In January I was started on Vytorin. I put up with the pain from this statin as long as I could and I ended up with peripheral neuropathy in both feet. After stopping the Vytorin the PN persisted for six weeks. My feet were ice cold with a pins and needles feeling for about four weeks. Then they became hot with the pins and needles. Finally after six weeks the PN seemed to go away. Now, several months later the PN is back. I have not taken any new meds including statins since I stopped the Vytorin. I recently moved and met with my first MD. He told me he was sure that statins don’t cause PN. He WAS my new MD until he said that. I met with my new chiropractor and I gave him my medical history citing the Vytorin incident. He told me that many of his patients taking statins are complaining of leg pain and PN.
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Keep moving, it makes it harder for the undertaker to catch you. Don
In January I was started on Vytorin. I put up with the pain from this statin as long as I could and I ended up with peripheral neuropathy in both feet. After stopping the Vytorin the PN persisted for six weeks. My feet were ice cold with a pins and needles feeling for about four weeks. Then they became hot with the pins and needles. Finally after six weeks the PN seemed to go away. Now, several months later the PN is back. I have not taken any new meds including statins since I stopped the Vytorin. I recently moved and met with my first MD. He told me he was sure that statins don’t cause PN. He WAS my new MD until he said that. I met with my new chiropractor and I gave him my medical history citing the Vytorin incident. He told me that many of his patients taking statins are complaining of leg pain and PN.
Donsabi,
I am not sure just how much experience Chiropractors have when it come to cholesterol.
My doc tells me that 97% of people who take statins never have problems. I take Vytorin and feel absolutely GRREEEAAT !
I am in the majority.
donsabi....My husband was on Lipitor for almost 7 yrs. Around the 2nd yr. he developed severe muscle pains and was constantly tired, but we never associated it with the Lipitor, and of course the dr. at that time said NO way was it the statin. All that poor man did was eat, sleep and work, as his pain hindered him from doing much else. This went on for yrs., and at the time we had no computer so I wasn't able to research anything, plus we just took the drs. word for it...."Age related". ...YEAH, RIGHT!
Finally in 2000 I was put on Lipitor and after 3 months started with GI problems and muscle weakness, pains and aches, etc. At that time I bought a computer and did some research and found so many folks with the same problem. I took myself off the statins and also my husband. It took them 8 months to get my GI problems under control, and about 9 to get rid of the lousy aches and pains. When hubby had a good long talk with his cardio man about his problems, the dr. told him he thought he was getting PN and it definitely could be caused from the long use of statins. I wish I knew way back then what I know now, as now hubby has PN quite badly and is on meds. for it. Since being off statins his muscle pains and aches have become better, but unfortuneately the PN is here to stay. Many folks we know have stopped taking these drugs due to badside effects, and yes, there are some who take them with little problems, but they are the MINORITY. Hopefully your PN will go away, as U weren't on them very long. Try taking some Co Q10, as statins deplete the body of Co Q10. It isn't cheap, but it sure has helped alot of folks, and drs. don't tell U when U are on a statin U should be taking it. Many folks here take it and do mighty good.
Hopefully your PN will deminish with time, it is NOT a pleasant thing to have to deal with. Best of luck.....
Stumper, I am glad for you that you have not had any side effects. I do caution you to be very aware of your body and if you see any side effects like what you have read on this forum go to your doctor. You say you are among the majority and that may be true. I don't know what the majority percentage is and I doubt that the drug companies are going to give us a true answer. I do know that I have heard of a lot of people who have had a lot of problems and serious ones. I was on a statin for almost 3 years before I had serious things begin to happen and many on this forum were on a lot longer before it happened to them. I am only saying be aware. This is a real case of Russian Loulette and I personally don't want to play until I have no other choices left.
In January I was started on Vytorin. I put up with the pain from this statin as long as I could and I ended up with peripheral neuropathy in both feet. After stopping the Vytorin the PN persisted for six weeks. My feet were ice cold with a pins and needles feeling for about four weeks. Then they became hot with the pins and needles. Finally after six weeks the PN seemed to go away. Now, several months later the PN is back. I have not taken any new meds including statins since I stopped the Vytorin. I recently moved and met with my first MD. He told me he was sure that statins don’t cause PN. He WAS my new MD until he said that. I met with my new chiropractor and I gave him my medical history citing the Vytorin incident. He told me that many of his patients taking statins are complaining of leg pain and PN.
Donsabi,
I think you and I and many others are victims of a big problem - the chronic under-reporting of drug-related adverse effects.
Listen to some of the audio feeds I posted earlier.
One of them points out the problems in the voluntary Adverse Event reporting mechanism the FDA established. Even some members of the FDA agree that it seriously underestimates the true number of drug adverse effects being experienced by the public!
Also listen to the one that tells you about how the FDA does NOT do any independent studies of drugs. 100% of the clinical trials are conducted and funded by the drug maker - and the drug makers do a good job of promoting the benefits and try to hide the deleterious effects of their drugs.
If people are open-minded enough to consider these 2 facts, then all the posts of problems with drugs on this and other forums begins to make a whole lot of sense.
I'm sure that statins do a good job of lowering cholesterol in the majority of users without any noticeable adverse effects. But I'm also sure that the number of people who cannot take them due to serious side-effects is far greater than we are being told.
HubbleRules
Last edited by HubbleRules; 06-11-2005 at 09:09 PM.
Personal sample:
I know 9 people who take either Lipitor, Vitorin, or Zocor. Of the 9, none has ever had any serious difficulty with side effects. I have never met anyone (physically, not counting on-line) who has ever had a problem.
So my small sample shows overwhelmingly that Stumper is corrrect when he says he is in a very large majority.
donsabi,
Your chiropractor is not a good information source about drugs; probably LESS good than your mailman because your mailman isn't trained to be prejudiced against allopathic medicine like chiropractors are. The fact that your neuropathy went away and then came BACK with no return to the drug is decent evidence that the statin was not the cause of the neuropathy. Perhaps the chiropractor was!
Statins do cause peripheral neuropathy, rhabdomyolisis, muscular myopathies, and a whole host of other problems. They are listed on the drug company pamphelts that accompany the prescription.
No one knows the true extent of the side-effects of statins, because there is no effective mechanism for gathering adverse side effect reports in this country. It is a purely voluntary system, and most doctors are reluctant to report problems about a drug they prescribed for legal liability reasons.
The FDA is not looking into the side effects, and the pharmaceuticals would rather do everything they can to bury this information - why rock the boat on a $27 Billion industry (statin sales that is).
Ignore some of the silly postings - consider the source of the information.
True - statins are wonder drugs for many. It is also true that statins are nightmares for many others.
Peripheral neuropathy is a group of conditions with perhaps 100 variants of varying degrees of seriousness.
This government site will prove interesting to you if you havent seen it:
I know many people of Statins. For that matter my wife and Dad are. No problems.
Out of perhaps a dozen I can think of, in alll honesty I know 1 person who had problems, muscle aches, leg cramps and said he didn't feel right on Lipitor. BUT he does have very high cholesterol, (must be high he won't tell me), and he wants to talk to his doc about Vytorin.
Let's face it. Probably most everyone past 50 is on them, including Bill Clinton (after his surgery), and KNOW he's not affected
How do you know Clinton wasn't affected? He was prescribed statins even BEFORE his surgery. How do you know if he had any problem with them or not? Anyway, Clinton always seemed a little nutty to me!
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"Men and nations will act rationally when all other possibilities have been exhausted."
How do you know Clinton wasn't affected? He was prescribed statins even BEFORE his surgery. How do you know if he had any problem with them or not? Anyway, Clinton always seemed a little nutty to me!
How do I know he wasn't affected?
Does the word "Monica" ring a bell??
He had tremendous stamina, if you know what I mean. Ask Hillary
And btw, for the sake of argument he was more than nutty, he was a disgrace if you ask me.
And I know cholesterol was not to blame.
[QUOTE=Lenin]Personal sample:
I know 9 people who take either Lipitor, Vitorin, or Zocor. Of the 9, none has ever had any serious difficulty with side effects. I have never met anyone (physically, not counting on-line) who has ever had a problem.
So my small sample shows overwhelmingly that Stumper is corrrect when he says he is in a very large majority.
Okay, I am fairly new to the statin side effects problems since we only figured out it was causing my husband's problems about a month ago. My husband and I own a business that puts us in contact with a wide variety of people and we have come across eight people on statins who are experiencing the same type of pain in varying degrees as my husband had. This is in a town Pop. 4000. One woman could no longer climb the stairs in her home and at least three said it was agony to drive or ride in a car. The latest story was from a poor woman who had been on Lipitor and then placed on Crestor. She has neuropathy in her feet which may be permanent. She is a borderline diabetic, but had never had that particular problem until she went on statins.
We do have one friend who is on 5 mg of Zocar and did not experience any problems, but he was not taking it for high cholesterol. When he said his doctor was wanting to increase the dosage I told him to watch for unexplained pains and that was all. As I have said, I am not against statin therapy for those of you who can take it without problems, but for those experiencing unexplained pain I want them to consider the possibility it could be the statins. I only wish someone had mentioned in passing to me that Lipitor could cause such pain. Maybe the light bulb would have gone off a few years back and my husband could have been spared a few years of pain and had a good night's sleep.
Jane...I was also unaware of any of these side effects from statins, and wish I knew then what I know now. When hubby was first put on them we knew of noone who was taking it, or at least they never mentioned it. Wasn't until I went on it in 2000 and got so sick that I started searching around the net, to see if it was me, as I am very sensative to meds. Needless to say I read stories very similar to mine and also realized why hubby was so darn tired and sore all the time. Now that I have learned about some of these problems, I also have been told by many how they tossed their meds. due to fatigue, muscle pain and GI problems.
Before hubby was put on statins the only med. he took was a low dose of BP meds, as he has been borderline since age 17, now this house looks like a pharmacy. He has developed type 2 diabetes, has PN that definitely is not getting better, and never will. His pain was so severe he retired in 99, and wasn't suppose to till 2003. Since being off statins he is doing alot better with muscle pain, but that PN is here to stay. Many nights if he doesn't take his meds. for the PN on time, he can be up till the wee hrs. of the morning waiting for the meds. to kick in so he can sleep.
Like U said, and I totally agree, if one can take these meds. with no problems, fine, I wish them well, but for those of us who can't, alternative solutions have got to be looked into.
I hope your hubby is doing much better, as it is heartbreaking to see a loved one suffer when it could have been prevented.
Lipitor gave me PN! My endocrinologist said my dibetes #'s are well under control and that it is definitely not diabetic neuropathy. MY GP disagrees.
I have been off Lipitor for 8 months now and I still have PN. My muscle pains have gone away. I developed a red rash when I eat sugar food and drinks. Never had this before.
I will wait this out and hope I get better. Anybody who says statins can't cause PN is inaccurate and not paying attention. Hopefully, somebody will prove that these pills are not good for everyone!!
Anybody who says statins can't cause PN is inaccurate and not paying attention. Hopefully, somebody will prove that these pills are not good for everyone!!
MALMAN
Malman,
Peripheral Neuropathy is a well-known side-effect of statins.
Whoever is saying they can't cause PN obviously does not know what they are talking about, and I would recommend you forget about any useful advise from them. You'd be better off consulting a Ouija board!!!
Not sure what you can do for the PN. Statin-induced muscular myopathies sometimes respond to CoQ10 - but I haven't heard of a magic-bullet for statin-induced PN. Perhaps it just takes more time...
Statins gave me permanent PN in both feet . Basically I have no feeling left whatsoever in both feet . this all started back in 98 after being on lipitor for like 2 months and of course the dr. said it couldn't be the drugs , what a bunch of garbage , if I had known back then I would have never have taken them , will never take another statin no matter what .
Peripheral Neuropathy is a well-known side-effect of statins.
Whoever is saying they can't cause PN obviously does not know what they are talking about, and I would recommend you forget about any useful advise from them. You'd be better off consulting a Ouija board!!!
Not sure what you can do for the PN. Statin-induced muscular myopathies sometimes respond to CoQ10 - but I haven't heard of a magic-bullet for statin-induced PN. Perhaps it just takes more time...
Best of luck...
HubbleRules
I wish there was a "magic" bullet for PN, as my husband suffers from it very badly. Right now they just have him on meds. to kill the pain so he can sleep at nite, but have told him NOT much else can be done. He has type 2 diabetes, but never had that before going on statins either. His BS numbers are also well under control, but the PN just gets worse. First it was his feet, now it is spreading to his hands, and his cardio man suspects it was the statins also. Naturally noone will say for sure, but he was sent to a neurologist several years ago, but nothing could be done.
Malman, I hope you have better luck and in time get over yours, or at least it doesn't progress as badly as my husband's did.
We can argue back and forth about how many people take statins with no problems and then how many have severe debilities. Here is what worries me, I have read so many posts here where a person was on a statin for many years before they had trouble. They are thrilled with the results, lower cholesterol, higher HDL and the doctor is patting you on the back then disaster stricks. Now why after all those years does it happen, does a statin build up in your system until it overwhelms it? I worry about my husband who is on Lipitor and seems to be okay, but for how long. I am concerned!!!! I was on a statin (lipitor) for over 3 years and switched to another and wham it hit me. I would be afraid to try another because I am just now beginning to feel good again and I don't want to tempt fate again.
We can argue back and forth about how many people take statins with no problems and then how many have severe debilities. Here is what worries me, I have read so many posts here where a person was on a statin for many years before they had trouble. They are thrilled with the results, lower cholesterol, higher HDL and the doctor is patting you on the back then disaster stricks. Now why after all those years does it happen, does a statin build up in your system until it overwhelms it? I worry about my husband who is on Lipitor and seems to be okay, but for how long. I am concerned!!!! I was on a statin (lipitor) for over 3 years and switched to another and wham it hit me. I would be afraid to try another because I am just now beginning to feel good again and I don't want to tempt fate again.
gardeninggal...I know a few folks on statins that seem to do fine, but the majority of folks I know have bad side effects, some get them early on, some don't. All I know is hubby started with muscle weakness, pains and aches about a year after starting, but they kept telling him it was arthritis. At that time we knew of noone taking them so had no clue it could be the pills. I was put on them in Apr. of 2000 and by the 3rd month I was a wreck, mostly GI problems. I stopped taking them for 2 months, then they put me back on a new one..BAYCOL, oh joy, then the fun began. It was shortly after that we got a computer and I started hunting around for affects of statins and the rest is history. Like U, I will not go back on them and neither will hubby.
My girlfriend takes them and keeps complaining of PN, but she will not go off of them as she is afraid her dr. will yell. She is not diabetic, she had a cath done, no blockage, but her dr. wants her numbers below 200, so she has been on 80 mgs. of Lipitor for a couple of years. I just keep my mouth shut, as it is her decision to take them. Another friend emailed me that her husband was getting muscle pains and also VERY moody and forgetfull and asked if it could be the statins. I sent her a few sites to look up the side effects and she showed them to him and he tossed them. Luckily he was only on for about 7 months and is feeling alot better. Like U said, some folks do ok, other's do not, I haven't got the answer as to why, just know we here will not take them. Like they say, to his/her own choice. Hope your husband is one of the lucky ones.....
