Statins May Cause Erectile Dysfunction

Side effects to statin drugs, such as muscle weakness and pain, sound harmless when spoken or written. But what is happening to what organs within the body that produce these side effects? Most of the time, the side effects resolve if the statin drug is discontinued. But what of the residual, unseen changes that the body may now be left with? What damage has been done that may set a person up for future organ problems?

I don't like calling them side effects. It's not strong enough. They are SYMPTOMS that something within is no longer functioning as it should; that the drug is altering the healthy performance of some of the systems. When a drug causes the organ to stop producing a product like cholesterol,that isn't the only thing that occurs. Our bodies are not mechanical. They are complex. A drug doesn't simply go in and turn a valve and shut off a supply of cholesterol. It has to alter the organ in a way that can be detrimental otherwise there would be no "side effects".

I remember the loss of two of friends to liver cancer after having been on statins for less than a year and I wonder.

My husband had been on simvastatin, then the Dr switched him to Lipitor. He started acting very strangely, forgetting things, cognitive problems, I told the Dr. so he switched him to Crestor which didn't help much, but then my daughter was researching and read about CoQ10 which I have started him on, and it does make a remarkable difference. Sure wish there was something else to help with cholesterol in lieu of statins.

Cholesterol is not the "evil substance" that it is portrayed. Cholesterol is necessary for normal function of the body. It affects erectile, cognitive, muscle function (the heart is a muscle) and every other bodily function. Low cholesterol has been linked to increased heart failure and an increase in ALS diagnoses, as well as possible increased chances of cancer. Some studies have shown that it is only helpful to high risk middle aged men with CVD. It has been shown to be of little or no value to women and the elderly. Please do more research before you decide to use statins.

The physical process of erection is vascular in nature. Anything that effects the vascular system can lead to erectile dysfunction. Diabetes, smoking, high blood pressure and related medications can all be a cause of erectile dysfunction.

I recommend you discuss this issue with your physician. There are many forms of treatment now a days.

Among the many side effects I experienced while on a statin was a decreased and steadily fading sex drive. (I agree with the excellent comment by dp above, that "side effects" is not accurate. They really are symptoms reflecting a serious wide ranging deterioration in your body. The body is very complex in it's function, and the presumptuousness of much of modern medicine overlooks this. Statins are affecting peoples health in wide ranging and little studied and understood ways.) The week I stopped the statins I was simply amazed at the return of my sexual function. I find it maybe more than just ironic that Pfizer's two top money makers of all time are Lipitor, a statin causing sexual disfunction, and Viagra, a drug to restore it. Things are seriously wrong with this world!

Re: Decreasing sexual drive when taking Lipitor. I have been taking Lipitor for 9+ years and have discovered that by taking DHEA, with no side effects that I am aware of, twice daily and my sexual drive is robust and satisfying for myself and my partner. I am 65 years old, diabetic, had a heart bypass, both cholesterol and diabetes are under control and have lost approx. 40 lbs. I have passed this info along to others and their results have been similar.

My husband has taken statins off and on for the last few years. Recently he was back on them and we started noticing erectile problems (again). I also noticed that he seemed to have restless legs at night. I had never noticed that his legs were moving at night before. He stopped the statins and the erectile problems resolved and I have not noticed the moving legs at night again. I just read an article that correlated restless legs and erectile problems. Maybe statins should be thrown into this discussion.

Since I started simvastatins I have had ED & and loss of interest in sex. Drugs are all the same, side affects, some of which cause more problems than they solve. It's all big business. Just watch the commercials on TV. "Ask your doctor, talk to your doctor," constantly.

Unfortunately talking to one's doctor (if you have any real confidence in them to begin with) is not very fruitful. After all they only know what they are told. Every individual must conduct their own research.

Apparently, I am part of the nearly 50% who have not recovered from erectile dysfunction after stopping a statin drug regimen prescribed by a doctor. My use of Vytorin 10-40MG was like a sterilization chemical. The doctor provided many statistics to convince me that taking Vytorin was safe and would prevent a heart attack.

Later, a urologist told me that my cholesterol was low enough that I did not need to take Vytorin. Another doctor told me that satins only affect skeletal muscles, not involuntary muscles. Please, how asinine can a doctor get? Muscles are muscles, whether voluntary or involuntary. Also, more recent research has indicated that Vytorin does not do any of what is claimed, and it has been withdrawn from advertisement (but not use). Doctors know a whole lot less about how our bodies function than we would like to believe.

Vascular ED can therefore be exacerbated by many of the risk factors which cause atherosclerosis, but it is also well documented that control of these risk factors with specific drug therapies can worsen or even precipitate ED. This study investigated the association of individual cardiovascular risk factors and their therapies with erectile function in a cohort of men attending cardiovascular disease clinics. In particular, it investigated the effect of statin therapy on erectile function in this group.

My male friend takes simvastatin or Zocor and has been having problems keeping an erection. Can 40 mg. daily of these drugs for high cholesterol be the cause?

For the record, I am very sensitive to changes in medication; I have been on 10mg Lipitor for almost 9 years, plus 10mg Quinapril (blood pressure med) for the same amount of time - I recently changed jobs, which changed health care plans, and my new plan forced me on to generic Zocor/Simvastatin, at 40mg.

I immediately began to notice a diminishing sex drive, and a gradual reduction in full erections over 3 months. It got so bad that I began to search the web and found this website - bingo! It's clear to me that the increased dosage of statin had a direct impact on my libido and erections.

It is interesting to note that I went from low doses of Lipitor to much higher doses of Zocor to precipitate the change - for me, it looks to be related to the absolute amount of dosage. I'm going back to my doctor immediately to address this, and get off/reduce the statins immediately to look for change/reduction in symptoms.

My doctor put me on zocor for high cholesterol soon after I started taking them I noticed my erection started to diminish it got so bad that I lost my ability to get any kind of an erection I stopped taking zocor a few days after I stopped my erections started to come back. I also started taking DHEA. I am back to normal and then some thank GOD.

Don't give up. Have yourself checked. You may require some testosterone, DHEA or other to get you back to normal. I am facing exactly the same issue after taking 5mg of lipitor for a few weeks, I now have chronic diarrhea and ED and hoping this will fade away.

My Dr put me on crestor and blood pressure meds and ever since I started having erection problems. I only get a semi erection. Can anyone relate because none of the side effects say anything about having erection problems.

PEOPLE'S PHARMACY RESPONSE: THIS CAN BE A REACTION TO SOME BLOOD PRESSURE MEDICINES. THIS SIDE EFFECT HAS ALSO BEEN REPORTED WITH STATINS.

I took crestor a couple of years no problems had a heart attack in Aug 2010. They changed me to simvastatin, sex is non-existent now. Now I am going to ask to be switched back let u know.

I am 50 with history of heart problems. Never had any sexual side effects until I was put on Crestor 4 months ago. I can't maintain or sometimes get an erection. I am convinced it's the cause.

I just turned 50 and was placed on the new statin drug called Livalo 2mg. In just one week I have no sex drive or an erection. I have been prescribed crestor, zocor, and lipitor in the past with the same results. I am hoping another cholesterol med will come out w/o the side effects.

After taking statins for 10 years and seeing little only a slight change in the numbers, I quit against the advice of my doctor. Included in those 10 years was 5-7 years of gradually increasing muscle pain that eventually made my life pure hell. I have my sexuality back and the misery of the constant pain is gone.

Life with the so called "fix" is not worth it, but wonderful without it. From my point of view statins are all a thinly disguised joke on us. I have chosen to loose weight, exercise more, do vitamin therapy, eat better and live happy instead of suffering from the "magic" pill.

Do doctors know about niacin ?
Why do doctors prefer costly statins over niacin ?

Taking just one 500mg niacin tablet daily (time-release type) has worked wonders for me in reducing my total cholesterol from 250+ to 145 in less than four weeks. Of course, I have also been watching my diet and exercising a little. I've lost about 8 lbs. (about 5% of my original body mass).

My boyfriend (72) never had a problem with sex but after he was put on Simvastatin (10 mg), his sex drive declined. After the doctor upped to dose to 20mg, his sex life came to a screeching halt. He discontinued the drug for a week and during that time, his sex drive came back.

Doctors do not discuss this well-known side effect when prescribing this medication, and that is a dereliction of their medical duty.

I have been taking 40 mg's of crestor for about 6 years now. I'm 47 years old and in fairly good physical condition, except for my very high cholesterol, which runs in my family. I workout regularly and have for years but I no longer have any sex drive nor am I able to maintain an erection. I ask my doctors, both my internal and urologist if it could be from my crestor and they both tell me absolutely not. It's just getting older. I disagree as I'm not that old for this to occur.

My testosterone levels dropped into the low 200's and now they put me on androgel which I don't think is very good as it's just brought me over 300 which isn't great. After reading all of this I think I am going to try a month off of the crestor!

I'm 37, have bad cholesterol and have been on simvastatin for about 4 years. I have noticed diminished response since. I am now have serious problems with ED. I have decided, after having read too many articles now about statins and the non-issue of cholesterol, I am quitting the drugs. Life example, I have a grandpa, he is the side my cholesterol issues come from, he is 97 years old, has only been on statins for maybe 15 years, meaning he lived happy and healthy to 80 years old! without statins!. My other grandfather, from the side of the family with great cholesterol, was dead at 44 from a heart attack.

I'm going to live with the numbers the tests come back with and just take a regimen of fish oil, niacin, CoQ10 and the usual antioxidants. I hated being put on a prescription drug for regular "the rest of my life" use and I'm not going to take it anymore. I hope to God a week off will make the difference. I'm just too young to be having this happen, 180lbs, 6ft and active, it's just absurd.

I am presently taking 10/40mg of Vytorin and haven't been able to get a full erection since being on the drug. Is there a substitute I can take to lower my cholesterol as well as remedy my erectile dysfunction problem.

TMA

My Primary Care doctor has been campaigning to put me on statins for the past 10 years because my LDL is frequently over 150; as high as 188 at times. My HDL, however, is always over 50, my blood pressure is good and I am only 12 lbs above what I weighed in high school. Next Bday I turn 60 and will continue to resist my doctor's pressure to begin taking a statin. Maybe it's time for a new doctor!

Since my published comment on 10/28/09 on this site my experience with Lipitor has turned extremely bad. Using the DHEA as previously described has, seemingly, kept any problem with ED under control but the muscle pain has advanced from tolerable to excruciating.

My cholesterol numbers are not much different since starting with Lipitor in 2002 so I elected to stop taking Lipitor against my Doctor's advice. My muscle pains and cramps had become more than I was willing to tolerate even considering my personal pain tolerance to be on the high side. I told my Doctor that I was stopping Lipitor as I could not live my life with the misery produced by it. Of course the resulting advice was to continue on the statin scheme.

I am not shopping a new doctor as I am convinced that they all are taught similar thinking. Now several months later almost all of the pain is gone, my cholesterol numbers aren't really much different and I am almost back to normal. A present lingering effect is that Niacin, Red Rice Yeast, etc. all now produce muscle pain even in low doses.

I'm so glad I found this site. I am 40 years old and have been on Lipitor for about 2 months. My sex drive and ability to maintain an erection have gone way down. This was not a problem for me before.

Coincidentally, I was also diagnosed with low testosterone levels around this same time and have started a replacement therapy about two weeks ago. I was sure the testosterone replacement would help with my ED problems. The testosterone has been working wonders with my energy levels and sense of well-being, but has not made any difference in my sex life.

My doctor very reluctantly put me on the statin. He thinks I am too young to be on a statin, but too old to not do anything at all. He is a big proponent of fish oil and a better diet. I'm due to go back in a few weeks. I think I will have to tell him that I want to try the 'natural' route once more.

I am 72 years old. My blood-sugar level is under control. I also take blood pressure medication (Losartan Pottassium 100mg). I have been also taking Simvastatin 80mg for past several years. I have had ED problems
for past 10 years. Initially, Viagra was helpful. However, it does not help any more. I tried Cilias & Levitra. No improvement. I can not get and maintain erection at all.

Recently, I stopped taking Simvasratin for a week but ED problem did not go away.

Can any MD provide any advice?

I am 66 years old, reasonably sexually active (intercourse 4-6 x / week) and was on 40 mg of zocor and had very occasional ED, generally unremarkable, but when was switched to Crestor my sex life has been the pits. Anorgasmia, flaccid erections, no orgasms. Tried Cialis 5 and it works. I have Type II Diabetes and sugar is entirely under control, never a sex life problem with Metformin, but Crestor has been a disaster. I'm off it now and waiting for my erections to return.

I came home from the hospital in good shape after a small stroke. On Dr's orders I started taking LIPITOR. Within 3 weeks my sexual function was ZERO. I tossed them in the garbage today after seeing that there are 1,200,000 hits on Gogle about statins and sexual dysfunction in males. It would have been nice had my doctor mentioned this to me. Time for a new doctor but I am afraid that nearly all are in the pocket of the drug companies one way or another. What a wonderful medical system we have in the USA. I hope the damage is not long lasting.

Thank gosh for this website. My husband is only 34 and begun taking crestor (a little young to take statins but has a strong family history) and noticed his sex drive and struggled with his erection. It is clear that the only medication my husband is on is Crestor 5mg and it is causing erectile dysfunction problem. It states it can affect muscles and one website states it can cause erectile dysfunction just not a common side effect.

i agree with a comment above, you know your body better than any doctor so go with your instinct and do your own research! Regardless of what doctor says i think i will suggest my husband to stop the crestor and look at more natual remedies!

Erectile dysfunction is definitely from the drugs. I've been on about 8 different statins and they all do the same thing. Welcol is the only not statin the helps a little.

Thank God I found this site. I started taking zocor a short time ago. About a month. I've also noticed a complete decline in my sex drive and difficulty achieving and maintaining an erection. But I never put the two together. My doctor said high cholesterol can cause ED. I think it might be the other way around. I'm going off zocor and taking my chances. I exercise and I eat right. That's going to have to be good enough.

I am considering Red dry Yeast, as recommended by a nutritionist Pharmacist who hates crestor.

I have used Crestor since 2004 due to high total cholesterol and LDL. Around same time I was starting to suffer ED time to time. It was getting worse after years, 2009 I asked Viagra medication from my doctor. It helped situation but did not stop progress of symptoms.

I also suffered pain at low back and legs. On summer 2011 I stopped Crestor due to pains and luckily it helped for the pains. In November 2011 I went to specialist to discuss about my ED problem. He ordered me to go to test my testosterone levels 'just in case'. My testosterone was below low limit, both total and free. Other hormone levels (LH and FSH and PRL) were normal.

Just after I saw my hormone test results I started to suspect Crestor as cause of ED. It's looks too high coincidence that my ED problem just started at same time as Crestor medication. Unfortunately my testosterone levels have not recovered in half year (of course I cannot say how low they were when I stopped Crestor). I am hoping to find advice how to start my testosterone synthesis again. Or do I really have to go and take testosterone replacement? I am just 40 years old now so this is really terrible situation.