Statin meds

• By shamrock7
• Reply 3359279
• September 8, 2012 at 7:22 pm
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Hi Janice, welcome to the site. I didn't have pain in my legs but I had extreme muscle weakness and shortness of breath from taking statins. Finally after trying three different types of statins and taking them with coq10, my doctor took me off of them and put me on welchol and zetia. Some people just can't take statins because of some serious side effects. Talk with you doctor about putting you on something else like welchol which acts in the gut and not in the liver. Good luck, Shamrock

• By PVEES
• Reply 3359404
• September 8, 2012 at 8:27 pm
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Janice,

I am sorry you are suffering. My story may help you, but I'd encourage you to become as informed as possible before going to your doctor. Many of them do not have the time to thoroughly research the medications they prescribe. Too often they give pat answers that are based on a pharmaceutical rep's canned presentation.

I took Statins for 10 1/2 months due to a Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection (SCAD). During that time, I had horrible pain, moodiness, memory loss, constant chest pain, impaired judgement, and weakness. My primary care physician told me the medication was unnecessary and recommended that I read "Ignore the Awkward!" by Uffe Ravnskov. Since then, I've also read "The Great Cholesterol Con" by Malcolm Kendrick. My primary care provider wrote a letter on my behalf to my cardiologist and he has released me from taking statins. Now, I ask any doctor who recommends statins to me to provide evidence that these medications reduce total deaths in women. They generally hate hearing this because there has never been a study that proves that statins save women's lives.

I've been off of statins for 14 months now, and although I no longer experience any of the side effects, I still have to take coq10 to maintain my mental function. It's well worth it to feel like me again. spacedoc.com also has a lot of free information about statin trouble.

If your doctor will not listen to you, I'd recommend trying to find a M.D. or D. O. who practices functional or complementary medicine. Doctors who use this approach are often more informed about the problems various medications cause, and alternative therapies that may protect your health while preserving your quality of life. Please let me know how it goes.

Take Care,

Patti

• By VeeCee
• Reply 3359617
• September 8, 2012 at 10:20 pm
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Dear Janice,
I had the same problem with Simvastin. Please consider Crestor 10 mg per day. I am very sensitive to any drug and statins are really hard on me, but I have tolerated the Crestor. Crestor has recently been proven as the only lipid medication proven to lower lipid levels. I am a bachelor educated RN.

Good Luck,
Vee

• By BeeBush
• Reply 3359882
• September 9, 2012 at 12:39 am
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I've been off the statins for 10 months and my back is finally starting to feel better. Talk to your doctor on Monday . There is no need for you to suffer.

• By Siun
• Reply 3359890
• September 9, 2012 at 12:48 am
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Janice,

Have you spoken with your doctor about the pain? Statins are known to cause problems for many of us - and some of the issues can be quite serious. Your doc can switch you to other statins or different doses to see if that helps. I was shifted from 80 mg Simvastatin to 10 mg Crestor and now take 5 mg Crestor twice a week only (and just got a super good Cholesterol reading even though I do not limit Cholesterol foods.) I'm continuing to have muscle cramps and weakness but we're not certain it's the Crestor at this stage - still, the change was better than how I felt on the simvastatin.

One thing I've learned over the past year and a half is that I need to ask tons of questions and not suffer in silence!

Good luck and let us know what your doc says!

• By Hrt2Hrt
• Reply 3360137
• September 9, 2012 at 7:54 am
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I have problems with statins causing muscle pain also. I have found that if I take CoQ -10 I am relatively free of muscle and joint pain. It has also helped the bursitis pain in my elbow. Best of luck.

• By Reikiwoman
• Reply 3360641
• September 9, 2012 at 11:19 am
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Hi Janice,

Like so many others, I don't seem to tolerate statins very well. I tried 3 different statins and different dosages, but I still had pain in my legs and had more serious side affects with the last statin I tried. I have taken CoQ-10 along with the statins, but it didn't seem to help. Interestingly enough, the pain decreased immediately after getting off the statin. I am now taking 500MG of Slo-Niacin that was prescribed by my doctor and I seem to be able to tolerate it as long as I take it with a meal twice a day. I have personally chosen not take a statin again. I have continued to take Ubiquinol CoQ-10.

All the very best,
Bj

• By AnnieMorooney
• Reply 3360928
• September 9, 2012 at 1:00 pm
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Get off of them! They are billion dollar meds for the drug industry, but research shows that their value is questionable - they raise blood pressure, affect blood sugar counts, make you gain weight, cause depression and sleeplessness -- exactly what is this medication doing for you that fish oil won't do!!!!

• By AnnieMorooney
• Reply 3360941 · In reply to 3360928 by AnnieMorooney
• September 9, 2012 at 1:06 pm
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I tell you to get off of them because I tried the following statins (at great cost to my pocketbook and body): Lipitor, Crestor, Lavelo, Zocor -- I can't even remember the list. The doctor kept insisting there was value to these medications, but couldn't back it up with good research. They also look at you like you've got 3 heads when you question their medications!!! They don't know what they do - they are protecting themselves from lawsuits. My husband is on 7 medications, plus insulin. He is having an awful time, and I can't get his doctor to reduce or eliminate (ANY OF THEM).

Drug companies pay the medical profession to push these drugs. Just a word to the wise - I had been waiting for my doctor for 1-1/2 hours // I work full time // a drug rep came in and walked right through the door. Who is more important, me or the drug rep? Quite obviously, the drug rep, he has Bahama vacation to give out!!!!

• By loveall6ofthem
• Reply 3360978
• September 9, 2012 at 1:18 pm
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Statins for me were murder. I would rather let the cholesterol kill me than the meds. My Dr. was suggesting them after he saw my numbers.

• By shamrock7
• Reply 3361284
• September 9, 2012 at 3:28 pm
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lol Annie, was that drug rep bringing in lunch for the staff too? Shamrock

• By PVEES
• Reply 3361519
• September 9, 2012 at 5:29 pm
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Great post Annie,

I find it fascinating that doctors fear a lawsuit if they undermedicate us, but not if they overmedicate us. This is obscene because prescription drugs taken as directed by a doctor is one of the top three causes of death in this country. It makes me very sad because, I really think the problem originates more with the drug and insurance companies than the doctors, who are too intimidated by lawsuits to make decisions in their patient's best interest.

Sometimes I think I need to check into how to write legislation so I can contact my senator and see if the laws can be reworked in favor of patients rights. It may not get very far, but perhaps it would raise awareness of this legalized killing.

Patti

• By Pavater
• Reply 3361705
• September 9, 2012 at 6:57 pm
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Statins can cause Rhabdomyolosis and this is a very serious thing. My legs ached and I sometimes felt I could barely make them move to walk. When I stopped the statin, the discomfort went away in just two days. However once Rhabdomyolosis develops, there seems to be a residual effect. Not good. I have elevated bad cholesterol although my ratio is quite good. I cannot take the risk of having placque break loose and lodge in a narrowed artery and cause a second heart attack in the LAD. My cardiologist has me taking 10 mg. of Crestor on Monday, Wednesday and Friday only. He said it takes 48 hours for the liver to process out the drug and this provides that time frame so there is no build up of the medication. Also, he said that statins eliminate the naturally occurring CoQ10 from the body so in addition I take 200 to 300 mg. of CoQ10 daily. This seems to have helped me as I cannot take the Niacin drugs either. I have a friend who has had to stop all Statins and also could not take Welchol. She does have severe rhabdomyolosis. Your Dr. needs to discontinue the statins for awhile to see if the problems resolve and also there is a blood test to determine if you have developed rhabdomyolosis. Please contact him as soon as possible

• By purple66
• Reply 3362215
• September 9, 2012 at 10:26 pm
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janice22,

I was taking simvastatin and developed weakness/pain in my legs. Sometimes I could barely walk. My doctor switched me to pravastatin and thus far no problems.......hope it continues. Definitely tell your doctor of your problems asap.

Best Wishes,

Jeanne

• By Huskiefan
• Reply 3363601
• September 10, 2012 at 12:34 pm
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I was prescribed 40 mg. of simvastatin in April after my 2 stents were placed. At first I had no trouble but for the last 4 weeks or so, my hips and legs are hurting. The bottom of my feet burn and feel hot and actually have been all summer but I never associated that with the statin. The pain in my hips is very very uncomfortable. I also take coQ10.

A week ago I started breaking the statin pills in half so I am taking 20 mg. once a day. So far it hasn't helped my hip pain or my feet. I have been trying to lose weight for 2 months and have not lost anything at all. And I SHOULD have! I watch everything I eat & walk on my treadmill 4 times a week for about 2 miles each time. I never exercised before my stents. I should be losing weight and I'm not. I am very frustrated in addition to hurting.

• By LILSMOM
• Reply 3363770 · In reply to 3363601 by Huskiefan
• September 10, 2012 at 1:27 pm
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Hi Huskiefan I must say I feel your pain. Literally...I stopped taking Lipitor about a month ago. I was noticing that all my joints ached, the bottoms of my feet, my ankles and just over all aches and pains. Also, I have been trying to lose weight as well and nothing seems to work. It is extremely frustrating. I have not yet told my cardiologist that I stopped the statins. I am just going to wait until my next blood panel next month and see what the numbers say.

• By Huskiefan
• Reply 3364315 · In reply to 3363770 by LILSMOM
• September 10, 2012 at 4:39 pm
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LILSMOM, I have been thinking of just stopping my statin too. I have gradually been increasing my fish oil & I'd like to see if that, diet & exercise will work for me. It is harder to exercise now tho because of my hips & legs hurting like they do. I tried in June to get my Dr. to let me stop & use diet & exercise but he wouldn't. I don't want to have more heart issues and I am kind of scared to just stop.

So, I am on a statin for cholesterol which would improve if I could exercise & lose weight, but the stain won't LET me exercise as much or lose weight! Does that make any sense at all?!

My total cholesterol - in June - was 141. LDL was 77 and HDL was 38. Triglycerides at 131. I have upped my fish oil since then so I am hoping the LDL is lower and the HDL is a bit higher. I wonder how long it takes to get results from fish oil? The simvastatin only took 2 months to get me from 201 total down to the 141.

• By LILSMOM
• Reply 3364484 · In reply to 3364315 by Huskiefan
• September 10, 2012 at 5:42 pm
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I started taking fish oil and B12. I do feel better. My cardio will probably have a cow...unless my numbers do not tell on me. :-)

• By VeeCee
• Reply 3365101
• September 10, 2012 at 10:18 pm
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My brother suggested that I should increase my Crestor to 20 mg a day because of my labs. But he said if my feet started hurting especially in the AM to cut back because it is a side effect of the Crestor. Well, sure enough he was right and I had to back off to the 10 mg a day with no pain. Years ago I had taken Lipitor for a very short period of time and I felt like I had really bad flu with all over body aches and I could barely walk. At that time my doctor said it was not the Lipitor and of course the doctor was wrong. As soon as I quit the Lipitor I was IMMEDIATELY back to my old self. I have been very blessed to be able to tolerate Crestor. My cholesterol went from 295 to 135 in 3 weeks on Crestor.

Take care and Good Luck Janice.

VeeCee

• By Shan3
• Reply 3365128
• September 10, 2012 at 10:30 pm
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Oh no! I just started Simvastatin today. I've had terrible legs cramps in the past, I hope the medicine to cause me to get the charlie horse cramps again or the symptoms you describe...