question about muscle cramps

[nefarious_muse]

Hello All,
Just wondering if anyone has experienced muscle cramps while on Coumadin? Not sure if the culprit is the Coumadin - as my husband is also on Monopril. The muscle cramps occur intermittently - but sometimes are so bad that he has to sit down (or pull over when driving) until they go away.

My husband has a doctors appt coming up and plans to discuss this, but thought I'd check in with the experts here first

Thanks!
Nef

 

[Nancy]

Is he on any diuretics? Sometimes muscle cramps can happen when calcium, magnesium or potassium are out of whack. But, of course it could also come from other things.

Those are the things that have caused muscle cramps in Joe. He's on Lasix and another med that requires that he take extra potassium, so he gets checked all the time for that.

Speak with the doc about it. There are lab tests for the above.

I don't like to have Joe get muscle cramps because the heart is also a muscle and it usually means that something needs correction, unless there is an obvious reason like overdoing exercise, or pulling something.

 

[Rich]

Is he on any cholestorel lowering medications?
Some of those statin drugs can really cause muscle cramps and weakness.

 

[nefarious_muse]

Thanks for the replies. Although he is not on diuretics, he is on Lipitor for his cholesterol....perhaps he is experiencing side effects from that...

His appt is in another week, so hopefully we'll get to the bottom of this.

Thanks again for your help!
Nef

 

[Rich]

Nef,
That's a real possibility.
My wife has tried them all such as Lipitor, Zocor, etc and had the same reactions to all of them.
It was muscle cramps and weakness,it was very severe.
A lot of people have no trouble with any of these statin drugs but your husband may be like my wife and not be able to tolerate them.

 

[hensylee]

Hey, Nef - I was waiting to hear if he is on a statin. I was on Lipitor for quite awhile and one day I had cramps in my whole body! Since my numbers were good, the dr let me off Lipitor. But the numbers went back up by the time I had the next test. So, back on the Lipitor and second time around I have had no problems with cramps. I bet it is the Lipitor causing his cramps - but I think all the statins will cause the same thing. Cholesterol lowering drugs are very important to the health of those of us who need them - we get other benefits from the statins, too. I hope this may help you a little bit and that between you and his doctor, you can reach a good answer. God bless

 

[RobThatsMe]

Hi,

The two main reasons/ causes, that I am aware of, for muscle cramps in the legs are:

1. dehydration, not drinking enough water.

2. low potassium levels. - eat a banana a day, and get some multivit with potassium.

I wonder if some of the other drugs he is taking lowers/depletes his potassium?

Hope this may help,

Rob

 

[Guest]

Let's hope he is not one of those who cannot take any statin. I think that they are now up to about 25 benefits for people taking statins. They do have some side effects. But you should hope that you can take one brand because of the benefits. I think that people who had some cramps, not serious liver problems or rhabdomyolysis, should be re-tried on them again.

Besdies running the Anticoagulation Clinic, I also supervise the Lipids and Diabetes Management Clinics at our hospital. We try to keep everyone on a statin until they just can't tolerate it. When most people learn of the benefits, they are willing to be re-tried.

 

[ccrawford]

FYI - My first statin was Zocor and it gave me leg cramps for sure. I switched to Lipitor and the leg cramps went away but I now have headaches which I think are caused by the Lipitor.

 

[Guest]

Headaches caused by drugs allmost always disappear within 30 to 60 days after starting the drug. Beyond that they are so uncommon that you should look for another cause. If it turns out it is the Lipitor, keep trying the others. They all have slightly different side effect profiles but about the same level of benefits.