ATORVASTATIN and severe muscle pain

Thanks for replying, Scott.  The Dr. already offered me another statin, and I flat out told him NO MORE STATINS!  I would go near the stuff for all the money on earth after what I'm experiencing.  After ding some reading, I put myself on a daily dose of 500mg of COQ10, 500mg of magnesium, 1000 IU of Vit E, and 2 grams of carnitine per day...in addition to a vit B complex as well.  I never took so many vitamins in my life...but research indicates that this vitamin cocktail helps repair the muscle damage. We'll see...  Each night I go to bed and pray that tomorrow I'll wake up normal again.  8-(

Hi. New to this particular part of patient.info and need some information about Atorvastatin. I stopped taking it about 3 weeks ago after being on it for several years. Non allergic rhinitis, peripheral neuropathy, mood swings, irritability, balance etc etc. Since stopping taking it the neuropathy seems to have got a bit worse and more frequent and I am suffering depression. Do the side effects from the statin get temporarily worse before they get better after stopping taking them? My G.P. told me that they build up in your system over the years so not to expect any improvement for at least a couple of months but do they actually get worse before they get better as the nerves start to repair? Sorry if I've waffled!

I hear you, Bill.  It's poison to some of us.  Not being able to swing a golf club kills me!  8-)   I'm hoping to recover enough to at least cast a fishing rod in June.

I am convinced that statins do damage to your muscles.  I have had ordinary muscle pain/strain before -- but this pain was beyond anything I have ever experienced.  Just guessing here, but since the damage to your muscles is so severe, and puts them into a weakened state, it seems logical that one could easily cause a tear in muscle tissue because of the weakened state induced by the statin.  So, I guess the ignorant doc could say "oh, the statin wasn't the 'direct' cause of a muscle tear" and get away with that statement -- but, he/she should be smart of enough to admit that the statin weakened your muscles into such a state that even the slightest attempt at performing an ordinary daily task may have created the tear.  

Thanks Mark.  You're so right when you describe it as beyond anything experienced before - exactly so.  I asked my physio what in his experience would cause this type of full thickness tear and he said either weightlifting, gymnastics or a muscle wasting disease - that was it!  I'm not either a weightlifter or a gymnast and I definitely dont have a diagnosed 'disease' that would cause muscle wasting - so what was the only other factor............statins. 

Mark

I read your post.thanks for the info.I have experiencing muscle spasms in my back it takes my breathe away .I yell out because it hurts I can actually feel the muscles contacting in my back. I thought it couldn't have been amlodipine because they are similar side effects . Pravastatin she gave me a blood test to to find out if the muscles are breaking down so I'm waiting for the results and today I decided not to take that and I felt a lot better along with some spiritual nourishment it is left me incapacitated for weeks and I can't pick up my grandson I've been in the house for a week I've lost the whole weeks of wages besides quality of life I want to thank you for sharing your story

Amen, my pain in my back was so bad I could feel the muscles Contracting literally rolling around tightening up like a ball in a knot and I would yell out in pain like I had Tourette's syndrome doctor brought this to my attention he didn't think it was m lodipine he had a feeling it was the status. She gave me a blood test to see if the muscles are breaking down and that has a lot to do with the Pravastatin I took myself off of it I couldn't take the pain anymore I can't work I can't do anything and I'm not taking medication I tried to do yoga exercises thank you all for sharing your stories

I have a bunion which never caused me any real pain til about 2 years ago. I had an MRI andd found out that the ligaments around that area are 'disrupted' in dr speak or torn to us. nothing can be done other than surgery which I wouldn't even consider. Nerve pain in the foot is unbearable. 4 dr's suggested lyrica ..............the side effects of that are catastrophic, glad I didn't take them. I didn't take them i researched them because of the effects of statins. Podiatrist and physiotherapist but think it's caused because of statins but medical drs don't

HI Jane.   From what I have read, most medical doctors will look for some other underlying cause of the statin side effect.   The thinking, I guess, is that since only 12% of statin users have these effects, it is more likey that there must be some other medical condition that is causing the issue...and not the statin, because the general medical population believes that they "save" more lives by giving someone a statin, and it is part of their general treatment plan --- follow the doctor playbook and ignore the patient.  Malpractice/cover-your-ass may also play into their decicions as well.  Hence, they will often insist on putting you through a battery of tests to find out what your "real" problem is.  I can imagine that it must be tough for them to admit that what they prescribed for you (statin) was the real cause of all your pain.  In any event, it does seem only logical that if statins cause muscle damage or weaken your muscles; then, the chance of having a muscle "tear" dramatically increases while you are on statins (and even after being off of statns for a period of time until (if) your muscles repair themselves),

Of course that begs the question if statins are supposed to 'save' people from heart attacks, why are heart attacks still the leading cause of death in most of the world? It has to be so much more than 12% too doesn't it Mark, I initally put a lot of symptoms down to age menopause and I'm sure thousands of others do to It's like the old joke. What's the difference between god and a doctor? god doesn't think he's a doctor

In my case I got the Polymyalgia rheumatica first. The steroids were working and the doctor was weining me off a little at a time. I went to a cardiologist and me placed me on prevastatin 40 mg. I started to have problems getting up. After 6 weeks on the statins, I had my blood work done for the Polymyalgia rheumatica and my inflammation was-back up.  I stopped the statins the next day. The pain in the shoulders and upper arms and neck and hamstrings were so bad I could hardly move. Worse  experience  I have had with pain and I don’t want to go back there either.