Vytorin and lipitor

To all of you here I would suggest that you also read messages for the others statins such as for instance Lipitor, Zocor and Simvastatin as all statins have similar side effects.

I have written several messages there (Swedish). I have nothing to do with the health or pharmaceutical industry.

Just an ordinary lady in her sixties who have experienced side effects in people close to me.

That made me look for information. It started in 2003 and continues to this day because I think it`s necessary.

I hope you will be able to read some of the books that I mention in my messages to enlighten yourself.

Unfortunately the names of the webb-sites have been replaced with ***' but if you google for the names of the writers I am sure you will find them.

Good luck!

I have been taking Vytorin for approximately 8 months. I noticed that my knees were weak and I had cramps not only in my thighs but also my hands. I can hardly stand up from a sitting position. I thought it was because of the normal aging process. I am a Nurse and started to look at the medications I was taking. I decided that Vytorin could be the culprit. So 1 week ago I stopped taking it. I see some improvement in my knees and cramps. I did have problems with Lipitor in the past. I will not take any more Statin drugs. It is ridiculous to have such side effects from a drug that collegiately is suppose to help you. My cholesterol is around 200. I will seek other avenues to lower my cholesterol.

I am a 45 yr old female and I have been on Vytorin for about 2 yrs or so for my cholesterol problems. Was on Lipitor before that and was getting leg pain so I stopped taking it. When blood work time came around it was still up so my doc put me on Vytorin. I have noticed that I feel like I'm dying. I have severe neck,back and arm pain, cold and hot attacks, can't sleep, chest pain,blurred vision, sudden stomach cramps, nausea, throat and ear aches, and bad stomach problems. I have had heart cath, ekgs,endoscopy, blood work and everything keeps coming back normal. Matter of fact, I went to the heart doc today and he put me on a 24 hour monitor and for low heart rate that has gradually gotten worse over the past few months.He even mentioned a pace maker. I don't even want to start about the depression and anxiety attacks that I have. They are AWFUL. But the more blogs that I have read, I think I know where the problem may lye. The Vytorin, so as of tonight I will NOT take another one..I just hope that there is no permanent damage done as far as my liver. I hope you all the best and I will let you know how I start to feel in the next few days...

As MANY of you have posted, "I thought I was just getting 'old." Now I know it's the statins. I thought I was doing the right thing because I have family history of cholesterol problems. I was first on pravachol, then lipitor for a few years, now Vytorin - which dropped my numbers to the lowest ever - 190.

HOWEVER - I have never felt worse. I have all the 'symptoms' described in this blog. Reclusive, depressed, extreme shoulder/neck stiffness and pain. Low back, and hip joint pain (severe). I can't even workout because I don't have the stamina to go through my routine. LOSS OF MEMORY!! This is severe. I use to be able to memorize hundreds of numbers or addresses and now can't remember a number that I looked at 2 seconds ago! This is insane! They need to remove this drug from the market. I'm done with statins.

I have been on Lexapro for several years to help with migraine auras brought on by anxiety.
6 months ago my doctor put me on Vitorin for my high cholesterol (280 total) which was not being controlled with Lipitor. Lately I have been having the auras again and thought maybe the Lexapro had stopped working.
I also have a problem sleeping straight through the night, have recently started having strong frequent urges to urinate, and some strange mental/visual experiences. e.g. I was recently in route to JFK terminal and I swore that a sign said "Jet Blue-terminal 4". My daughter said that it was 6 but my brain literally SAW 4. She was right.
The other day I was taking a frozen dinner out of the freezer for lunch. The package said "Stouffers" and I was surprised because I didn't think I had bought Stouffers. When I went to open it it was a "Smart One" frozen meal, but I SWEAR I saw "Stouffers." I'm 54 but thought maybe I had a brain tumor or early Altsheimers or something.
I came upon this forum by mistake looking for answers. Maybe Vytorin is my problem, even though I do not experience any of the joint or muscle pain.
I need to go back to my primary physician to have the cholesterol rechecked. This better all end soon because its scaring the daylights out of me!

I have chest muscle pain and some nausea. I have trouble with a lot of cholesterol drugs. Because I am hypothyroid, I am wondering if it is the Povidone Iodine in all of these drugs.
The one statin I haven,t tried is Lipitor and my research says that it does not have any Povidone Iodine in it. Has anyone else had these side effects?

Used to take Lipitor but my immune system went down and I blamed the statins.
Dr. at Lipids clinic changed medication from statins to ezetimibe and since using that I wake in the morning with stiff hands and arms up to the elbow. Difficulty making a fist, also have extreme lower back pain, difficult to walk or bend first thing in the morning. Also noticed bad calf muscle pain. Symptoms usually resolve after I have been up and about for about an hour. Not sure if it's the new drug but I am stopping it to see if these symptoms go away.