained on the lipitor, the problems seemed to continue. Its like the zetia released a dam of problems. I stopped the lipitor 4 days ago and have noticed that I feel energy coming back to me and the rash is starting to go away, but I ache severely all over. My shoulders, forearms, and legs are so sore and painful that I can't do anything about this except sleep so I don't feel the pain. I am also very weak feeling and I notice stiffness in my fingers and my grip is very weak compared to how it normally is. I have nausea and stomach cramps and constipation. I feel miserable. I notice its worse in the morning and gets a little better towards the afternoon. I typically took my lipitor in the morning. I do not know if there is a relationship here. Please advise on any help you can provide.

KMJ
07-30-08

I have been on Lipitor for about 4 years. Now I have an arthritic right knee and the left knee has a little bit of arthritis. My arthritis started getting really bad in both legs my left leg was just as bad as my right leg. Muscle pain was tremendous and getting up and down stairs. furniture, and the car. Then the day before Memorial Day I could hardly move, I thought I was losing both my legs. I could only walk a little bit. No energy. I too had blurred vision with this drug but the doctor said that it probably was just my diabetes. I hurt from the shoulders all the way down to the ankles..It felt like every muscle group was involved. Earlier this year the doctor put my Lipitor up to 40 mg from 20 mg even through my ldl was only 93. My last ldl was 67. The doctors say your cholesterol cannot go to low but I am wondering with all the side affedts I had. I took myself off Lipitor on Memorial Day this year and I feel better. The pain is gone except for the arithritic pain but it is not as bad as what it was on Lipitor. Soo I am done with statins I will lose weight and exercise.

I started taking Lipitor 12 years ( 1997 ) ago as my Cholesterol was at 315. I was always athletic but had a crappy diet. My Cholesterol dropped to 200 within a year. However, in 2001 I ruptured my left Achilles playing tennis. Thought nothing much and that I hadn't stretched enough. Recovered from that and started playing tennis again in 2002. Within three weeks of playing again, I ruptured my RIGHT achilles! At that point I started to question the effect of Lipitor on muscles/tendons with various medical "professionals". ALL said it was nothing to do with medication. I quickly developed a tingling/numbness in both feet that doctors said could not be happening but it WAS!

I've had MRI's, nerve conduction tests, wondered if it was diabetic, alcohol, etc. Finally found sites such as this where real life experiences validated my concerns over this statin. I told my Dr. I was quitting Lipitor last Monday, she had no problem with that. This is Saturday night and I'm sitting here with a NOTICEABLE decrease in my numbness/tingling in both feet that I've had for the past TWELVE YEARS!!

I hope that the statin did cause my "mild sensory polyneuropathy" as was diagnosed in 2002. As of right now, it seems to be getting better in less than one week! I can flex my toes with NO pain and my feet don't feel like dead weights.

I WILL NEVER USE A STATIN AGAIN!

I would encourage every patient on statins to read the recent article (Feb. 2008) by Dr. Peter Langsjoen, MD/Cardiologist: http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2008/feb2008_Alleviating-Congestive-Heart-Failure-With-Coenzyme-Q10_01.htm

The following information from this article is pertinent to complaints of muscle pain/weakness and fatigue:

"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, known as diastolic dysfunction. This has nothing to do with diastolic blood pressure, but rather represents impairment in the relaxing or filling phase of the cardiac cycle. After heart muscle contracts, it takes a great deal of cellular energy, or ATP, to re-establish the calcium gradients such that muscle fibers may relax. Thus, if diastolic dysfunction is severe, it can result in congestive heart failure. 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."

I hope this information will be of help to patients suffering adverse reactions from statins..

I am a male of 67 years old. I took Lipitor for a year, and after a few months of taking it, I felt muscle pains in my arms and shoulders, as well as my back. I felt weak and could hardly put my socks on by myself. I told my family doctor that I thought the problem was caused by LIpitor. He said it couldn't be possible, but he couldn't figure out what was wrong, so he sent me to a rheumatologist, who gave me an initial diagnosis of polymyalgia rheumatica. I went back for a checkup, and although the sed rate was normal, the C-reactive protein was elevated. He felt his diagnosis was an accurate one. He prescribed prednisone for me. I had some doubts about it, since I am diabetic, and was concerned about the elevated blood sugar it might cause. Well, it did elevate my blood sugar, and I weaned myself off it within three months. My blood sugar went back to normal, and while the prednisone helped the symptoms of muscle pain and aches, after I stopped it, the pain returned with a vengeance.

About a year passed after discontinuing the prednisone, and I felt worse and worse. Any time I engaged in physical activity, such as yard work, I was almost incapacitated for two or three days. I felt weaker and weaker, and by now, my activity is about ten per cent of what it was three or four years ago. I am unable to do anything physical without paying a heavy price.

I would tell the doctor that I felt the problem was caused by the Lipitor. He would dismiss my comments, saying that the pain should have gone away after discontinuing Lipitor. He sent me back to the rheumatologist with results of recent blood tests. Both the sed rate and C-reactive protein were normal. The rheumatologist touched my back and other areas, which caused me to jump. He said it might be fibromyalgia. I told him again that I thought it was caused by the Lipitor. He said the same thing my GP had said: if it had been the Lipitor, the pain would have gone away when I stopped taking it. I know the Lipitor caused the pain, because I tried red yeast rice for a couple months. The pain increased to almost unbearable, so I discontinued the red yeast rice. If I were not susceptible to the pain from the Lipitor, would the red yeast rice have increased the pain?

So here I am with a fuzzy diagnosis from the rheumatologist, and no clue from my family doctor (that he will verbalize, at any rate). My life has gone steadily downhill. I used to be a strong, active person, but now I can do very little, and my strength is a shadow of what it formerly was. What can I do?

This is a follow up to my July 5th post, I am the 42 male, it has been almost two weeks since I stopped Lipitor, all the side effects are completely gone. Muscle pain, numbness in the fingers etc..It looks like it takes at least a couple weeks for the substance to completely exit the system. I know not everybody is the same, but at least this give hope that there are cases where the condition is reversible.

Here are some more side effects that I encountered during my ordeal with Lipitor. A week after I started the medication, I started experiencing blurry and decreased vision, this used to go away and come back sometimes, I could swear I always had 20/20 although I never went to eye doctor, but I never needed glasses all my life, if fact any type of glasses will blurry my vision and make me dizzy. I had my first eyes exam a couple days after I discontinued Lipitor, guess what? I have 20/20 vision.
More details about the back and right arm pain, not only the pain was unbearable, I felt my muscles sagging and they did not have any strength, this thing sucked the life out of my muscles, it made me very tired and easily irritable. My fist victim was my little baby ( my beautiful 4 year old), her daddy couldn’t hold her anymore, I even avoided staying close to her, because anyone who touches that right arm will make it feel like another deep stab to the arm deep into the bone. I have never experienced pain like this. I knew about toothache when I had a cavity at 23, but it was fixed and went away, I even experienced the pain of a broken arm at 16, but this thing was something else. The other victim is my wife, I stopped doing stuff, I used to be a very active dude, I do stuff on weekends with family and even every day after work ( you name it, park, boating, swimming pool, malls etc..). It felt like I was dying one piece at a time, going down the tubes fast with no clue of what was wrong with me.

My doctor started me on Lipitor over a year ago. I started having muscle pain in my shoulders but didn't equate it to the meds until I was watching television one day and a Lipitor commercial came on. It said that some people experience muscle pain.....I thought HALLELUEH THAT'S WHAT IT IS.....I stopped talking the meds and went to see my doctor who immediately changed my meds to Zocor.....guess what? The same thing happened. Went to see her again and she switched to Crestor.....same thing happened....so I started doing my own research and was amazed at what I learned and bewildered as to why my doctor was acting like I was some whining baby.

No problem, I say to myself and stopped the meds. That was last November, in January I had my yearly physical and blood tests were ordered for me in December......guess what.....my triglycerides were still high so my doctor orders Antara. It didn't say "cor" anything so I'm thinking it's not the same stuff. No, it wasn't the same stuff it was WORSE!! Within three weeks I was crying I was in so much pain. I called her and got her nurse practitioner who says that my doctor said to stop taking the pills and the pain will go away. I call back and say, "you don't understand, I can't sleep, I can't move, I can't function the pain is so bad." After several calls back and forth, and let me tell you I NEVER call my doctor unless something is incredibly wrong and that is less than rarely. Well, my doctors partner tells the nurse practioner that they will not prescribe narcotics for me. WHAT? Who asked for narcotics? I needed relief from this pain.....I would have gone for amputation!!!

So I change docs...more blood work.....high triglycerides, I refuse to take any statins. She says she has something for me that will not cause muscle pain and hands me samples of Welchol.....this one took less than a week for increased muscle pain...again I wanted to trust, but guess what i learned when I went to the Welchol site? The first side effect listed? Muscle pain.

Called the new doctors office to let them know that I was experiencing pain again and was told to stop the Welchol (which I had already done) and take Red Yeast Rice and have bloodwork done in 3 to 6 months and come back to see her. Oh no! Not without research and guess what? A side effect of Red Yeast Rice? Muscle pain.

It has been 4 months since I stopped taking the Antara and took Welchol for a week in that 4 months. Sometimes my shoulders/neck and arms don't hurt too much. Unfortunately most times they do. Both doctors insist that the pain cannot be from the drugs because the drugs have left my body. The new doctor said I probably have myolgia just because I'm 52 and that it's just a coincidence that it happened while taken the drugs but then goes on to agree that I must be "sensitive" to statins. Both doctors treat me like I'm stupid and nuts all balled up in one. I am frustrated and in pain most of the time. I have been trying to find out how long to expect this pain and am dismayed to learn that it can be years or never go away.

Yes I have high triglycerides (so does my mother and she experiences the same kind of pain so refused to take statins) and I've been warned that not taking statins could cause pancreatitis and/or heart problems. My question to that is - "then my choice is chance the heart stuff or live an incredibly painful life?"

I'll take my chances and pray for the best because right now my quality of life stinks!!

Found this on a web site listed at the end.
Very scary!!! COQ10 is a must when taking any statin drugs your body needs it for your
muscles. Other statin drugs may be better.

Numerous adverse side effect reports have implicated Lipitor as a possible cause for severe neuromuscular degeneration. Some people who have been using Lipitor for two years or more report symptoms similar to multiple sclerosis or ALS - Lou Gehrig's Disease - in which they are losing neuromuscular control of their bodies.

For instance, in an article entitled "Life After Lipitor" that appeared in the newspaper Tahoe World on January 27, 2004, Tahoe City (California) resident Doug Peterson began having serious neuromuscular problems after taking Lipitor for two years. He began losing muscular coordination and slurring words when he spoke. Then he lost balance, followed by loss of fine motor skills - he had difficulty writing. He went from doctor to doctor, trying to figure out what could be happening. Finally one doctor suggested that he stop taking Lipitor, and the downward health spiral stopped and his health is now slowly improving.

These adverse effects have begun appearing in peer-reviewed medical journals, and numerous people have reported similar symptoms at public adverse effect reporting websites such as medications.com. People have reported "trouble swallowing, trouble talking and enunciating words, feeling fatigued all the time, neck aches," "motor neuropathy which mimics ALS," "Blinding headaches, nausea, vertigo, disorientation, memory loss, extremely dry eyes, pain and stiffness in my neck and calf muscles, abominal pain," and "Muscle pain, weakness, spasms, buzzing in right leg. Can't hold arms or head up in vertical position for 2 minutes without extreme pain and weakness."

How could Lipitor potentially cause this kind of harm to so many different parts of the body? Lipitor is a "statin" drug which inhibits the production of cholesterol in order to lower LDL cholesterol counts. By limiting the production of cholesterol, Lipitor may be indirectly causing membrane degeneration in neural and muscle tissue.

The problem is this: cholesterol is essential in your body for many functions. It forms part of what is called the cell membrane - the outer layer of every cell in your body. It helps transport and pack the major components of the cell membrane, called "phospholipids," that are made from essential fatty acids (EFAs). Without sufficient cholesterol we would die, because our tissues are constantly being repaired and replaced with new cells.

Our body produces several thousand milligrams of cholesterol per day to carry out these essential functions, and each day the excess of cholesterol is supposed to be naturally recycled. If your body doesn't have enough new cholesterol each day, you cannot repair and replace your cell membranes and they will eventually degenerate.

The continual recycling of cholesterol happens naturally when you have sufficient ascorbate, another name for vitamin C. Excess cholesterol is naturally converted to bile acid and then excreted. But if you don't consume enough vitamin C (about 2000-3000 milligrams per day for an adult), cholesterol builds up in your bloodstream. It is here that doctors make a critical error: instead of telling you to take more vitamin C, they prescribe Lipitor.
If Lipitor and other similar statin drugs are in fact indirectly causing neural and muscular degeneration, this is a very serious matter indeed.

There are twenty million people in the U.S. on Lipitor alone, and probably millions more on other statin drugs (Zocor, Pravachol, Mevacor, Altocor, Lescol, Crestor, etc.). Are they all going to become victims of cell membrane degeneration and nervous system problems? There are few long-term studies that bear out the safety of these drugs, and side effects such as "muscle pain or weakness" are just classified as a reason for some to stop the medication rather than an indication of something very wrong with the drug.

What is most horrifying about this problem is that cholesterol balance can be achieved without drugs, simply and safely by taking 2000-3000 milligrams of vitamin C per day for an adult. Unfortunately, vitamin C was misclassified as a micronutrient in the 1930s and 1940s, rather than an essential nutrient involved in dozens of body processes. Our health authorities recommend that we take only 60 milligrams per day, barely enough to prevent scurvy.

It is my hope that people on Lipitor and other statins learn that they do not need to take these potentially harmful drugs.

For more information about the connection between vitamin C and the prevention of cardiovascular disease, see the article Natural Therapy for Cardiovascular Disease, or visit the research website of Dr. M.
******

I have been taking 10 mg.lipitor for 3 years or more....I seem to loose track of time because my memory is so bad....I ache and hurt all the time...I have severe back pain...Sometimes my back hurts so bad I cannot do any of my housework....All of my muscles just ache and hurt...I am 47 and I am steadily going downhill with my health....I feel nauseas for no reason...I have headaches...I told my doctor all of these symptoms and she has run all kinds of tests...They all come back normal...She has no idea why I have no energy and why I feel the way I do....She set me up for a stress test because I was complaining with chest pains...That test was normal...She set me up a sleep study...I am now sleeping with a cpap machine with the pressure set at 11.4...After going through all of these tests, I still feel like crap...I was sure after the sleep study things were going to get better...Then I started having such bad pains in the bottom of my feet...I could just be laying in bed and my feet would be throbbing with pain....and when I would try to get out of bed I could hardly walk...After about 5 or 10 minutes I could walk okay but the pain was still there....This is when I started looking around on the internet to see if I could find out what my problem was...I found this site and begin reading all of the side effects of lipitor...I knew right away that this was most likely my problem...I stopped taking lipitor 3 days ago....The only difference I can tell so far is that the pain in my feet is not as bad...I can hardly wait for the next morning because I am so anxious to see how I am going to feel...I am just wondering how long will it take for me to get back to my old self....oh I forgot about my stomach pain...The bottom of stomach hurts so bad at times...I told my doctor and she examined me and ran more tests but found nothing....My doctor does not know I have stopped taking lipitor...I have read that taking vitamin c or fish oil will help with lowering cholesterol..Does anyone know if this really works???

Trying to figure out if my back pain is like others. The pain is in the lower left side and groin area of both hips. I have trouble reaching my feet to put on shoes and socks. Ive been on Lipitor 20 for about 5 years and have never had a problem before. This started about 6 months ago and even with heat and stretching it seems to get worse. It hurts when I stand for any length of time. It hurts to walk or run. It hurts very badly if I try to straddle something like an ATV or a horse. When I sleep (if I can) I sometimes have to put a pillow between my legs and lay on my side because it hurts a lot to bring my legs together. Feel free to email me at ******

Let me begin by telling you that I am a nurse with 28 years experience. My father is 76 years old with a history of cardiac problems. He has been on Lipitor for 8 years. In the past two months he has developed muscle pain that had gotten to the point he could hardly walk. His doctor diagnosed him with "arthritis." His joints did not hurt and I questioned his diagnosis. What he has is fibromyalgia. Muscle dysfunction caused by Lipitor. We have taken him off of the drug and he is improving. In place of Lipitor he now takes 2000 milligrams of vitamin C daily. Vitamin C is a natural way to control cholesterol. In my opinion I suggest anyone taking symvistatin in any form should stop immediately. It is a very dangerous drug. If you think this is what you have please request your physician order the following two tests.....CPK and serum myogluten levels. Cholesterol is very important to muscle function and that is why it is produced by the body. Zocor, Lipitor, ( symvistatin) inhibits the production thus lowering the level. Let me add that prior to this condition onset my dad was riding his bike 3 plus miles a day and could out walk me any day of the week. This drug has disabled him. We are hoping for a full recovery but that is yet to be seen.
Thank you ******

I am 54, I was diagnosed with diabetes type l in 2003. I started showing high cholesterol levels about 2 years ago. When it reached 280 I was prescribed Lipitor 10 mg at first after no improvement it was increased to 20mg. I was very much against this. I have problems with muscle pain, and dizziness.
I checked into an alternative from a doctor who is an MD but prefers natural solutions if possible. I stopped the Lipitor without the knowledge of my primary physician and started taking fish oil 3600mg daily in the evening.
9 weeks later both my cholesterol and triglycerides were normal. I told him about the fish oil, but he wanted me to continue the Lipitor, because diabetics should be on some type of statin medication to help protect the heart. I have visited a couple of sites and haven't anyone talking about liver function problems. I have had an ultra sound for my liver which showed some problems, I am still waiting on some of the tests to return. I also have an appointment to schedule a liver biopsy. When reading my first lab results his first words were." Your results are uncommonly abnormal, stop taking the Lipitor, I am going down and get an ultra sound set up for you." "You might be thinking it could be the diabetes causing this. My diabetes is completely under control, and haven't tested high sugar levels since first diagnosed. I don't drink or smoke. I would like to know if others have had problems with liver function tests being abnormal. Please everyone remember my doctors first response to the abnormal tests stop the Lipitor immediately, it wasn't let's run some other tests to see the cause, because you need the Lipitor as protection for your heart. This medication works in the liver which we only have one of, and it is an extremely vital organ for maintaining health on several levels.

My doctor increased my Lipitor from 10 mg to 40 mg after my physical in January. My cholesterol was only 182 and my LDL was good. I am now being checked for rhabdomyolysis - a rare but serious complication from the muscle pain and weakness caused by the Lipitor. I never had these problems while taking 10 mg and I have no idea why he increased my dosage so much. I am miserable with neck, shoulder, and back pain and have been for a month. I thought I had hurt myself at the gym and have even been seeing a chiropractor for the pain. My urine is very dark, indicating possible kidney damage and I am so tired I can hardly make it through the day. My depression has worsened despite doubling the dose of my anti-depressant and I have no motivation to do anything. I am looking for an alternative to statin therapy, as I am a 38yo insulin-dependant diabetic and am at a higher risk for cardiovascular disease. Any suggestions out there on alternatives?

Can Statins Cause Chronic Low-Grade Myopathy?
Statins (hydroxymethyl glutaryl coenzyme A reductase
inhibitors) are highly effective drugs for reducing serum
cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels.
Clinical trials have shown that they also reduce risk for
coronary heart disease events, coronary procedures, and
stroke by about one third (1). Millions of people in the
United States and worldwide are being treated with statins.
In clinical trials and in clinical practice, statins have proved
to be remarkably safe.
The one notable side effect of statin therapy is myopathy.
A small fraction of patients who are treated with
statins will develop severe myopathy (2). In the worst cases,
severe myoglobinuria, acute renal failure, and even death
can occur. The incidence of severe myopathy is low, perhaps
1 in 1000 patients (2). Predisposing factors for severe
myopathy appear to include advanced age, relatively low
body weight, female sex, certain medications, use of multiple
medications, multisystem disease, and acute illnesses
or major surgery (3). If statins were avoided or used in low
doses in these circumstances, it is likely that the incidence
of severe myopathy could be greatly reduced.
Less severe forms of myopathy undoubtedly occur. In
some patients, fatigue and muscle pain and weakness develop
with moderately high serum creatine kinase levels
but not acute renal failure. In these cases, the myopathy
resolves when statin therapy is discontinued.
Still more patients report various muscle symptoms—
fatigue, pain, and muscle weakness—but have normal creatine
kinase levels. These symptoms probably are unrelated
to statin therapy in many patients. In middle-aged and
older people, muscle, joint, and tendon symptoms are very
common. Naturally, if a patient takes a medication that is
believed to produce muscle problems, symptoms are often
attributed to the medication. On the other hand, the major
controlled clinical trials have not detected a higher prevalence
of muscle symptoms during statin therapy versus placebo
(1). This failure of detection has generally led clinical
trialists to conclude that statin-associated myopathy with
normal creatine kinase levels essentially does not exist or
that, if it does exist, it cannot be detected above the “background
noise” of muscle symptoms in the general clinicaltrial
population.
Many physicians in clinical practice nonetheless believe
that they can identify a subset of statin-treated patients
who have a unique set of statin-related muscle symptoms.
Some patients clearly relate the onset of muscle
symptoms to initiation of statin therapy. These symptoms
may abate after discontinuation of therapy, only to reappear
when statin therapy is restarted. The number of such
patients is not large, and thus it may have been impossible
to identify them in large clinical trials.
In this issue, Phillips and colleagues (4) report on a set
of studies in four patients who had muscle symptoms during
statin therapy that resolved during placebo use. Quantitatively
measured muscle weakness also resolved during
placebo use. Muscle biopsies were performed in three patients
during statin therapy and then during placebo use.
Several pathologic changes were seen on biopsy specimens
obtained during statin therapy: increased lipid content of
mitochondria, fibers that did not stain for cytochrome oxidase
activity, and ragged red fibers. The authors suggest
that these patients had statin-associated myopathy with
normal serum creatine kinase levels.
Despite the study’s small size, we cannot dismiss these
observations as random variation in muscle structure.
However, these highly suggestive results are clearly preliminary.
The number of patients was small, and all appropriate
controls were not used. Nonetheless, this study is novel
because it used quantitative measures of muscle strength
and muscle biopsy to address the question of myopathy
with normal creatine kinase levels during statin therapy.
To be confirmed, the current data would have to be
extended to many more patients in whom muscle symptoms
are closely correlated with statin use. Reproducibility
of symptoms during therapy and symptom resolution after
discontinuation of statin therapy would be necessary. A
definitive study would have to be carefully designed and
executed. It would need to be double-blinded and placebocontrolled
and include sufficient numbers of patients to
provide a valid statistical comparison. In addition, investigators
would have to carefully consider the appropriate
selection of patients. The development of a registry of candidate
patients at multiple sites could facilitate a multicenter
study.
Is a carefully controlled, sizable study of this type
worth the investment of time and effort? To date, no evidence
indicates that prolonged statin therapy leads to permanent
muscle damage or progressive myopathy in patients
with normal creatine kinase levels. Controlled
clinical trials attest to the general safety of statins, and
symptomatic side effects appear to be limited to a relatively
small proportion of treated patients. In addition, no therapy
prevents or treats statin-induced myopathy, short of
withholding the drug. On the other hand, statins are being
prescribed to millions of people, and are usually continued
throughout the patient’s lifetime. It is certain that statins
cause myopathy in some patients. For these reasons, a valid
argument can be made for a more extensive study of lowgrade
myopathy in patients treated with statins.
In the meantime, physicians should recognize the great
benefit of statin therapy in high-risk patients and their
documented safety for most patients. For high-risk persons,
the proven efficacy for preventing cardiovascular disease
outweighs the unlikely possibility of permanent muscle
damage. Phillips and colleagues’ preliminary results
certainly do not provide adequate information on the spec-
Editorial
www.annals.org 1 October 2002 Annals of Internal Medicine Volume 137 • Number 7 617
trum, scope, or prognosis of myopathy with normal creatine
kinase levels during statin therapy. For these reasons,
prescription of statins for eligible patients should continue
despite the current results. Moreover, before discontinuing
therapy, physicians should carefully evaluate any patient
receiving statins who reports muscle symptoms. In most
cases, the symptoms will be found not to be consistent
with chronic myopathy, and often they will not be related
temporally to statin treatment. High-risk patients in particular
should not be deprived of major cardiovascular risk
reduction just because they display symptoms not clearly
documented to be closely related to statin therapy.
Despite these comments, the actions of statin on muscle
metabolism and structure deserve further investigation
to clarify the confusing area of low-grade myopathy apparently
associated with statin use in a few patients.
Scott M. Grundy, MD, PhD
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas
Dallas, TX 75390-9052
Current Author Address: Scott M. Grundy, MD, PhD, Center for
Human Nutrition and the Departments of Clinical Nutrition and Internal
Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas,
5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Y3.206, Dallas, TX 75390-9052.
Potential Financial Conflicts of Interest: Honoraria (from Merck &
Co.; Pfizer, Inc.; Bristol-Myers Squibb; and Bayer); Grants (from Merck
& Co. and Pfizer, Inc.)
Ann Intern Med. 2002;137:617-618.
References
1. Executive Summary of The Third Report of The National Cholesterol Education
Program (NCEP) Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation, And Treatment
of High Blood Cholesterol In Adults (Adult Treatment Panel III). JAMA. 2001;
285:2486-97.
2. Staffa JA, Chang J, Green L. Cerivastatin and reports of fatal rhabdomyolysis
. N Engl J Med. 2002;346:539-40.
3. Pasternak RC, Smith SC, Bairey-Merz CN, Grundy SM, Cleeman JI, Lenfant
C. ACC/AHA/NHLBI clinical advisory on the use and safety of statins (1)
(2). J Am Coll Cardiol. 2002;40:567-72.
4. Phillips PS, Haas RH, Bannykh S, Hathaway S, Gray NL, Kimura BJ, et al.
Statin-associated myopathy with normal creatine kinase levels. The Scripps Mercy
Clinical Research Center. Ann Intern Med. 2002;137:581-5.
© 2002 American College of Physicians–American Society of Internal
Medicine
Editorial Statins and Low-Grade Myopathy
618 1 October 2002 Annals of Internal Medicine Volume 137 • Number 7 www.annals.org

I am 54 I took lipitor 20 mg for one day and 14 hours later I couldn't void so I went to the Dr. for sx of a uti. Was told keep taking the lipitor sent home on an atb. A week later started getting acne thought it might be a reaction to the atb, so I kept taking the lipitor. All along I started with muscle pain but everyone I knew taking lipitor had those side effects. My pain increased but I thought I must have to get used to it. Day 13, I started with heavy menstrual bleeding, now I have not had a period for three years so we ladies know this is not normal. The female Dr. did an
ultra sound and it showed I was menopausal and everything was normal no cause for the bleeding and yes it couldn't be the lipitor. I had stopped it on day 13 but I still do not feel any better so I found your web site and I hope we all feel better soon and I wouldn't reccommend this drug for anyone.

I took Lipitor for about 2 years- 5 mg.
Leg cramps-soreness throughout my muscles- very sore buttocks-
my legs are shaky- if I use them too much; (as in walking 3 miles)
I am (was ) an avid body builder that could squat with 100 lbs- and now ( I am a health conscious -non drinking- NO other medication 104 lb slim female) have quivering legs if I stand for too long. I even had a muscle biopsy- and it cam back negative- I have not had a statin for 6 months- but I still have cramps- and abnormal liver values- and I have NO other conditions-I have been scanned from head to toe - open MRI- closed MRI -but the muscle stiffness- soreness- especially legs- continues-
does anyone know how long it lasts? I have also been tested for liver cancer- thank God-negative.
I really feel that Lipitor did this- has anyone else gone from fit as a fiddle to a quivering -achy person- I have gone through 5 doctors- internal - gastrointestinal - neurologist- hematologist and all is negative- just high liver values and muscle pain. Thank you so much.Maxine

I think all of you folks with side affects are are blaming your ills on Lipitor rather than putting the blame where it belongs: on your own mental health. I am a 65 YO male and I have been on Lipitor for more than six years now. I have no side affects, I work out four days per week with cardio and weights and feel that Lipitor should be added to the public water supply. My total cholesterol has gone from the high two hundreds to under one-forty on a single daily dose of 10mg. All of you hypochondriacs get a grip.

I just found this site after my Dr. took me off of Lipitor. I cried as I read all of the posts that described my symptoms perfectly. Constant muscle pain, extreme "brain fog", joint pain, fatige- all given the diagnosis of Fibromyalgia. I am 56 years old but walk like a much older person due to muscle pain. I experience sharp, sudden pains in my thumbs and often cannot use my thumbs to grasp a cup or fork. Thank goodness I had a doctor that listened when I told him my pain was worse and I could no longer lift my right arm in order to brush my hair or put on a necklace. He immediately said he suspected Lipitor. He took me off it for a month, but wants me to go back on it at a lower dose (from 80 to 40). I have been off for 1 week and my "brain fog" seems a bit better. I feel more like my old self and my patience with my students (I am a school librarian) has returned. I had been so irritable with them lately and didn't know why. After reading the testimonies on this site, I will not go back on Lipitor at any dose. Thank you to everyone who took the time to post. I no longer feel like I'm a "complainer".
Good fortune to all of us who have been so unfortunate to have trusted our health to Lipitor!

Hi
I started taking 10 mg. daily ofLipitor 8 yrs. ago and about a year later I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. There's no test for Fibro, just blood tests to elimate everything else ex: Lupus, RA etc. I've been suffering so much from muscle pain, all the tender points as in Fibro and also diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome. Three doctors diagnosed me with Fibro. and chronic fatigue. I had most of the symptoms everyone else is complaining about also. The pain in my stomach muscles are just about gone too.

It reached a point three weeks ago when I was having sharp pains all over my body and muscle cramps and charlie horses at night and I could just about walk up the stairs my hips hurt so much that decided to stop Lipitor. I was so tired all the time and in constant pain.

My doctors said it couldn't be the Lipitor. The pain in most of the tender points are just about gone but I know it will take a while to get out of my system. I lost muscle strength over the years and hope to get that back. I'm 64 years old and know it will take awhile .

I went to my doctor Tuesday and told him I took myself off the Lipitor and that I now remember being diagnosed with Fibro shortly after going on Lipitor. He got so mad at me and said that Lipitor doesn't cause a disease. As I said there's no test for Fibro and it's not a disease it's a syndrome or condition where the brain sends pain signals to the tender point muscles but there's nothing actually wrong with the muscles. I told him that 6 years ago when I tried going off Lipitor for 3 months and joined a gym, Curves, I felt fine and thought I was in remission. Then when I started taking Lipitor again I couldn't do the exercise in Curves and had to stop going. It never dawned on me it was the Lipitor.

I now have a problem with my heart, one condition I might have been born with but the Arrthymia I don't know about. My heart beats too many beats and it beats 4 beats and the 5th beat is backwards. Now I'm on 25mg of Topricin (the generic) beta blocker to slow down the heart beats. I don't know if this is caused by the Lipitor or not. My cardiologist said that Lipitor can affect every muscle in your body and she suggested that I get a RX for a blood test to tell whether I have muscle damage. I went for the test Tuesday but haven't received the results yet.

I'm going to change doctors, I don't like my doctor's attitude with me over the Lipitor. These doctors think they're God. When I told him on Tuesday about the 3 months that I felt fine 6 years ago he said that there are other drugs besides statins to lower cholesterol. I don't want to go on any drugs and the non statin drugs can cause intestinal blockage, he got upset when I told him that too. I'm going to try to lower it with flaxseed and fiber and see if that works. I go to Weight Watchers and kept 17 lbs. off for 6 years now, I do try and eat healthy.

I can't believe it cost me almost 8 years of my life in pain. It's even hard for me to get down on the floor with my granchildren, I have to crawl to the couch or chair to lift myself up and I get tired so easily. I just hope I get back to normal.

I'm so glad I found this website and figured out what was wrong with me. I hope my writing helps someone else dignosed with Fibromyalgia and taking a statin.

Thanks for listening.
Marie

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.

I am a 54 year old male who was put on Lipitor by my Dr to treat cholesterol levels of 6 to 6.5 around august 2007. I used the drug through until early Jan 2008 when I started to notice continuous muscle pain and injuries especially in my lower back buttocks and arms. I constantly had tingling/burning sensations in my large leg muscles, finger tips and hands. My eyesight was deteriorating rapidly and I had a constantly fuzzy brain which was hard to focus and concentrate. I thought that I had rapid onset Alzheimer's or similar. I was finding difficulty controlling/getting nerve instructions to muscles such as bowels, prostate, mouth. My Wife accused me of slurring words and my balance became unstable and I had a series of minor falls.
I started to wonder about my medication and as I only used two and Lipitor was the newer one of the two I stopped taking it. With in Five days most of the symptoms were disappearing or rapidly improving. After ten days I decided to reintroduce Lipitor and within four days they were all rapidly returning. It was at this point that I started to do a lot of research and found all of the sites highlighting the varied side effects attributed to this drug. None of which had I been informed of by my doctor or Pharmacist and most of which I was experiencing. Needless to say I now no longer take the drug and most things have returned or are returning to normal including the eyesight, balance and nerve control. This drug needs to be withdrawn from use before too many people suffer lasting debilitating damage or even worse, death.

I have been on 40mg/day of Lipitor for 5-6 months and this is how I feel: totally drained - no energy at all - horrible lower back pain - I've been in physical therapy for the past 6 weeks. My neck muscles, back muscles and hip muscles were in constant spasms. Right after beginning Lipitor I woke up with vertigo and still have the dizziness. I was convinced that I must have some horrible disease and was dying at age 47. I stopped taking Lipitor 3 weeks ago and starting taking fish oil, vitamin c, coq10, b vitamin, daily vitamin - the muscle spasms are a little better - still have lower back pain, brain fog, some dizziness. I am so tired all the time - it's so difficult to work a full time job right now. Has anyone else had these same symptoms? Does anyone know how soon I should start to feel better?

I'm a 47 year old male and have been on 20Mg Daily Lipitor for about 4 years. Everything was mostly fine until about 1 year ago when I started experiencing severe hip and groin pain. I played hockey regularly up until that time and assumed the problem was a hockey related injury, though never remember any specific incident that may have been directly responsible. I told my doctor I thought it was a sports hernia because the symptoms and suspected cause held a close resemblance. X-Rays, MRI and Bone Scans were all negative. Physical Therapy was a useless waste of money. I was in agony for over a year and barely able to walk some days. Could no longer participate in hockey or other sports. Even coaching youth sports was a challenge due to the pain that greatly limited my mobility. The maddening part of it all was the doctor's had no explanation and just wanted me to continue with Physical Therapy. My wife casually suggested to me that maybe it was the Lipitor as she had heard some recent news on TV related to Lipitor and muscle pain. I told her she was being ridiculous and that's when I started to do some internet research and came across this site. It's all starting to add up. I've been off Lipitor for a week and the pain on my left hip is almost completely gone while the pain on the right side has shown significant improvement. While I am seriously happy that I think I have found the cause of my pain, I am incredibly angry that not a single doctor (I saw a total of 3) even suggested the possibility that the problem might be the Lipitor. They all new I was taking it. I know the drug has had highly positive affect on most people and saves lives but I feel that I've lost a year of my life to it.

I am 62 years old. I was put on Lipitor in early December 2007. I took it just before bedtime. Around 3:00am and until about 5:00 or 6:00am I experienced severe anxiety, mental confusion and suicidal thoughts. It felt as if I were having a psychotic break that was so intense I decided to commit myself to the psychiatric clinic where I live, in the morning. However, when I arose at 8:am, it was all over. I had no idea what had brought the thoughts and extreme emotion on. There were no events nor specific incidences which might trigger so strong a reaction. After three successive nights of this, I suspected the Lipitor and stopped taking it. The episodes stopped immediately and have not re-occurred. I took Lipitor for a total of 5 or 6 days.
Having read the postings on this site and a few others, I now suspect that my recent memory loss (actually its an inability to access certain words and names) started at precisely the same time. I am still struggling with the recovery of memory. In addition, I have experienced elbow muscle pain, fatigue and muscle weakness (hands and arms specifically) which started at the same time and also continues to this day, in spite of rigorous exercise. Whether this is related to Lipitor directly is hard to say for sure, but the timing is extremely suspect.

I was on Lipitor 6 yrs. ago for approximately 6 months. The pain and weakness in my arms and shoulders was unbearable. Deep pain that felt like it went right to the bone. On occasion since then I seem to have flair ups. This past week I have been in pain. The strength in my arms is diminished. Has anyone else had this experience?

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.

4 months ago I was diagnosed with Statin induced Myopathy. I researched on the topic of statins and the dangerous side effects through the net and corresponded with some caring people with medical backgrounds, whom were very helpful and supportive.They have pointed me in the right direction for the information I was seeking, and gave me encouragement not to give up! EDUCATE YOURSELF ON STATINS FIRST, THEN TALK TO YOUR DR.
For anyone interested, I have a list of places to google that you may find helpful. To mention a few...

-Adverse drug reaction monitoring

-Investigate statins Petition signatures-Go Petition

-WHO The safety of medicines

-Statins warning out

-Drug induced and toxic myopathies ( www.pubmed.gov)

-Statins.com

-FindArticles-Evaluation of the patient with muscle weakness

-Duane Graveline M.D. (or) Spacedoc

-RateMDS.com

I consider myself very fortunate. I'm able to walk again.The muscle pain and weakness has subsided but not completely gone. I believe at the rate that I'm improving I should be back to my old'self by the time summer rolls around. Oh yeah, and I fired my Doctor. I value my life!
ttfn,

I am currently 44. I have been on Lipitor since December 2005. I was going through breast cancer at the time. I have a family hx of heart disease and high cholesterol. I have been experience many annoying joint aches, muscle pains, and so many other others described. I had to have a bone scan done to make sure I didn't have bone cancer. I am now convinced that after reading all your entries (and my in-laws telling me of these things), that Lipitor has been my problem. My family Dr. had me stop it for 3 weeks and then go back to see what difference it made. Some muscle pain subsided. Came back when I started it again. I am now going to stop taking this and see what other alternatives I have. Your stories have been incredible and helpful. I'm sorry so many have had to endure so many problems but am grateful you have shared your experience. God Bless you all.

I am a 43 year-old female, and have been on Lipitor for quite sometime now, at least 6 years. My doctor told me to watch for muscle pain as a side effect. After being on it for a year with no muscle pain, I was told my chances of developing a side effect at that point was very slim. About 2 years ago I developed severe foot pain which was diagnosed as plantar fasciitis, I went through PT and was put in a brace. Eventually I stopped the PT, not that the pain was gone, but I didn't feel that it was doing any good. I have not been without pain for the past 2 years. Since I am 15 pounds over what "they" consider my ideal weight, the foot pain has been blamed on that. I now have pain in the sides of both my feet and in the past 2 month its progressed to the the inside of my foot just below my ankle. I get pains which I can only describe as what feels like nerves snapping when I'm standing or walking. It is so much worse when I rest for awhile and then stand up. I feel like my walking days are limited. In addition to the foot pain, about 7 months ago I developed pain in my left hip. The first time I noticed it I thought I had bruised it in some way, but that also has gotten progressively worse. And about a month ago I've developed pain in my left elbow. Libido? What Libido???? I never considered any of these symptoms to be related to Lipitor until my husband recently mentioned that one of his co-workers was taken off Lipitor by his doctor after being on it for years because of joint pain that he developed.
As luck would have it, I only have one pill left--my prescription needs to be refilled, but I'm going to make an appointment with my doctor instead. I hesitate doing so, for the same reason that I've haven't gone to the Doctor about any of it after having had gone through PT---I don't think I'm going to be told anything other than I should lose the extra 15 pounds I'm carrying. But after reading all these postings, I can't help but think my problems are very likely related to the 6 years or so that I have been on Lipitor and I don't want to be on it any longer.

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.

This will not be a report on side effects because I have never taken this kind of medication (similar side effects with all lipid lowering drugs).

I don't work in the health field.. I am just an ordinary women I my sixties who is discussed at what I see around me and the stories that are told here.

The pharmaceutical companies and the brain-washed medical staff has really managed to convince the public, all over the world, that they need to lower their cholesterol levels.

Are you sure that they are right?

I am not convinced after reading lots of different books (please see suggestions in message November 3rd, 2007).

I have also visited many different sites on the Internet with other opinions.

Lipitor - and others - are the most prescribed medications in the world.

Many users are ignored when they want to discuss benefit/risk or side effects. The situation is the same if you live in the U.S. or in Sweden, where I live.

I think it`s time that people educate themselves and make up their own mind about this issue.

Also search for "Stopped our statins".

There are some very good article under "print articles". You can take them along to your doctor.

There is one that I particularly recommend - it`s from the Weston Price Foundation, Dangers of Statin Drugs.

In it you will find information about side effects - such as:
muscle pain and weakness, neuropathy, heart failure, dizziness, cognitive impairment, cancer, pancreatic rot, depression etc.

There is also a lot of information about different studies.

Hope I have encouraged you to learn more about this issues.

It`s the pharmaceutical companies that have the money - that`s why you seldom hear about different views.

Good luck!

60 year old female - 115 lbs. Got a cholesterol test result which was way off - 3 times as high as all other tests. Rather than retesting to make sure results were accurate I was given a prescription for 80 mg of Lipitor. Felt terrible - cut my dosage in half 6 weeks later - and stopped altogether about a month after..was experiencing major muscle pain and lethargy/depression. 4 months later got a sudden rotator cuff tear in left shoulder - not from doing anything unusual at all. Had this shoulder repaired - and THEN had to have 2 more surgeries to fix a MAJOR tear on my right shoulder - all within a year of taking this Lipitor. Had not experienced any problems before taking medication.

I too was taking LIPITOR. After 3 months I became short of breath. At first I put it down to the weight that I had regained.I had lost 18kg.the year before. I had muscle pain, nausea, headaches.The Lipitor reduced the LDL alright,but the shortness of breath became worse and worse. If I was sitting on a chair and dropped a piece of paper on the floor I would be completely out of breath from bending over and picking it up! If I was walking for more than a few minutes I would be out of breath and had to stop. I quickly regained my breath; but the moment I started to walk again I would become breathless again!! My heart specialist decide to do an angiogram, that was o.k. He told me it was my weight that made me short of breath, I disagreed with him. My G.P. did not know what caused it either. I had had problems with Pravachol, severe muscles stiffness and pain. I could not straighten a bend leg or bend a straight leg.It was only after I studied the enclosed leaflet in the box of Lipitor that I noticed the RARE BUT SERIOUS SIDE EFFECT: Shortness of breath, if you suffer from this stop straight away and see your Dr. it said. It turned out that the ALVEOLI are affected. I had a lung function test done which showed my lung capacity was down by 20%.After cortisone treatment it has improved a bit but it is still 10% down and it effects me every day. I tire quickly and get out of breath walking uphill or against the wind.If there is a class action going let me know please! I am so fed up . I am only 63 but feel like an old woman.I will not take anymore cholesterol lowering medication; I rather live 5 years less, if that is the consequence.

FOLLOW-UP to Nov. 23rd posting. Great news! My father has been pain-free for one week now. After he stopped taking Lipitor (but still on Plavix), he was still having some pain in his body. We decided to stop taking Plavix in case this was interfering with trying to "flush out" the remnants of Lipitor. Within one week of stopping Plavix, the pain became less and less, until finally there was no more pain. My father is now back to normal and has not felt a pain in his body for over a week.

On another note, I just finished reading "People's Pharmacy" advice column in today's Los Angeles Times newspaper. Someone mentioned taking Cholestyramine (comes in powder form) for high cholesterol and having NO muscle pain. The advice columnist, Joe Graedon, a pharmacologist, wrote that Cholestyramine was prescribed long before statins were invented. The side effects may include constipation, flatulence and digestive upset.

I am a 34 year old male and was on Lipitor for 3 weeks. I had muscle cramps in my shins and the bottom of my feet. I was light headed, dizzy and suffered from nausea. I didn't have any energy or sex drive. I didn't attribute it to the Lipitor right away. I thought I had MS, ALS, muscular dystrophy, etc. I told my doctor about the symptoms and he told me to stop taking the Lipitor. I've been off of the Lipitor for almost two weeks now and the nausea and dizziness are gone. My energy is getting better each day, but I'm still not 100%. The muscles in the bottom of my feet and shins are also getting better but still not 100%. I take a bath every night just to get relief from the symptoms. My doctor has since told me to take CoQ10 to help battle the side effects of Lipitor. He doesn't know how long these side effects will last. Does anyone know how long I can expect these side effects to last? Are they permanent?

I will praise Lipitor for one thing - The side effects caused by it have scared me in to changing my diet and exercise regimen (when I return to being healthy) so I never have to take a drug of this type again.

I am in tears reading everyone's Lipitor experiences because I can relate to so much of what you all are saying. I am a 48 year old female. Was on Lipitor for a little over a year, and stopped taking it about 6 weeks ago. My symptoms included excruciating neck and arm pain, leg muscle pain, knee pain, tingling arms and elbows, hip pain. I blamed my neck problems on a previous injury. I did chiropractic treatment, acupuncture, massage. All helped temporarily, but it always came back. I assumed it was something I would have to live with for the rest of my life.

Then i started having the strange leg muscle pain. It felt like a Charlie horse but in weird spots like my ankles, my shin as well as my calves. Then the knee pain started. I can not sit any length of time without my knee aching. I also have a hitch in my hip...I guess that's what you'd call it. I feel pain when I walk, but can usually walk through it. I was also tired all the time, day after day. Sleeping was miserable because of the neck, knee and hip pain. In combination with the tiredness and the aches and pains, I thought I was just getting old, maybe arthritic!! And this from someone who has always been active....walking, weight lifting, always on the go.

I started getting suspicious when I started listening to the Lipitor commercials on TV that stated "...report any muscle pain or weakness to your doctor as this may be a sign of a rare, but serious side effect..." or something like that. Maybe that's a new "warning" that they didn't use to say on the commercial? Well, I went off of it on my own and I could not believe how much better I felt after only a few days!!! My chronic neck pain has basically disappeared...I still don't have full movement like normal folk but the pain is gone! I have so much more energy, and my leg cramps are gone. I still have a problem with my hip and knee.

Since being off Lipitor, my cholesterol has gone sky high....actually higher than when I first started! My total cholesterol began a little over a year ago at 247, got it down to 190, now after being off the Lipitor for 4 weeks it's a whopping 298!!! My ldl started at 162, got down to 128 and is now 206!!!!

So in addition to all the problems I had being on the Lipitor, it appears going off of it has worsened by cholesterol!!

I am now taking ground flax seed - 2 T daily. I am also going to try cholesterol Off by Nature Made. I will NEVER subject my body and spirit to statins again.

I thank all of you for posting your problems with Lipitor. I wish you all luck, and maybe we'll get to meet each other someday....in court.

I have read and heard, first hand, dozens of stories about Lipitor. It is clear why, too. When you cut off lipoproteins (commonly called "cholesterol"), you cut off the supply of essential fatty acids (EFAs) to the cell membranes of nerve cells, which use these EFAs for neurotransmission. Eventually the nerve cells degenerate and die, causing pain, stiffness, and loss of muscle control.

Typical: muscle pain, muscle weakness, swallowing problems, muscle cramps, numbness, spasms, muscle atrophy.

53 y old male,took lipitor in april 2007 20mg i have had problem in past with disc in neck and tendinitis in elbow but nothing for 10 years by aug i had very bad wrist and thunp pain even holding a pizza box so off to Dr said tendinitis use a thumb brace and phy therapy nothing after 2 months so i am going to different orthopaedic dr.Than 4 weeks ago woke op oct 3 pain in lower back i said ok use some ice went to work and it would be gone in 3 days by oct20 could not take pain in back and siatic nerve server pain down to foot gave pain pills and nothing went to spine specialist said hernaited disk L-4 L-5 and spinal stenosis from disc touching nerves in channel so he wants to operate i ask can lipitor cause this he said nojust look at the MRI but what causes the iflamantion to cause problems in wrist and servere pain in lower back and leg was it lipitor.The pain was so servere the best pain meds could not take the pain awayseep fir 2 hrs than walk around house for 1hrs at o330 in morning caused it hurt so much.@ weeks wastes so i went to chiro dr and after 2weeks i am more liveable and can sleep better .I will go to pain mangerment ti get a shot or operate,its called Discectomy,hope all theres dr know they might be fighting affects of lipitor.We all must get educated and give this info out to ithers

I am a 51 year old male who has taken a 10 mg dose of Lipitor for years. I thought it was a miracle drug as I had no side effects. I am a retired police officer and Army Reserve Officer and have maintained good physical shape. I retired a year ago. About the same time, my doctor raised my dosage to 20 mg. During the last year, I have had physical problems pop up. They include not being able to make it through the night without having to get up and go pee. I realized that it is because of reduced flow and I do not fully purge when I do go. I went to my doctor and had my prostrate checked; it's OK. He said it was just getting old. I thought I have been getting arthritis. When ever I sit for very long, I get joint/muscle pain, I have been having pain in my hands and feet and need to stretch when first getting up in the morning. The worst is my knee. It was surgically repaired 9 years ago. The last year it started hurting bad enough that I must sleep with a pillow between my knees and still wake up from pain at night.

Eight months ago I moved. My mail order prescription (90 day supply) was recently running out of the 20mg Lipitor, but I found an old bottle of the 10mg dose and started taking it until I identified a new doctor and got a new prescription. My symptoms began to disipate That lead me to start thinking about whether lipitor had any side effects. I never thought of it until this morning. I googled Lipitor side effects and found this site and started reading about people with similar issues. I had no significant problems with the 10mg dose and may just reduce again to that level. I'm making an appointment today with my new doctor to talk about it.

I took Lipitor for 4 or 5 years. I lost count. I am a type II diabetic and the Dr. threw tons of prescriptions at me. I was convinced all my problems were not the result of Lipitor because my sister's Dr. told her that if you had the muscle pain you would have it all over. Well I got sick of feeling like I was 85 years old. I am 57. I know I am not young anymore, but I couldn't sit for more than a few minutes without having trouble getting up. The right top of my leg hurt so bad some times that I could hardly walk . I also had really bad pain on the right side of my lower leg. I had pains in my neck and shoulders and attributed it to stress at work.Last, but not least I had terrible gas and bloating. The gas was downright embarrasing. Well I took it upon myself to stop taking it. Within several days I felt like a new woman! The minute I woke up one morning I could feel the difference before I even got out of bed. I felt like I had been given my life back.

When I called my Dr. to let her know she wasn't very happy and wanted me to come in. Well now she put me on Crestor and it's been two weeks and the old pains and gas are coming back. I am NOT going to take these terrible statins anymore. They say that the muscle and joint aches are rare, but that is only because most doctors won't listen to their patients. You know your own body better than anyone else.

I have heard that some of the "older" statins are not as powerful and they don't have as many side effects. Has anyone else heard this or had any experience using them?

All I know is that for now I am off statins.