As I mentioned in a post before, I am 30 and have Cholesterol damn near 300. I am not overweight or anything either so it’s perplexing to my doctor. So I was put on Atorvastatin. I got a mild headache the first time I took it.
I am just curious if anyone else had any side effect if they’ve taken this drug? How well did your numbers do in how long?
Thanks!
I’ve been taking Lipitor for more than 20 years and I’ve not noticed any side effects like that.
My numbers went down pretty fast and stay down so long as I stay on it.
There’s some research now that suggests that for many people, dietary cholesterol isn’t really a factor and it’s a hereditary matter.
Mr.Wrekker had muscle pain when he started Lipitor. Specifically his long muscles, legs and arms. It quickly stopped after a month or so.
Ask your doctor or pharmacist if your headache is a known side effect.
Same here. The doc recently doubled the dosage to 80mg, not because my cholesterol had gone up, but because I had a very minor stroke (related in another thread). This is a common thing to do when that happens.
I was on Lipitor for awhile; had occasional muscle pains in arms and legs, but not too bad and never for too long. Then I was switched to Crestor, and had no side effects at all.
I started taking it about 2 months ago. I have not noticed any side effects. I do get sore muscles but I have accounted for that from my activities, and it is no worse than before I started it. I will be going back in a couple months for a blood test to see if the dosage is working.
If you suspect you are having a side effect, to any medication, call your doctor right away. Or mention it to your pharmacist. They are the experts in these things.
My father was prescribed Lipitor a few years back. Gave him terrible back pain, like couldn’t move out of bed back pain.
Keep in mind that the cholesterol molecule is the basic chemical framework out of which several important hormones are made in your body. Reducing cholesterol levels often results in lower levels of important hormones such as cortisol, aldosterone, estrogen, or testosterone among others. Subsequent reduction of those cholesterol derived hormones may cause reduced libido, an unfortunate side effect.
Most of the statins have a bad effect on me, but the one my quack and I found that I could tolerate in low doses was Livalo. That and Red Yeast Rice pills keep the quack to a low growl.
Seems Livalo is just different enough that I can take the smallest dose every other day without noticeable problems.
Thanks for the replies everyone!
I suppose the headache was from another cause/transient. I am not feeling any side effects thus far. I just really hope this stuff does the job, since apparently dieting won’t cut it. I really really really need not have a heart attack or stroke. Not treating it as a license to eat garbage food either.
What kind of number drops did you all see, in what amount of time? I eat great/healthy so its not a rush for that, I just want some peace of mind.
Chefguy, I am only starting on 10, then moving up next month apparently. I requested Zocor and my Dr. said “well, you need a heavy hitter, you are too young to have this high of cholesterol” so I am on Lipitor now…
Beckdawrek That is awful! if I felt any muscle pains I’d give up taking it immediately. I use my body for a lot of work (cars, maintenance, work etc…) and that is something I can’t deal with.
Thanks again everyone!
My total cholesterol went from 180 to 133 in less than a year, on 80 mg of atorvastatin per day.
I got terrible pain in my knees, pronounced while in bed. Bad enough that 8 hour tylenol didn’t do the trick. I stopped taking it and it went away. I’m done with the stuff.
I am highly skeptical about its actual benefits of it in terms of prolonged mortality anyway. The statistics don’t really bear out if you don’t have a history of heart attacks in your family (which I don’t).
I had a coworker who had memory and concentration issues when he started taking a statin. It was enough that he stopped taking them.
My lab values were excellent, but my cardiologist suggest a year of Lipitor after my heart attack/stent placement. Statistics showed higher survival regardless of lab values.
I had severe muscle cramps 3 - 5 nights a week. It was awful. At my one year anniversary I stopped the Lipitor and the muscle cramps subsided.
I’ve been taking it for years, and the only side effects I’ve experienced are having to get up in the middle of the night to pee more often, and I seem to be more sensitive to heat. Nothing I can’t handle.
My wife, on the other hand, had to stop taking hers about three weeks after her doctor put her on it- she got pretty bad leg pain in bed, and could hardly sleep the night through.
Way back when I started taking Lipitor, my doctor (who could sometimes be… umm… dismissive of what he considered to be trivial complaints) warned me that there was a fairly rare side effect where people experienced severe muscle pain. As he described it, it would feel like your muscles were being ripped from your bones. He said “in the unlikely event that it happens to you, stop taking it, get right back in here, grab me by the shirt and tell me in no uncertain terms I’M IN * PAIN!*”
Thankfully I never had that issue, but whenever I hear people talking about muscle pain when taking Lipitor that’s the first thing I think of.