Lipitor used with Tricor - danger

[gfharrison]

I am currently taking 20mg of lipitor with 145 mg of tricor. Have read that this combination can be deadly in that one in five hundred lipitor users have muscle / joint problems. When you throw tricor into the mix that ratio is reduced to one in five. Within the past year I have come down with muscle/joint pain, kidney disease, tremors,spinal disk degeneration,prostate inflamation,and esophogus inflamation.
Has anyone experienced any difficulties with combining lipitor with tricor?

[Darrell]

Why are you still taking these products???

[gfharrison]

Still using products until I receive more info to make a decision

[Darrell]

Okay, you say you have muscle/joint pain. That's a well-known Lipitor side effect:
[http://www.lipitor.com/content/Lipitor_PPI.pdf]

You also say you have kidney disease. The Tricor website says: "TriCor should not be taken by people with serious liver or kidney disease".
[http://www.tricortablets.com/hcp/patient_faqs.html]

Need more?

[gfharrison]

Thanks for your response and info provided Darrell. Been with this prime care Doc for ten years and just want to find enough information to either say "what the hell" or sue.
I did quit taking the stuff - and find it interesting that I have spent all of this time with approx 15 different doctors with nothing said about this possible if not probable conflict of drug mix
Forgot to mention that I also developed plural neuropathy.....Appreciate your input....thanks!

George

[tex62]

George,

My husband was on a similar combination of drugs. He was on Zocor 20mg and Tricor 145mg. He was already experiencing some tiredness and other side effects with Zocor alone, but when the Tricor was added, the serious problems started. After doing our own research and deciding to stop the drugs, we learned that every single health issue my husband experienced was listed as a side effect of either Zocor or Tricor.

My husband had taken 100mg of CoQ10 the entire time that he was on Zocor. He increased this to 200mg after stopping the drugs. He seemed to make some progress, but any physical activity would completely wipe out any improvement. He gave up golf and all forms of exercise for several months. About two months after stopping Zocor and Tricor, we were encouraged to see some improvement. We don’t know what happened, but one morning all the progress was gone and he was back to the same condition as he had been in immediately after stopping the drugs. In desperation, I wrote to Dr. Graveline. He answered quickly and suggested increasing the CoQ10. My husband started taking 300mg 3 times a day (total of 900mg). Within six weeks he had recovered from all the symptoms except for the pain in his hands, arms, and shoulders. He had recovered about 60 percent in those areas also. About that time, Ray Holder posted information about L-Carnitine on this site, so we added that to the supplements my husband was taking. Within one week, all the pain in my husband’s arms, shoulders, and hands was gone. Even the feeling in the tips of his fingers returned. After starting the increased dosage of CoQ10, progress seemed to come in “leaps” with a big improvement and then a leveling off and later another big improvement. I don’t know if the improvement would have occurred in his hands, arms, and shoulders without the L-Carnitine. It took about nine months to make a full recovery from the time the drugs were stopped.

Ironically, our doctor had my husband on these drugs because his triglycerides had always been high. The drugs caused unbelievable pain and health problems. After reading Fran’s recommendation for cinnamon for the treatment of high triglycerides, my husband started taking 500 mg each day. For the first time in his adult life, his triglycerides are well within normal – below 100.

Also ironic, is the common thread among posters regarding their doctors. Most doctors who prescribe these drugs don’t recognize the side effects. Many seem to be of the opinion that there isn’t a drug related problem as long as the CK is normal – NOT TRUE!

If you’re not already doing so, I would suggest taking CoQ10 and L-Carnitine, along with the other supplements that Dr. Graveline recommends. You will probably have to experiment with what works for you regarding dosage and you might have to limit physical activity until your body has a chance to recover.

[vipergg22]

[quote="gfharrison"]I am currently taking 20mg of lipitor with 145 mg of tricor. Have read that this combination can be deadly in that one in five hundred lipitor users have muscle / joint problems. When you throw tricor into the mix that ratio is reduced to one in five. Within the past year I have come down with muscle/joint pain, kidney disease, tremors,spinal disk degeneration,prostate inflamation,and esophogus inflamation.
Has anyone experienced any difficulties with combining lipitor with tricor?[/quote]

All you have to do is read the inserts that specifically warn against this combo. Here is a specific warning from the Tricor side effects.

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 145 mg TRICOR) 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.