Feedback on Lipitor Side Effects and Usage Page 16
About Lipitor
If you use Lipitor or another statin please help others by sharing your experience. What would you tell your best friend about using Lipitor? Please remember that we do not give medical advice. That is for your local health care provider, who is familiar with your medical history.
Subj: What the hell is going on?
Date: 12/2/2010
I had a blocked artery in 98′ started 20mg lipitor, since then I have lost all muscle mass in legs and arms. Massive muscle pain in thighs, back, calve etc. also now have nite terrors or really violent scary dreams. What the hell is going on? Am now on 40mg of lipitor and all is worse. I have had to curtail my activity as to pain, can’t sleep and need answers.
richard
AskDocWeb: From what we have read, there seems to be about an 85% chance of returning to normal but it sometimes takes a year or two to get the muscles back in shape after discontinuing this statin. Pfizer is facing law suits from people all over the country who claim that the company did not make consumers and doctors fully aware of the potential side effects and that they mislead the public about the overall effectiveness of the drug. Consumers report that one of the main side effects of Lipitor is muscle weakness and muscle degeneration. Lipitor users also report nerve damage, memory loss, depression, heart failure, and neuropathy. At what point do you consider contacting a dangerous drugs attorney or Lipitor Side Effects Attorney?
Subj: Leg and muscle pain
Date: 1/14/2011
I am a 53-year old woman. i suffered a massive heart attack and quadruple bypass back in 1999. I was put on 20 mg of lipitor, then a few years later, the dosage was upped to 40 mg. I want to quit lipitor cold turkey due to leg and other muscle pain. I feel so old and weak. I am so afraid that if i do so, i will suffer another heart attack. Do you think taking fish oil and watching my cholestorol intake will be ok instead of taking lipitor? My heat doctor wants to keep me on it, says my muscle pains are probably due to PAD or spine-related. I tested negative for PAD! My liver over-produces cholestorol. What is your advice?
Deborah
AskDocWeb: The purpose of this website is limited to discussing side effects. We leave the advice to 
Online Doctors or your personal healthcare provider.
Subj: Incompetent Medical Care!
Date: 1/18/2011
Lipitor, the drug, certainly killed my dad. But, the bigger problem was that all his Doctors saw nothing wrong with giving Lipitor to a 76 year old man with Hep. C. (diagnosed in 1997, but contracted back in the 1970’s.) My dad was a very healthy man, considering his Hep. C. He didn’t drink or smoke, was fairly active and not overweight. No Doctor checked his Heart Dr for the dose or anything. They all just said, “Well, you have a major blockage in one corotid artery, so… if your heart Dr. thinks you need it….” The dose was 80mg. from the beginning. My dad took it 18 days, then stopped. Already too late. It shot his liver, he suffered from Hepatic Encephalopathy, got weaker and weaker..had to have emergency surgery for a leaking bowel, (no one knows where that came from) and couldn’t recoup from that. Terrible suffering I’d say…Makes me so mad I could scream! His liver Dr. continued to say that statins are relatively safe even with liver disease…though as my dad was dying he conceded that 80 mg dose was too high.
I have nothing left to say to understand how his medical care could have been so negligent…Just please take this story to heart if you have liver disease and your Dr. thinks it’s ok to take a statin. In Aug 09 my dad drove across country with my mom to our daughter’s wedding. In Jan 2010 after 18 days on Lipitor, he was no longer himself and he died June 2010. What else would any thinking person attribute this to, but Lipitor? (And Incompetent Medical Care!)
Carole
Subj: Permanent damage?
Date: 1/21/2011
I took Lipitor for several years. Besides feeling very bad, my hips got so bad I could not walk. I quit Lipitor and got better very soon (I can walk), but still have pain in my hips. It seems to be in muscles. Is the Lipitor damage permanent?
Perry
AskDocWeb: In most patients who stop taking statins because of adverse side effects, those side effects eventually go away but in rare cases there is permanent damage. In addition to the muscle pain there may also be adverse effects on various organ functions such as liver, thyroid, and pancreatic function. In some cases a statin may cause the liver to make more of certain enzymes. If this becomes a problem, the Mayo Clinic recommends changing to a different statin that may not affect your liver. Liver function tests should be done both before and during statin use because if the statin is damaging the liver and not stopped, it could cause permanent damage.
Subj: Muscle spasms and breathing problems
Date: 2/15/2011
I have been on lipitor for 10 years. I do have all sorts of muscle spasms and breathing problems. Is there a limited amount of time a person should remain on the lipitor? The first six years I took 10mg.: now I take 20mg.I have had these health issues for years, now I wonder do I need to ask the doctor to change me to a different brand? Or should I still take this medication of any brand. Is there a time frame when a person should not continue to take this medication? Help me please! Thank you.
Marjorie
AskDocWeb: We have not seen any source that says Lipitor should be limited to a specific time frame. Some people have a problem with statins because they restrict the body’s production of the coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10). This is a fat-soluble vitamin-like substance found in every human cell. The coenzymes help enzymes work to digest food and CoQ10 helps convert that food into muscle energy. It also acts as an antioxidant protecting the body from harmful molecules. CoQ10 is available in the USA as a dietary supplement. Although some people take it to help reduce or prevent some of the side effects statins, this use is controversial. However, it is worth talking with your doctor about CoQ10.
Subj: Pain in hips and upper thighs
Date: 2/18/2011
I have been on Lipitor 20mg for several years. I have had increasing pain in my hips and upper thighs especially when I go from a sitting position to a standing position and continues to hurt as I walk. Could this pain be a side effect of taking Lipitor?
Francesca
AskDocWeb: Yes, others have reported similar experiences with Lipitor. The product information for Lipitor says that any unexplained muscle pain or weakness should be reported to your doctor immediately.
Subj: Burning irritation in bladder, feeling cold and urinary leakage
Date: 3/6/2011
I had taken lipitor for about 4 years. I had been heavier and every year get a complete blood work for thyroid, liver, blood sugar, etc. They would always be normal. At night I got up frequently to urinate and my psa. and prostate, urinary tract culutres are fine. I would pee about 2 urinals full or 1/2 gal a night. When I would need to go I would feel a burning irritation in my bladder and trickling after peeing a lot. I would also feel chilled when hungry and chilled after eating. Sometimes laying in bed, my face felt like an air conditioner was blowing on it. I felt cold alot. Once I couldn’t lay on one side because I had extreme muscle pain in my shoulder blade in my back.
I decided to stop taking Lipitor and The urgency of my bladder and burning irritation sensation when my bladder was full stopped. I wouldn’t leak trying to get to the bathroom. At night I got up less and stopped trickling after urinating. My chills stopped and I didn’t feel cold anymore sitting at the computer or laying in bed. I told my doctor and he had no explanation for my symptoms.
I take 20mg of metaprolol for slightly high blood pressure 130/84. I am no longer chilled and my kidney area doesn’t ache as much lying down. I could not loose weight on a 1,000 calorie diet and I weigh about 390lbs and am 6’9″ tall. Hopefully I will loose weight too. According to the BMI, I should be able to loose weight eating 3,000 calories or less. Maybe I can before I get too screwed up healthwise.
Joe
Subj: Memory loss, irritability and arthritis
Date: 3/25/2011
I started on statins about five six years ago because my cholesterol was found to be high which turns out to be hereditary. I started off with 40 mg of simvastatin which I only took for a short while after reading about side effects. I went back on them after advice from my doctor and found they were causing problems such as memory loss and irritability. The doctor changed them to 10 mg of lipitor. This brought my cholesterol levels down and I wasn’t aware of any side effects at the time. I then had my dosage increased to 20mg and whithin days noticed the arthritis in my hip was getting worse.
6 months later I had to come off work as I could no longer stand for any length of time and ended up having to walk with a stick and the pain was so bad it had me in tears at times. The doctor told me it was arthritis but was amazed after examaning me of the amount of flexibility in the hip joints. I was prescribed pain killers which had little effect and things were just getting worse. The pains were now running down my thighs and into my lower legs.
After searching the internet for side effects of lipitor I was amazed at all the similar problems people were having with statins. I decided to stop taking them altogether. One week later I still had horrofic pain but found I felt much less depressesed a side effect I hadn’t noticed. Two weeks later the pain was still there but slightly bearable.
It’s now three weeks since I stopped taking them and I am now sleepping better and feel remarkable. The pain is still there but not as bad and it will no doubt take time to heal. I was called to my doctors practice late last year 2010 and was told that new findings where saying unless you have a history of heart desease and strokes in the family it probably isn’t neccessary to take statins at all. I wish I had stopped then.
On reflection all the arthiritic pain I experienced I can account to taking statins in one form or another and I probably don’t have athritis at all. I have decided to opt for keeping on a good balanced diet with lots of fresh fruit and veg and exercise. I am not a doctor and would advise anyone taking this medication to watch out for any side effects they may think they have however small.
Philip
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