ATORVASTATIN and severe muscle pain

It's been a year now since I stopped.   Things were going fine, but recently I seemed to have a relapse with the nerve pain in my arms and shoulders...not as bad as the original pain, but enough that I could not freely move my arm without that terrible pain again.   Trying to figure out what caused the pain to return again, and it may have been overuse from playing golf..or drinking a little too much wine over the past week.   I thought I was done after having no pain for months....but something brought it back again.

I am sorry to hear of your relapse. It is frustrating, 

I am definitely doing better than I was and really thought I was almost recovered after six months and then I had a relapse, it seems to be getting bad again in my shoulders and hips mostly.  I finally got in to see a rheumatologist after waiting six months.  He thinks it is the statins as well. He did blood work for other things, waiting the results. He is ordering a nerve conduction test as well.  But he said from what I told him and his exam he things it is the statins.  He said the severity and length of my symptoms are not normal but are not unheard of. That there is a small percentage of people that it does effect to this degree and it can take a long time to reverse it.  I am 57 years old and feel like I am 87 years old.  Honestly I am just thankful it is not has severe as it was.  I dont think I could have handled that bad of pain for that long.  I hope you all keep us updated on how you are doing.  I am so blessed to have found this forum.  Bless you Mark for starting it.  

After nearly a year symptom free I have have also had a relapse. Not nearly as bad as the original episode fortunately. At this point I'm hoping it's from the statin which i stopped almost 18 months ago and not from something else.How have you been since your relapse?

I had a similar event happen - after a year of pushing to get some answers and having to wait months on end for referrals etc. My ortho finally recommended an ultrasound of my neck and shoulders/upper arms - it resulted in discovery of severe rupture of the bicep tendons - I think they refer to this as a rotator cuff injury. Before taking statins I played badminton and did a lot of swimming and my upper arms had excellent definition and were strong and healthy. I know I didnt do anything to excess to cause the injury so my only other explanation would be that the statins compromised my muscles and tendons to such a degree that they were weakened to a point where the rupture occurred. Since then I have severely restricted abilities and movement and in constant pain. The doctors wont consider surgery at present so I have learnt to live with it. I never had any strong opinions about medications before my experience with statins but I truly believe they are poison and are prescribed much too widely to unsuspecting patients who arent warned about the devastating side effects and trauma they cause. There are better ways to reduce LDL but those other ways dont make billions for the pharmaceutical industry!!

On Justcary, I so sympathise.  I too suffered the arm weakness and then pain, nobody would listen and my doctor just seemed to think that at age 59 as I was at the time I should just put it down to 'age'. We know our bodies, mine had been fit and healthy before statins.  In the end after a couple of years of continuous pushing, I eventually got someone listen and had an ultrasound done, which discovered ruptured bicep tendons.  I asked the ultrasound technician if in his experience he knew what would have caused this, he said either a sports injury (which it wasnt) or weakened muscles. It was diagnosed in one arm, then after much pushing on my part, they scanned again and found the other arm was ruptured too. Until this point I had been swimming three times a week, just gentle lengths,nothing excessive, and had good upper arm tone but I'd lost a lot of the muscle strength and the tendons had become so weak they just ripped without force. My doctor still refuses point blank to accept it was the statins.  I ditched them too.  Very sadly you arent alone, there are so many of us who have suffered and nobody in the medical profession seems to want to accept that these toxins are to blame.

Hi Loxie. I don't have muscle pain, I have peripheral neuropathy, which is nerve damage and causes severe tingling mainly in my feet but sometimes in my hands too. Initially I put it down to the chemotherapy that I had 3 years ago or the radiotherapy that followed. But my haematologist said it was too long after treatment so I moved on to research statins. I stopped taking them about 3 weeks ago and fell into depression (I know depression, I have had bouts before), insomnia, diminished appetite, weight loss (which was a plus lol), lack of interest in anything etc etc. Coming out of it now so fingers crossed. I do not have your problem with doctors, my G.P. is a young Irish woman who is thorough, open to suggestions, sympathetic and reassuring. She researches anything I tell her and we sort things out together. Brilliant! It wasn't her that put me on statins in the first place. Just to add, I am under E.N.T. for non allergic rhinitis. During research I discovered that this is a side effect of statins but no one asked me if I was taking them, so something to bring up at my next appointment!

Sorry to hear of your issues Joy but I'm very happy for you that you have such a sensible and attentive GP.  I wish mine were.  I never cease to be amazed at just how toxic these meds are.  My partner also had chemo some years ago and has a few resulting issues from the damage it caused but he was made aware at the time that chemo can be damaging.  The majority of doctors just wont admit that statins can be just as dangerous and life changing to some people.

This is true. All my doctor's and consultants have been totally honest with me, I'm very lucky.

How are you now Loxie? Can you get your biceps repaired? Did you have any other muscle issues? I am Day 5 post op rotator cuff & bicep tear surgery. He injected my other one because I have the same deep ache in mid upper arm.  Starting to feel aches other places but it might be all in my head. Been off statins one week. Afraid of PT as it might tear muscles further. My bloodwork is normal for muscle disease & inflammatory markers. No reason for my bicep or rotator cuff to tear. My GP & surgeon are listening but skeptical. What should I be doing? What kind of doctor treats this? 

Hi justcary, thank  you for asking.  I havent had anything done to the tendon ruptures yet.  The original ortho surgeon thought it best to hold off on surgery.  I did have a steroid shot in one shoulder but it didnt really do much.  I've sort of learned to avoid movements that hurt etc.  What did your surgery involve?  Coincidentally I was talking to an elderly neighbour who said he had keyhole surgery to repair a bicep tear (at age 78) and he said it went very well with very little down time and not much in the way of scarring etc.  I had the same reaction from my GP, the surgeon etc., they seemed to avoid my questions as to what could have caused the tears, particularly as one was full thickness and quite severe but I dont do any activities that would result in this sort of injury.  A few mutterings about 'age', 'wear and tear' etc., but no real answers.  My GP point blank refuses to accept it was muscle weakness or damage due to statins but prior to taking them I had very good muscle tone as I did a gentle swim a few times a week - the surgeon confirmed that the swimming would not have caused the tears. I asked about PT but was told it wouldnt help, although I've heard from other people that it did help them tremendously, so maybe they were trying to put me off on a cost cutting basis.  The problem with NHS treatment is that one never knows if youre being told 'no' as a best clinical decision or purely on the basis that there isnt the funding available.