Zocor and chest pain

wow- glad I found you guys! I'm female, 54, thin, healthy, have always exercised and watched my diet. cholesterol went up to 280 a couple of yrs ago- tried more diet/exercise but it only came down to 250, so since then have tried 4 low-dose (40 mg) statins (crestor, lipitor, zocor, and now pravastatin), all of which after 2-6 months made me feel like I was jumping out of my skin and caused chest pain and palpitations that stopped almost immediately when I discontinued them. Also, I've always fallen asleep quickly and now take an hour or more, and recently my fingers have started falling asleep/tingling. I'm stopping the pravastatin today! Maybe 250 isn't so bad, if this is the alternative. Does anyone have any remedies to suggest besides low fat/low sugar diet? I just read that we should avoid reduced-fat milks (I drink 1%) because they contain oxydized cholesterol, which irritates the artery wall.

severe GERD, respiratory problems, blurred vision,tingling sensation, abdominal pain, abdominal spasms, nerve and muscle damage,chest pain,headache,

I am 39 years old. My cholesterol levels have been between 250 and 370 since my mid-twenties. I started on Lipitor and noticed after a few years that my loss of memory, muscle pain, fatigue and difficulty sleeping were just plain annoying. I quit talking in August of 2007. Since then I have changed my diet to a vegan diet where I have zero cholesterol intake. After 9 months my cholesterol levels are still 270. My body produces it anyway. The only time I saw my cholesterol levels drop (on Lipitor) was when I was doing Atkins (high fat, protein) and my levels were in the 170s. I was prescribed Zocor this spring by another doctor, however still found myself unwilling to take it. While only taking a diuretic blood pressure medicine, I began experiencing some chest pain, headaches, shortness of breath, numbness in the face and hands and got scared. I began taking the Zocor on Friday 4/25/08 - I haven't had a good night's sleep since. By Tuesday night I broke out with a rash on my arms and hands (itchy). I thought it was hives. By Friday 5/2/08 my head was in a fog - I couldn't remember what happened on Monday, it feels like it was 6 months ago. I stopped talking last night Fri. 5/2/08 and this morning the rash was gone and I slept fairly well. I believe in choosing the lesser of two evils; however, with the obvious effects of this drug I wonder what it does to the inside of my body where it isn't so obvious. As young as I am, I really worry about the long term effects of this medication, and others like it, that would make heart disease seem like a piece of cake.

I am 54 and began taking Simvastatin 20mg on Jan 11, 2008 my blood panel showed chol 319 ldl 251hdl 44 trig 118 on Jan 26 I experienced chest pain like I had swallowed an ice cube for fifteen minutes and thought it was a side effect of the Statin I went to the surgicenter and was checked in with Troponin at 0.1 after one hour there I had another pain and they gave nitro g and it continued the Troponin level went to 1.6 They sent me to get an angiogram and I ended up getting two stents. just before the procedure after not having eaten for 22 hours my blood panel was done again and my chol was 155 ldl 89 hdl 38 trig 136. my ldl had gone down 162 mg/dl in fifteen days. after two weeks now taking Plavix as well I began having extreme pain in my joints and both knees forearms and calves, so bad I can hardly walk and have been prescribed Darvocet for the pain. I want to stop taking the Simvastatin I am alarmed at the rate of decent and wonder if my symptoms could be a product of too low of cholesterol. I can't get a straight answer from three doctors I've spoken to. I'm being crippled by the cure

On my second night of taking Zocor I got severely ill. I was so weak I had to crawl to the bathroom and I started having severe chest pains with a burning sensation of the skin where the chest pain was. It felt like putting Ben-Gay on a scrape. Needless to say I won't be taking that anymore.

I started taking generic Zocor 5 days ago and I too feel like I've been hit by a truck. My neck is so stiff and I seem wide awake at night and have trouble sleeping. After doing some research I thought perhaps I had adrenal fatigue because I had most of those symptoms. I'm going to quit the Zocor cold turkey today and see if I start feeling better because it's difficult getting up and going to work. My muscles are aching and when I get up I seem to be stiff all over, even felt some weird chest pain this morning and lightheadedness. If this is how I have to feel on cholesterol lowing medication then I'll just keep my high cholesterol (258).

I had a light heart attack in February 2005, then had two bypasses. Upon release from hospital I was prescribed Zocor to control cholesterol (previous cholesterol levels were between 200-220). My family doctor had not prescribed medications previously but cardiologist said I should have been on this medication "long ago." When I had my heart attack I did not have chest pain (which I understand is fairly common in women); rather I had intense pain in my arms, shoulders, and back. Since the surgery and being placed on Toprol and Zocor, I have had continuous nagging pain in my arms and back. Of course this makes me think I am going to have another heart attack. I have been told by medical personnel that this "probably could not be a side effect of the Zocor, might be "in my head," etc. My family has a history of heart attacks, high cholesterol, etc., so would be very hesitant to stop the Zocor (or some other statin drug) unless I could be very sure this is causing the pain. The pain is not high level (possibly 2-3 level; occasionally higher), but is always there! I am now going to chiropractor but he has been very straight-forward about his ability to help me.

I'am 43 old male with high cholestrol level(family) i have been taking zocor for the past 3 month and i had some problem like
tired,chest pain, funny feeling in my eye. lower back pain, gas
went off the medicin for a couple week some of the symptoms
went away. but i was so affried to stop the zocor so i went back and all the symptoms got back. i hope its not in my mind.

I just found this site and I'm totally AMAZED at all the similar complaints I have. I am a 46 year old female and have been on Zocor for about 6 years. My cholesterol is high, due to heredity. I've gone from 20mg, to 40 mg, to 80 mgs. I had leg cramps so badly with the 80 mg. that I just quit taking it. I was put back on 40 mgs. and still have many of the complaints.. i.e.... chronic muscle pain in neck, shoulders, arms, legs... chest pain/burning just doing minimal walking (saw cardiologist and had treadmill - nothing found)... a rash that comes and goes on my face, especially on and around my eyelids... insomnia... strange to horrible dreams... sudden lower abdonimal protrusion (never had that in my life!)... inability to lose weight... So, there you have it. I will be consulting with my doctor and getting off this horrible medicine! Diet and exercise will be a forever friend to me. I'm so glad I found this site.

my father has diabetes and we got a letter in mail about a month ago and the letter simply stated to my dad to come off the zorcor. because he had elevated muscle enzymes or something to that effect. and he had stated that he had tingling in his arm along with chest pain. my fury is with his diabetes spclst, why couldn't she be honest and tell us that this medication could possible be the culprit of his elevated blood readings. i am very disappointed in this doctor.

Lipitor, pravacol and zocor have the same effect on me. They are, swollen ankles, palpitations, dizziness, chest and stomach pain and nausea. Once I was hospitalized for a few days while tests were taken. The stress test had me running uphill on the treadmill. When my legs were about to give out, they decided it was not my heart. I have not been watching my diet, and my total cholesterol went up from 165, to 185. Doc wants me to increase zocor to double the dose. I don't want to do that. I'm 70 years old, work out and swim on a regular basis with no chest pain. Any suggestions??

With my lipoprotein levels at 105 (0-30 normal range), the doctor prescribed 10 mg Zocor. After a couple of weeks of taking it, I started experiencing skipping heart beats. No chest pain but I'm worried that when their side effects lists that muscles are affected, the heart is also affected since it is a muscle, right? Now, I'm about to go for the 2-D echo exam to look for the reason for this skipping heart beat and the new doctor wants me on Lipitor.

I am responding to the most recent post about Zocor side effects. Yes, I had the same response about not being believed about the side effects that I was experiencing. One of the most troublesome for me was the depression to the point that I was teary every day. Slowly, this seems to be lifting-I have been off the Zocor approximately 8 weeks. I also experienced the eye twitching that was so severe it interferred with my everyday life. Also, I had breathing difficulties with chest pain.

High cholersterol runs in my family and my has been high for years, it just lept up to 415. I was on 40mg of zocor daily and my ears started ringing and I felt that I was having constant panic attacks because my heart rate went up to 160 and was short of breath. My doc told me it was because of my thyroid was elevated. I stop my zocor for a week and then started again. After 10days the ringing of ears, shortness of breath, chest pain, tachycardia and a new one depression started all over again. I have an appointment with my doc I know that she will think that I am crazy, but I will not take this drug again.