Zocor and high cholesterol

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

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.

Hi and please feel free to email me. I was on Lipitor for quite a while (20mg)without any issues. Due to insurance etc I was switched to 40mg of simvastatin-(Zocor-generic)--with in a short time i noticed i was waking nearly every morning with a mouth full of junk requiring a deep throat clearing. Then a low level sore throat that persisted for more than two weeks. I went to my doctor who agreed that it may be related (though I think she doubted it) and had me stop. Now i have been off for 5 days and still my throat is sore (though not sore to swallow) and mouth generally feels "messed up".

If any of you have had any sore throat experiences etc please let me know. Also how long did your side effects last once you came off the drug?

I am a 44 yr old female. I have been on Zocor for 2 yrs. I have never had high cholesterol. I have a family history of heart disease and after my 44 yr old brother had a heart attack and the transplant, my doctor put me on Zocor as a precaution. I have had problems over the 2 yrs and have been to the doctor many times only to be dismissed as Oh, I need to lose weight, I need to get out of the house more, I need to exercise, It must be my depression....and on and on. I have never had a kidney or liver test in 2 years. I never knew I needed on and my doctor never tested me. I have over 30 symptoms/side effects of Zocor. I only looked into the side effects after my mother-in-law had muscle break down, an intestinal blockage and a ruptured bowel and almost died a few weeks ago. I couldn't believe what I found on this site. I immediately stopped the Zocor. I started to feel better right away but it was short lived. i felt great for 1 week and then it all crept back in on me for a week and then this last week I am back in bed with dibilitating fatigue and muscle weakness. I will now list my symptoms/side effects.
Shortness of breath; heart palpitations; droopy eye lid (left eye); eye lid twitch (right eye); optical migraines; numbness & tingling of my arms (from the elbows down) and my hands; My hands "fall asleep"; Itching all over; severe muscle weakness ( I have dropped things); muscle pain; joint pain (even the little ones in my toes); leg cramps; critically anemic (on 3 iron pills per day); ruptured ankle tendon (left ankle, currently being treated with a brace trying to avoid surgery); hot flashes/flushing; cold hands and feet; dizziness;, loss of balance; headaches; blurred vision; mental fog; confusion; loss of memory; loss of concentration; extreme and debilitating fatigue; insomnia; trouble staying asleep (wake every hour); huge weight gain; swelling of calves, ankles and feet; dark colored urine; gas; upset stomach; diarrhea; stomach pain; depression; anxiety; hair loss; bruises; mouth ulcers; back pain; tingling on top of head; heaviness in my thighs; EXHAUSTION! I feel like I am 100 yrs old. I have had nights that I thought I was dying and had panic attacks that I would not survive the night. I have 3 young children to take care of. I can not even put conditioner on my hair or shave my legs in the shower because I have to get out so quickly due to exhaustion. I have to lean on one elbow at the sink to brush my teeth. When I get out of the shower I can barely breath, I am wheezing, my heart is pounding and I feel like I will collapse so I have to get out and rush to my bed. I home school my 3 children and most days we do school in my bed. Everything is an effort. I can never plan anything because most days I am incapacitated. I may have a good day and can actually go out to dinner or Walmart once or twice a month and then I can't wait to get back home and get in bed because I am so worn out. I don't see how this drug can actually remain on the market. I am so angry and upset that my doctor never told me this could happen. When I asked about side effects I was told "oh no there aren't any really". My doctor never ran tests on me. I just can't believe this. I go tomorrow for blood work and I go to the doctor on Mon to discuss the results and all of my problems. I am so afraid that I have permanent damage to my muscles and possibly my heart. I went tot he doc months ago with shortness of breath and swelling and she did an EKG and said my heart was fine and I was not having congestive heart failure. I fear I was and still am! It is not normal to be out of breath just brushing your teeth and combing your hair. I hope we all get the answers we are looking for and that we all recover from this horrible drug. God bless you all!

Have stopped taking Zocor today after finally accepting that my life has changed since taking this medication....am too weak to open a soda bottle, keep twisting words, memory is shot, Hips, knees and ankles scream whenever I have been sitting for more than 15 minutes....light headed, dizzy and constant headache...want to just curl up in a ball and cover my head for loss of ambition. I am exhausted all of the time.

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.

Taking high dose of statin (generic zocor 80mg/day), I was short of breath, severe fatigue and couldn't get out of bead for long. The following information saved me. The article was published in 2002 by a Board Cerified Cardiologist:

"July 8, 2002
STATIN-INDUCED CARDIOMYOPATHY
INTRODUCTION TO THE CITIZEN’S PETITION ON STATINS
By Peter H. Langsjoen, MD
The medical profession has, after more than 30 years of excellent propaganda, successfully created the wholly iatrogenic - "pseudo-disease" dubbed "hypercholesterolemia" and the associated malady "cholesterol neurosis". After decades of dismal failure to cure this "disease" of numbers with low fat diets and a host of cholesterol lowering drugs, the medical profession stumbled upon the magic bullet, the cure for this dreaded artificial disease - statins (HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors). First released on the US market in 1987, statins have rapidly grown into one of the most widely prescribed class of drugs in history. Statins do three things:
1. They block the body's ability to make cholesterol, thus lowering the blood level of cholesterol, thereby curing cholesterol neurosis. Doctors and patients equally neurotic have immediate gratification. The "evil" high cholesterol has been dramatically lowered and the future is bright and promising. So far...so good.
2. Unrelated to their cholesterol lowering, statins have been found to have anti-inflammatory, plaque-stabilizing properties which have a slight benefit in coronary heart disease.
3. Statins kill people - lots of people - and they wound many, many more. All patients taking statins become depleted in Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), eventually - those patients who start with a relatively low CoQ10 levels (the elderly and patients with heart failure) begin to manifest signs/symptoms of CoQ10 deficiency relatively rapidly - in 6 to 12 months. Younger, healthier people who's only "illness" is the non-illness "hypercholesterolemia" can tolerate statins for several years before getting into trouble with fatigue, muscle weakness and soreness (usually with normal muscle enzyme CPK tests) and most ominously - heart failure.
In my practice of 17 years in Tyler, Texas, I have seen a frightening increase in heart failure secondary to statin usage, "statin cardiomyopathy". Over the past five years, statins have become more potent, are being prescribed in higher doses, and are being used with reckless abandon in the elderly and in patients with "normal" cholesterol levels. We are in the midst of a CHF epidemic in the US with a dramatic increase over the past decade. Are we causing this epidemic through our zealous use of statins? In large part I think the answer is yes. We are now in a position to witness the unfolding of the greatest medical tragedy of all time - never before in history has the medical establishment knowingly (Merck & Co., Inc. has two 1990 patents combining CoQ10 with statins to prevent CoQ10 depletion and attendant side effects) created a life threatening nutrient deficiency in millions of otherwise healthy people, only to then sit back with arrogance and horrific irresponsibility and watch to see what happens - as I see two to three new statin cardiomyopathies per week in my practice, I cannot help but view my once great profession with a mixture of sorrow and contempt.
Statin-induced CoQ10 depletion is the topic of a recent petition to the FDA requesting that this drug/nutrient interaction be identified in a black box warning as part of statin package insert information. A comprehensive review of animal and human trials addressing this issue has been submitted to the FDA as a supporting document. We, of course, do not expect any response from the FDA, but 10 years from now when the full extent of statin toxicity becomes painfully evident, at least we can, in good conscience, know that we tried and who knows, sometimes small sparks may spread in dry grass.

See Also:
Cholesterol Drugs And The Depletion Of Coenzyme Q10: A Review Of Human And Animal Data.
By Peter H. Langsjoen, MD
Citizen Petition: Needed - A Change In The Labeling Of All Statin Drugs"

Hello Everyone,

I am 33, male, I have been doing sport actively for at least 10 years (swimming and running) and I have been leading a health-conscious diet. I have a hereditary high-cholesterol condition, a type which appears in adulthood (so they say). Since 2004 my blood tests have showed roughly the following results: HDL 1.1, CHL 6.2, LDL 4.1, TRI 4.38 (mmol/L).
I have been taking Zocor 40mg for about less than a month and recently I have been experiencing cramps in my left lower arm, fatigue, itching (this morning for example I was woken by the cramp in my left arm, not nice). I have just read all your posts and have decided to abort my Zocor treatment at once. I have bought Q10 capsules and vitamins and started to drink 4 liters (herb tea) a day. I hope the pain will soon abate because now I have a totally dysfunctional left arm (I can't grasp because of the pain).

I am going to write in a week's time about the de-Zocoring of my body. In the meantime, I wish a speedy recovery to everyone.

Peter

i am a male 48 years old and have been taking zocor for only one month now and started getting a lot of heavy headache pain, and nausea,sinus headache and not feeling of working. ever since i feel always tired and not been able to proform at work also i m constipating with no bowel movements .

“The first heart disease indicator to be recommended by the American Heart Association in twenty years entails only a surprisingly simple, inexpensive blood test. This high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) test takes the traditional cardiac check-up a step further, pinpointing those people who are at a much higher risk than others for heart disease, America’s leading cause of death. From hs-CRP results, doctors gain crucial insight into inflammation of the blood vessels around the heart, a factor not considered until now for patients at risk… People who have suffered a heart attack or stroke and those with at least one risk factor, such as family history, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking or diabetes, should be tested. While the American Heart Association and Centers for Disease Control just recently recommended hs-CRP testing as an option for those already at risk, The Cleveland Clinic has used the hs-CRP test routinely for at-risk patients for several years. Hs-CRP is a great test for people with one or two risk factors who wonder if they are really in jeopardy of a heart attack or a stroke (Greater than 3.0 mg/L High Risk for CVD). It’s probably less useful for people without any risk factors.” See entire article: http://my.clevelandclinic.org/heart/news/hot/crp.aspx
Hopefully, your physician/cardiologist will do a C-Reactive Protein (CRP) test, and based on the results of the CRP, consider a low dose statin (5mg Lipitor –split tablet in half or 10mg Zocor), instead of a high dose. See article by Dr. Cohen, Associate Professor of Family and Preventive Medicine and of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego: “Overall, the risk of death was the same with high-dose and lower-dose Lipitor. In other words, high-dose Lipitor offered no advantage in the study's most important category: preventing deaths.” See, www.medicationsense.com (HIGH-DOSE LIPITOR FOR HEART ATTACKS: HOW EFFECTIVE, HOW SAFE?)
Also see, the recent article (Feb. 2008), by Board Certified Cardiologist, Dr. Peter Langsjoen, M.D., FAAC, which details the trouble with statins and the requirement to supplement with 300mg to 600 mg of CoQ10 daily: *******/magazine/mag2008/feb2008_Alleviating-Congestive-Heart-Failure-With-Coenzyme-Q10_01.htm, as well as, CITIZEN PETITION TO CHANGE THE LABELING FOR ALL STATIN DRUGS (MEVACOR, LESCOL, PRAVACHOL, ZOCOR, LIPITOR, AND ADVICOR) RECOMMENDING USE OF 100-200mg PER DAY OF SUPPLEMENTAL CO-ENZYME Q10 TO REDUCE THE RISK OF STATIN-INDUCED MYOPATHIES (INCLUDING CARDIOMYOPATHY AND CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE). *****/OHRMS/DOCKETS/dailys/02/May02/052902/02p-0244-cp00001-01-vol1.pdf.
In closing, I hope your physician/cardiologist will consider recommending CoQ10 in addition, should he/she make the decision to prescribe the above (Low Dose Statins to reduce inflammation of the blood vessel wall/endothelium). See, the following medical research/article: ******/cgi/content/abstract/57/1/1

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.

i was a healthy 35 year old male but had high cholesterol, so the doctor prescribed lovastatin (mevacor) and tried it for a month but developed muscle weakness. months later, i'm still experiencing severe muscle spasms and my neurologist is stumped -- mri's, spinal tap, emg -- all normal. I just want to feel normal again. can anyone help? please email me!

To Kevin II and others

It doesn`t matter if you are on Zocor or Lipitor or any of the ot her statins.

They all have similar side effects. They can all can cause permanent damage to your body.

The side effects can come right away (lucky you) or after years.

Therefore, when you are reading messages, please also read those for other statins - including for Lipitor.

But the most important of all is to educate yourself when it comes to the cholesterol issue.

Are you sure that it`s the high cholesterol that will cause heart problems?

Please visit ****** and read some of the books that I have suggested in an earlier message.

Now I ask for some help.

Drugs can have many different names in different countries.

Please tell me (us) if Zocor (substance Simvastatin) also has other names.

It will make it easier to find more information.

In Sweden it`s called Zocord and Simvastatin.

How is it in the US and other countries?

This is my second post on this subject. The short story is I had a stroke at 43 years old, doctor prescribed Zocor to me, 90 percent of side affects posted here.

I went back to the doctors afraid I was going to get the treatment from mmy doctor that most others got "your crazy, and it's psycholog". To my surprise the doctor knew exactly what I was going through with the only information that I was on Zocor.

The doctor was aware of the undocumented side affects and told me stop taking it immediately. She prescribed Lipitor and so far so good.

Most of the side affects have gone, the foggy head totally gone. The doctor said I was lucky to be recovering so quickly as most take months and some times years from the damage of Zocor. The longer you take it the longer the recovery time which makes sense. The doctor said that Zocor is cheap and highly dangerous.

I urge anyone coming across this website to see your doctor for a medication change ASAP.

I will post again in six months and give an update.

I am 33 years old and after a blood test about 6 months ago showed my cholesterol levels high my doctor prescribed me 40MG Zocor (actually generic Simvastatin). Since then I've started to forget things and just cognitively I'm slower and less capable. I also had more aches and pains and a weird creak in my knee showed up, but I really didn't key in on that stuff. I went back to my doctor and told him about the cognitive issues and he said "that shouldn't be a side effect of this drug".Well I am very glad I found this website because at least now I know I am not crazy. I stopped taking that garbage about 4 weeks ago and ever since that fog has been lifting.
I have also made a new commitment to myself to include more "heart healthy" foods into my diet and to completely eliminate all red meats as well. I realize there may be some validity to the studies done remarking that high cholesterol is an indication of something bad, but I am not convinced the medical community actually has a comprehensive understanding of cholesterol in the body. I will still go into the doctor to get my levels checked, but I will probably not go back to my old doctor. I'll probably find a doctor who is a little more open to other options. I hate to say it, but I have lost my confidence in my doctor. If I tried to pull something like that in my job as a computer network engineer my customers would simply say "it wasn't like this before you started". Jedi mind trick doesn't work buddy. My body wasn't like this before you gave me that stuff.

I'm a 48 year old male in good physical condition and not overweight. I have genetic high cholesterol and started taking Zocor about 3 years ago. My cholesterol had climbed to 280 before I started the statin. I started with 5mg but my doctor quickly raised it to 10mg. After 6 weeks my cholesterol was down to 180! Yippee! The only side effects I noticed at first was swollen eyelids in the morning. After about 18 months my cholesterol had climbed to about 225 so my doctor raised the dose to 20mg. About 3 months later I started getting abdominal pain and tightness in my chest. My doctor thought I had gallbladder problems, I had an ultrasound which was negative. The pain(s) continued and I had blood tests, 2 MRI's, chest Xray and EKG... all negative. I suggested quiting the Zocor but my doctor didn't think that was the problem. I decided to quit the statin 1 week ago. Not feeling much better yet, but I will post an update.

My doctor & I agreed I should go on Simvastatin 10mgm for a slightly high cholesterol approx March 2nd. My already tenuous sleep problems became more so immediately. Medication for sleep was ineffective.
After 3 weeks of Simvastatin I started dozing off & waking with sort of panic attacks-weird dreams & my heart fluttering.-several times during the night.
During the daytime when checking –occasionally my blood pressure would drop to below 100 systolic over 40 & my pulse dropped to 38-40/per min. The pulse was regular like a ventricular rhythm (when the atria of the heart is no longer the electrical pacer) This drop would persist for approximately a half hour & occur several times during the day. There were no other symptoms associated that I could discern.
I could find no side effects listed online or from the pharmacist like these for Simvastatin. Concerned, I stopped taking the Simvastatin 11 days ago. Three days ago I felt good, found no BP or Pulse problems & have had good sleep. Since this has continued I am feeling certain that I reacted in some way to the Simvastatin

I am a 48 year old male. Was placed on Zocor last year. Since the day I was placed on it, I have felt weak, no ambition, no drive, feel like a zombie. I eventually had pain in my legs so severe that I had to take Hydrocodone so I could sleep. The skin on my thumbs and two first fingers peels off. I haven't had a good nights sleep since the second day I was on this crap. I haven't been taking it since June and still have a lot of problems. I still am very weak, no energy, tired all the time, skin is still peeling off my fingers, can't think, can't keep a straight thought. I have pretty severe pain in my hips that started when I was on Zocor. Also, my knees are very weak, and they pop every time I get up. At the time I stopped taking it, I was unable to make it up a flight of stairs.
My doctor constantly denied any link between any of this and the Zocor, but amazingly, after I stopped taking it, some of the symptoms reduced. I still suffer from many.
I was a small business owner with 7 employees and have since lost everything. I have been unable to find a job now for almost a year. The doctors are all "programmed" to think and tell you that these are good for you.

Has anyone had severe headaches, loss of TASTE for food? My husband is taking 20mgs of Zocor and he has a terrible pain in his back in the center of his shoulders, knees crackle when getting up from a sitting position or bending to pick up something. His vision is getting very blurry, to a point he finds it hard to read, bouts of depression, cannot sleep, but, always tired, no ambition, thumbs lock-up like a Charlie horse, cannot lift anything heavy anymore. He started taking Zocor 40 days ago, and never been on any other cholesterol medication before this. 40 days ago he did not have any of these symptoms! I have a question for the people that have stopped taking Zocor and all other statins, what are you taking to keep your cholesterol and triglycerides down? Has anyone tried flaxseed; fish oil; cholesterol off and/or omega 3? I too, have many of these side effects, especially my left knee (my doctor says I will need a hip operation!!!!) sometimes I need a cane to walk, my eyes are also very blurry at times. We need help or suggestions, cannot get from doctors, they believe medication can do no harm. Would like to hear from those who stopped Zocor and all statins, thanks for reading, Helene

I am 55 and was prescribed 40mg per day of Zocor. I am physically fit and thin, but high cholesterol is in my family history. After about 2 months on the drug, my cholesterol improved dramatically. However, I have had increasing joint pain everywhere....even in my wrists. I could not even get up and down well, as my knees hurt. I thought I was getting cancer or something.....my mother is very ill and they gave her many medications that I was trying to monitor. One of them was Zocor. I read the side effects and was appalled. I stopped taking the Zocor just 2 days ago and I already feel so much better! Not sure how I am going to deal with the high cholesterol, but I will not take this drug unless I can take a small dose. I will have to ask my doctor about that.

I have been on Vytorin for about 2 years. Before the drug, I had not aches or pains. My cholesterol levels are good now but the quality of my life is not. I feel as if my joints have aged 30 years over the past two. Lower back pain has caused me to see chiropractors, physical therapists, and surgeons. Now, my feet are hurting so badly that I can hardly walk. I don't know if it's related, but since I've been taking vytorin, my 2nd toe on both of my feet has become crooked and it almost on top of my big toe. I've spoken to my doctor today once again with all these concerns and will be discontinuing the drug for a week to see if these horrible symptoms disappear.

My doctor started me on Mevacor a few months ago at 40 mg - I could hardly stand up to walk - my back was killing me! Then she put meon 5 mg of Zocor - okay for the first few weeks, and my cholestorol went down so she told me to double it to 10 mg - then the leg cramps started. I stopped taking if for a few weeks and restarted at 5 mgs (again) last week - now my legs are aching and my ankles are swollen big time. Also noticing fatique and some blues/depression. I told my doctor today that I am not taking it anymore! Not asking her, TELLING her.

I have been on zocor because of high cholesterol. It was caused by a kidney problem I have. I now can hardley walk across the room because of the hip pain,leg pain, femur, side aches,I even have pain in my back side which makes it hard to sit. I have trouble sitting, standing. and laying down I can not stand to be touched any where below the waist. it sends pain all thought my lower body. My back hurts also. I also have problems with my left arm. I can not even life a cup of coffee with it and at times have to use my right arm to move my left one. We thought I might have fibermyalgia until I came upon this website. I also had my medications changed a month ago and have read on a different web site that if you take zocor with cyclosporine it can increase the chances of muscle damage. I have such sever pain at times I have gone in to the emergency room for relief. Even taking a pain medication and getting pain shots at times has ony relieved it for a few hours. I have not been able to sleep because of the pain. is there any lawsuits against cyclosporine or zocor. No where is there any reference that you can not take both at the same time.

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've been on simvastatin for about 8 years - recently increased to 20mg pd. Side-effects seem to match up very closely with other posters. Back and shoulder pain, often quite acute. Pain in left side under ribs. Various stomach pains and a general feeling of being unwell. Recently had treatment for trigger finger on right hand.
I'm fairly certain that the longer one takes this medication,
a/ the side-effects gradually get worse and
b/ the side-effects last longer when you stop taking the drug.

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 have had diabetes 47 years, and have been treated for high cholesterol for nearly 25 years. First with Lopid, then with Lipitor which causde my leg muscles to weaken and hurt after minimal exertion. Was swtched to Zocor about 1 year ago - the weakness and pain in my legs are still present, although not with too much difference that I have noticed. Weight-bearing exercise does seem to help the weakness, but the pain during the exertion is very unpleasant. Interestingly, the strangest thing did occur after starting Zocor. Suddenly I could hear my heartbeat very loudly inside my head. This seems to occur for a few days, then it will quiet down (although it will not disappear completely) for awhile. My cardiologist was certain that I had to have some blockage in my heart, and was sure that I was experiencing major blockage in my carotiids. The result: no blockage in my heart, and minimal blockage in my carotids. The doc was quite shocked, but let me say that vegetarianism pays off! So there is no explanatin for the loud beating in my ears. I take several supplements and they do seem to help, and they are strongly recommended for diabetics with high cholesterol: vitamin E - 400 IU daily, CoQ10 - 60 mg daily, cayenne pepper - 1 capsule at each meal, and Garlic - 1 talet or capsule at each meal. The medication did not seem to be very effective (diabetics' bodies produce an inordinate amount of their own cholesterol for some reason), but since taking the supplements, I have noticed a significant reduction in my cholesterol levels. I went from 238 in January 2005 to 93 in January 2006.

In Janyary 2001, I was diagnosised with diabetis. Besides the diebetic medicine the doctor put me on plavic and zocor as a preventative measure as my cholesterol was normal it was always between 160 and 189. I was 66 yrs at that time.

After taking the zocor for six months my legs and feet began to swell and I developed a bone spur in my right heal and could hardly walk. By the end of the year my legs were hurting, tingling, burning , numness and I could not stand on my feet for more than an hour. When I would discuss this with my doctor , he said I probably needed potattisum and calcium.

After a while I began to notice that my purse seemed too heavy for me to carry. I was suffering from depression and it took a lot of effort for me do do anything. I still had no idea that the zorcor was causing the problems. I got a walker to help me walk. My back hurt me so bad when I was on my feet that I found it impossible to keep up with my house work.

I began to have breathing problems, so I was put on oxygen.
I was gaining weight very fast over 103 pounds in three years. I was hungry all the time. I could not open my eyes in the morning. The muscles around my eyes just didn;t want to work. I would have to rub them and sometimes use a wet cloth so that I could get my eyes to open.

As of this year, I am no longer able to do my own shopping, or drive my own car. Using my walker to walk from the front door to the car is painful and leaves me breathless. My son has to help me into the car and buckle me up, while I am trying to catrch my breath. My last blood work showed my cholesterol to be 136. I stopped taking zocor about a month ago after seeing someone on TV that said they could hardly walk from using zocor. I was taking 40 mg daily since 2001.
I am now dependant on a wheel chair to get around the house . Will I ever be normal again and able to walk?

Inherited high cholesterol. Recent blurred vision in left eye that started with a vitreal detachment but led to loss of vision prompted the eye specialist to contact my primary physician. After MRI, etc., determined vascular disease. Immediately place on Zocor 40 mg per day along with low dose aspirin. That was 2 months ago. I now have ankle swelling, heart palpatations, weight gain all in the middle, night sweats, hot flashes and awful dreams. Had a fasting cholesterol test done on Monday. Results - Satisfactory (whatever that may mean) since the doctor did not bother to quote the levels on the small postcard sent to me to give results. I WILL be telephoning his office first thing Monday morning!

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.

I'm a 64 year-old retired pilot. I've had a form of rheumatoid arthritis for years. Recently I had chest pains & breathlessness when walking the dog & going uphill. Cholesterol was 6.8 so, prior to an Angiogram next month, I was put on 20 mg of Simvastatin about 5 weeks ago. The Cholesterol went down to 4.4 but I gradually began to feel quite ill with dreadful tiredness & lethargy, feeling low & depressed, not wanting to do anything, With chest pains & breathlessness worse than before. Joint & muscle pains were now really bad and I felt tender all over. Yesterday I felt very nauseous, with stomach tightness, dizzyness and a strange feeling of "unreality" and restlessness. I had lost interest in life, couldn't sleep & was quite ill. I could barely walk!

The last time I felt anything similar was 20 years ago when I got Shingles and the doctor (not the same one) prescribed Zovirax tablets. Boy, I was nearly suicidal then and "afraid" to hear the doorbell or the phone go. This was not good in an Airline pilot so I flushed the tablets away, saw my doctor (who only then read me the side-effects) and vowed to be very careful in future.

I saw my (excellent) doctor today; he immediately took me off Simvastatin, agreed that I was quite normal but probably just on one side of the bell-shaped curve of human responses to this drug. He took blood for a liver function test, checked blood pressure (normal) and listened to my heart and chest (all OK). He recommended a "Statin holiday" and said he may try me on another, different form (much fewer side effects) of the drug. I slept a lot all day today, couldn't eat at all except for an orange (still nauseous), felt the lower back pain still and was generally fairly ill. However, I think now (at nearly midnight and without taking my nightly pill) that I am beginning to feel a whole lot better!

I can live with the high Cholesterol (since all other factors in my life are good) but I cannot live with Simvastatin. Simple as that. You are not alone!

I started Zocor 3 days ago and I could tell the second day that something was not right. I have had a headache for two days, my leg hurt last night so bad that it was a pain to walk, I have had a funny taste in my mouth, my muscles ache, my ears ring worse than they normally do, my fingers and my toes hurt, I feel like I am in a daze, I have had crazy dreams the last two nights, and I am tired. Now I did not get these things after I read about them on this site. I found this site when I started looking to see if anyone was getting side effects from Zocor. I have never been on any daily medication before and I will not continue to take this drug to see if these things subside. I've had high Cholesterol for the last 20 years, that I know of, and I will take my chances with some kind of natural approach. I'm sure God has provided us with a natural solution. Tom

I have been on 20mg. of zocor for 4 years, due a heredity of high cholesterol. I though I was doing OK until about 3 months ago, when my eyes began feeling "heavy" with pressure. I most recently ran a marathon in 2000 (just before being put on zocor), and have continued to run. I have had difficulty keeping my weight down after going on zocor. 2 weeks ago, I had a severe leg cramp in my lower right calf muscle while running. I could barely walk home. I ran again after 1 week--the same cramp happened. I have never had this in 31 years of running. My Dr. said to try going off the drug for 1 week. I'll see if things improve.

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.

I have been on Zocor for 3 months and I have bad muscle pains. The real question is, if I don't have high cholesterol then why am I on Zocor?

I started taking Zocor in April for high cholesterol. In late August I started getting muscle
aches in my hands and calves. My feet are so stiff I can hardly walk sometimes. I have been
to my doctor twice and he has run test, he thinks it is side effects of Zocor even though I have been off of it for 7 weeks. Another women, who is a frienc of a friend developed fibromyalgia from it. Any one else have this happening to them?

I have taken all the medication for high cholesterol- the side effects are the same as everyone that I know have had- muscle pain- depression. anxiety, headaches etc etc. even went to see a foot specialist becasue i could hardly walk- after spending $265 for special inserts for my shoes and almost going crazy with the pain now tranferred to my hips , i decided that i was going to stop the cholesterol medications- it has been 2 weeks and i already feel good-
I am so mad at the so called specialists- not one of these doctors even suggeted that could have ben the zocor or liptor . what aprice to pay for lowering your cholesterol. I will continue to investigate and see if there are any other options besides suffering with all those side effects.

I am 55 yr old male with high BP, Some joint degeneration, high cholesterol. I have been on Zocor for 40 plus days. When I first started taking it, within hours of dosage I had mild headache, sinus stuffiness. Within days I had higher energy levels, less joint pain, and sleep better. My physical stamina has increased and I am able to be much more active with less physical stress and faster subsequent recovery. Follow up tests show my cholesterol dropped from 230 to 160. Continuing adverse side effects are mild burning sensation in back of throat about 1 hour after dosage and lasting about an hour. Change in taste. Both of these I can live with given the positive side effects and intended effect. Follow up tests have so far shown no impariment in liver function.

I am a 41 yr old woman w/high cholesterol. I am on 1200 mg of Neurotin and 200 mg. of Cyclobenzaprene for spinal injury & resulting surgery 2 years ago. I have been dx'd with fibromyalgia, but I am cautious with that label. I couldn't tolerate lipitor due to new muscle pain and weakness tied to onset of lipitor usage. I was put on 20 mg. Zocor 15 days ago & I feel my life has slipped away from me. I didn't even equate this to my new drug. Today I went on the net & found this message board. So it's the zocor. :>( I cannot sleep. I can't really seem to function. The joint pain especially, and in all of my limbs is red hot & debilitating. The muscle pain, well, I feel that this must be what it's like to have a broken shoulder. Most muscle groups affected. Right now, my doc is running every test, but based upon what I am reading here, I think we know the culprit. This new, harder pain in my joints is comparable to the severe neuro hits I would get in my extremities just after the neuro surgery. It is akin to red-hot electrical hits. I hate it. I'm beginning to hate everything. Sorry for the long post.

I have been on Zocor for one month and have noticed vague muscle soreness, almost like the flu, I ache when I try to sleep. Supposedly Zocor has no side affects, but after reading I am not taking any chances. I went on because of high c-reactive protein and slightly high cholesterol. I've decided to watch my diet closely instead. Thanks for everyone's input, I now see the light and can maybe avoid additional pain!

I am 38 years old, put on 40mg Zocor 3 months agao because of high cholesterol. While it lowered my overall numbers, I started having a fuzziness in my head, not sharp minded, fatigue. I exercise 4x a week and was losing energy. At first, I associated it with stress until my stressful project was finished, doctor upped my dosage to 80mg and it hit me, it was the Zocor. I have been off for 10 days now, headaches still there, but hoping they will go away. If anyone has thoughts, let me know at build2suit@excite.com