Vytorin 10/20 + Diarrehea - High Cholesterol Message Board

puckerfactor · 03-13-2009, 12:15 AM

I was on Vytorin 10/20 for 1 year. I started having diarrehea almost immediatly especially right after a meal and in the mornings. Some days I'd be driving and I felt like I was going to pass out. Extreme tiredness. Dr says its Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Anxiety. Funny, never had this problem before taking Vytorin! Anyone else?

vipergg · 03-21-2009, 11:41 AM

If this started immediatly after starting the drug then your Dr. is full of it . I had the same issue like 10 years ago when I took lipitor and zocor , I had better be near a bathroom after almost any meal . After quitting statins my digestive system normalized completely and can eat anything I want . This was just one of the fine side effects of cholesterol medicine , had many others besides that which all stopped after quitting statins.

puckerfactor · 03-21-2009, 04:36 PM

Thanks, I knew I wasnt alone. How long did it take your digestive system to come back to normal?

vipergg · 03-22-2009, 07:01 PM

if I remember correctly it wasn't much more than a month.

puckerfactor · 12-15-2009, 08:10 AM

I switched from Zocor to Vytorin around Oct 2004. Zocor no longer worked for me.
Around the first of March, I began experiencing a lot of lower abdominal pain and flu-like symptoms for several days. The last day of what turned out to be the first episode, my left leg became useless. A month later, I had similar symptoms. This time, at 8:45 a.m., I checked my blood sugar and blood pressure. Both were around 180. A few days later, both returned to normal. Though I did not have any unusual bowel problems during these episodes, I had begun having very bad diarrhea 24/7, and at times, explosive diarrhea that came on without much warning. My doctor told me to stop taking Vytorin for two weeks, then get back on. I went to a new family doctor about my "episodes" and told him of the diarrhea. as well as everything else that had happened. He advised me to stop taking it immediately and to tell my endocrinologist what was happening.
After having a colonoscopy, I have now been diagnosed as having irritable bowel syndrome. However, I am certain I was experiencing the serious side affects from Vytorin.
Do you think these side effects caused me to have irritable bowel syndrome? Will this go away in time? I'm quite old to begin having IBS--69 1/2. Thank God for enzyme pills or I would be housebound.

REPLY FROM PUCKERFACTOR:

Finally finally finally someone who has the same symptoms and diagnosis as myself! I was a healthy 37 yr old with no health issues except for high chloresterol. My doctor perscibed Vytorin 10/20. Thats where my health began to decline. Every morning I would have explosive diarrhea and immediately after meals. At first I thought it was my diet never associated it with the Vytorin so I continually change what I was eating. Even after having chicken and rice I would have diarrhea!!! I went from 205 lbs to 170 lbs within a couple of months ( from the daily diarrhea). It was affecting my work and I wouldnt leave the house on my days off for fear of an uncontroled bowel movement. I finally went back to the doctor after about a year and he said he never heard of that side affect. I stopped taking the Vytorin and he diagnosed me with IBS. Now I'm on a SSRI to aleave some of the anxiety and cramping associated with IBS. I knew this wasnt all in my head. I knew it had something to do with the Vytorin and that other post proves it!!!!!!!!