Zocor and cholesterol myths

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.

Except for having high cholesterol (310), I'm a 29 yr old healthy active female, very petite and weigh 98lbs. My mother has had a quadruple bypass and 4 stents at the age of 54, high cholesterol is just hereditary in my family. My doctor put me on 40 mg of zocor. The first week taking zocor I started feeling strange, a little soar here and there and very tired at times, also I have become very forgetful. It's been almost 2 months now and I have severe pain in my legs. First it was the right leg and now both legs, the pain starts at my lower back all the way down to my cav. I have a burning painful feeling sometimes numbing feeling, its driving me crazy!!!! I can't stand for too long cause I feel tons of pressure on my lower back pushing down my legs, It feels like my sciatic nerve. I went to my doctor and he said he is 95% sure that this is from the zocor medication, he told me to stop it right away. This is my first day without it, I know I need to do something to prevent what happen to my mother, I'm on a strict healthy diet, staying away from all fatty cholesterol filled foods, but there has to be a better way then taking statin drugs! If anyone has some ideas of what kind of alternative meds I can take, please help.

I am only 42 years old and have been on zocor for the past 30 months. I've had mild tingling in my feet and achy joints along with slightly elevated liver enzymes and fatigue since then. Ever since my doctor increased the zocor to 80 mg per day ( because although my cholesterol level is normal, my triglycerides are still very high) , I feel like I am 100 years old! All my joints ache so bad and my feet and hands alternately tingle or feel very cold! I am also having trouble focusing when I look from something close up to something far away! I am also clumsier and more forgetful. Could these symptoms be caused by coenzyme-Q deficiency?

My mother took Zocor and has the similar side effects. But has anyone
had shaking hands or been told they might have ALS (lou Geric's disease)?

Please contact me if this has happend to you. My mother thinks she has less than 3 years to live.

Contact me at ****** Please! Thank you.

PLEASE HELP! My father, age 74, was on lipitor for a year or so and then was switched to zocor a few weeks ago to help control his cholestorol. In the past week, the tightening he experienced in his leg, while on lipitor, has become debilitating leg pain now while he is on Zocor. Ultrasounds have ruled out a blood clot. He has no pain when he sits, but he describes the pain has his calf wanting to explode when he stands and he cannot walk with out the help of a cain. The pain radiates from his leg up to his hip.

His cardiologist has taken him off the zocor for a few weeks to see if there is an improvement. It has been 3 days and he feels a bit of relief. SO here is the million dollar question: His labs indicate his cholestorol is normal now, most likely thanks to the statins.....can anyone suggest another form of meds that will help regulate his cholestorol....say COeq10 and fish oil? Any help is SO appreciated!!! Thanks to each of you for your posts. It is so comforting for my dad to know he isn't developing a new issue and that it can be resolved with the removal of zocor!

I was prescribed Zocor for high cholesterol. Almost immediately I began to experience body aches -- some days more severe than others. I would take ibuprofen and it would help. Then, I started getting a pretty strong pain on my hip which radiated down my leg onto my foot. The pain was so severe, even the Motrin 800 mg. pills didn't help it. I am 53 years old, but I felt like a 90 year old. I had problems walking, especially after sitting for an hour or so. I had problems with stairs. Even laying down was painful. I tried heating pads, ointments, etc. When I told my doctor about it, she said that this was a typical side effect of statins, and that because I am diabetic, I need to continue taking Zocor to keep my cholesterol down. Just the other day, I stopped taking Zocor for 3 glorious days and guess what? NO pain!!! I resumed it because my doctor insists that I stay on it, but I wish there was something else I could take that wouldn't cause pain.

I was prescribed Zocor approximately 1 month ago. I began taking the Zocor and immediately on the first night I had slurred speech. It went away after two nights...but I continued to have horrible headaches for about a week. Finally, I thought I was in the clear. After about 3 weeks, I had a little spasms in my left leg...from the foot to the hip. It went away...and a few days later it showed up in my right leg...from my foot to my hip. My right knee is currently on fire...and I can't walk really well. I have a tendency to dray my right leg behind me. It gets better after a period of rest, but as soon as I try to walk...it's back again. I stopped taking Zocor a few days ago, and I see the doctor tomorrow.

This is a message that I wrote earlier on, but I think it´s good to repeat it because I want to encourage people to read and make up their own mind about the cholesterol issue.
_________________________

It`s very disturbing to read all these stories. I really feel for you.

My experience comes from seeing what happened to 3 people close to me. They all took statins.

I started to look for information on statins, and other medications in 2004 , and it continues to this day although two of my relatives are dead.

I have nothing to do with the health or pharmaceutical industry.

I saw the suffering and it made me very angry.

I am an ordinary lady in her sixties who live in Sweden.

The situation is almost the same here as in the U.S.

There is very little discussion about risks/benefits with this kind of medicatications - or others.

I think it`s a good idea to turn to the Internet and books to get other views about the cholesterol issue.

Is it really true that it`s the cholesterol that is causing heart disease?

Are you sure?

Please visit:

www.thincs.org

www.ravnskov.nu

www.spacedoc.net

www.statinalert.org

Also search for "Stopped our statins" on Google.

You will find a lot of information.

Under "print articles" you will find a very informative article from The Weston Price Foundation.

Also search on the names of the different authors below.

Here are som books:

The Cholesterol Myths (Uffe Ravnskov)

The Great Cholesterol Con (Antony Colpo)

Book with the same title (Malcolm Kendrick)

Overdosed America (John Abramson)

The Truth about the Drug Companies (Marcia Agnell)

There are many more.

For more information about these books turn to the Internet.

It´s good to have some other information than the one given by doctors because most of them have been "educated" by the pharmaceutical companies themselves - and why should they talk about risks, side effects etc. They are interested in profits.

Finally - here are some side effects that I have seen:

pains in legs, hands, elbows, shoulders, knees, hips, cracking noise in ribs, muscle weakness, loss of hair, head ache, burning, tingling sensations in hands and feet, numbness, difficulties to swallow, loss of taste, ringing noise in ears, cramps, insomnia, irritation, depression, difficulty with short-term memory and then advancing into more serious problems.

These side effects - i 3 different people - all over 65 - did not come at once.

All of them had taken statins for years (Zocor)

It doesn´t matter which product -all statins have similar side effects.

My relatives also had some other medications which makes it even easier for doctors (and patients) to say that it`s just old age.

I am happy for those who get problems right away because then there maybe a chance for the patient and the doctor to see that there is a connection.

You really have to look out for yourself and the people around you!

Good Luck.

l

It`s very disturbing to read all these stories.

I really feel for you.

My experience comes from seeing what happened to people close to me. They all took statins.

I started to look for information on statins, and other medications, in 2004 and it continues to this day although two of my relatives are dead.

I have nothing to do with the health or pharmaceutical industry.
I saw the suffering and it made me very angry.

I am an ordinary lady in her sixties who live in Sweden.

The situation is almost the same here as in the U.S.

There is very little discussion about risks/benefits with this kind of medicatications - or others.

I think it`s a good idea to turn to the Internet and books to get other views about the cholesterol issue.

Is it really true that it`s the cholesterol that is causing heart disease? Are you sure?

Please visit:

www.thincs.org,

www.ravnskov.nu,

www.spacedoc.net, www.statinalert.org

Also search for "Stopped our statins" on Google.

You will find a lot of information. Under "print articles" you will find a very informative article from The Weston Price Foundation.

Also search on the names of the different authors below.

Here are som books:

The Cholesterol Myths (Uffe Ravnskov)

The Great Cholesterol Con (Antony Colpo)

Book with the same title (Malcolm Kendrick)

Overdosed America (John Abramson)

The Truth about the Drug Companies (Marcia Agnell)

There are many more.
For forther information about these books turn to the Internet.

It´s good to have some other information than the one given by doctors because most of them have been "educated" by the pharmaceutical companies themselves - and why should they talk about risks, side effects etc. They are interested in profits.

Finally - here are some side effects that I have seen:

pains in legs, hands, elbows, shoulders, knees, hips, cracking noise in ribs, muscle weakness, loss of hair, head ache, burning, tingling sensations in hands and feet, numbness, difficulties to swallow, loss of taste, ringing noise in ears, cramps, insomnia, irritation, depression, difficulty with short-term memory and then advancing into more serious problems.

These side effects - i 3 different people - all over 65 - did not come at once.

All of them had taken statins for years (Zocor)

It doesn´t matter which product -all statins have similar side effects.

My relatives also had some other medications which makes it even easier for doctors (and patients) to say that it`s just old age.

I am happy for those who get problems right away because then there maybe a chance for the patient and the doctor to see that there is a connection.

You really have to look out for yourself and the people around you!

Good Luck.

My mother who is 84 has been on Zocor for quite a few years after a small heart failure. Recently I started to do some "research" on her medication as she had some unexplainable weakness in her legs this past summer.

I found this address www.thincs.org - a group of cholesterol sceptic researchers/doctors. I recommend reading of the book the Cholesterol Myths which I believe were published in the US around year 2000.

Thank you for this sight. It will make it easier to convince my mother´s doctor that she should stop this medication. So far, I have not convinced my mother although I have read some of these stories to her.

Greets from a thankful daughter in Sweden

See my previous entry below at: "Fri, 26 Mar 2004 18:48:12 -0500 by balinaidoo, #4960".
I have since read "The Cholesterol Myths" by Dr Uffe Ravnskov (bought from Amazon). This man is as straight as a die and just completely and scientifically honest. Believe me, I am always on the look-out for "snake oil salesmen" and would run a mile if I smelled one nearby. I am now utterly convinced that cholesterol DOES NOT CAUSE HEART DISEASE. It is the innocent bystander trying to help at the scene of the accident. It REPAIRS damage for heavens sake. Read this book and be amazed (?) at how the drug companies, so-called "scientific" research study groups, government regulating bodies, physicians and cardiologists etc etc have mostly shown venal greed, total lack of care for you and me, lethargy and laziness, desire to go along with "revered authority" etc etc to foist on us the huge lie that high cholesterol is a problem and that the diet-heart theory is to be believed. WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE! This is your health (easily damaged and very precious to you) and your money (Absolutely BILLIONS) that they are mis-appropriating. The message is FORGET ABOUT CHOLESTEROL LEVEL. Unless you are in the minority group who suffer from familial hypercholesterolemia (an inherited condition), then cholesterol is NOT going to give you heart disease. I exhort you to read this book.
Statins appear to faintly reduce the number of cardiovascular events in very high risk patients (are you sure you are one?) although even this result may be down to pure chance. What they do is to increase the number of deaths overall! So, you may well increase your chances of dying from cancer. Is this good?
The true villian appears to be Homocysteine a sulphur bearing amino acid in the blood. A test for level is readily available (on the NHS in the UK). Now buy and devour a book called "The Heart Revolution" by Dr Kilmer McCully. This is another revelation and the answer to high levels of Homocysteine seems to be Vitamin B6, B12 and Folic Acid. How difficult is that? This Homocysteine may also be implicated in Alzheimers, Cancers, Arthritis etc. The fact that no expensive drugs are involved explains why those famous drugs companies (and all those who are in their very deep pockets) don't want you to know about this.
Finally get "Nourishing Traditions" by Sally Fallon. Wow! Those lovely tasty foods we were warned to spurn are OK after all. She also gives you a very thorough and expert introduction to the good and bad points of almost anything you may want to eat. Read, go back to good old-fashioned food and enjoy your life again. Just who are these ghastly people who have been foisting the failed diet-heart theory on us at huge profit to themselves and at huge cost to our health and to our enjoyment of decent food? Why did we let them do it to us?
I am not a doctor and I have no vested interest in promoting any of the above mentioned works except that I have ditched statins and have found that these people give a totally refreshing and deeply honest take on the problems that so many of us have suffered from. Best of all, get your doctor to read them too. We need to get this monkey off our backs.

Am 53 yo and was diagnosed with high cholesterol of 410 when I was 27 yo back in 1967 and have tried every cholesterol lowering drug recommended by my doctors including Zocor. Zocor gave me muscle pains, mental fuzziness, disturbed sleep. So I stopped taking the drug 2 months later. I stopped worrying about cholesterol several years ago, after reading the research done by Swedish doctor Uffe Ravnskov in his book "The Cholesterol Myths" (see www.ravnskov.nu )and also visiting the website of German doctor Matthias Rath ( See www.drrath.com ) These doctors are brilliant and you should read their works. When you look at the research on cholesterol done by these world leading doctors, you realise elevated cholesterol is not a big deal. l had a CT Scan done recently and they cant find any cholesterol deposits in my arteries. I dont take any medication these days. Yet every time I visit my family doctor, I get a earfull on the dangers of high cholesterol, and the hype about statins. As a successful businessman, I have learned to listen to people and act only on good advice. Sadly, the average doctor has little understanding of cholesterol and so I ignore their advice. Hope this helps.