ATORVASTATIN and severe muscle pain
Posted , 40 users are following.
Hello. I was taking Lipitor (atorvastatin) for 3 months before I started to get SEVERE muscle pain in my right arm to the point where suddenly, I could not left my arm or hold a cup without having severe pain. I stopped taking the statin. I've been off it now for 8 days. The severe pain seems to come and go (the pain itself has never really disappeared, it just seems to start off small in one area, mostly my shoulders, then get worse before it calms down again....only to reappear in the other arm!) I've read that COg10 helps, so I have just started taking 400mg over the last three days. I thought I turned the corner yesterday, only to wake up in the middle of the night with the severe shoulder/arm pain again. Any thoughts from othere who experienced this, and how long it took for you to recover after stopping the statin? I am 60 and was very active before this taking this -- now, i can't even pick up a golf club without pain. I am trying to stay positive with hopes that eventually, the pain will go away and my muscles will start to repair themselves -- but, I'm a little scared after reading some things on the internet, of course.
3 likes, 150 replies
wayne1962 mark49283
Posted
Hi Mark - sorry to read of your situation, and I can totally relate: 80mg Lipitor for two torturous years, a quack denying multiple snowballing probs I never had in the previous 50 years were my fault and nothing to do with the statins, probs with left arm - unable to lift above shoulder height, aching constantly - and a plethora of other horrors too numerous to list. Two years ago i threw the meds away, fired the quack, and am only just getting back to my old self again.
Mark, please don't despair. Time will heal it, though i must admit it is a very slow process which indicates the deep level these drugs damage the user. Your golf will climb back up to the pro level you are accustomed to - and good on you for researching the effects of the insidious and most globally prescribed poison called statins. Fore!
lee12629 wayne1962
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mark49283 wayne1962
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Thanks for the encouraging words, Wayne! Since I've started my vitamin cocktail, I've noticed some improvement...hoping for the best.
jane14277 lee12629
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Me to Lee don't trust any of them anymore. One time I went to the dr and he gave me a pathology form so I got the test done. Next time I went he said your white blood count is ok so I said oh I didn't know I had cancer. He also said I had low sodium but didn't tell me what to do about that and i didn't ask because I was still getting over the blood count thing. Next time he just handed me a form and said get these done next week. Didn't tell me a single thing about what he was testing for. Of course it went straight in the bin.And I've not gone back to him. And I'll never have another blood test unless they go thru each one and tell me what its for and then I can go on the computer and verify it they were telling me the truth
lee12629 jane14277
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Powerwalker mark49283
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I forgot to say that as well as pains in my legs and shoulders, I tore my achiles tendon - this was one of the symptoms mentioned in the leaflet I got with Atorvastatin. After I told the Dr that I had stopped Atvorstatin I was prescribed Pravastatin which I didn't take so the Dr said if I prescrible Simvastatin will you try it - I tried it for 2 weeks and began to feel horrible so stopped taking it.
loxie Powerwalker
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Powerwalker loxie
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I fully understand where you are coming from - some doctors deny that there's a problem with Statins. The Consultant at my local hospital lost his cool when I told him I'd stopped taking Atvorstatin and discharged me. He said my GP and I need to work it out. Some patients are not willing to tell the doctor that they have stopped medication; instead they get the medication from the pharmacy and store it at home. This has two negative effects, firstly it's a waste of NHS money and secondly it distorts the statistics about the ill effects that Statin has on patients.
lee12629 Powerwalker
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Powerwalker lee12629
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Well done - we need more people to stand up to these doctors who ignore their patients' symptoms.
bill80656 mark49283
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We have to remember that doctors have a customer forever if they prescribe a medicine that requires continual refills. Refills are a cash cow and they milk it as much as they can. Also don't forget that they all don't graduate at the top of their class! And some medical schools are just not very good to begin with. Some are just real dumb asses. They may not even be paying attention to you, they may be bored, and they may not necessarily even care. Furthermore they don't necessarily read the "side effects" listed with the medications that they prescribe.
THE ODDS ARE AGAINST US plain and simple and the numbers of deaths caused every year by doctors in the USA prove it.
mark49283
Posted
Well, it's been two weeks as of today. Taking Coq10, B Complex, Magnesium, Creatine, Vitamin D. The good news, it appears that the very severe pain has passed, as I can now raise my arms above my head with onlly slight discomfort. The bad news, my muscles still feel weak and I occasionally get some sharp pain in my arms -- especially at night. Still don't want to chance lifting heavy items or swinging a golf club because I fear that I may end up tearing something considering the weakened state of my muscles. I'll continue on with my vitamin cocktails and hope to repair the damage over time. How long will that take? It's anyone's guess.
lee12629 mark49283
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mark49283
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I don't know if anyone is still following this thread. But i figured I would continue to track my progress here once a week, then once a month after that. Maybe this might help someone else who has questions about recoverying from statins in the future. Today marks week 3 since stopping Lipitor. Good progress so far to the point where I am about 80% recovered. Still get mild pains at night, but daylight hours are now minor aches. Evening pain for me is mostly in my arms..but it's been a full week now from that severe pain where I could not lift my arms...now, it's more of a discomfort at night. Saw my doc yesterday, and of course he tried to push me into using a different statin -- I refused, and told him on sticking to my diet. I'm attributing the healing to the vitamin cocktail that I started to take two weeks ago: 600mg CoQ10, 4000mg D3, 2400mg Acetyl L-Carnetine, 500mg Magnesium, B complex, 6000mg D-Ribose. From my research, all of the aforementioned are depleted by statins, causing a breakdown in muscle tissue and your nervous system. My plan is to continue taking these for at least another month, then to gradually reduce the dosage in future months. It's expensive -- but it appears to be working for me, and it has apparently worked for others. PS -- I told my doctor about what I am doing, and he reluctantly agreed that statins do reduce all of the aforementioned and that 12% of people on statins do develop the symptoms I experienced. Since the population of statin users is tremendous, 12% of that large number is a HUGE number of people who have had problems.
loxie mark49283
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Thank you for your detailed update Mark. Very helpful. It's interesting to note that your doctor did in fact admit to some people on statins experiencing such side effects. Although you're right that 12% of the millions and millions who take statins is a very high number, I'm not sure even that is an honest view on the proportion of those taking statins that have such symptoms - I'm pretty sure a lot of doctors dont record patient concerns, mine didnt and that's a fact. I stopped asking and just flushed the toxic poison in the end. I've recently had a number of blood tests for ongoing pain syndrome and fatigue issues and thankfully my vitamin levels all seem to be within 'normal' range so I'm not taking any supplements, just sticking to a varied and healthy diet which seems to be providing the right amounts of nutrients. Four years after ditching the statins I do however still have problems with the aches and pains and brain fog they caused originally, although nowhere near as bad as when on them. Fibromyalgia is now being investigated as a possible cause for my problems. Not convinced that it isnt just something I'll have to endure as a result of being blindly stupid and being 'conned' into statins originally.
lee12629 mark49283
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sabella mark49283
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Hi Mark, Thank you for continuing to update us on your progress and the research you have done. I'm off statins whether the doctor likes it or not!! I had been takins Simistatin for several years for high cholesteroI, last January was taken to the emegancy room with chest pains and immediately put on a stronger kind of statin and the left arm pain started immediately, I told the doctors it felt like it was broken, they scanned it and nothing showed up. I was told I had a heart blockage and if i didn't get a stint immediately, I would have a heart attack and die. I was sent to a hospital where they did the dye procedure and NOT the stint and I was told I was fine and didn't have a blockage and didn't need a stint. I have to walk 5 blocks each way to work and have chest pains each way. I finally couldn't breath one morning so got taken back to emergancy where i was told i had had a heart attack! I fooled them though, I didn't die. Most recently my Cardiologist said I should go back on the Simistatin since it hadn't bothered me when I had been taking it several years ago. It bothers me! I can barely get up from sitting in a chair, the pains are now in the back of my thighs and in both arms, I have to scream sometimes because walking after getting up from a chair or getting out of bed are so painful!
Thank you all for all the comments, I'm off statins!!! Will concentrate on paying attention to my diet.
As an interesting aside, no doctor has asked me what other activities I have in my life! I'm beginning to conclude my original chest pains last January 2017 were from using my rowing machine too vigorously, when you pull your arms back the machine definately pulls the muscles across your chest.