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QUESTION:
was put on lipitor 3 wks ago. it has been great at lowering my
cholesterol. my doc had told me 'most' people never have bad side
effects. but guess what? last weekend starting having severe upper back
pain (not low back... but way up there in the middle of my back). it
got so bad I had to lean against a wall because standing made it worse.
so after about 30 minutes of standing, I get this pain. I was hoping it
would gradually diminish but there is no change. the only new drug i
have been put on is the lipitor. I had been put on diovan also, but way
earlier and had no back pain with the diovan. so what are my options
now? this pain is so bad it significantly affects my quality of life. i
cant trade one problem for another. any suggestions.
ANSWER:
Yes. Lipitor causes muscle pain, weakness and muscle atrophy. Be sure
to tell your doctor about your muscle pain, but also ask why you are
taking a statin. There is little to no evidence for statins in women.
Therapeutics Initiative out of the University of British Columbia in
Canada, takes no industry funding for their epidemiological studies.
Dr. James Wright is a member of the prestigious Cochrane Collaboration:
http://www.ti.ubc.ca/pages/letter48.htm
Do statins have a role in primary prevention?
Conclusion to the study:
"Therefore, statins have not been shown to provide an overall health
benefit in primary prevention trials."
Therapeutics Initiative on women and statins:
"A question to us about Letter #48: What is the evidence of benefit for
primary prevention in women? There were 10,990 women in the primary
prevention trials (28% of the total). Only coronary events were
reported for women, but when these were pooled they were not reduced by
statin therapy, RR 0.98 [0.85-1.12]. Thus the coronary benefit in
primary prevention trials appears to be limited to men, RR 0.74
[0.68-0.81], ARR 2.0%, NNT 50 for 3 to 5 years."
Women and statins:
http://www.medicalconsumers.org/pages/
WomenandCholesterol-LoweringDrugs.html
Dr. Paul S. Phillips, studies in statin induced myopathy:
http://www.impostertrial.com/physician.htm
You can have statin induced muscle pain with normal liver tests:
Statin associated myopathy with normal creatine kinease levels:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&...
Statin associated myotoxicity:
Statin myotoxicity is associated with changes in the cardiopulmonary
function.
Phillips PS, Phillips CT, Sullivan MJ, Naviaux RK, Haas RH.
Scripps Mercy Clinical Research Center, Scripps Mercy Hospital,
Cardiology (Mer 74), Catheterization Laboratories, Scripps Mercy
Hospital, 4077 Fifth Avenue, San Diego, CA 92103, USA.
phillips.p...@scrippshealth.org
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&...
Dr. Beatrice Golomb is the principal investigator of the five year
National Institutes of Health Statin Study. Her office welcomes calls
and e-mails with questions about possible statin adverse reactions. Ask
for John McGraw.
UCSD Statin Study website:
http://medicine.ucsd.edu/SES/index.htm
Telephone: 858 558-4950 (ext. 207)
email: statinst...@ucsd.edu
Interview with Dr. Golomb about statin side effects:
http://www.statinalert.org/Golomb_interview.html
Had you thought of going to see your doctor to discuss this? Backs
both upper and lower can flare up due to many factors, most of which
you do not even feel at the time you "pulled" something if in fact
that is the case.
The statin may or may not be a factor (most likely not).
There are blood tests to see if the statin is hurting your muscles.
I am sure will tell you you will probably die if you continue on
statins made by the corrupt evil drug makers.
Your doctor is correct.
Stop taking it and see if your back pain clears up. Give it 4-6 weeks. If
it doesn't, look elsewhere for answers. If it does, start the statin again.
If the back pain reappears, try a different statin.
I had a similar problem with Lipitor, except I experienced calf pain.
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