Lipitor and Cuomadin

[bocco]

Hi All,

AVR about a year and a half ago. Mechanical valve and taking coumadin. Did really well for over a year. Work out every day and enjoy life. Don't worry much about what I eat or drink and always tested in range (2.0-3.0). A few months back my doc decides I should take lipitor because even though my cholesterol is not high on that scale they are finding it's better to to reduce cholesterol even lower. So after about 2 weeks of lipitor at 20mg per day I test at 4.4. Even though my doc and the coumadin doc say lipitor is no problem I stopped taking it for a while and the numbers settled down around 2.8 to 3.0. My coumadin guy even lowered my does a little which I agreed with. So I gave the lipitor another shot just to prove it is the lipitor. This time 10mg instead of 20mg. After 3 weeks I tested at 4.2. Not to mention the muscle cramping and feeling to tired to work out.

Any body else seen this problem?

Gary

 

[dick0236]

I have tried a number of cholesterol drugs with results similar to yours. In a nutshell, I had fits with all of them screwing up my INR. After a year, or so, of trying various meds that would not affect INR....I gave up and discontinued the cholesterol meds. My docs no longer suggest I try cholesterol meds. BTW, my muscle pains also went away after I discontinued cholesterol meds. Sometimes the cure is worse than the disease LOL.

 

[knotguilty]

I am not on coumadin but I would like to comment about the Lipitor. They put me on Lipitor and muscle cramps were a problem. I was told that the cramping can cause permanent damage and pain in your muscles. So the doctor stopped the lipitor and put me on Provistatin and I rarely have any muscle cramping now. They can keep trying different statins until they find one you can tolerate. So no two are the same. That is my experience.

 

[Protimenow]

My experience has been quite different from yours. I am taking 80 mg/day - not for cholesterol, but as part of a post-stroke protocol. It doesn't seem to have effected my INR at all (or, if it did, it was easy to change my dose to compensate). Perhaps your system reacts strangely when you are taking TOO LITTLE Lipitor, and will more quickly adjust to a more appropriate dose.

(BTW -- I take the generic, which I can get in bottles of 90 at Costco for less than $40. The patent version is more than $500 for the same dose and amount).

 

[bocco]

So this is day 5 off of Lipitor. I still have the cramping but not as bad so hopefully they will subside in a few more days. The fatigue is gone and my workout this morning was much better. My coumadin doc still swears that Lipitor has no effect on INR. My gut feeling is that everybody reacts differently to medications.

Notguilty and Dick, how long did it take for the cramps to settle down?

Thanks for the info

Gary

 

[dick0236]

Notguilty and Dick, how long did it take for the cramps to settle down?

Thanks for the info

Gary

It's been several years since I went off the cholesterol meds and I don't remember how long the severe cramping continued.....but it was not more than a few months.....I think. I periodically still get some leg/foot cramping, but it seems to happen when I haven't been to the gym for a week or so. Not sure if it might be a residual cramping due to the meds or if it's my body telling me to get back to the gym.

 

[jmstallard]

I'm on both of those meds -- 5mg warfarin, 20mg atorvastatin -- and it hasn't affected my INR. I quickly settled into my 5mg of warfarin and my INR hovers around 2.3. I'd rather not be on a statin, but unfortunately I have familial hyperlipidemia.

 

[knotguilty]

My arm cramps stopped within a couple days after I came off the Lipitor.

 

[bocco]

Well I've been complaining to my doc because the leg pain persisted. He sent me in for blood work to check for muscle damage. My CREATINE KINASE was at 1067 U/L. Should be less than 200U/L according to the test results sheet. I guess there's not much to do but wait for it to come down.