Q10 for life?

[Darrell]

I have been taking Q10 for over a year -- since a couple of days after I stopped taking Zocor due to muscle problems and fatigue. I still have right leg muscle weakness toward the end of any busy day, and I have to be careful not to damage my knee when the muscles are weak. I'm currently taking 200 to 300 mg of Q10 daily. Every time my Q10 bottle runs low, I consider stopping the Q10, but I never run out because ultimately I'm very afraid to stop.

I would like to hear experiences from others on Q10 who have been taking it for many months due to statin-induced muscle problems. How much did you take? Have you stopped temporarily or permanently? Did your muscle problems and exercise intolerance get worse? Are we all Q10 "lifers"?

[billcat]

Hi Darrell,
I posted my experience with Zocor on another thread here, but the short story is that I was on it for 8 years, most of which time I also took CoQ10.

I've now discontinued the Zocor and feel 20 years younger (well, maybe 15 for sure), and I'm still taking the CoQ10 even though all the terrible muscle and joing aches have gone away. I'll continue to take the supplements, as well as quite a few others, as I think they're good for my health.

At age 62, I can use all the help I can get. My cholesterol, though minimally "high", is stable, as are all other health signs, without a statin.

BTW, I tried policosonal and it too gave me muscle aches and weakness.

Some people recommend niacin in place of statins.

[sos_group_owner]

Re: BTW, I tried policosonal and it too gave me muscle aches and weakness.
Some people recommend niacin in place of statins.

Hi Billcat & Darrell,

I truly believe that any attempt to lower cholesterol (which is really
not the problem at all) can cause muscle aches and weakness.

Use caution with niacin... theraputic doses of niacin can cause elevated
homocysteine. Elevated homocysteine causes inflammation and is far
worse than elevated cholesterol.

Please read Dr Graveline's article about "Homocysteine and Heart Disease":
http://www.spacedoc.net/homocysteine_heart_disease.htm

This article from LEF discusses niacin and homocysteine:
ww.lef.org/protocols/prtcl-015b.shtml
Page down to "Niacin".

Fran