Cholesterol symptoms and conditions

I have been on lisinopril now for about 9 months, 10mg/day. I am tired. I have lost half my hair. My chest feels weird, and I have heart palpitations. I thought it was coffee, but it never went away, even after I went decaf. My muscles aches. My hands are swollen in the morning. I have been watching what I eat, and have cut out red meat almost completely. I only use it as an ingredient in one dish I make, and then I only use 1/3 to 1/2 of what I used to. I eat oatmeal, drink the low cholesterol OJ, take vitamins and my cholesterol has shot up over 60 points in the last 6 months. I have sinus trouble, my scalp itches, my back itches and my ears itch. I am a 51 year old woman. My BP was in the 140's when I started this drug. I stopped taking it two days ago, and will see this doctor on Thursday. If she is like the rest, it won't be the fault of the drug. It will be mine. I felt a lot better before I went to her and I am so mad at myself for taking this drug.

I received my first gardasil shot this year and was in bed for 2 days with severe cramps. When I went back for my 2nd round of shots I mentioned the severe cramping and my family doctor said the 2 weren't related. At that same appointment she reviewed a complete workup that I had done since she was a new doctor and I was completely healthy except my cholesterol being a little high which I knew was due to eating a lot of fast food at the time b/c of a new work atmosphere. I have now had all 3 shots and recently just went in for my obgyn annual and now I have a yeast infection that a week worth of antibiotics haven't gotten rid of and have to go back for a procedure because I have abnormal cells. I have never had any problems like this and haven't been sexually active in over a year. I am very very worried especially after reading others problems

I was put on Lipitor 10 mg. last Spring about 8 mos. ago. I have never taken medications/drugs other than aspirin or Motrin or antihistamines. Since that time I have had a strange combination of unexplained symptoms arise throughout the months. These sx's included: Headaches, stiff neck and severe neck pain, acute shoulder pain, hip pains, joint pains, severe knee pain (tendon or Ligament problems?) and loss of movement, hair loss, jaw pain and some memory confusion. Initially, I had severe HA's for several months, but attributed them to stress, however, I had never experienced HA's as a common occurrence. Then we went away to our Maui house to get away from stress, HA's continued, along with leg and shoulder pains. At the same time, I started noticing several strands of hair falling out if lightly touched my hair to move it out of my face. The pains seemed to move around my body at different times, for no apparent reason. I am used to daily exercise, living in CO in the mountains @ high altitude, not usually having muscle soreness. Now, given my leg and knee pains have gotten so bad, I cannot hike and have difficulty climbing my stairs. Skiing is out. Snorkeling caused leg cramps. No explained reason for having muscle tenderness or soreness without my usual exercise at present time. When the pain leaves one area it tends to arise in a different part of my body. At the present time, my hair loss has subsided, as also my jaw pain and headaches. However, my leg pains and knee pains are so acute (for no apparent reason) it is impossible to exercise and difficult to walk that I looked up adverse reactions to Lipitor, finding all my sx's most probably might be attributed to this drug. Partially my fault for not looking up RX information prior, especially being a medical professional for many years. My husband kept throwing away the info when purchasing the RX. Too many unexplained symptoms, I decided to obtain the drug info. myself. I tended to make excuses for months, such as: I am getting older, under stress, must be an old injury, not exercising properly, need PT therapy etc.... I am dc/ing the drug immediately and have an appt. with my MD on 1/5/09 to discuss.

Have stopped taking Zocor today after finally accepting that my life has changed since taking this medication....am too weak to open a soda bottle, keep twisting words, memory is shot, Hips, knees and ankles scream whenever I have been sitting for more than 15 minutes....light headed, dizzy and constant headache...want to just curl up in a ball and cover my head for loss of ambition. I am exhausted all of the time.

I was on the Yasmin pill for 5 months and suffered severe health problems for 3 years. It almost took my life. I actually heard popping sounds in my head when I first went off of it and on it. My symptoms were digestive, head aches, numb limbs, weakness, tired, severe menstrual bleeding, clots, depression, instability, low immune system, heart palpitation etc. In short I was very sick all of a sudden for no other reason than taking this pill If this has happened to you I advise the following which saved me. You need to do the following. Find a doctor that will take you seriously and understand that your problems started with this pill. My OBGYN resisted it for a long time until I was so sick it scared her. Seek an endocrinologist and neurologist if needed. Make sure your blood work checks the following: Any issues with blood clotting including protein c antigen. Mine was low which left me at risk of a blood clot after this pill. Also the pill can lower and this one more than others your b12 levels in your blood which is very dangerous. Research b12 deficiency and see it the pill did this to you. B12 levels should be no lower than 500. Also have your vitamin D levels checked in your blood. This pill depletes b12, vitamin D, causes clotting, affects the liver and so on. It took me 3 years to fully heal. Once I was on b12 shots, Vitamin D daily and had other blood deficiencies corrected after being on this pill I began to get better, but that took 3 years and I was so sick at one point I could hardly do anything and my heart so affected I almost had a heart attack. My blood pressure was uncontrollable. I am currently involved in a class action suit. You can be a part of it too. Good luck with your health first. I can say I am finally on my way back to health fully. Some have not been so lucky after taking this pill, but it took me personally 3 years to get back to the healthy woman I was before this pill. In the process I also lost a pregnancy due to the severe health problems. Don't lelt anyone tell you it is not this pill. If you know it is, no one knows your body better than you!

Depression! Wow. I'm the world's most upbeat person but I've been slipping down the emotional slope for the past three months; wondered if it was the Niaspan I started taking at the same time. The Niaspan web site doesn't list it as a side effect, though, so I thank you all for putting your comments on this web site. I've been ready to do anything (even drastic action) to deaden the emotional pain.

I'm a scientist and will now eliminate the medication to see if I begin to feel better. I'd rather feel good than lower my bad cholesterol. What would be the point?

I am a 39 year old female in relatively good health. In the past year since taking Lipitor, I have had SEVERE thinning of my thick hair. I have lost nearly 2/3 of it, and luckily I had a lot, but I am thinning more quickly on the top of my head and you can now see my scalp. After reading this, I am stopping my Lipitor, tonight. I hope that my hair returns ... I have also had chest pain, leg pain, trouble sleeping, trouble with eyesight, trouble focusing, unexplained weight gain and extreme fatigue. I think I would rather take my chances with high cholesterol than be bald at 40. Nice eh? I complained to my doctor when my hairdresser called this to my attention, and she poo-pooed it and referred me to a dermatologist- who after months of waiting rescheduled. I will be BALD!

I got Mirena back in May. I felt HORRIBLE. I was tired all the time and ALL of my joints ached constantly. I could NOT lose weight. My skin was so dry and flaky. I was moody to the MAX. Also, my bad cholesterol levels shot thru the roof. Both my regular doc and the OB pooh poohed that it could be the Mirena, but got OB to take it out anyway. Went back on my good old Low Ogestrel (generic lo ovral). While in the OB office, the posters mentioned about Mirena not being a 'dual' method. Ding - light bulb went off! After leaving the doctor's office, I searched on symptoms of low estrogen. Lo and behold every symptom was tied to estrogen deficiency!
Within a week after going back on the pill I was back to 'normal' and had lost 5 pounds - with no change in diet or exercise!
(not to mention I now know exactly when to expect my period.)

Hello I'm a 41 year old female, and I took Lipitor 20 mgs for 6 months about two years ago. When I called my doctor's office to complain about side effects they told me it couldn't be the Lipitor because I had been taking it for a month already, and would have had problems before that. I eventually took myself off of the drug 5 months later. Here are some of the side effects I experienced:
Itchy fingertips, increased blood pressure, 30lb weight gain, shaky hand writing, acne, poor driving skills, poor memory, hair loss, "frozen joints", IBS, incontinence, low grade fever, itchy feet, numb toes, numb hands, foggy brain, joint pain, muscle pain, foot pain, plantar pain, dizzy, jaw pain, back and neck pain, week ankles and wrists, nasal allergies, skin rashes, migraines, heartburn, Increase in Astham, heart palpitations, knee pain, difficulty standing up from sitting position, difficulty climbing stairs, water retention alternating in feet, hands, arms and legs, almost constant taste of bile in my mouth.
These are only the ones I can remember. Two years down the road everything but the muscle and joint pain and weakness is gone. even those have improved a lot. I stopped taking the Lipitor and lost all 30lbs I had gained on it, without dieting, in a months time. I still have two toes on each foot that are partially numb. I have trouble climbing stairs, and getting up from a sitting position. I can do both, but I move slowly while doing them. The pain in my muscles and joints drives me crazy, but I'm grateful that the rest of the symptoms have cleared up. My doctor never believed me about my symptoms, and neither does my new doctor really. Went to the emergency room for asthma that was not responding to my inhaler, and they were about to let me go home when I mentioned to the doctor that I had been on Lipitor. Suddenly a huge battery of tests were ordered including a CT scan and a stress test. When I asked the doctor why he said that they just wanted to be sure that it wasn't something other than asthma. Why did they do that after hearing about the Lipitor? Do they know something? Are there doctors who believe that statins are killing and seriously injuring people? I'm so angry. Even as I sit here typing I know when I stand up I will have massive amounts of pain that I will have to "walk off". My quadriceps have not recovered, and remain ridiculously weak.
If I can stop one other person from going through this I will be happy. Thanks everyone for taking the time to list your symptoms. It makes me feel better to know that someone believes me, and knows what I am going through.

feeling some relief to have validation to why i have been feeling this way.

i thought i was going the way of father (heart attack in his 40s) due to many symptoms over the past month similar to heart issues, except the leg cramps. i thought of my mother in-law, her diabetes, poor circulation.

i knew i had just had a thorough heart evaluation with my doctor last spring and everything was fine, except my hereditary cholesterol. frustrating. he had prescribed lipitor at that time. last week while driving to my office Christmas party i thought about driving straight to emergency.

food always seemed to help, as well lots of water. I think because i had liquids when eating, dehydration is what was being addressed.

on my own, i stopped lipitor (only prescribed medication i take) four days ago. no more nausea, no more light headiness (briefly early morning yesterday), no more weakness, leg pain decreased; these were my main symptoms.

I also experienced occasional foot cramps, general aches, heaviness in my esophagus immediately upon eating (thought of my mom with her hiatal hernia) indigestion maybe.

I had one episode a month ago (about the time all this started) where out of the blue i thought my legs were going to fall from under me, they became tingly like they were going to sleep, i was light headed as if i could faint. i had just finished a relaxing picnic by a natural stream, on a beautiful sunny day.

doctors who prescribe this medication should be more aware of these side affects. seems they are either not listening to their patients, or do not have the knowledge of these side affects, and in result, should not be allowed to prescribe.

My concern now is how long the discomfort in my legs will last, though they have improved. to make sure no serious damage has occurred,
i will see my cardiologist in two weeks to have blood work.

I would suggest to anyone who has not contacted their physician since stopping the statin, to do so. print a copy of this site and bring it with you!

T. - 47 years - trying to stay healthy!

I have been on lipitor 10mg for about 6 mths (after reacting to lipex with severe hip pain and going off that). Am now experiencing abdominal pain, severe headaches, excruciating neck pain and to top it off a droopy eyelid and loss of extreme peripheral vision after a bout of flashing auras and fluid like waves in the outer edge of my eye. After tests my retina is not detaching so what is the cause then. My cholesterol is high when not on lipitor and am wanting to lower it without drugs. I could do with losing 10kg weight but will that bring down the cholesterol. I walk every morning for 30-40 mins. Diet is healthy, a few junk things each week but not overly so.

I am a 50 year old woman and have been taking Lipitor for about the last 6 months. I have developed a severe case of eczema on my scalp as well as hair loss. Also I have been having pain in my hips. I never would have attributed my symptoms to Lipitor, but now I am thinking that maybe Lipitor is the cause of them. Also I read in some of the comments that it may be connected to memory loss. I have noticed I have a hard time remembering things too but never thought it could be related to taking Lipitor.

Our 45 yr old daughter has been on Yaz for 2
months and had a MASSIVE STROKE last Mon.
She doesn't smoke, drink, and weighs 112 lbs.
Her blood pressure and cholesterol levels are
perfect. Her doctor gave her this medication not
for birth control but change of life problems and
fibroids, etc. Be very very careful with this
medicine. She had no time to call for help!!!!
She was not depressed, in fact she was going
to college to become a LVN.

I've been on 10 mg of Lipitor for approx 2yrs. A few months back I began experiencing severe constant right hip pain. A could walk through it, but had many sleepless nights due to the unrelenting deep pain. I had difficulty lifting my right leg without support from my arms. I'm 54 and otherwise in pretty good health. I stopped taking the Lipitor about 2 weeks ago and while I still have some pain it has decreased about 75%. I can sleep at night and am even pain free some of the time. If anyone has had a similar experience would appreciate knowing and if the pain eventually subsides and any suggestions to support the healing process.

I have been taking welchol for approx 5 months and welchol has lowered by cholesterol by 100 pts and I am so pleased with the results. I have diarrhea in the mornings but combat that with a banana which immediately takes these symptoms away. Side effects in general have been very minimal and since I can't take statins, this has really been a life saver for me as my cholesterol is very high not due to diet etc. but instead, heredity

i am 17 years old and i have been on birth control for over 2 years,,
for the first 6 months i was on Yasmin && then my doctor wanted me to have a less hormonal birth control and switched me to yaz the only side affect was little weight gain...
i have depression but i never considered that it would be a cause of my birth control.
sometimes it gets bad... but my doctor said it was just an imbalance of serotonin in my body
my mom is extremely scared b.c she doesn't want me to have the dangerous side affects that she has recently been hearing about Yasmin... but are yaz and Yasmin the same?
i have been becoming increasingly worried about the birth control im on now.. i want to have children when i grow up. but after hearing that death could be a result of the birth control im on... im only 17 im just a kid...
im extremely scared now... although i haven't had any of the side affect i have read here.. im still extremely nervous especially since i have been on the drug for so long...

just found out
that the birth control im on could cause

* Deep vein thrombosis (DVT)
* Pulmonary embolism (PE)
* Stroke
* Heart attack
* Death
* High blood pressure
* Heart disease
* High cholesterol
* Overweight
* Liver cancer
* Gallbladder problems
* Diabetes

is this true? could i really die?... im terrified right now

My brother passed away at 56 of a stroke. So after having my blood tests done, everything was high, cholesterol, CR Protein....doctor put me on 20mg of Lipitor....the very first day, I had severe muscle weakness in my upper thighs, back of my calves, pain in my knees, pain in my wrists, pain in my fingers. What a nightmare. I tried it for two more days, called the doctor told him, he said reduce the dose in half........not a chance, I told him I believe in quality of life, not quantity of life. I'd rather be dead, then live like that.......and yet the doctor didn't tell me to get off of Lipitor!!!

I am a 66 year old female, usually in very good health. I came across this discussion, while looking for some side effects of Toprol xl. I have been taking 25mg of toprol xl for approximately 3 1/2 years. recently I have been suffering with excruciating pains in both shoulders, right hip ,and right thigh. I also have the ringing in the ears. I am diabetic so I had almost convinced myself that I was having problems from the diabetes. My doctor seems to think that my problem is from the dosage of Zocor that I was taking for cholesterol. This Doctor prescribed Lisinopril 5mg daily along with the toprol and zocor that I have been taking for a while now.. After viewing the side effects on this site, now I am convinced that my problems will go away if I just stop taking these medicines. The pain pills tend to stop some of the pain but I know its still there, because I can barely lift my arms, or sit in a chair..

I am a 62 yr. old female and in good health. In January 2007, my doctor ordered a cholesterol test and the results indicated a number of 237..."bad" cholesterol was not horrible, "good" cholesterol was very good. The doctor put me on 20mg of Lipitor without any hesitation... After a week or so, I started having horrible leg and muscle pain, so when I went back in 3 months (cholesterol 181), I told him I couldn't take this med, so he put me on Zocor. Really bad joint pain with this one, so I went back again in 3 months(cholesterol about the same) and told him again that this one had similar side effects and diarrhea. He then put me on Crestor...took this med, but was so lethargic and in a fog, my family told me to get off of that one. Went BACK to the Dr. in 3 mos., told him I couldn't take this one...he put me on prescription strength fish oil (6 per day) saying that this one should not have side effects. Other than some gastric/intestinal rumblings and some diarrhea, it was ok, but when I had my cholesterol checked it had gone up HIGHER than when I started this whole ordeal, so he put me on Welchol...saying that this one was not absorbed in the blood...blah,blah, blah... Still had the gastic/intestinal issues, SO when I went back 3 mos. later in March 2008 (cholesterol 200)and having already stopped this one myself, I told him I was NOT going to take any more meds for this "issue," and I would manage it with diet and exercise. I told him that this was supposed to be the best time in my life, and I was tired of feeling so poorly. He blatantly told me that if I did stop taking the cholesterol "you'll probably have 10 good years and 10 "crappy" years, and he was visibly angry about MY personal health decision. I had at one point during that the 1 year + mentioned to him about the information that I had been reading online...he pooh-poohed the whole "internet" thing, indicating that he had better information (I"M THE DOCTOR" syndrome!). Needless to say, I don't trust him, BIG PHARMA, or anyone else who says that these statin drugs are NOT harmful...My husband has since stopped taking Lipitor, due to our children and me noticing lapses in his memory. These drug companies and doctors are totally ignoring the side effects and health issues of the unsuspecting public. Hopefully, the truth will emerge, but how long it takes...who knows??????? I am glad I'm not on them anymore...I feel GOOD, and I know that whatever aches and pains I have ARE from aging and not drugs!!

I started taking Lipitor 3 weeks ago. I have pains in my chest on the right side and I am so paranoid from this drug that I can't sleep. I also have pain in my hip and I am always getting hot in the face. It feels like my head is being squeezed. I have tried to get off of it, but then I feel pains in my chest and I take it again. I have been to the emergency room for pains in my chest. I took an EKG and an Xray. They found nothing. I also went to a cardiologist . He took an EKG found nothing but told me to take it for 3 month sand it if my cholesterol went down he would take me off the drug. But I am afraid that after three months. it will be too late to get off the drug.

I have been taking Zocor for 6 months. In the past 3 weeks I have developed intense tingling and burning in both legs from my feet to my knees. I also have a feeling of numbness in my right foot that at times is in the whole ball of my foot but will move to the side of the ball of my foot. I have been to the ER twice and all my neuro checks were normal even though my legs felt like they were on fire. I just this past week had a MRI of cervical and lumbar spine. My doctor is thing the symptoms may be related to the significant arthritis I have in my neck and may be due to nerve compression at one of the discs but I don't think so. I was worried about MS and Guillian Barre as these can be symptoms of those diseases as well but I didn't have any other symptoms of those diseases. At my last ER visit the doctor put me on Neurotin for the burning in my legs. I just happened to think to look on line for med interactions and side effects of the meds I am on and would have never expected that Zocor could be the culprit. I was astounded to find that the tingling and burning was more than likely due to the zocor. I stopped taking it about 4 days ago and am showing some improvement but I am still taking the neurotin. Does anyone know how long it takes Zocor to get completely out of your syste.? I also have nerve conduction studies scheduled.

Hi, I am a 45 year old male with high cholesterol. prescribed 20mg. of Lipitor to control it. Am having a strange twitching muscle in my right calf since I started the meds. Forearms hurt, trouble sleeping, twitching in my sleep, apparently, tiredness. I'm worried about going off it. My dad died of a heart attack. Would it hurt to try going off it for about 3 months?

memory loss, headaches, tias/mimi strokes, kidney stones, blood clot,vertigo, disorientation, muscle spasms, shaking, trembling could not control , dry eyes, stiffness in neck, back pain, twitching of all muscles , blackout when really sick, cant hold arms up, thought I had Parkinson, ms or Muscular dystrophy, motor skills are no longer great, arms and leg muscles bad, cannot write much at all, no strength in fingers or toes.
chronic fatigue and fibromyalga diagnosed not so sure after reading all these side effects.

I posted several months ago on this string and wanted to update. I had bloodwork done for the 1st time since I quit the 20mg of Lipitor in August. LDL went from 123 to 210. Total Chol went from 191 to 285. HOWEVER all shooting pains I had been experiencing in legs, feet, and chst are GONE! Went back to my Dr. today, told her that same result and my serious objection to taking any kind of statin and she prescribed CRESTOR while telling me it was more potent than Lipitor! WTF!!!

I refuse this course, am drinking 30 - 40 ozs. of water each day now like I should have been, doubled my CoQ10 to 200mg/day, finally getting back into the gym to lose weight and get the HDL up from the level of 36 it is now. also started to drink the new yogurt type "shot" of Promise for cholesterol that provides 2 grams of plant sterols per day.

I will not take statins ever. I WILL find a natural way to keep my Chol under control. I've also been convinced that you don't have to be at or under the 200mlg of total chol to be healthy. Look at your C Reactive Protein and Homosiytes (sp?) If they are in range you should be good.

I know Lipitor was the cause of my rupturing each of my Achiller tendons a year apart while playing tennis in my late 40's Muscle pain soon followed.

My mother is 74 and has been on Lipitor 5 mg for about 6 weeks now and has experienced her 1st TGA. She called me today to tell me that someone had come into her house and cooked a platter of bacon and moved a basket around. She couldn't find her purse and went outside and sure enough it was in her car, but the door was standing wide open and the purse was sitting on the seat. She remembers nothing! This evening she swore that our second child was born in a different house. This from a woman who can remember the tiniest minutia. This Lipitor is terrible stuff! She is now officially off of it. R.