But what, if like me, both statins cause MASSIVE muscle and joint pain, and damage to muscles and tendons? “Experts” suggest most everyone should be on maximum dose of statin medications: Prescribe high potency statins in treatment, prevention
I was on atorvastatin – within weeks, I had massive hip, thigh muscle, knee and ankle pain. Was discontinued, pain went away. Was restarted at half dose and pain returned.
Was then switched to rosuvastatin. At 5 weeks, thigh muscles began hurting and eventually felt like my thigh muscles were pulled/torn/ripped – massive pain making walking almost impossible. Also caused muscle cramps in my feet and fingers, hip pain and ankle pain. After being taken off this statin, within 2 weeks all but the right hip pain cleared up (but at 2+ weeks, the right hip pain has greatly moderated – time will tell).
My provider concluded I am unable to take statin medications. My normal cholesterol readings are within the “normal ranges” – and close to the revised target for someone with a heart condition (LDL below 70). We will be looking at non-statin alternatives including ezetimibe and diet (which may not have that much effect when you are already low).
Not everyone can take statins. I’ve lost several months of my life due to the extreme pain plus had to completely stop exercising for all of July due to the statin-induced pain. I suspect the exercise (walking/hiking several miles day) was very beneficial, and also helps to reduce triglycerides – but only if you can exercise, which I could not do, due to the statin side effects.
