Severe Muscle Pain from Crestor?

[SkyWarn]

3 weeks ago my doctor switched me from 10mg Zocor to 10mg Crestor since my levels were still too high. At the exact same time I started HCG 25 units 3 times per week. I have since developed almost sever debilitating muscle pain and weakness, in legs arms and shoulders. I switched from 10mg daily of the Crestor to every other day. I see a slight improvement especially on the days I don't take the statin. Has anyone found a good workaround to this kind of thing? Any statins that don't have the muscle pain side effect?
I am thinking about just going back to the Zocor now until I can get an appointment to go back in to see the doc.

 

[sammmy]

Allegedly Crestor (water soluble Rosuvastatin) should give fewer side effects than Zocor (fat soluble Simvastatin) at the same potency dose. However, probably 10mg Crestor is more potent than 10mg Zocor.

The best for your health is to reduce your cholesterol by improving your diet, like less processed food, less sugars (including fruits and milk), less carbs in general, more vegetables, more meat, some nuts, more eggs, more fats.

I hope you know that statins cannot cancel a bad diet. A diet high in sugars leads to inflammation and statins have very little effect on inflammation, which is the major driver of cardiovascular events. Don't think that by taking a statin and eating crap you will be fine.

 

[DixieWrecked]

I've experienced this. I was taking 10mg of crestor and I couldn't even do curls my arms hurt so bad. It took a while for it to go away too. I felt so damn old on crestor it was unbelievable. I could barely work out and my workouts weren't any fun at all. Getting off the couch was a huge strain. I sounded like a 90 year old man

 

[Vince]

Hopefully your doctor told you to take CoQ10? If not start today. Statins will lower your CoQ10 and cause muscle pain.

 

[SkyWarn]

Truly "Severe"? Rhabdomyolysis is an emergency.

In any case, get a CPK and liver enzyme tests pronto.

My muscles never fully recovered from lipitor ten years ago. My muscle pain was mild, but lost strength, endurance, and muscle mass and had liver effects. It was a very slow creep over about a year before I suspected the statin. Those tests told the story. I will never take a statin again.

is you cholesterol under control without the statins?

 

[SkyWarn]

Hopefully your doctor told you to take CoQ10? If not start today. Statins will lower your CoQ10 and cause muscle pain.

Yes been on CoQ10 for a while now.
Update; I stopped the Crestor 2 days ago already been much better. Pain is almost gone. I will just go back to my 10mg of Zocor for now until I see the doctor and ask for a different statin

 

[SkyWarn]

I've experienced this. I was taking 10mg of crestor and I couldn't even do curls my arms hurt so bad. It took a while for it to go away too. I felt so damn old on crestor it was unbelievable. I could barely work out and my workouts weren't any fun at all. Getting off the couch was a huge strain. I sounded like a 90 year old man

EXACTLY! I was having trouble walking and standing, my legs hurt so much. I stopped the 10mg Crestor 2 days ago and already feel much better. Will ask for a different statin.
So what was your solution? Are you under a different statin?

 

[DixieWrecked]

EXACTLY! I was having trouble walking and standing, my legs hurt so much. I stopped the 10mg Crestor 2 days ago and already feel much better. Will ask for a different statin.
So what was your solution? Are you under a different statin?

I tried the coq10 but that didn't help at all. I just said screw it and let my cholesterol do it's thing. I don't really believe in the stations. You can look at a line graph that tracks statin prescriptions and heart deaths and they just rise together. Stations haven't helped cardiovascular events at all.

 

[sammmy]

Statins don't help because they create a fake sense of security and instead of changing their diet people just take statin and keep eating the same crap, which invariable leads to the same bad health result at the end.

 

[SkyWarn]

I tried the coq10 but that didn't help at all. I just said screw it and let my cholesterol do it's thing. I don't really believe in the stations. You can look at a line graph that tracks statin prescriptions and heart deaths and they just rise together. Stations haven't helped cardiovascular events at all.

I tried the coq10 but that didn't help at all. I just said screw it and let my cholesterol do its thing. I don't really believe in the stations. You can look at a line graph that tracks statin prescriptions and heart deaths and they just rise together. Stations haven't helped cardiovascular events at all.

Just curious: what do your labs look like?

 

[Guided_by_Voices]

20 Heart-Healthy Actions With Better Risk/Reward Than Statins

Here at Excelmale there are frequent posts discussing the pros and cons of statins, and one in particular several weeks ago where a position paper was cited where the assumption was that statins are not only a viable option but should be the first line of defense against heart disease. As I have...

www.excelmale.com

 

[Vince]

Yes been on CoQ10 for a while now.
Update; I stopped the Crestor 2 days ago already been much better. Pain is almost gone. I will just go back to my 10mg of Zocor for now until I see the doctor and ask for a different statin

I take 600 mg of CoQ10 Ubiquinol daily.

 

[Guided_by_Voices]

I constantly hear the recommendation to take CoQ10 with statins, but is there actually any evidence or logic that it is truly replacing the body's CoQ10? CoQ10 is made inside the cells at the time and in the amount that the body needs, however thinking that swallowing CoQ10 will somehow replicate the same thing, especially when it is notoriously hard to get it into cells (which makes sense since the body doesn't "expect" it to arrive that way) seems like an extreme stretch and one more reason to avoid statins and instead do other things that actually benefit health in a good risk/reward ratio.

 

[sammmy]

Because CoQ10 is actually anti-inflammatory, it is possible that it just suppresses the muscle inflammation and hence the pain, not really addressing the root problem caused by the statin.

 

[FunkOdyssey]

I constantly hear the recommendation to take CoQ10 with statins, but is there actually any evidence or logic that it is truly replacing the body's CoQ10?

Geranylgeraniol appears to be more effective than Coq10 for statin associated muscle sides and may restore coq10 synthesis:

Research suggests that geranylgeraniol (GGOH), a precursor of geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate (GGPP), can effectively mitigate statin-induced muscle side effects by supporting pathways that statins disrupt:

1. Prevention of Muscle Fatigue: Geranylgeraniol supplementation has been shown to prevent muscle fatigue induced by statins, particularly by maintaining force production in fast-twitch muscle fibers, without adverse effects on cardiac or vascular function (Irwin et al., 2019).

2. Reduction of Myotoxicity via Protein Prenylation: Statin-induced muscle damage is often linked to impaired geranylgeranylation, which affects cellular processes reliant on GTPase proteins. GGOH has been shown to reverse this by restoring proper protein prenylation, thereby protecting muscle cells from statin-induced apoptosis and autophagy dysfunction (Cao et al., 2009), (Johnson et al., 2004).

3. Mitochondrial Protection: GGOH has been found to protect mitochondrial function in muscle cells affected by statins, helping to maintain cellular energy and viability by reversing statin-induced mitochondrial dysfunction (Jaśkiewicz et al., 2018).

4. Potential for Clinical Use in Statin-Associated Muscle Symptoms (SAMS): Evidence suggests that GGOH could be a targeted approach to reduce SAMS without interfering with the cholesterol-lowering benefits of statins, positioning it as a promising co-therapy (Tan & Chin, 2023).

In summary, geranylgeraniol shows promise in preventing the adverse muscular effects associated with statin therapy, primarily by maintaining protein prenylation and mitochondrial function, potentially providing a therapeutic option for patients experiencing statin-associated muscle symptoms.

 

[Guided_by_Voices]

Geranylgeraniol appears to be more effective than Coq10 for statin associated muscle sides and may restore coq10 synthesis:

Research suggests that geranylgeraniol (GGOH), a precursor of geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate (GGPP), can effectively mitigate statin-induced muscle side effects by supporting pathways that statins disrupt:

1. Prevention of Muscle Fatigue: Geranylgeraniol supplementation has been shown to prevent muscle fatigue induced by statins, particularly by maintaining force production in fast-twitch muscle fibers, without adverse effects on cardiac or vascular function (Irwin et al., 2019).

2. Reduction of Myotoxicity via Protein Prenylation: Statin-induced muscle damage is often linked to impaired geranylgeranylation, which affects cellular processes reliant on GTPase proteins. GGOH has been shown to reverse this by restoring proper protein prenylation, thereby protecting muscle cells from statin-induced apoptosis and autophagy dysfunction (Cao et al., 2009), (Johnson et al., 2004).

3. Mitochondrial Protection: GGOH has been found to protect mitochondrial function in muscle cells affected by statins, helping to maintain cellular energy and viability by reversing statin-induced mitochondrial dysfunction (Jaśkiewicz et al., 2018).

4. Potential for Clinical Use in Statin-Associated Muscle Symptoms (SAMS): Evidence suggests that GGOH could be a targeted approach to reduce SAMS without interfering with the cholesterol-lowering benefits of statins, positioning it as a promising co-therapy (Tan & Chin, 2023).

In summary, geranylgeraniol shows promise in preventing the adverse muscular effects associated with statin therapy, primarily by maintaining protein prenylation and mitochondrial function, potentially providing a therapeutic option for patients experiencing statin-associated muscle symptoms.

Thanks. Now that you mention this, I did hear an interview with Barry Tan where he described this. However, it sounds very preliminary, and also doesn't appear to address the other issues with statins (such as cognitive issues) and general lack of benefit compared to root cause approaches. As an aside, I also often see people say that they switched statins and the side effects went away, however just because you can't feel something doesn't mean there isn't low-level damage still occurring.

 

[Melody68]

I'm 68, had some severe heart disease at a younger age, blood profile was terrible, had a heart bypass at 56. I've been through the whole statin merry-go-round. I experimented a lot. Lots of side effects and nothing seemed to address all my blood factors. In addition I had a very high Lp(a) that most doctors don't even know about or address.

I found high dose niacin (vitamin B3, the real stuff, not that "no-flush" nonsense), which resulted in outstanding correction of blood measurements, so much so that the cardiologists were baffled and frankly, didn't believe me when I told them that it was all due to niacin. There is a book by Dr. Parsons, "Cholesterol Control Without Diet"; it made all the difference in my life, I've been taking it for 22 years. It's used extensively in Europe, it's dirt cheap, I buy it at the vitamin store. My son is a physician, he takes it, and was surprised to learn that other doctors he respects also place high value in it.

Some people take it the first time, get an uncomfortable 20 minute flush, then quit. The flush typically goes away in a few days and otherwise I have never felt any side effects.

 

[Vince]

I constantly hear the recommendation to take CoQ10 with statins, but is there actually any evidence or logic that it is truly replacing the body's CoQ10? CoQ10 is made inside the cells at the time and in the amount that the body needs, however thinking that swallowing CoQ10 will somehow replicate the same thing, especially when it is notoriously hard to get it into cells (which makes sense since the body doesn't "expect" it to arrive that way) seems like an extreme stretch and one more reason to avoid statins and instead do other things that actually benefit health in a good risk/reward ratio.

Yes it does. I have my levels checked every so often. Every timey CoQ10 levels have been well over the high range.

 

[Guided_by_Voices]

Yes it does. I have my levels checked every so often. Every timey CoQ10 levels have been well over the high range.

Is that measuring levels in the blood or in the cells? I am sure taking it orally would raise blood levels but that does not mean it is making it into cells at an equivalent time, place and amount as would be the case if the body was producing it naturally, especially since it is produced in the mitochondria and could have additional uses there.

 

[Vince]

Is that measuring levels in the blood or in the cells? I am sure taking it orally would raise blood levels but that does not mean it is making it into cells at an equivalent time, place and amount as would be the case if the body was producing it naturally, especially since it is produced in the mitochondria and could have additional uses there.

I had my levels checked with Chromatography (HPLC) to extract and quantify the CoQ10 present in the plasma or serum; this is the most common method for measuring CoQ10 levels.