Statin induced periferal neurapathy.

       Hello Cats!           I have been on most cholesterol med's at one time or another, and found that the statins were the cause of most of my joint and muscle pain. I was dumb on the subject, until my wife bagan to take them as well, and decribed some of the same symptoms as I had. After some investigation, we found this as one of the side effects to taking them.      We both stopped them, and after a few weeks the symptoms went away for the both of us. At the moment we are not on anything, so that is a problem with the cholesterol numbers. I have had one Heart Attack already, so I'm at high risk for another.    I don't have an answer as what to do to lower it, but I believe diet and exercising will help some. There are some natural OTC supplements that may help as well. One of our Moderators on the Fibro forum, has done quite a bit of research on this, and she is my go to person on this subject. I will ask her to chime in her if she has some time. She is a bit ornery, but makes me laugh, and that all that counts at the end of the day!    Good luck!    SE

Hi!

I do take Zocor. I have fibromyalgia so I have a lot of muscle pain to begin with. But I seemed to be developing more pain so I researched all of the medications I took to see if any could be causing this extra pain, since fibro is not a progressive illness. That's when I saw that statin drugs can do this and that you should talk to your doctor if you start to get muscle pain.

It seems that statin drugs can deplete your body of CoQ10, a very important enzyme that is found in nearly all the cells in our body. I talked to my doctor about this and he had me stop the Zocor and take 100 mg of CoQ10 in the morning and 100 mg in the evening for one month. Then I was to start up the Zocor again but continue taking the CoQ10. This did the trick. I'm on both now and don't have the extra pain.

There is a good site all about CoQ10 but I'm not on my computer right now. I'm on my iPad. I'll see if I can find it and post about it. I hope this helps you some.

Okay.  I'm on my computer and here is the site I was talking about.  CoQ10 has many health benefits as this site will explain. 

http://www.healthsupplementsnutritionalguide.com/Coenzyme-Q10.html

Thanks, SE.  The type is very small on the iPad so I can't see what I'm typing! 

Sherrine


(Sherrine, I know that your on your iPad, so I corrected a few typo's for you) Your Very Welcome! SE

I have done quite well without the statins. I wouldn't take one ever again. I'd die with a higher than normal chol. level first. I have went through the gamit of drugs to control the pain. Neurontin( it stopped working) lyrica( elevated my bl sugar, gained 30 lbs of fluid in my body/legs..very unsteady on my feet. Cymbalta..gave me muscle jerks and balance problems. I talked it over with my dr. and we decided a better alternative for me was to take the hydrocodone being 1/2 tab will knock the pain down to a tolerable level and at my age (73) I am not likely to get addicted and very few side effects, if any.  

    As for the cholesteral. I was on Niaspan for awhile. The flushes got the better of me. Inbetween I had Gall bladder surgery and developed Bile Salts diarrhea. Dr. took me off the Niaspan and put me on Welchol which  constipates me and hopefully lower my chol. at the same time .I'd much rather deal with the constipation than diarrhea. . So far, its working well.The surgeon said I may develop diarrhea after my Gall Bl, was out. I did and it got so I couldn't plan anything, go anywhere and the cramping was another painful thing.

    I think I am just a person who is sensitive to medications. I now believe, the less, the better.I am very leary of any new medications anymore. If the dr. has to order something for me, I ask for a generic; not because its cheaper(which it is) but because generics have been around a long time and the side effects are well known. Its also my belief that most dr's don't know the side effects of the drugs they are ordering. That fact is why zocor damaged my nerves in the first place. The dr. I had then kept denying zocor could cause nerve damage. ( I fired him).( off my soap box now).

My DH and I are both on statins. He is diabetic - T1, I do not have diabetes. He has had a heart attack, so the med is very necessary for him. I have several other issues and I have neuropathy. My DH has neuropathy from the diabetes. He is also on the gabapentin. It helps to a degree.

My back in particular is either numb or burning, all day, all night. Sherrine was talking over on the Fibro forum about something she used to help w/ the 'fun' of Fibro. The product she used was called Sombra, she ordered it from Amazon. I figured it might be worth a try. I have tried sooo many things, and they really didn't help that much.

I ordered a jar of the 'warm therapy' - I don't like cold things near my body.    My DH rubbed it on my back and I can't begin to tell you the relief I felt. I suggested to my DH that he might want to give it a chance. He didn't expect much from it. He rubbed it on his feet (big source of pain) and his knees. He couldn't believe how much better he felt in just a few minutes.

My DH's foot dr was very interested to learn about this product, maybe mention it to other patients.

I had my gallbladder removed over 20 yrs ago. I also developed BSD while still in the hospital. My dr had no idea what was going on, thought I had an infection. After many months of this nonsense, I went to the gasto who put me on Questran. It was first used for High Cholesterol, but off label is used to control diarrhea. It helped me so much. I don't use it right now, I guess I'm in a stable place w/ the Big D. lol   Also, I can't take Questran & the statin together.

My DH and I take the Co-Q-10. Our cardio was very happy to see that on our list of meds/supplements. Thank you again, Sherrine! 

Hope you all have a good day!

God bless.  Alice.

Hi, TS, and welcome!  Did you read through this whole thread?  There is a lot of info here that might help you.  You might need to be on CoQ10...a supplement.  I would suggest that you read the info about it and talk to your doctor.  Hope you feel better soon.

 

Sherrine   

Cats, I didn't have high cholesterol to begin with.  I'm taking it to keep it extremely low because, being diabetic, I'm more prone to heart attack and strokes.  My cholesterol level was 123 at last check.  I feel good and have no problems taking the statin drug since I started including CoQ10.  CoQ10 great for the heart, too, if you read the link I put in yesterday.  For me, I consider this preventative measures for my health.  I think it will pay off for me, too.

 

But, again, it's so important to "listen" to what our bodies are telling us.  If I started having numbness or pain, I would be questioning my medication along with possible other problems.  If it turned out to be the statin drug, then I would stop it.  But, so far so good.

 

Irish Babe, aka Alice, mentioned the Sombra.  I really love this.  My daughter has used it for severe back pain, too.  Alice said that it did help her husband's neuropathy, too.  Perhaps you would want to try this.  It's all natural, too.  I prefer the roll-on so I don't have to get my hands in it.  I live by myself and my back is my greatest issue.  I bought the long barbeque tongs with the little lock and lock the roll-on in those and can reach all areas of my back all by myself!  (Do I get a gold star???  LOL)  Anyway, here is a link to it.  Read the reviews, too.  It really is good stuff.  My massage therapist introduced me to it several years ago and I have told many about it. This is the product I use...the warm therapy gel.  If the "ball" gets dry, just shake it.  I'm not always holding it upside down.

http://www.amazon.com/Sombra-Therapy-Natural-Relieving-3-Ounce/dp/B0007LM3UM

 

Sherrine