leg pain and blood test - High Cholesterol Message Board

hiramtraveler · 09-01-2004, 10:55 AM

Hi, have been on 10 mgs of lipitor for five years and am on diovan recently. Last four months have been experiencing pain in leg tendons behind knee, pain in hamstring muscles, some foot pain. Doc ran lipitor blood test came back normal and I went off lipitor for about three weeks and had no effect.I seem to be getting really flat footed (used to jog a lot) and am going to a foot doc to see if that might be messing with my legs. Is it possible that it could still be the lipitor? Are blood test conclusive on this? How long would youhave to be off of it to know for sure?

jtu91952 · 09-01-2004, 07:07 PM

Im suffering leg pain such as you described in my left thigh, toes and calf. I think it is due to my verapamil bp pill. When i ran out for a couple of days and just got back on it. Immediately i started have pain. Maybe it is the diovan.

zip2play · 09-02-2004, 06:09 AM

hiram,
It sounds like Lipitor is not the cause of your foot problem. The flat footedness is probably straining those ligaments.

Invariably a foot doctor will prescribe an orthotic device (they ALWAYS do

), but maybe before that expense, you might try a couple weeks with ibuprofen 4 times a day. See if that relieves the pain.

The blood tests for muscle damage will reveal the most serious conditions like rhabdomyolysis, and muscle necrosis, but lesser myositis or myalgia will get beneath the radar.
But it really DOES sound more like an inflamed tendon or ligament to me.
Have you tried daily CoQ10 which is always a good idea with statins.

hiramtraveler · 09-02-2004, 10:41 PM

Zip, as usual, thanks for the great advice. Going to the doc tomorrow, though he hasn't been much help on this. Driving me nuts-can't work out-gaining weight-yuck. What do you think about the chance that it could be the Diovan? Would you worry about shutting it down for a while? How long do you think it would take to get a good idea if it was causal? Frankly, I'm hoping it is my feet (seeing a foot doctor this week) because the lipitor and diovan have been giving me pretty good numbers. Have not tried the enzyme you have suggested but will mention it to my doc.

zip2play · 09-03-2004, 05:33 AM

Hiram,

ARB's like DIOVAN are pretty dependable for not causing much in the way of side effects. I've never had a whit of trouble with Cozaar. Now if only they were good for more than 10 poins BP reduction they'd be the answer to everyone's prayer, but they are a weak class of drugs.
I doubt the DIOVAN is causing you any problems.

Why not try my technique for dealing with pain and working out: If the top of my body hurts, I work the bottom and vice versa!

Between my shoulder pain (skiing) and knee pain (mangled cartileges) I usually find a balance over time

...and the ibuprofen helps a lot.