Has anyone actually found a doctor that believed them?

[scout64]

In March of 2007 my husband was prescribed 20mg of Lipitor and 145mg of Tricor. By late August of 2007 he was in so much pain he literally could not move without extreme effort and self-control. By the first week of September my husband took himself off the statins. Up until this point our doctor's approach was to send him to physcial therapy for what they'd assumed was a torn rotator cuff. By the time we saw a neurologist -- at our insistence -- he was manifesting stroke-like symptons.

The pain has finally stopped, but the cognitive deterioration has been significant as well as a marked decline in his stamina, physical strength, mental health and motor control. I have actually been afraid that he might become suicidal. All the while we've seen two neurologists, two endocrinologists, an internist, psychologist and psychiatrist. NO ONE is taking us seriously about this. It's as if we are moved immediately into the category of "crank" or litigious opportunist, when all we want is help. Hence, my question. Has anyone sucessfully rooted out a competent physician that has taken them seriously about the damage done them by statins and if so has any kind of remediating protocol been prescribed that has been successful.

Any feedback is sincerely appreciated.

Thank you.

[catspajamas]

Just recently I went to a rheumatologist for my immune system symptoms...RE suspect scleroderma...(statin induced?...will find out)..Anyway when I got done explaining my whys of why I can't take stations...the dr said..." Me either"...got weak sore legs.....So, there is at least one that has experienced what we have...You don't have to cave in and believe their reasons why you need a statin...just tell them...no......
You can ask them if they know of a natural supplement that would help...but you get no where because they aren't trained in nutrition(and they should be)........cholesteral has a very important job in our bodies...No ones body is alike...they can't take a number and say this is too high..I believe when we have stress or illness in our life our numbers change to account for it...and as articles are pointing out its not the cholesteral, its the inflammation that causes problems ...It is my personal opinion that we eat entirely too much sugar and carbs....I got my cho. down just eliminating sugar from my diet...I could ranble on but the posts here say just about everything....( I am just a old nurse, not a dr..)

[scout64]

Did he give you any insight as to what you can do to get rid of the side affects? I haven't been able to find anything on this site as yet as to how long these drugs remain in your system. Would you happen to know?

Thanks for your reply. I appreciate it.

[pgrimm]

You ask how long statin drugs stay in your body. I am assuming your question is much like assuming if a person stops drinking coffee, they will lose their jitters the next day. Statins deplete your body of good cholesterol needed for many vital processes, in your brain and in your body. Statins damage mitochondria, damage that requires a long, and often slow process, requiring you to take the supplements necessary to replace what it's lost, and healing to begin. I have been amazed at the ignorance of medical professionals who make this assumption, asking "So you stopped your statin a week ago, how are you feeling now"? As though this is proof that their miracle drug is not at all to blame for your muscle pain and weakness, among other devastating symptoms. It's more like if you take a hammer to your shinbone, your leg does not instantly repair itself when you stop the whacking! And then, some damage seems to be permanent, doesn't it?

[SusieO]

I don't think anyone can tell us how long the damage from taking a statin will remain with us because for each person it is totally different. The actual drug may be out of our bodies within a few weeks, but the damage it has done in my opinion is pretty much there for the duration.

This past year I have had a big turnaround, but I have been off Lipitor for almost 4 yrs now (10/28/2004) and thanks to a Wellness doctor I went to 8/2007 I am able to do most things that I could not do before that i.e. walk, use my arms to lift/carry, think straight and so forth.

However, should I take one too many supplements that pain and weakness returns...I think once we find we are feeling pretty good we are unable to even fine tune things and we have a slight relapse - at least that is how it is for me. Also, what amount of supplements and type of supplements works for me I feel would not be the totally correct amount to help the next person.

I doubt anyone will be able to ever find a cure that would be suited for every person with statin damage and they say "take this one pill and you will feel better".

[scout64]

I suppose that I should resign myself to the fact that the majority of persons in positions of medical authority have their own particular brand of common sense that runs completely counter to my own. The frustration and helplessness that we are experiencing appears to be the mean and not the exception. I am stunned every time I read the myriad stories here as to how so many people have all had such similar experiences and still the medical community subscribes to their doggedly dunderheaded approach -- of apparently discounting the patient's thoughts and feelings, especially if, God forbid, it might put them in conflict with a colleague or the pharmaceutical companies that provide so many attractive "gimmes".

There is not an emoticon that expresses what I'm feeling strongly enough.

[catspajamas]

Even if doctors admit that your symptoms are side effects from statins..they don't know how to get rid of them...I don't think any doctor or drug company for that matter knows how to treat the damages done to a persons body....Att. drug companies....Invent a new drug to fix the bodies of those damaged by your statins....you will have a gold mine...(again)....lol

[scout64]

...so from what I've seen here, the best approach for us right now is to continue to get whatever help we can and to pursue the various supplement cocktails that seem to be working for people -- the L carnitine/Q10/VitC, etc. combinations?

And is Dr. Golomb the most high profile researcher doing any work on this? I've been to her website, it's pretty impressive, as well as her resume. So, I have another question --- with someone as heavy a hitter as she seems to be, collecting all this data, openly reporting on her findings, why doesn't there seem to be more lawsuits against the drug companies?

scout64

[Dee]

That's what we would all like to know. We speculate, but it still makes no sense to me how the statins even stay on the market, let alone the absence of multiple class action lawsuits.

There are ads on TV everyday prompting folks to call some attorney at 800-XXX-XXXX if they have taken drug XYZ and developed a zit, or grown hair on their toe nails.

So where are all these tenacious justice seeking lawyers when it comes to statin damage?

Obviously they are not timid about going after Big Pharma for a number of other reasons.

[Dee]

Scout,

As an afterthought, I reread your first posting above, and see your husband was on Lipitor.

There is an attorney in New York that has filed 17 (last I knew) cases against Pfizer for Lipitor damage.

I don't know the current status of those cases, but here is the site:

*http://www.krumlaw.com/press.html

[vipergg22]

Scout64 your doctor is a moron . It specifically says in the literature to avoid mixing statins and fenofibrates which can cause all kinds of problems .

Concomitant HMG-CoA Reductase Inhibitors

The combined use of TRICOR and HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors should be avoided unless the benefit of further alterations in lipid levels is likely to outweigh the increased risk of this drug combination.

Concomitant administration of fenofibrate (equivalent to TRICOR 145 mg) and pravastatin (40 mg) once daily for 10 days increased the mean Cmax and AUC values for pravastatin by 36% (range from 69% decrease to 321% increase) and 28% (range from 54% decrease to 128% increase), respectively, and for 3α-hydroxy-iso-pravastatin by 55% (range from 32% decrease to 314% increase) and 39% (range from 24% decrease to 261% increase), respectively. (See also CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY, Drug-drug interactions).

The combined use of fibric acid derivatives and HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors has been associated, in the absence of a marked pharmacokinetic interaction, in numerous case reports, with rhabdomyolysis, markedly elevated creatine kinase (CK) levels and myoglobinuria, leading in a high proportion of cases to acute renal failure.

The use of fibrates alone, including TRICOR, may occasionally be associated with myositis, myopathy, or rhabdomyolysis. Patients receiving TRICOR and complaining of muscle pain, tenderness, or weakness should have prompt medical evaluation for myopathy, including serum creatine kinase level determination. If myopathy/myositis is suspected or diagnosed, TRICOR therapy should be stopped.

[scout64]

Dee & Viperegg,

Thanks for your responses.

Dee, I'm going to check out the website you sent. Thanks so much. And yes, this aversion to pouncing on the statins on the part of the legal community is mystifying.

Viperegg, yes our doctor is a moron. More to the point, he was abdicating to a PA. We discovered the contra-indications ourselves too late. And although my husband was in immobilizing pain for over a month, the bloodwork did not indicate the excretion of muscle protien that would normally be associated with the breakdown of muscle as one of the acknowledged side affects of statins. However, at the time, we did not know to ask for an additional test, that would have been more thourough that might have shown muscle tissue breakdown. Now that window has apparently passed.

Again, thanks to both of you.

scout

[Dee]

Hi Scout,

I'm not sure if Mark Krum will be of any help, but it won't hurt to call him.

My take is it was the doctor that made a prescribing error, causing even worse problems than perhaps the statin would have caused alone. He should be accountable for that. Hope you find a good malpractice attorney.

Many of us waited to get better, waited for the class action suits to start...we are still waiting, for me over 4 years....there is a statute of limitations that has run out for many of us.

Time is of the essence, best of luck to you.

I wonder why the pharmacist didn't catch that bad drug combo?

[Cat Mom2]

The only doctor that even acted remotely interested in my thoughts on what statin drugs did to my body was (of all things) my eye doctor! She was extreemly interested and let me ramble on and asked questions. Without saying anything, I got the feeling she knows someone who has had the same problems I did... she is a younger doctor and the only one that didn't do the rolled eye thing and brush me off. At least she LISTENED!

[Brian C.]

A result! My endocrinolgist put himself on simvastatin (Zocor) last year "as an experiment". I told him he was a fool (I had given him "tutorials" and Dr Kendrick's book). When I visited him for my chelation yesterday he told me he had stopped taking it!

Partially because of my nagging (he was still on it last week when I had the first treatment) and partially because he was feeling achy and tired "which maybe because I'm getting older or maybe the statin".

The fact that he pioneered the use of chelation therapy in the UK obviously makes him "different" to the general run of practioners but even so....

I expect to be seeing my GP for our annual chat soon. He has been on Lipitor for a few years now and always claimed he was having no side effects although he was looking dreadful.

We shall see....


Brian.