Zocor and lower back pain

Like many posts describing side effects, I was not sure that all the new little health-related issues I've been noticing were connected to taking Zocor. I'm thinking that perhaps my issues are related to the drug, especially since the only other drug I take is Levothyroxine (for hypo-active thyroid). I have been on the generic for two months. (I'm a 39 year old female.)

In the first month, my total cholesterol score was 278. After taking it for one month with no change in diet or physical activity, it reduced to 207. So, the drug does work! Now I need to determine if the cost is worth it.

In the past week, I've noticed several of the side effects listed in some of the posts: sharp pain in knee (feels like there is a paring knife in it!); lower back pain; joints creaking and popping; skin on tips, sides, and underneath of fingers kind of blistering-hardening and peeling off; brain fog in the morning; difficulty maintaining a deep sleep; crazy dreams; general increase in skin blemishes; heartburn; loose bowel movements; and increased sinus congestion.

Have been on some form of statins since 2000 when I had a heart attack, Baycol until they recalled it then Zocor. Have had three stents since 2000, one in 2005 and one in 2006, a year apart all most to the day. Things got really bad after the last stent, was put on 40 mg. Then the Dr. was not happy with the cholesterol test after the 6 week checkup after the last stent, put me on 80mg, thats when things really went down hill , fatigue,eyes twitching,foot pain,joint pain, finally ended up in the e.r. with sever lower back pain. After morphine and muscle relaxer was sent home, when entering our house right leg gave out and fell, since then legs have been weak and can't stand to be on them for long periods of time. Have been recently told I have polyneuropathy. The Dr. don't think the statins have anything to do with all these ailments.Have since stopped using the statins and most ailments have been gradually getting better. I am getting to understand why they call it a wonder drug so many unexplainable side effects so many more $$$$.

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.

I am just out of hospital after 7 days from Rhabdomyolysis brought on by dehydration after playing tennis on a very hot day. There was the possibilty that my heart and kidneys suffered damage. When i think back I was waking up in the morning with lower back pain but I attributed that to being a weekend athlete that had really stepped up my activity. My wife also swears that my memory is terrible and when i stop to think about it (what was I thinking about again????) she is right. The hospital doctor took me off simvastatin and the pain while in the hospital and my first night home was gone. I was being treated as a diabetic but once in the hospital my blood sugars were all normal and my metformin was stopped. I was told that what happened could have killed me not to mention heart and liver damage. Watch that muscle pain carefully!!

I have been taking zocor for about 3 years. Started out with 10 mg every other day, then every day; for nearly the last year I have been taking 20 mg once a day. It did lower my cholesterol enough to suit the doc. Did not really notice any symptoms at first. It seems I have been noticing more and more problems recently. Especially after my husband decided to tell me that he thinks something is very wrong. Maybe my problems are just age related. Most recently I have had two falls brought on by a simple "toe stubbing". For the past 3-4 months I have had unrelenting lower back pain and hip pain. Both to the point that I can't sleep and am having trouble walking. All of that I attributed to arthritis which I do have in my hands. The tingling, pins/needles sensations and foot pain started over 2 years ago but my doc said that couldn't be the zocor. My liver function was normal every time he checked. Diabetes has been ruled out. I am overweight so I just wrote off the fatigue to that. But - three years ago I was walking daily on our farm - up and down hills for over one hour at a time - and teaching high school full time. I am retired now and I don't think I could do that much walking because of the pain and stiffness. Does any body know how long it will take me to get rid of the symptoms? I stopped the zocor without the doc's knowledge day before yesterday.

Started Zocor in May 2005, took for approx. three weeks. Had been given samples by GP. Stopped June 10, 2005 due to problems. Following is a list of symptoms as they occurred. Head shake, thinking and speaking problems, difficulty swallowing, weakness, low back pain, muscle spasms, pain in legs (especially left leg) Kidney pain, dark urine for one day only, and especially extreme fatigue. GP said was Myopathy. didnt seem to know cause. Continued to get worse untill approx. July 15, 2005. Started phy therapy. This helped to build back the muscles lost but would only build to a certain point. Presently, april 2006, Most of the symptoms have abated but I still have difficulty walking and standing very long. Had to quit working, could not handle. I will keep updating as I progress. This has been some nightmare.

I have been taking Lipitor for the past 6 years without I thought any problems. I now have pain in my left shoulder that feels like a rotator cuff injury. Doc sent me for an X-Ray
which showed no abnormality. He then wanted to send me to
an Orthopedic dr for an MRI which I didn't do. I just had my
blood work done for the 6 month check and it revealed tha I
was anemic. He referred me to a hematologist to check
further. His preliminary diagnosis is multiple myeloma. I have lower back pain along with pain just under my rib cage
on my left side. I have felt all along the problem is from the Lipitor, but the doctors don't think so. How does this pain take to clear up. I have been off the Lipitor for nearly 3 weeks with no change. If anyone else has had this pleas let me know asap.
Thanks

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'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.

Great reduction in cholesterol levels! But suddenly I felt absolutely without any energy to perform daily tasks, and, simultaneously both knees were swelling and it was difficult walking. I immediately stopped taking Zocor and went to my heart doctor. He agreed that I had done the right thing. I had also been taking Vioxx for lower back pain for a while. Don't know if there was any interaction.
My heart doctor sent me to a rhumatologist. He said there were no real problems with the knees except some expected osteoarthiritis, indicating a slightly greater wear in the cartledge on the inside of the knee joint versus the outside. He took some fluid from one knee and only recommend I get some physical therapy. I waited about four months before following up on the therapy. The physical therapist told me immediately that my problem was only mechanics...the way I walk and that if I would practice walking properly then I would be OK. I suspect there is some truth to this but the real cause of altered walking in my opinion was the pain from taking Zocor.
Please let me know if you have found solutions to this. I am 58 and otherwise quite healthy.

I started taking Zocor in Feb 02,since then i have had tingling in my fingers, muscles soreness all over, and general feeling of fatigue. Seemed to have lost strength in hands also. dr put me thru every test imaginable,(one dr wanted to do hysterectomy because of my severe lower back pain) finally some told my husband about someone they knew who was having problems because of Zocor. Went to dr twice this week, he did realize it could be th Zocor and wants to wait and see how i feel after a couple of weeks. I am praying this is the problem and it is not too late to stop it and have no other side effects.

My doctor started me on Zocor in December to lower my cholesterol. New Years Eve I developed a fever and a pain in my groin area on my right side. My doctor diagnosed it as kidney stones. I was taking the Zocor, they told me to drink plenty of water. When the stone hadn't passed the next day they gave me Viagra to take and told me to drink beer. I asked about the beer and Zocor because it said not to drink with this drug but the doctor said it was ok. I drank two cans of beer for two days. The third day I drank a can of beer and threw up. The pain in my right side moved and finally stopped. Three days later I had severe lower back pain. The doctor told me that I had a severe kidney infection from passing the kidney stone. He gave me antibiotics and pain killers. After the antiobiotics I was in pain again. It started in my right groin area, I also had pain on my right side, lower back, legs, knees and arms. I was sent to a urilogist to rule out a kidney problem. I told him my symptoms and he said it sounded muscular. At this point I could not walk without help from my husband, I was nausiated, could not sleep at night after taking the Zocor, no sex drive even after the pain got better. For one week I could only lay in bed in pain. There were all kinds of tests done on me and they could not find anything wrong with me. The only relief I got was the shot the urologist gave me and the Viox for the pain. I called my doctor and told them that I thought it was the Zocor. I also experienced numbness in both my hands and arms. Four days since I stopped taking Zocor. Feel better already. I will not take this drug again. I pray symptoms will leave.

I'm a new userid of Zocor @ 20mg a day. 53 year old male.
I have a past history of multiple low back disc bulging against the spinal cord and problem with two vertabra in the neck. I have over come the leg and low back pain. I still have pain in the neck and left arm.
A 1.75ml of scotch last me about 4 days. Never a hangover or head ache. I'm a smoker too (1 pack/day).
I have no history of head aches save for a very infrequent sinus congestion/infection.

This is day five of Zocor for me. I slept well but as soon as I arose and had my normal glass of water, my sinus swelled up and had a head ache all day. I have no idea if was caused by the many places I visited yesterday or the Zocor. It did get my attention.

I did not get any good info from my provider on what side effects to expect, so here I am. I'll be watching for what has been posted and I thank you all for sharing. I'll let you know what happens.

I am a 62 year old male I have been in excelent health all my life. Ive been on zocor for 3yrs and complaining to to my cardioligist for two years about leg pain and cramps.Ive been off zorcor for 6wks with little or no improvement, I have severe leg pain and spazims my arms are numb my face is twiching my chest is giving me similar symtoms which scares the hell out of me. Ive had to take zanax anti depressant meds. How long will it take to go away? After reading about all the other people with the same symtoms, it's deplorable that the doctors are still handing this stuff out to paitienst. HELP! HOW LONG TO GET RID OF THE PAIN. LETS GET TOGETHER AND SUE. JERRY