Lipitor Led to Wish for Short LIfe

I hated Lipitor. Not only did it nearly cripple my father with leg muscle pain beyond belief, (and effect HIS memory) but it made me feel like I had the flu all the time. My legs hurt, my joints hurt, my bones ached. Add memory problems to those. Literally, I got to where I could not finish a sentence. Literally....... I could not finish a sentence nor could I remember what I had started saying in the first place!!

Finally I read some articles about its memory-robbing-properties. (I am grateful to Joe Graedon for some of the info !) For a week I stopped taking it. My husband noticed that my memory was better; I started it again, and the problems ALL came back; then I stopped for a week or so, and I felt like flu-ridden and memory was horrid; could not finish sentences....blah blah blah; I stopped it and said, "No MORE".

Last time I had my check up with my family doctor, I told him I hated Lipitor and that I had quit taking it, because it made me feel horrible and robbed my memory. Know what my family doctor said? "I can't take Statins, either."

I tried natural alternatives:Lecithin. (it eventually caused same memory problems); tried RED YEAST RICE; it caused the same feelings as on LIPITOR, but not as bad..... it just was not worth the pain and memory problems.

I don't like taking Lipitor simply because I've heard so many bad things, however, I do not have problems, I take 10 mg. 4 times per week. My doctor wants me to take more but my LDL level is 97, so I think that is low enough.

I stopped lipitor after experiencing muscle weakness. It took awhile to regain it after stopping.

I did take Co-Q10 (which lipitor depletes), and it probably helped.

I have tried all the statins except Crestor and have similar problems but fortunately on a smaller scale. I switched back to pravastatin since zocor was causing more bad liver function tests on some visits, requiring a follow up test a month later. Pravastatin did not seem to work at all. COQ10 helped some, but depression/blah feelings seem to be the worse problem, but statins also leaves a funny "metallic" taste in my mouth. About 5 days per week is all I could stand.

I just down loaded your info on statins and alternatives and am trying the alternatives for a few months. I want to see if the body aches and depression cease. I think if I got the cholesterol readings where the doctors wanted, life would not be worth living for me. I know some of my body aches are just because I like yard work and at age 62, I will have some aches and pains since I had them at 33 before I was on statins.

I am trying the 4 grams of fishoil, COQ10, Niaspan. I also need to lose another 10 pounds (I have kept 25 pounds off for over 2 years). I need to review that guide again to make sure I am covering all the natural bases I can. Zetia was was moderately successful, so my doctor brought up the possibility of going back on it. I know it does not seem to produce better outcomes, but no one really knows how all this cholesterol control really works. Wish I was in the group where statins worked but did not cause side effects.

Goodness ---- don't take any statins if you have muscle aches of any kind. My relative now has numb and painfull feet and hands. She sometimes gets shooting pains in her feet (up to her knees) and in her hands. She was on Lipitor, the Doc change her to another statin and she continued to have the problems. Doc finally took her off statins of any kind. Her hands and feet are damaged and has not come back to normal.

I have been on three statins in the past decade and none of them have left me with the thought of wanting to resume taking them. For a couple of years I was on Zocor combined with Zetia. I felt that the Zetia left me with short term memory issues and basically a mushy brain. Zocor left me with an unsteady gait, tripping (as if the bottom of my metatarsal would stick to the ground, giving me a head over heels feeling), so disconcerting that.

I sought out a neurologist for confirmation that I did not have MS or any other neurological disease. Next came Crestor and Antara which led to a tightening of the upper thigh muscles that became a major concern when I tried to walk up a flight of stairs and my legs literally locked. Following this I was on Welchol which gave me an uncomfortable feeling in the right rib cage area. I am presently on Lipitor (10 mg., which I tend to cut in half and try to tolerate 5mg. on most occasions).

I am still taking Antara. One doctor who is not my cardiologist but another specialist who I see for endocrinology keeps insisting that I go back on Zetia as well. No way. I now have experienced a buckling of my left knee and that same rib cage discomfort. I've been off Lipitor for almost two weeks now and the rib cage discomfort has gone away and the legs feel stronger again.

It's a Catch 22. Do I risk a potential heart attack, or slowly feel that my muscles (and or liver and kidneys) will suffer irreparable harm? I'm due to resume taking Lipitor this week and I really have my doubts and concern for my future.

I would just like to add to my previous posting that I am currently taking two Omega 3 1200mg. fish oil gelcaps daily and one Flaxseed oil capsule which contains 1000mg. I am certain that these can't hurt. I did use policanosol tablets in between the Crestor and Whelchol but it did absolutely no good in lowering the total cholesterol (which some doctors have said don't even look at the overall number) or the LDL. Ironically my triglycerides and HDL are well within normal limits. It is the total cholesterol and LDL that gives me a feeling of dread whenever I have blood drawn and follow up at the doctor's office to learn what the results are.

It is 3 a.m. and I once again had to get up due to severe muscle aches and pain (bone pain ?). My shoulders, arms, hands and legs ache so bad that I can not turn over in bed. I have tried various statins and tomorrow will stop the latest one. Whenever I stop taking these drugs, the pain goes away within a week or two. I just can not tolerate the side effects any longer.

I am back on Lipitor again (5mg.) every day or every other day as tolerated and 3 Welchol (625mg. each) as well. The reason: my latest blood work after being on red yeast rice and phytosterols, was total cholesterol 310, HDL 111, LDL 183 and Triglycerides 78. I've been on the Lipitor for a week and the Welchol since Monday. I am getting brain fog again, as well as pain in my toes and fingers.

I've spent the afternoon researching cholesterol lowering methods other than the red yeast rice and phytosterols which I have been on since October. In October my total was 278 and the LDL level was 160. It seems to jump about 20 pts. in a month to six weeks or so. I am going to start Metamucil (I had to stop because the powder form would make me sneeze), and for years I've been on Citracel. If I have to, I will take Metamucil in a caplet form for ingestion.

Something has to work other than the statins. I am afraid of the consequences of staying on the statins and what is facing me if I come off them. I am going for blood work in four weeks time as opposed to the usual three month interval. My doctor would like to see what I can get it down to in a short period, but the thought processing has been jumbled the last couple of days, not 24/7 but sporadically, and I have had this before when I was on Zetia.

I fear that the combo of Lipitor and the Welchol are too strong in my system. He is not the first doctor whose care I am under who has suggested both cholesterol medications simultaneously. Catch 22 indeed.

Thank you for sharing. Would've never known Lipitor can cause muscle pain.

Wow, reading all these comments, takes me back a few years. I was on Lipitor for a few years. I have to go to the basement to do laundry, there were times that I almost could not make the climb back up the stairs. I was only in my early forties, I thought it was because my job required me to be on my feet for my full shift. When I got home I felt like a cripple. I also experienced weakness in my arm muscles.

Then one night while watching the TV, a commercial for lipitor came on and like every other time it gave the warning that if you have muscle pain or weakness tell your Dr. It was like a light bulb went on, I hobbled to my husband and told him what I just saw. He agreed I should stop lipitor.

My Dr. switched me to Crestor, I have been on it for a few years now with no noticeable side effects. Just wanted to add that it did take a few weeks to start to feel better, but eventually I got back to what I feel is what a 40ish year old person should feel like .