Statins & Memory Loss

[SHerrin Hutt]

Hey Al,
Have you heard anything about satins drug, Like Zocar, Liptor,Pravochol causing memory loss & musle pains. I have been on all theses at one time or another. Then the Dr. just put me on crestor recently. I have so many problems with my memory and my legs have been driving me crazy. Are theses drug the blame for this. I heard there was recent study in the Wall Street Journal confirms that theses drugs were linked to cognitive problems impairment & musle pains in as small amount of users. I know if there is a bad side effect Iam sure to have it. Could you send me the infor on Crestor, I copy what you sent and my husband threw it away my mistake he said. Thanks for your help!
SHerrin
Valve repair 5/99
Valve replacement 3/02

 

[Karlynn]

I am on Lipitor and get feet cramping every now and then. I had a friend on it who was having terrible leg pain. They thought it was arthritis, until one dr. suggested she go off her statin and see. She did, and no more leg pain.

 

[Rich]

Hi Sherrin,
My wife has been fighting this problem for a few years.
She has tried every statin drug out there, there is at least five or six of them.
Same results every time, extreme muscle pain and weakness mostly in her legs.
She is a very active person but on those drugs she could barely walk.
Some people tolerate them just fine but not everyone.
Muscle pains and weakness are a known side effect of statin drugs.
Now they have her on a combination of Zetia and Tricor which are both non-statin drugs.
She has had very little problems since.
It seems just about every drug we have to take cures one thing and causes other problems.

Rich

 

[SHerrin Hutt]

Hi Rich
I too! have had so many problemswith the side effects of so many meds. To my dislike I am on way to many. I have nerve study on my legs, ct's, MRI's aadn still find nothing to explain my leg problems. At least I know now that I'm not crazy.
Thanks,
SHerrin
Valve repair 5/99
Valve repalacement 3/02

 

[Ross]

Dear Ross:

Sharon Hutt asked for info on Crestor. I still can't post to VR.com. Will you please, once again?
THanks
Blanche


http://www.azcentral.com/health/news/articles/0305cholesteroldrug05.html

 

[SHerrin Hutt]

Thanks , I wanted to take my Dr. a copy.
SHerrin
Valve repair 5/99
Valve replacement 3/02

 

[Rich]

Hi Sherrin,
Just a side note for you.
The meds my wife now takes for cholesterol that I mentioned are normally used(one or the other) in conjunction with the statin drugs.
Her PCP came up with a way to use these two together and it seems to be working.
Statins also require periodic blood tests to check on any liver damage.

 

[SHerrin Hutt]

I have blood tests eery 3mos. because of all the medication I am taking,
SHerrin
VAlve repair 5/99
Valve replacement 3/02

 

[hensylee]

this thread is a real concidence for me. I am on Lipitor and have been for more than four years. Some of you recall I had a different surgery last May and couldn't walk after the surgery - I may have been injured but don't know. I have been to every sort of dr, even chiropractor, gotten those bursitis shots, Celebrex, the works. Nothing helped so I just gave up trying to get help and figured I would always be crippled - it has been worse than the surgery could ever be. (The other day I remembered my cardio's nurse practitioner said a medicine vacation was ok for me when I told him I had stopped taking Lipitor a few yrs ago. Well after I stopped it, my numbers went back up - that was in 2000, so I started back on the Lipitor.) Since last year, my muscles have gotten so bad I haven't been able to walk much, I must use a cane and ride those carts in the store. A week or so ago I suddenly decided to just stop Lipitor (for no real remembered reason) and yesterday, I felt like walking down my (long) driveway - went part way without a problem. Today I went to local grocery and circled the inside of it just using the basket and walking along just like everyone else. I am not ok yet but I am hoping this change will continue and if it does I never want to see a statin again.

Tonight I went on the net to see what I could find about muscle damage from statins and lo and behold there it was. Do a search on LIPITOR MUSCLE DAMAGE and you will find what I did. There was one by a Dr Graveline who used to prescribe it freely until he discovered cognitive memory damage. (and I just thought I was a pumphead!)

It is so awful to not be able to walk freely and without help. I don't know if this is really the problem, but whatever it is, is getting worse all the time, so I am stopping the Lipitor and will just watch cholesterols - which I already do anyway.

I plan a vacation next month and sure want to be able to walk to all those spots my son and his wife have in store for me.

 

[bvdr]

This has been a good thread.

Ann, I am so glad you are experiencing improvement with your walking. I hope you have found an answer!

I'm going to check out those studies. I am having problems with memory that I would love to see reduced or eliminated. I have been blaming it on pump-headedness as well but maybe that isn't the case. Over-all, I just don't feel very "sharp". I was started on Lipitor immediately post-op (probably because I also have some coronary artery disease) and just wonder if Lipitor is contributing to the problem. I will do the research and then ask my cardiologist about it before I make any changes.

 

[Stitch]

My family practice doctor had me take Crestor because he felt my good cholesterol was to low. It has been that way all my life (I am 55). It was not a problem when I had a card cath almost 4 years ago before I had a Ross. Anyway, my knees and elbows got real sore. I did not realize just how much I was hurting until I stopped taking Crestor.

 

[BillCobit]

Report muscle pain to your doctor

Report muscle pain to your doctor

Sherrin -

You should let your doctor know of your muscle pain. Although rare, there is a potentially serious side effect of statin drugs called rhabdomyolysis, which is muscle degeneration w/ buildup of related waste products in the blood. Be especially concerned if you have fever, dark urine, any nausea. Depending on other drugs you may be taking, risk of rhabdomyolysis can be signficinatly increased through drug interactions.

 

[ccrawford]

Lipitor caused some pretty bad muscles cramps in my calves. I tried Crestor and it did the same thing - it also has a delayed affect on INR so be really careful with this one. I'm on Zocor now and it also causes some cramping but not quite as bad. Before I do my walking excercise, I really stretch my leg muscles for about five minutes and this helps a lot. I also skip a dose or two if I start getting cramps during normal (non excercise) activities. I have not yet tried Pravachol so can't comment on this one.

 

[JimChicago]

My PCP says my cholesterol levels are OK but my cardiologist is pushing thses cholesterol meds. It is sobering to hear of the side effects of the statins - I guess I'll keep looking for natural safer alternatives.

From:
http://www.hunterdonhealthcare.org/WebMD/Conditions/Heart_Vascular/Muscle_Linked_Statin.asp
>>>>
But in a study to be published in the Oct. 1 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers found that some statin users may suffer muscle discomfort caused by the drugs while still maintaining normal CK levels.


"Perhaps creatine kinase is not the adequate indicator of muscle toxicity we thought it was," says study author Paul S. Phillips, MD, director of interventional cardiology at Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego Phillips presented his findings today at a briefing in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the American Medical Association.


The study looked at 20 patients who complained of muscle pain during statin use. Researchers examined samples of the patients' muscle tissue both while taking the drugs and while taking a placebo. Patients were not told whether they were taking the statin or the placebo.


Although the patients' CK levels remained normal throughout the study, researchers found abnormalities in the muscle tissue that might explain their symptoms. Those abnormalities were found only when the patients were using statins and not when they were on the placebo.

In fact, all of the patients in the study were able to tell when they were taking the statin therapy vs. the placebo because of their symptoms, Phillips says.

Phillips says this is the first convincing evidence of an adverse muscle-related reaction to statins in patients with normal CK levels. He says that finding suggests that the current guidelines, which call for using CK as the only indicator of muscle-related side effects of statin therapy, need to be revised.
>>>>

 

[hensylee]

I find this interesting about the ck levels. I had lipids done about 6 wks ago, called dr offiice Friday and these #s were not part of that test. I asked the nurse to make a note that I wanted to have one done when I get back home (I am on vacation) in May. NOw that this has come up, it might not be an accurate test after all................wonder what now?

 

[Mary Ellen]

I have also tried every statin out there, and after several weeks every one of them caused leg muscle pain and weakness. I stopped taking them, and of course, my cholesterol went up. My doctor asked me to try a Crestor and Zetia combination...it brought my numbers down to where I have been able to stop the Zetia. I hope the Crestor doesn't end up causing the same problem, but so far, so good.

 

[SHerrin Hutt]

Statins

Statins

Hi Mary Ellan
Crestor is a statins drug. If you go to their web sight you will find there are the same side effects and more, I have been on them all and have alot of trouble with my legs and memory problems. I wish you better luck than I have had.

 

[ccrawford]

Mary Ellen - I don't know how long you have been using Crestor, but in my case, it caused my INR to jump up a couple of points after using it for about two weeks. Be careful ! Chris

 

[Susan BAV]

This might not be related; I don't know. But a couple of weeks after I had AVR I was put on Sotalol for A-fib. A week and a half after that I delveloped the most AWFUL pain in the joints where my legs attach to my torso (don't know if that is loin or groin?) and I could just barely walk for several days! The pain lessened but it didn't get much better until a few weeks after I was taken off the Sotalol, three months post-op. I still have a bit of the pain when I ride my exercise bike. I felt like it must have been related to the Sotalol because of the timing of its appearance. But I really don't know. But something settled into those joints and it was really awful.

~Susan W

 

[ccrawford]

Susan and all others - Given some of the recent findings, I'm beginning to think that you should quit your statin the minute you start to have problems and get your cardio to try another one. I'd hate to blow out a hip joint by taking statins