Foot Pain

[sos_group_owner]

This past summer, my M-I-L tried Zetia. Within a few weeks, the bottoms of her feet were so painful she had trouble walking. Her doctor assured her that Zetia did not cause foot pain. She had developed arthritis in her feet and referred Mom to a "Specialist".

Wrong answer.

Mom is 80. She powerwalks 3 times a week. Her doctor is constantly trying to lower her cholesterol, even though her HDL is high and her triglycerides are excellent. Mom's first cholesterol lowering drug was one of the statins, Zocor. She had several side effects and was switched to Lipitor, which also caused side effects. All this in spite of the fact that lowering cholesterol has not been proven to be beneficial in women or the elderly.

Mom stopped taking Zetia and did not go to the specialist. Her foot pain was gone in a couple of weeks.

Fran

[Darrell]

I had a bad time with Zocor starting in January. I went off Zocor and then went on Zetia a few months later. Same deal as Zocor: right leg, ankle, and foot aches and weakness. I've been gradually recovering ever since, with most of the recovery in the first few weeks. I'm pretty sure Q10 helps (sure enough that I'm still taking it), and a thigh-high, medical-grade, 15-20 mm Hg graduated compression stocking certainly reduces the aches. I still have some weakness toward the end of the day. Sadly, my internal medicine specialist and an orthopedic specialist and a physical therapist weren't much help at all.

[weezie49]

I came of Lipitor because of back and muscle pain. Had been on 10mg. for about 4 years. Asked for Zetia and was put on 10 mg. for about three months. Into the third month I developed blood with clots in the urine and was rushed to emergency with uncontrolable shaking,tingling in the extremeties and heart pounding. Was diagnosed with severe UTI given antibiotic and sent home. The infection went away but continued with tingling in extremeties,weakness in legs, nausea,diarhea. Every test ,scan, blood and stoole culture and were performed from head to toe. Cannot find anything wrong. I took myself off the Zetia a week after this happened and have been slowly getting better. Still have occasional tingling,weakness,nausea but it has improved. Dr. wants me to go back on Zetia and I am terrified that this will happen again. I have been taking culturell to help with intestinal problems and it seems to be helping.

[Nynaeve]

I was taken off Zocor after being on it for less than 6 months, and my primary doctor even notes now that I am "allergic" to all simvastatins in my records, as she agrees with me that these meds contributed to severe achilles tendon problems that required 2 major surgeries, 3+ years of wheelchair/crutches/cane use, months and months of physical therapy, and now a lifetime of "never being back to normal".

Instead we've tried natural remedies, including diet changes and exercise, Fish Oil which did not do much, now I'm on 2000 g of Niacin daily, and I'm headed the right way with my numbers, just not quite enough - she asked me to try Zetia to help get me to a better place - and I really have not had a problem with it until recently - the main issue I had is an aggravation of my IBS issues.

However, recently I have had major foot pain - mostly the bottoms of my feet, mainly the foot with all the surgery, so I was sure it was something to do with that, until I read these posts. I took myself off Zetia for 1 week, and I did find the symptoms alleviated - both the IBS and the burning/bruised feeling on the bottom of my feet that made it hard to walk. Just to complete the test, I started it again last night, to see if the pains do come back, at which point I'll tell my doctor I'm done with these drugs - to be so severely impacted for so many years lately, and I'm only 40, it's just not worth it - quality of life is far more important.

[sos_group_owner]

Hello Nynaeve,

You might want to read this post, print and take to your Dr.
*http://www.spacedoc.net/board/viewtopic.php?t=959

Why is your Dr so adamant about lowering your cholesterol levels
when it's apparent that your body needs the cholesterol you're
producing? Preventive measures related to family history?

Has your Dr check for hypothyroidism, one of the most
under-diagnosed causes of elevated cholesterol:
*http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art37232.asp

Has your Dr checked this risk factors that actually matter?
* Homocysteine ~ optimal levels - 6.2 µmol or less
* hs-CRP High Sensitivity (C-Reactive Protein)
~ Low Risk 0 - 0.9, Moderate Risk 1.0 - 3.0, High Risk (twice the risk
as 'low risk') 3.1 - 10.0
* Lp(a) - Lipoprotein (a) ~ 25 mg/dL or less
* Triglycerides ~ normal levels - <150 mg/dL
* Blood Sugar/Glucose (fasting)
~ normal levels < 99 mg/dL, pre-diabetic 100 to 125 mg/dL, diabetic
126> mg/dL

Additional advice: stop smoking, eat a balanced diet (not the
recommended low fat-low cholesterol that is anything BUT healthy
diet and get some form of exercise daily (which is difficult for those
that are now exercise intolerant from taking statins).

Great essay by Dr Malcolm Kendrick:
Is Heart Disease All Due to Blood Clots?
*http://www.thincs.org/Malcolm.htm#clots

Fran