Lipitor and side effects?

MyOMy · 10-09-2003, 09:43 AM

Hubby had a slight heart attack back in May. He was then put on Lipitor. Since then his one arm has been aching off and on. I looked up the side effects of Lipitor and muscle aches is one of them. Has anybody else out here in cyberland had any problems like this from Lipitor? He is on 80mg.

Beth36 · 10-09-2003, 12:08 PM

My dad had a heart attack back in January 2000. He was also started on Lipitor (not sure of dose) and after taking it for close to a year, he quit it on his own because he said it was giving him muscle pain. This was around the time the cholesterol-lowering drug Baycol was taken off of the market due to some severe and serious side effects including muscle pain. I suspect my dad heard about that and freaked himself out.

He did eventually go to the doctor, get some reassurance and a clean bill of health, and he restarted Lipitor, and now also takes Zetia. Has not had any problems on it, and his labs have all been normal with normal liver enzymes also. No further muscle pain.

I work in a job where I read a lot of medical records and tons of people take Lipitor. Most have no problems whatsoever. Side effects seem somewhat rare.

I would suggest that your husband discuss his muscle pain with his doctor. I doubt it's anything serious, but I think it's always a good idea to discuss things like this with your physician.

Has your husband done anything else with his arm that could have possibly strained the muscles or something like that? It may be due to an entirely different cause.

MyOMy · 10-09-2003, 12:27 PM

Beth, My husband did discuss it with the Dr. back in August. He said that it would'nt be the Lipitor. He more or less brushed it off as nothing to worry about. My hubby went back to work mid-July, and he does quite a bit of lifting, at first we thought it ws because he was off and needed to get used to using those muscles again, but he has been back for almost 3 months, and he still gets occasional pain in his right arm. He ad a catherization test done back in May, and all of his vessels were completely open, other then the small vessel were the attack occured. The Dr. said that other than that one area he has the heart of a normal 45 year old man. Any other ideas what it could be?

Beth36 · 10-09-2003, 02:59 PM

I LOATHE when health care providers brush off side effect complaints! Do they think we have nothing better to do than sit around and make them up?

Anyway...check the cholesterol board on this site for some assistance there. My knowledge of Lipitor is pretty much limited to what I've already posted, but I'm sure there are people on the cholesterol board who can help out. There are other cholesterol drugs, so maybe your hubby can switch if the muscle aches is particularly bothersome.

I wish him, and you, continued good heath!

-Beth

vipergg22 · 10-09-2003, 10:15 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by MyOMy:
Beth, My husband did discuss it with the Dr. back in August. He said that it would'nt be the Lipitor. He more or less brushed it off as nothing to worry about. My hubby went back to work mid-July, and he does quite a bit of lifting, at first we thought it ws because he was off and needed to get used to using those muscles again, but he has been back for almost 3 months, and he still gets occasional pain in his right arm. He ad a catherization test done back in May, and all of his vessels were completely open, other then the small vessel were the attack occured. The Dr. said that other than that one area he has the heart of a normal 45 year old man. Any other ideas what it could be?

Sounds like a typical doctor , blowing off concerns like that , of course it can't be the drugs . To that I say bull , I took lippy for like 2 years and the stuff half killed me , I would wake up in the morning and be barely able to walk to the bathroom my legs hurt so bad I am 46 years old . Of course all the bloodwork said it was normal . Of course my dr. also said it couldn't be the drugs , eventually I did some investigating and found out all these people who were having similar type problems . while the hurting muscles have more or less cured themselves after stopping statins , lipitor also left me with a permanent case of peripheral neuropathy (bad numbness and burning) in both feet . These type symptoms are a lot more common than some people think .