Side Effects Of Lipitor

[marin4u@optonline.net]

Help!
I have been on Lipitor (20mg) for three months. I have not been well since. I am not sure if it is the Lipitor. I have a variety of symptoms but they are all vague and inconsistent. Right after I began taking the Lipitor in August, I went to Italy in September. I felt a little sore throat and discomfort in my ears and I thought I was getting sick. That feeling stayed with me for the two weeks I was in Italy. Then when I came home I lost my voice and began coughing a little. I have been to four doctors. . a general practictioner (he diagnosed allergies) my family doctor (he diagnosed upper respiratory infection) an ENT specialist (he diagnosed mucous and swollen larynx) and a pulmonary specialist he said you have some junk in your chest and gave me "Advair". The other doctors prescribed a myriad of drugs 3 different antibiotics, cough suppressants Mucinex etc. all to no avail. For 9 weeks, I still get up everyday and just do not feel right. Sometimes I cough a little dry cough. . .sometimes I am hoarse. does anybody know if this could be side effects of Lipitor?

[JIMNSC]

Hi Help - someone smarter than I will surely respond to your post shortly but I couldn't resist jumping in at the mention of Advair. Read the side effects on that one. You will notice one is causing irregular heart rhythm in a small percentage of users. Well, meet a member of small percentage of users. It put me through a bout of Atrial Fibrillation for three weeks. Don't let me scare you - you may be in the percentile it never bothers. I offer this only as a "heads up" to you. Of course none of my doctors acted interested when I told them I thought Advair was the culprit.

While I'm here, I'm a former Lipitor user who had muscular and fatigue reactions to the drug. Then, when my cardiologist added Zetia to the regimen it amplified my problems. Long story short - I stopped Zetia immediately and weaned myself off Lipitor 40mg in several weeks (halving the pills and getting down to every other day).

The only way for you to know if Lipitor is causing your problems is to discontinue using it for whatever time frame you deem necessary. I noticed major improvements in two weeks time. Your doctors may or may not bless your doing this without costing your insurance company tons of money for testing and you a bundle of time and inconvenience submitting to them.

This forum is full of good people who have quit the statins, drastically improved the way they feel, and as far as I know, none have died as a result!

I get ill with doctors but then I put myself in their shoes. If you come to them with a problem they're going to send you home with a prescription for something as proof they treated you. I know how quick people are to sue for mal-practice and they pay exhorbitant amounts for insurance. But then you must live with their decisions.

You do what you think is best for you but if it were me again, I'd get rid of the Lipitor just to see if it is the cause of my problems.

Didn't mean to rant. Good health to you soon.

Jim

[sos_group_owner]

The symptoms you describe sound like "flu like symptoms", one of the most common statin side effects. The info at the end of this email is right from the PDR, the doctor's handbook.

If you decide to stop taking Lipitor, cut the pills in 1/2 and decrease over 2 to 3 weeks - example below.

Week 1 - take the 1/2 pill daily
Week 2 - take the 1/2 pill every other day
Week 3 - take the 1/2 pill every third day

Lipitor and all statins are a potent anti-inflammatory. Tapering off the drug allows your body to adjust.

Fran
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lipitor side effects

Side effects cannot be anticipated. If any develop or change in intensity, inform your doctor as soon as possible. Only your doctor can determine if it is safe for you to continue taking Lipitor.

* Side effects may include:
Abdominal pain, abnormal heartbeat, accidental injury, allergic reaction, arthritis, back pain, bronchitis, chest pain, constipation, diarrhea, dizziness, flu symptoms, fluid retention, gas, headache, indigestion, infection, inflammation of sinus and nasal passages, insomnia, joint pain, muscle aching or weakness, nausea, rash, stomach pain, urinary tract infection, weakness

pdrhealth.com/drug_info/rxdrugprofiles/drugs/lip1230.shtml

[sos_group_owner]

Document all your symptoms and prescriptions.

If you decide to stop (the only sure way to know if Lipitor is the cause), keep a daily diary of your progress. This is very important and something that most don't think about. When your doctor asks why you stopped Lipitor, ask him/her to place your diary in your chart as confirmation that Lipitor was the cause, and not: allergies, upper respiratory infection, mucous and swollen larynx, junk in your chest.

Documentation speaks volumnes and also gives you peace-of-mind that you did the right thing (by stopping Lipitor).

Our PCP flatly denied that Lipitor caused my husband's memory loss. I handed the nurse hubby's diary and said, "Have a nice day". We have a new PCP.

If you determine that Lipitor is the cause, report your adverse reaction to FDA's MedWatch: fda.gov/medwatch/

Fran

[marin4u@optonline.net]

Thanks for the words of encouragement! I am at the end of my rope. I am going to a cardilogist this week and I am going to lay this whole thing on the line about Lipitor and what I think it is doing to me. His answer should be interesting. I plan to stop Lipitor right after this visit no matter what he says!!! :D

[greatmeadows]

I too have been taking Lipitor 20mg for 24 months now. I had stopped on two previous occassions for about a month each time to see whether my muscle and joint pains could be attributed to the statin. They weren't and I resumed taking the medicine. During this time however after taking Lipitor for about 7 months I developed a severe head cold which turned into a sinus infection, followed by a second cold 6 weeks later. After seeing my General Practitioner and failing to get well on 2 different rounds of antibiotics I finally saw the ENT specialist. He diagnosed me and put me on Augmenton which while it finally did knock out the infection left me with a feeling of general fatigue and nasal symptoms. This continued into the Fall of that year and the Winter, only to finally feel like myself the following Spring. The ENT doctor said I had Winter Nose and should move to a warmer climate. My symptoms were like allergies and I got no real relief from any over the counter medicines. All of this would be of little interest to statin users if something similar hadn't happened about 6 weeks ago. I developed a sore throat and head cold which immediately turned into an upper repiratoty infection. Quick treatment with Zipthromax seemed to eliminate it. However a dry persistent cough continued for over 6 weeks. Now I'm suffering with another similar cold and cough. My doctor has me using something for ashma suffers and has me scheduled for a chest xray. Prior to this experience and before taking Lipitor I had been very healthy, catching but one cold or flu every 2 years and lasting no more than a weeks time. During last Spring I did have a routine blood test and it showed anti nuclear being marginally high, elevated eoseniphils, and an elevated CPR. I have taken myself off Lipitor 3 weeks ago and hope the damage is not permanent.

[prof]

re: elevated anti-nuclear, see thread below on "lupus like" syndromes associated with statins. If you use "statin lupus" or "statin autoimmune" on Pub Med searches, you'll find a good deal of stuff.

prof