Atorvastatin/ neuropathy

I take COQ10 to reduce the bad effects of statins and most certainly do not eat grapefruit or drink the juice.

The more I read in non-pharmalogcal articles is that all stations cause more harm than good and in the end may only add a few weeks to your life. Not worth it. Research stations more before taking them.
Grampa Lou

My PCP prescribed Rosuvastatin, 10 mg. 3 times per week. It has not caused any problems for me and I trust my doctor. He always seems to know what to do for me. With all good wishes, @joybringer1

Hi Terry…can you detail what side effects you had from atorvastatin? I take it and am trying to determine if some of my symptoms are from the atorvastatin? Determining what is normal neuropathy issues and what might be a statin side effect are difficult for me. I’m thinking my balance, lightheadedness is elevated when taking the atorvastatin. I’m curious what your experiences have been…thanks in advance
Steve

I don't have neuropathy myself. (Husband does for other reasons, causes)
Your experience may vary.

I do have a high calcium score on cardiac CT, and at almost 70, hit the 201 on total cholesterol, while LDL is higher than it has been. I've a history of healthy HDL, but also familial hypercholesteremia seems to have caught up with me. I eat a balanced diet, no soda, very limited alcohol, and mostly chicken & fish for protein, avoiding ultra processed foods.

I also have 5 siblings already on statins; all have struggled with cramps, weakness in legs from meds, as did our late mother. I made my cardiologist aware; they ordered atorvastatin 20mg.

After just the 1st dose I woke the next morning feeling ache-y all over but particularly from knees down. I have a bone on bone R knee that will need a TKR (ongoing PT program, Tylenol occasionally NSAIDs, as much walking as I can tolerate) So I wanted to see how I fared, and based on siblings advice, I added a shot of dill pickle juice immediately & added CoQ10 as soon as possible.

In the subsequent days, I felt constantly fatigued, often quite weak and unable to complete normal household chores in a timely fashion; needed to lie down for 30 minutes or more every afternoon and started awakening in the mornings feeling weepy, sad, depressed and desolate. There was some dizziness, but it was not my primary issue. I think it was the overall fatigue

Cardiology office dismissive of my symptoms (the "It's all in your head" vibe) wanted me to go a full month and would reassess. With blood work scheduled, I agreed, but also informed them that I found peer review published research on statin-cholesterol-cortisol-brain function relationship and POTENTIAL depressive episodes in senior women. Got more of the dismissive attitude (via patient portal )

At the time of blood work all my numbers were great but my MH and physical abilities, not so much. All siblings are on Crestor-generics BTW, having all failed on Lipitor generics because of physical side effects ( also shared w cardiologist)

Got nowhere w Cardiology reconsidering Rx or dose.
I immediately took this to my primary care, she was happy to listen, change me to rosuvastatin (crestor generic) and in her opinion the dose initiated by Cardiology was much higher than I needed to start. She also started me on paxil for the depression that was lingering.

I have much less fatigue issues; most days I can do as.much as I want and don't need the afternoon "respite" (I don't nap). I am no longer experiencing the despondency and depression and have stopped the paxil
We will assess my lipid panel at my next wellness visit in 3 months, and go from there. I will probably look for a new cardiologist, assuming I need a specialist.

I have 45 years of basic and clinical medical research, laboratory skills and my PCP knows and respects this. Other physicians, etc., strike me as too ready to dismiss us as "old" or to think we should be content to be the "weak and dizzy ones"

And physicians are less educated than the Pharmacists on pharmacokinetics, drug interactions and side effects.