[medik8]

Lipitor
Generic Name: atorvastatin

Have you taken or do you take Lipitor?
How did it work for you? Did you experience side effects?

We want to hear your story. Please feel free to share your experiences (good and bad) while taking this drug.

The featured drug this week is Lipitor.

Lipitor (atorvastatin) is an HMG CoA reductase inhibitor.

Lipitor (atorvastatin) is used to reduce the amounts of LDL (bad) cholesterol, total cholesterol, triglycerides (another type of fat), and apolipoprotein B (a protein needed to make cholesterol) in your blood. Atorvastatin is also used to increase the level of HDL (good) cholesterol in your blood. These actions are important in reducing the risk of hardening of the arteries, which can lead to heart attacks, stroke, and peripheral vascular disease.

Side effects of Lipitor:

Rare cases of muscle problems and liver problems have been associated with the use of atorvastatin and other similar medicines. Contact your doctor immediately if you experience unexplained muscle pain, tenderness, or weakness, especially if accompanied by a fever or flulike symptoms or yellowing of the skin or eyes, abdominal pain, unexplained fatigue, dark colored urine or pale colored stools. These may be early symptoms of muscle or liver problems.

If you experience any of the following serious side effects, stop taking atorvastatin and seek emergency medical attention or contact your doctor immediately:
- an allergic reaction (difficulty breathing; closing of the throat; swelling of the lips, tongue, or face; or hives);
- decreased urine or rust-colored urine; or
- blurred vision.

Other, less serious side effects may be more likely to occur. Continue to take atorvastatin and talk to your doctor if you experience
- headache;
- upset stomach or flatulence; or
- a rash.

Always talk to your doctor about any side effect that seems unusual or that is especially bothersome.

Consumer Information at
http://www.drugs.com/lipitor.html

Professional Information at:
http://www.drugs.com/pro/lipitor.html

[marilyn]

I took lipitor for 4 weeks severe muscle and joint pain to the point of tears I did research and found out it was the lipitor I just had many test don and am going for an mri because i have swelling in right calf I feel this drug is dangerous have heard of others with same problem I tell everyone I meet to stop taking it as soon as they feal anything it takes a long time for the pain to go away even after stopping this drug I called the company and reported it I think everyone should and I asked do they follow up to see if people get better and they said no unbeliveable!!!

marilyn macedonio

[Ryancla]

I've been taking lipitor for at least two years and have had no adverse effects. Cholesterol, HDL,LDL and triglycerides have all come down. Even though the HDL's are down they are still above 60.
All blood tests and liver function tests are normal.

[Arma]

I had taken Lipitor, for about a month and a half. I was suffering from memeory loss. I couldnt remember very much of where I put something, and what I had planned for the day. So much unlike me that I had to stop!! It was about a week, before I was feeling much better and regained my train of thought. I look forward in, getting something else along with my diet, too lower my cholestral. Any idea's?

[Rocky]

[size=3][
Hello To All,

I am a Diabetic have been for 35 years. Am now 48 years old, male took lipitor for 26 days have muscle pain bad in left calf of leg and part of my left foot went numb, i am talking over night. now it has been 2 weeks since I stopped taking it most of the numbness has left foot, but still have pain bad in left calf of leg. Hard to walk at times for a distance, Im talking like 50 yards. Leg and foot was fine before lipitor. I see my Dr. next week. Just something for you people to think about. Have A Good Day! Rocky

[doodles]

Lipitor is not for everyone, as the commerical says. The smallest dose made my legs break out, I scratched them until they bled, I had imbedded edema, plus my liver was very sore.

I never take Lipitor, and none of the other cholesterol drugs that are easy on the liver work.

Doodles

[tofast4me]

I was put on it by my Dr. about two years back and I really can't say if it had good or bad results because I take around 19 pills all together with the Lipitor. I have seen several replies saying they had muscle aches and swelling due to the Lipitor. I have Lupus SLE and along with the disease comes many muscle aches and swelling. I'm asking someone out there, since Lipitor isn't a life or death kind of pill, do you think I could stop taking it for a week or so and then see if there are any changes, and if not I'll also watch when I start back up on it again. Does anyone reading this have Lupus SLE, if so could I have you e-mail me a list of the meds that you take to control your Lupus SLE. If anyone replies back to me about stopping Lipitor for a week or so then I will reply the results on this site so others can see if maybe they to could be having muscle pains from the Lipitor instead of whatever else they were putting the cause on.

Maybe it get's better tomorrow, just maybe...

[bavo12]

I have taken Lipitor for 4 years and have had no problems whatsoever. I take 10 mg once a day at bed time. My cholestrol is almost unreadable. Me wife took a 20 mg tablet at the same time for a year and then started having muscle pains and our doctor took her off the Lipitor immeadiatly. Just goes to show how different people react differently to the same drug.[8D]

[frogline]

quote:Originally posted by tofast4me

I was put on it by my Dr. about two years back and I really can't say if it had good or bad results because I take around 19 pills all together with the Lipitor. I have seen several replies saying they had muscle aches and swelling due to the Lipitor. I have Lupus SLE and along with the disease comes many muscle aches and swelling. I'm asking someone out there, since Lipitor isn't a life or death kind of pill, do you think I could stop taking it for a week or so and then see if there are any changes, and if not I'll also watch when I start back up on it again. Does anyone reading this have Lupus SLE, if so could I have you e-mail me a list of the meds that you take to control your Lupus SLE. If anyone replies back to me about stopping Lipitor for a week or so then I will reply the results on this site so others can see if maybe they to could be having muscle pains from the Lipitor instead of whatever else they were putting the cause on.

Maybe it get's better tomorrow, just maybe...

[Silverfern]

Have been taking Lipitor for 4 years. I have developed a very salty taste in mouth and very dry burning lips. Could this be a side effect?

[Cynthiadb]

I am a 51 yr old woman that was taking it made me sick and lightheaded I had to miss a few days of work behind this so I stopped taking my doctor said it would pass but it has not.

Bennett

[Bogie]

I stopped and started taking Lipitor 4 times since this past May. Everytime I started back on it my knees got worse. In that I mean I can't bend my knees. The Doc said it's like having water on the knee. I would stop and about 2 weeks later, I could bend and kneel with discomfort. I stopped completly and tried almost every supplement there is to lwr my chol level. If I don't take a statin, my chol level goes up. I agreed to try again...this time with Zocor. I started on 80mg's and I'm now down to 20mg's. The same things are starting to happen. I would suppose, once a statin...always a statin.I do not believe this is the med for everyone, as they claim. I would say try other supplements before you agree to take statins. More ppl seem to have a problem than not. Wish you all the best.

Please and Thanx, Bogie

[ryansdad]

I had a friend who was taking Lipitor and had dizziness, lightheadedness, chest tightness, felt very feint and very tired. He was just walkning around and noticed all these symptoms starting. He went to the emergency room and was rushed off for a angioplasty and subsequently a quad. bypass. Even after the surgery, he still had the same symptoms, even though they "fixed" the problem. I would be very cautious taking this drug. And just because you dont feel a side effect doesnt mean that it isnt ruining something somewhere in your body. Anyway, just thought I'd add my two cents worth.

[lane413]

I am a diabetic, 52 yrs old woman. I took lipitor for five yrs off and on. It caused severe muscle pain in left thigh and arm. It eventually caused my liver to stop functioning properly. I was on 40, then 20 and my endo finally lowered it to 10. I was getting the muscle pain and memory loss even on 10mgs. I later discovered that the reason i had high cholesterol in the first place was due to a thiazide (hctz) water pill.

I am off the lipitor and zetia and all cholesterol meds. I now take artichoke extract from health food store, fish oil, and vitamin e. My cholesterol has dropped.

[ganaste44]

[V]I started taking Lipitor last June. I had had Lupron injections to supprress tumor growth about a year earlier & later found that this was a major source of my sudden high cholesterol. I eat no meat, never did really, my son is a commercial fisherman so my diet has always been more than healthy... tofu & stuff. The high cholesterol blew my mind! How could this happen? My doc said no problem & put me on 20 mg of lipitor. My cholesteral went down 98 points in 1 month. Good news, or so I thought, until about 2 weeks later when I began having sleep problems, tired all the time, severe skeletal & muscular pain & spasms. My doc had given me samples of the drug so I never read any inserts about the drug. I finally called her to ask for pain meds & thru disscusion learned that this is a side effect of the lipitor. She told me to stop the Lipitor immediately & about 2 weeks later she put me on Zocor saying Zocor doesn't have the same side effect & is safer. It wasn't long before the side effects came back with a vengance. I called her again & again she said to stop taking the drug. (By the way, all my liver function tests have come back perfect. Thank God!) Last week she put me back on the lipitor at 10 mg per day. Last Sat I started getting what I thought was a cold, then I thought it was the flu as I felt, & still feel like I've been hit by a truck, I have had a low grade fever... all the symptoms of the flu. I didn't know that these were also symptoms of Lipitor side effects until I just read some of your posts. The muscle spasms have kept me awake for the last 3 nights. My right calf feels like I pulled a muscle or something. I don't know what to do. I trust my doc, I think she just doesn't know what to do with me. I would also like to know if these reactions I am having could be related to the fact that I have never been able to take any kind of hormones without horrible side effects. I tried taking birth control pills when I was 1st married & after completing 1 months cycle it took 6 months to get my body back on track. Is there any relation between these drugs? Any feedback is appreciated.
Thanx,
ganaste44 [:0]

[ganaste44]

[?] My doc gave me sample packs of a new drug called Zetia today. After the bad experiences I've had on Lipitor & zocor I'm afraid to take this Zetia. I typed it into the "search" & found nothing. If anyone knows anything about this new drug please post. I'm afraid to take it.
Thanx,
Rhea

[lane413]

quote:Originally posted by ganaste44

[?] My doc gave me sample packs of a new drug called Zetia today. After the bad experiences I've had on Lipitor & zocor I'm afraid to take this Zetia. I typed it into the "search" & found nothing. If anyone knows anything about this new drug please post. I'm afraid to take it.
Thanx,
Rhea

Zetia is not a statin, it works in the stomach. They claim it can't hurt your liver, but i swear it made my liver very sore. It felt like a throbbing ache. i also suffered severe back problems. If you go to heathscout.com and do a search you'll see the side effects. Good luck.

[urphil]

I have pain/pressure/rashy burning in the inner thigh and buttocks areas when I sit. This rashy burning feeling also affects the genital area (ie sensitivity to some materials & clothing tightness) but there are no visible signs of a rash or any kind of infection. This has been occurring for almost 1-1/2 years.

My job requires me to be meetings throughout the day in different conference rooms and I have a 45-minute commute time home. In the morning the pain is barely noticeable but at night after sitting and commuting, it can be somewhat miserable.

My doctor intitially thought I had prostititis because of pain in the perineal area that felt like I was sitting on a golf ball and gave me two rounds of anti-biotics. When that did not work he sent me to a Urologist who also thought I had prostititis and prescribed a month of heavy duty anti-biotics, inflamatories and prostate medication. That did not work either so my doctor had me get an MRI of the pelvis that turned out negative. Also, I visited a neurologist who gave me neurontin and when that didn't work suggested a nerve block that I have resisted due to potential risks.

I had several acupuncture treatments that did not help. I received some massage therapy that has helped a little. I used to also feel a lump on my right "sit bone/Ischael Tuberosities" that has mostly subsided. Additionally, I feel a pulling/stinging sensation in the inner thigh area when touching my toes and sometimes walking or climbing stairs.

After a lot of research on my own I am wondering if this could be related to Lipitor that I had begun taking about six months earlier. Has anyone else experienced these type of symptoms?

[Howard Lefkowitz]

I just switched to Zetia after 4 years of Lipitor. I developed severe leg muscle pains from the Lipitor. After 2 months without Lipitor my legs pains were almost gone. My Doctor put me on Zetia since my LDL had gone from 80 to 126 (Total 145 to 211). After two weeks on Zetia the leg pains are developing again and I am having trouble sleeping. Check the Zetia posts, evidently this drug can also cause severe leg pains. Are there any cholesterol lowering drugs that do not have this side effect?

[mygirl002]

I just started taking Lipitor 40mg. last week. I am also on a few other meds for Graves Disease {hyperthyroid}. After reading some
of you alls stories i tell ya ... i'm scared as hell to take it now.
Any feedback will be welcome.... GOOD LUCK TO YOU ALL
YOU WILL BE IN MY THOUGHTS

[sanghvi5m]

show your posting in drugs.com about lipitor, i need to know about thyroid contion, since my wife has been on lipitor for about year and was diagnosed with thyroid condition also after taking lipitor,, i beleive it is due to liptor, can u check and see if it was the prior condtion of thyroid before starting the lipitor, if not then we need to contact the FDA to ask the question about the drug side effect on thyroid

[jennydakiwi]

quote:Originally posted by ganaste44

[?] My doc gave me sample packs of a new drug called Zetia today. After the bad experiences I've had on Lipitor & zocor I'm afraid to take this Zetia. I typed it into the "search" & found nothing. If anyone knows anything about this new drug please post. I'm afraid to take it.
Thanx,
Rhea

Hi... try going to [u]</u>www.WebMd.com [u]</u>I checked out some info on Zetia there, and they have answers to your questions. Let me know how it goes.
Jenny

[tina_b]

When I was on Lipitor, I had symptoms of muscle pain and weakness. I went to the doctor but he told me that there's nothing to worry about as I didn't had any fever. He also told me that if I had such muscle pain or weakness accompanied by fever and flu-like symptoms then that is a serious issue and I shall contact him immediately. Fortunately, I didn't had any major side-effects that are associated with Lipitor.

[kelew]

I have been on lipitor for 6 weeks and have muscle pain, but all blood work and MRI tests have come back fine. My cholesterol profile has greatly improved,though. Now I have begun to have dizziness. Does anyone have this same problem? My dr. did say to take CoQ10 with the lipitor but didn't know how much to tell me to take. He said some of his other patients say it helps them with pain, etc.
I am very sensitive to medicines. I had the same problem with nexium for a year and none of the Drs. could tell me it the was the medicine until I read it in the PDR. Then they believed me. So I went off of the Nexium. Lipitor has the same side effect, what can I do if it's helping me?[xx(]