Lipitor vs Other Statins

[atlas90503]

Hello Everyone,
My doctor started me on 10-mg of Lipitor three months ago. I just had a new blood test and the results from Lipitor have been very good. My LDL dropped from 136 to 60. Cholesterol dropped from 225 to 131.
I have been experiencing some minor side effects from the Lipitor.
Muscle soreness and less endurance during strenuous physical activity. I also notice I am feeling tired in the evening after a busy day. Prior to starting on Lipitor I had more energy in the evening.
My doctor says these minor side effects are worth living with because I am experiencing excellent results from the 10-mg of Lipitor. He does not seem comfortable prescribing a different statin or changing the dosage.
My question is has anyone had similar Lipitor side effects and then switched to another statin that did not produce these side effects?

[Uff-Da!]

I've never been on a statin myself, but I have a brother who had similar problems with Baycol, Lipitor, and Crestor. He is now on Vytorin, but hasn't been on it long enough to know whether or not he'll have problems with it, too.

I am personally on niacin therapy, taking 750 mg daily Endur-acin, divided 3x with meals, and have achieved good control and no side effects. My initial numbers were worse than yours. I did combine it with dietary changes, though.

Your initial numbers of TC 225 and LDL 136 are not particularly high and could be lowered to within the desired range by dietary changes alone for many people. Did you try dietary and exercise changes before you reached those numbers? Or do you have other risk factors, such as a previous heart attack, that it is more critical that you get the numbers down fast?

[ZippyDawg]

I would not consider muscle soreness and less endurance during strenuous physical activity a minor side effect. For me that would be a serious sign that you are not tolerating the Lipitor. Are you having regular liver enzyme blood tests done?

Your numbers are not elevated so unless you have several other risk factors I would seriously consider getting off the statins, losing weight (if necessary), reducing carbohydrates in your diet and 60 minutes of aerobic exercise each day. Try that for three to six months and re-test.

You should also consider taking a fish oil supplement that is high in EPA/DHA omega-3 fatty acids if you aren't taking one now.

[vipergg22]

Your total is really low now , really low levels have been tied to other problems . I would ask the doctor if you can cut the pills in half , sounds like you would be alright with just 5 mgs, don't know if they make 5 mg or not .
Lipitor problems may not show up for many months to years after . It was 6 months for me before my peripheral neuropathy started showing up and the doctor of course said it couldn't be the lipitor so I kept taking the stuff for like 2 years and the pn got worse and worse . I now have permanent nerve damage in both feet thanks to lipitor and zocor . My life literally has not been the same since this has happened. Keep a very close eye on any side effects , sore muscles are definetly something to keep an eye on . Also I didn't feel like doing anything when taking lipitor 10 mgs . I would also wake up in the morning and I could barely walk to the bathroom my knees hurt so bad after haveing gone to bed perfectly fine . Don't ignore any sign and don't let the doctor tell it can't be the medicine .

[cheer up]

Atlas, are you sure you even NEED to be on Lipitor? Your original total chol. and LDL numbers aren't really very high at all, and if your trigs are low and your HDL is fairly high, you might not need a statin drug. What are your ratios?

My most recent total was about 257, LDL of around 153, trigs of 66 and HDL 93. At the cardiologist's suggestion (because he didn't think I needed a statin and I was confused about the issue and hesitant to take Lipitor), I had the ($400) scan done to look for calcium deposits in heart arteries. It takes 5 minutes and I used the state-of-the-art facility at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles.

I had a ZERO score meaning NO calcium buildup visible at all. I was told I needed NO statin, though my internist had been nagging me about it for several years because of my relatively high total chol. and LDL.

If you have any muscle pains you should tell your doctor right away, and if your trigs are low and HDL fairly high, you might not even NEED a drug at all. Keep researching!