Leg pain
Posted , 4 users are following.
I am having terrible leg pain and it occurred to me today that it might be caused by my Statin drug. I used to take Lovastatin and I never had this problem on Lovastatin. But when I was in the hospital with a mini stroke in December they changed my cholesterol medicine to Lipator. I don't recall that this pain started when I first started the Lipitor in fact it really didn't start until about 2 months ago. How do I know for sure that it's the Lipitor causing the problem and not something else? I have a lot of other health conditions going on and one of them is lower back pain. And I have thought of sciatica but this is not sciatica pain. This pain is predominantly from the knees down to the toes. Anybody with any ideas would be appreciated
1 like, 4 replies
Mesirm amkoffee
Posted
Hi amkofee, I cannot take statins of any type without negative effects. I have tried several times because my doctors insisted and ever time I ended up in worst shape. In each case I did not realize it was the statin until about 2 or 3 weeks in. Some effects included extreme tiredness, muscle cramps in legs, joint pain especially in left shoulder. I became suspicious when I could not raise my left arm up over my head without experiencing pain in my left shoulder joints. At the time I was learning to swim and had not experienced any joint pain until I began taking the statin. I stopped the statin and I'm thankful that the joint pain stopped and I was able to raise my left arm over my head again without pain. I was a little nervous because it took several months before the pain stopped. This may not happen to everyone who takes statins but in my case, statins cause pains for me.
green881 amkoffee
Posted
I recently learned there are actually many different types of sciatica with different causes lumped under that one term. But I know for a fact that toe/ball of foot tingling or pain can be a symptom of sciatica because my foot surgeon said so and I trust him. Given that you mention sciatica and the lower back pain (a source of some types of sciatica) and it didn't start right away on Lipitor odds are at least 50-50 its the sciatica or something nerve related to the back issues. Any reason not to switch back to your old statin for a month and if it goes away you have your answer?
david43006 amkoffee
Posted
I took a statin and ezetroll ,only meds that really brought my cholesterol down under the required level.
For my statin leg pain I eat peanut butter everyday and zero pain result.
Reading over the years I've seen just as much benefits for statins as harm.
For me personally it's done well.I do believe it prevented a heart attack by restricting swelling.
Look after your arteries
amkoffee
Posted
Since posting this question my doctor authorized me to go off of the statins for one month and see if the leg pain continue or stopped. Well it continued. So now we're thinking maybe it's back related and I'm scheduled to have an MRI on my lower back. I haven't had one of those in many years and I know from the pain that things have changed. I'm looking forward to seeing what the results say.