Reversal of Statin-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy

@singyourheartout

Glad you're neuropathy is almost gone? What was the dosage of statin you took?

What treatment did you get for your torn meniscus and vascular issues?

@heisenberg34
Started Rosuvastatin 20mg a few years ago and and immediately started feeling random tingling and pain in the feet but never attributed it to this med. About a week ago the pain got so bad I thought I would lose my mind. Upon reading reports, I suspected it may be this med. Went to the doc and she told me to go off it for about 3 weeks to see if there is any improvement. After missing my first two doses my neuropathy nerve pain in my feet almost totally subsided within 48 hours. The throbbing, tingling and random shooting pains have almost stopped. Still have some residual but not near as bad. And I was even on the lowest dose. Im beside myself with joy and hope I never have to deal with that pain again. It was beyond miserable and torturous and was getting worse as the days went by. Hopefully, that is all behind me now. Don't understand if this is so common, why these meds are given to people.

I'm new here so sorry if what I am going to relay has been discussed. My peripheral neuropathy was diagnosed about 15 -17 years ago after I felt a cold toe. That was it. I went to a neurologist who diagnosed me with peripheral neuropathy. I thought nothing of it since it was just a cold toe. He looked concerned but maybe I was in denial. After several years the cold toe led to numbness and some pain in my feet (both). Coincidentally (?) I started taking atorvastatin for my cholesterol around the same time. I never gave it a second thought or made any connection between my feet and my cholesterol which was lowered.

Fast forward, My numbness is progressing. No pain due to taking alpha lipoic acid 600mg daily for years. My theory since my PN is not related to diabetes or hereditary causes. Mine is "unknown". It has to be the statin that caused my PN. Proof? None. Next step? Reducing or changing my statin? Seeing a Mayo Clinic doctor?

@singyourheartout
I only take 5mg of Rosuvastatin. Maybe you could try the much lower dose. I also take R-alpha lipoic acid to help with the pain. My neuropathy pain is caused by CIDP.

@jhkenn97 How do you know that your statins caused the PN? I haven't heard of any diagnostic tests that can pinpoint the root cause of PN. I will say that it may be coincidental that my own PN started about the time that my Primary put me on it for slightly elevated cholesterol.

@heisenberg34 There really isn’t any kind of test they can do to determine if neuropathy was caused by a statin. In my case, I became aware that the neuropathy I had started developing was definitely due to the statin after learning that statins can cause this. Once I learned that this is the case I realized that my neuropathy symptoms started shortly after I started taking a statin, and I had no symptoms of it whatsoever before I started the medication. This was enough for me to want to stop taking it. I had started having numbness in my hands and arms, and also in my feet and legs which progressed further and further up my legs until I was feeling numbness clear up into my thighs. I was also waking up a lot at night with severe cramps in my legs and feet and they were so bad I couldn’t get back to sleep. I contacted my PC and told them that I wanted to stop it for this reason and they tried to talk me out of it and they were very dismissive of my concerns and just started going on about how it’s a small percentage of chance that it could cause neuropathy, and they thought the benefits were much more important. I had to be very firm with them and tell them that permanent nerve damage is not something that is acceptable to me and that I have never even tried other things to get my cholesterol down more naturally so I would prefer to try to control it by starting regular exercise and dietary changes, and I’ve also started taking psyllium fiber supplements, which can help with both cholesterol and blood sugar control. Almost immediately after I stopped taking rosuvastatin my neuropathy symptoms drastically improved. It has been about probably two months since I stopped taking the medication, and I still have some numbness in my feet and hands, but it isn’t nearly as bad as it was before, and I’ve stopped having problems with having cramps in my feet and legs.

Welcome @irascottbass, I also have idiopathic small fiber peripheral neuropathy but only have the numbness. My doctor had wanted me to go on statins to reduce my cholesterol but I decided to work on some lifestyle changes to avoid the statins after reading the possible side neuropathy side effects. It is good to have a discussion with your doctor or neurologist. You might want to join in on the conversation in this discussion below:
-- Statins that won't cause/worsen neuropathy: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/statins-that-wont-causeworsen-neuropathy/