Can Statins Cause Debilitating Muscle Pain?
Q. My doctor insists I must take statins to lower my cholesterol even though I experience pain with all of them. Sometimes the pain gets so bad that I struggle not to cry when I walk down the hall of my child’s school. My doctor says I should accept what he calls “a little discomfort” because studies show statins reduce heart disease. He gets angry if I refuse to take them. Who is ultimately responsible for my health, me or my doctor? He says this pain is rare but I know a lot of people who have had the same severe muscle pain. A. We too have heard from many patients who experience debilitating muscle pain as a side effect of statin-type cholesterol-lowering drugs. One reader wrote: “I have had problems with Lipitor and Vytorin. I had severe muscle and nerve pain. My doctor said he didn’t believe it was from Vytorin. I stopped the medication and slowly got better. It took 7 weeks.” Some doctors don’t believe that statins can cause side effects such as muscle or joint pain or memory pro
