Hi....

I posted on another board with the same question and it was suggested that I post here.

Has anyone experienced muscle pain along with some weakness as a side affect of Lipitor?

I was on Lipitor approximately 2 years ago and
never associated the pain I was having then with the drug. I hurt from the shoulder girdle, into both arms and legs. Headed to a rheumatologist...went thru tons of tests....my ANA (anti-nuclear antigen) level was abnormal. He thought it could be an early manifestation of an auto-immune disorder of some sort.

I asked to try a small dose, short term course of prednisone. He started with a "booster" shot and I went on 15 mg. for a week...down to 10 mg for a week, then to 5 mg. Within 24 hours, all of my pain was
gone! Sooooooo, I never associated the pain with Lipitor - thought whatever I had going on responded to steroids and continued the Lipitor. The muscle pain came back after I went to the lower (5 mg.) dose of prednisone. So, the doc suggested I stop taking
the Lipitor, which I did.

Unfortunately, my numbers went thru the roof again
and I started the Lipitor again 6 months ago (dummy me) and - BAM - the pain is back full force again!

Feels like I got hit with a mack truck!! Have stopped taking Lipitor and will wait to see if pain stops.

Another question.....since the prednisone helped
before (i.e. inflammation), would the Lipitor cause the inflammation? Someone on the other board suggested it destroys the ubiquinone/co-enzyme?

Confused and would love some input.

Linda

Well Linda, sounds like you are one of the unlucky people who can't tolerate the Lipitor. Muscle twitching, aching, and weakness are the hallmarks of the many side-effects associated with this whole class of drugs. Some people believe that taking CoQ10 helps - it really didn't help me much - but the muscle aches will most likely abate over time. There are other drugs and supplements that may reduce your chol. levels somewhat, but the statins do an excellent job of keeping the bad chol. down - but are toxic to some of us. Watch out for tingling and numbness (neuropathy)if you continue lipitor-this will take a lot longer to clear up.

Hi Linda: I, too, experienced the aching with Lipitor. I took it for two years and when my lipids
starting showing a problem with liver, I had to go
off of it and my aching let up. Than after a while,
they tried me on it again as my liver signs were back
to normal and the aching came back. Boing!!! It just
like hits you that this is causing the muscle aches
and pains. Again, it starting affecting my liver.
They took me off of it, saying never to be on it, again. I than tried provachol, of which I had the
same problem, all over again. Went off of that, and
than I chose to take a non-statin medication for
cholesterol and I have been on Tricor for several
months, now, and really not experiencing any
difficult, to my knowledge and my "numbers" are
great. I take 160 mg. every day. You might consider
the non-statin as I know the aching is no fun and you
begin to think that there is really something serious
going on. Good luck to you, Dottie

Thanks for your response....

I haven't taken the Lipitor since last Friday and
the muscle aches seem to be fading already.

Thanks for telling me about Tricor....I'll ask
my doc about it.

Thanks again and take care,
Linda

Thanks for the message, Linda. Happy to hear your
aching is fading away. It is "no" fun, and doesn't
seem quite fair, does it? Trying to cure one thing
and have the aching along with, stinks. We are going
to look in to the policosanol that they have been
talking about on the board. It is not prescription
and is not a statin or a non-statin. It sounds very
promising. I take the Tricor; my husband doesn't
take anything for cholesterol nor does he need;
mine is heriditary, but he says he would take the
policosanol if we found out enough about it. Good
luck and keep me posted as to how you feel after
taking the Lipitor. Dottie

Simple answer. Statins can cause irreversible muscle damage. Irreversible. That means it doesn't come back. Think about it.

There were some good replies to this same question that was posed in the "Open To All Topics" forum. Here is the direct link >>> http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/Forum126/HTML/002117.html

Alan

Hi all....

Thanks for the responses. I'm done with the Lipitor
for good......need to look into something else to help lower my numbers!

Dottie....keep me posted about the policosanol (?) -
sounds like something I'd be interested in.

By the way, a lot of folks around here have been on the apple juice/grape juice/white vinegar mixture...
There's a late night radio talk show host who gets tons of calls from folks who swear by the stuff!!

Any of you know what I mean? I don't know if they are drinking this stuff in conjunction with meds or not....

Thanks again,
Linda in Pittsburgh

Hi Linda: We ordered the policosanol yesterday and
once we receive, we'll be anxious to get on it. Since
I am taking Tricor, got to figure out how I am going
to go about it and take policosanol, too, but we'll
figure that out. Eventually and soon, I want to be
off Tricor, too. My husband is going to take
policosanol, too, even though, his numbers are not
off of the wall, so we will be able to see his progress on "poli". We'll keep you posted! We
ordered from the VitaminShoppe as pcovers had
suggested. We are, also, going to take the non
flush niacin as that is supposed to help, also. My
husband has been taking the time release niacin and
they don't seem to recommend that, so we ordered
the non-flush, also. My numbers are heriditary as
my father died at 46 years of age. I have passed
that by a bunch and basically, physically and all,
(hopefully), I feel great. My numbers with Tricor
are great so to give that up, will be "tuff". Have
a wonderful day and hope that you are doing great, too.
Dottie

Please note that the Tricor could cause great symptoms as well. Read my posts Tricor..Our story and Tricor side effects. Maybe you will be lucky on it, my husband could have died from it as far as I am concerned...in fact they thought he had ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) and I am now 90% sure it was the Tricor. Remember Tricor has not been out long. I called the pharmac. company and told them of his symptoms...you know what they said? If enough people call with similar symptoms they change the package insert. So, as far as I am concerned, Tricor users are guinea pigs for the pharm. company. Perhaps the insert should read, "may cause you to think you are dying of ALS which will lead you to believe you will never see your 1 week old (son was 1 week old when this came to a head) walk, talk, graduate, etc" GL with it if you decide to try it. Husband was on it more than a year before symptoms came about.

Lipitor put me in the hospital and nearly in the ground after using the product for several months. I felt great and had good checkups except for high cholesterol. I became weaker and experienced horrible leg cramps and sore muscles and fatigue. I had just started a new job and made myself continue to go to work every day until the evening I came home from work and went to bed and stayed for a week, unable to eat, nauseated, torturous muscle pain all over my body and delirium. I slipped in and out of consciousness and screamed out in pain. I was too weak to object to my wife hauling me to the hospital where I stayed for about ten days. Every test known to man was run on me including biopsys and spinal taps. The CDC was called in for special testing also. According to all results, I was the most healthy dying person all the doctors ever used for a lab experiment. My wife and I told them that we suspected the Lipitor from the beginning, but the only comment was that this was a possibility. I was stuck with a thirty thousand dollar medical bill with no health insurance and no answers. I eventually gained enough strength to go back to work, but I still have chronic fatigue, muscle and joint pain, heart problems, and other ongoing health issues. I figure I'll have my medical bills paid off in about five more years. I contacted the drug company, but they said the warnings were clearly listed on the medication so they have no responsibily. I want to know if anyone else had the same severe reaction that I had and lived to tell about it.

Hello Krumpawask,
I am on the Lipitor & it has worked for me so far (hopefully it doesn't cause physical problems like you had!!!). What I was going to ask you is how come you haven't filed lawsuit against the Lipitor Company? I would if I was in your shoes. It doesn't matter if you know the side effects or not they are responisible because they made the pill in the first place & distributed it despite the awful side effects. I'd be pretty angry with them if they told me they weren't responsible!!! :mad:
rainstorm76

I spoke with a lawyer who handles class action lawsuits as related to health issues and I was told that if the side effects were listed in the pamplet that is issued by the drug maker that a person has no chance in a court case. I had just about everything listed as a possible side affect. I checked with another lawyer who told me that the big deal going on now is the class action suit for users of Baycor which is another statin type drug. He was not in the least interested in my problem. This guy was out of Texas.

[This message has been edited by Krumpawask (edited 12-04-2002).]

Originally posted by Krumpawask:
According to all results, I was the most healthy dying person all the doctors ever used for a lab experiment.

I had a similar experience with Lipitor. After taking it for about a month, I became almost suicidal. I didn't have the physical symptoms (muscle pain, etc) that most people describe but went into the most profound depression I have ever experienced. The only thing that saved me was that I had to go onto another health insurance plan that had a cheaper co-pay for prescriptions, and went off the Lipitor for about 10 days in the interim. All of a sudden, after about a week, I realized that I felt "normal" again. Shortly after that, I had chest pains. They could not detect any abnormality in my EKG, even on a stress test. I had an agioplasty and one of my coronary arteries was 98 percent blocked, so they put a stent in there. As it stands now, I would rather die from a heart attack than go on any kind of statin drug again. I take 2000 mg of Niaspan, gugulipids, polyconsanol, pyrithrone, aspirin, and a few other things. My total cholestorol has gone from 450 to 160 and my TG from 800 to about 123. I seem to be the type of person whose cholesterol is adversely affected by carbohydrates.

I guess what I am saying is that you have to find your own way. The MD's are all controlled by HMO's now and it is at least an even chance that they won't diagnose heart disease until you have a full blown heart attack. I was just lucky that I had an MD that gave a s*** and sent me to a cardiologist the same day, and that the cardiologist didn't rely on the EKG when I was having obvious chest pain. You have to find out what works for you, because the MD's often have another agenda.



[This message has been edited by humanriff (edited 12-06-2002).]

Libloom: How are you feeling by now? Any better or
just biding time? As I told you, we have started on
the policosanol along with the non flush niacin.
Haven't taken it long enough to know anything yet.
I have been off of the Tricor now for several weeks.
Hope I made the right move, but don't want to stay
on that stuff if I can handle it differently. I am
in a "confused" state right now as to what to do.
Guess I need to be patient and give it time. Hopefully I am right by doing this. We'll soon find
out. Keep in touch. My Dr. does not know that I did
this, but if it will benefit myself in getting off of
the Tricor, that is all that is necessary. I, too,
had done the Lipitor. Best to you, Dottie

I too had problems with Lipitor. After taking it for over a year I started having horrible pains in my thighs. My Dr. took me off Lipitor and the pains went away. Started taking Zocor and now have unbearable pains in my upper arms. I went off the Zocor 12 days ago and still have pains. Dr. told me I am one of those who can't handle the statin drugs. He wants me to start Zetia, a new drug that is not a statin. Has anyone taken this or know anything about this drug?

Hi: All I know is that I have been on Tricor, which
is non-statin and I was no better off for it. My
numbers were great but the side effects were still
there. I was confident that non-statins would be
the answer as I had my time on Lipitor, as well. I
am trying to go with the policosanol and the no-flush
niacin. Good luck, Dottie

i sure hope you can help me. you are the only person i have read about that went on prednisone for the muscle pains. i was in such severe pain i ended up in the hospital. i believe it also is from the lipitor. my dr. says no. but she did put me on prednisone also. when i start to ween myself off the prednisone the pain comes back in the same excruciating way that sent me to the hospital. i know i can't stay on prednisone forever, do you think my pain will eventually go away? i was on lipitor since nov. 2003. i stopped taking it on feb. 15, 2005. can you give me any advice ? thanks shirley

Linda,

Lots of people (myself included) have had problems with statins. I had serious muscle pain in both arms, overall weakness, and pronounced exercise intolerance after over 7 years on Lipitor. For me, having started combination therapy with Tricor seemed to be what put me over the edge. I've been off all cholesterol meds for 1 year, and the muscle pain is much less noticeable (not gone though), and I can jog much further than 1 year ago.

I've not heard of prednisone to cure muscle aches from statins, but you're right - you can't stay on it forever - it is oral cortisone - and cortisone has it's own long-term risks.

For some, the aches go away within weeks of stopping the meds. Not so for others. Watch out for tingling or burning sensations also - because it indicates nerve damage, and that seems to take a lot longer to heal than the muscle pains... You can get these effects from Tricor in addition to statins, so be mindful...

CoQ10 supplements do help restore CoQ10 levels in the blood, and eventually in the tissues - because statins definitely deplete this substance, which is vital in order for your mitochondria to synthesize ATP to give you energy... I was on 200mg/day of CoQ10 for the last 6 months - can't say for sure it is what helped heal me... but I am definitely feeling better.

Hope your pains go away quickly...

HubbleRules

Simple answer. Statins can cause irreversible muscle damage. Irreversible. That means it doesn't come back. Think about it.

I don't understand this post. Are you saying that damage is irreversible?? WHAT doesn't come back?

And what data do you base this comment on?

dtjobrien,

Look up "Dr. Beatrice Golomb, MD" from UCSD... She is currently conducting an independent study of the side-effects of statins. The following is a quote from an interview she gave back in March 2002:

Dr. Golomb: "Based on case reports we have received, these problems seem to generally be reversible. However it appears that in some cases recovery is prolonged or incomplete, particularly for muscle symptoms and neuropathy."

Based on posts I've read on this site, the above quote appears to be true - some have had serious side-effects (muscle pain, weakness, burning sensations...) that have persisted for years with no improvements. This seems to be especially true for neuropathy induced by statins.

Of course this evidence is mostly anectdotal right now. However, considering the fact that there is absolutely no profit motive to study the true nature and extent of statin side-effects, it becomes logical that no clinical studies have been conducted to date to determine the true extent of the problem.

HubbleRules

I was taking Zocor 10 mgs and there was no problem from it. Then I was told to start taking 20 mgs and my back started hurting terribly so I went back to 10 mgs. My doctor prescribed Zetia tabs and I took them for 3 days and my back hurt for a month. I went back to 10 mgs of Zocor until my leg started hurting. I quit taking anything and my leg improved but it still hurts some. Also I can't sleep on my left side any more because it goes numb and my leg hurts. I look into these two drugs and they're both made by the same company. The company must be giving the doctor money because my doctor won't prescribe anything else. I'm afraid to try someone else because my doctor is prescribing a sleeping aid for me and I'm afraid another doctor won't prescribe it for me and I need it to sleep.

If your dr. won't work with you, I strongly suggest U try to find someone else. My old dr. wouldn't work with me over trying something other then statins, so I dumped him. I don't know what your taking for a sleep helper, but I'm sure if U found another dr. and explained all this, he/she would work with you, but U have to make it clear from the beggining, U feel U need that med. or something as good so U can get your sleep.

Staying with a dr. just for a sleeping aid is not good, especially if he is giving U other meds. which are causing you more and more pain. Noone should be taking stuff that is harming them more then helping. Statins are not for everyone, as both my husband and I tried them, and more then one kind, but it resulted in so much pain, we both decided not to take them. Luckily we both switched drs. and they are trying to help us with alternitive things, although I know they would be much happier if we just popped a statin, but it is our bodies, not theirs.

Definitely give it some thought, and also try and have a good heart to heart talk with your dr. and find out why he will not try something else on you, seeing you are in so much pain. As U have probably read on this board, many folks have tried several statins and now have problems which may never go away. Some folks take them and do fine, God bless them, but for those that can't, another route needs to be taken. Good luck... :)

BTW..Just how high are your numbers? Maybe they could be lowered with diet, exercise and some lifestyle changes, and has your dr. tried that routine with you first before sticking U on statins?

my total cholesterol to begin with was 295. Yes I probably could lower the numbers with diet and exercise, the doctor did suggest it. The stuff I take for sleeping really isn't a problem. It's not addictive and it's mild. I really don't think another doctor would have a problem prescribing it. I'm going to the doctor in a couple of months for a checkup and if she won't prescribe anything else but a statin drug I'll go somewhere else.

PS: Can anyone recommend a good non-statin drug that I could suggest to the doctor?

I'm going to look into Waiora Superior Fiber. Thanks

Since this area mentioned side effects from Lipitor please see what I just posted with the subject 'Crestor' and about some side effects. Before I start taking it I'm hoping to get some insight. Thanks.

Well Linda, sounds like you are one of the unlucky people who can't tolerate the Lipitor. Muscle twitching, aching, and weakness are the hallmarks of the many side-effects associated with this whole class of drugs. Some people believe that taking CoQ10 helps - it really didn't help me much - but the muscle aches will most likely abate over time. There are other drugs and supplements that may reduce your chol. levels somewhat, but the statins do an excellent job of keeping the bad chol. down - but are toxic to some of us. Watch out for tingling and numbness (neuropathy)if you continue lipitor-this will take a lot longer to clear up.


I HAVE BEEN OFF 20MG OF LIPITOR FOR 6 MONTHS AND STILL HAVE PERIPHERAL NEUROPATHY BAD IN MY FEET AND I ALSO HAVE SOME SORT OF IRRITATION ON MY UPPER LIP THAT GETS RED NOW AND THEN AND MY INSIDE UPPER LIP FEELS LIKE A FAT LIP WOULD FEEL.

ALL THE DOCTORS WILL NOT BUY INTO THE LIPITOR THEORY. MY PROBLEMS ALL STARTED AFTER BEING ON 40MG OF PRAVACHOL FOR 18 MONTHS AND BEING SWITCHED TO 20 MG OF LIPITOR. IT TOOK LESS THAN A MONTH BEFORE I HAD ALL THESES HORRIFIC PAINS AND TINGLING IN MY FEET.

THIS IS SCARY STUFF. I CAN ONLY HOPE THIS EVENTUALYY CLEARS UP. IT IS A NIGHTMARE THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED.

MALMAN