Deteriorating Muscle Weakness - Is This "Normal"?

[Ladysmith52]

Hi -
I am new here and am looking for answers for my friend who is 75 years old. She was on Pravechol for 14 years and began having muscle weakness and pain within one month of going onto the drug. She told her doctor about it but at the time her doctor did not seemed alarmed and she stayed on the med. She has now been off this drug for four years and she did not go onto another statin.

The biggest problem now is that her muscle strength is continuing to deteriorate and some days she can hardly lift a milk carton or get herself out of a chair. Sometimes she falls for no reason other than muscle weakness. She cannot do any exercising other than pushing a cart around the grocery store and she's almost to the point of needing to be put into a wheelchair. Her situation is so infuriating b/c she has always been so physically active until the last several years.

Can any of you tell me if this is the "normal" pattern for someone who has been affected by a statin drug?

Do some people's muscles continue to weaken further after they have gone off the statin?

Thank you for any input you can give.

[Ray Holder]

Hi Ladysmith and welcome.
I took simvastatin for 4 years, had muscle wastage, came off the statin, and continued to get worse over the next 14 months until I found the answer for me.

You can find my reasoning on *www.spacedoc.net/r_holder.html

I have found carnitine to be permanently necessary to avoid any more muscle wastage, and it has helped greatly with others' pain in the muscles. Coenzyme Q10 will help prevent further loss of carnitine production in the body and alleviate some other statin damage results.

You will find a lot about peoples' experiences with carnitine and also Q10 in the forum section Muscle Pain and statins, look for Relief for my leg muscle pain, by Darrell, and my note and others from about April last year

I hope your friend gets some help from this. The doctor should have taken her CK reading, it is probably well above normal, the carnitine should bring it back to a more usual level.

Ray

[Ladysmith52]

Hi Ray -

Thank you for your post. I will definitely pass along the info you have posted here to my friend and she can read the posts you have referred us to.

Can you please explain what CK is (sorry......I am a newbie here)?

Her CPK levels are always very high and she was told that the high levels are due to the muscle damage. Do you know if this is correct?

Also, I forgot to mention that my friend is diabetic and on insulin.

Thank you!

[Ray Holder]

Hi Ladysmith52

CK is another abbreviation for CPK, which is the correct term for it. The P stands for plasma, showing that it is a portion of the circulating blood.The CK stands for creatine kinase. It is actually a measure of the muscle remains being taken out of her body as a result of the damage which statins have done to her.

She should be very careful when taking Q10 if she is insulin dependant, it won't do any damage, and will possibly help her, but she must keep a very watchful eye on her sugar level, because Q10 may well improve her ability to handle sugar, and the insulin may drop it to too low a value and lead to hypo glycaemia if it gets too low. Probably the best thing would be to try a low dose of Q10 to start with, say just 30 mg a day, and increase with watchful care.

Doctors are very keen to give statins to diabetics to protect their hearts, I believe they may well reduce the natural insulin supply, and other statin side effects occur as well. The carnitine should have no effect at all on the sugar or insulin levels and ought to reduce her muscle damage and pain.

Ray

[Ladysmith52]

Thank you again, Ray, for your insight and generosity in sharing your knowledge. I will pass on your info to my friend :))

[ric]

I have a feeling of absent biceps - as if they are not there. My hands are pretty weak too. Is this the trended muscle weakness effect? :?:

[Ray Holder]

Hi Ric and welcome

The answer is "Most probably"


Are you taking Q10 or carnitine supplements? Are you still taking statins, and which sort?

Action on these lines appears to be necessary to avoid further damage

Ray