Anyone have physical reactions to Atorvastatin?

Wow, that's a lot of serious side effects. They'd have to speed up the audio a lot to fit all of them into a 30-second ad. Thankfully for you, all but one went away. What dose were you taking? I take 20 mg, and I've never had physical effects. But after I first started, I sensed that my ability to solve problems at work had declined, so I stopped taking it. Several years later I resumed, without noticing that effect.

My husband was on atorvastatin. For 2.5 years he seemed fine. Then he started having trouble with pain in his achilles tendon on both feet. It was affecting his ability to walk. At the time he was on 80mg. Complained to his GP who proceeded to tell him he'd never heard of that as a side affect of atorvastatin, as if my husband had no idea what he was talking about. Statins are notorious for numerous side affects. GP reduced him to 40 mg, still didn't help. So we weened him off atorvastatin, went to a new cardiologist who put him on Repatha. He currently takes Repatha and zetia for his cholesterol which based on his very recent bloodwork is working well. Only complaint so far is stuffy head and clogged ears. The Repatha works through a different mechanism than the statins so not the same side affects are noted. One of the reasons he agreed to take it.
You must advocate for yourself. Medications are not a one size fits all and because your symptoms may not be classified as common doesn't mean the medication isn't causing it.
It may take a while for the tendon issues to resolve. It took a couple of months for it to clear up for my husband but it did finally go away.
Hang in there. Hope you're doing better.

How awful! I can't tolerate statins, or zetia, but I just get itchy rashes. I've given up on them for now. I was just diagnosed with SMM. My cardiac calcium score, which I paid for out-of-pocket, was 322. Even my cardiologist said "Not bad!" My wife is convinced it's all genetic, since her parents and sister were all on statins, and they all had to get stents.

I have been taking Atorvastatin for several years now and my mobility has deteriorated over that time, with stiff and sore joints in shoulders, wrists, neck, lower back, hips, knees, ankles and toes - just about anything you could name really! I thought it was just general aging along with arthritis and x-rays have shown I have arthritis, but not badly enough to cause so many problems. An elderly friend of mine (she's 80) said she had the exact same symptoms, then stopped taking them. Now she 's fine. She is very fit and active and has very little stiffness in her joints. She even plays tennis regularly! I think it's time to have a serious discussion with my doctor. I have high cholesterol so, having already had a severe stroke, I will need to take an alternative medication. Maybe Repatha would be a good one to try? It certainly seems to be working for your husband, so I may suggest it to my doctor.

I cannot take statins or Repatha b/c of joint pain, back pain & headaches. I am now going to try taking rosevstatin twice a week along with daily Zetia & taking a blood test in 3 months to see how effective this combination will be.

I am statin intolerant. I tried several kinds, low dose, 3 times a week and I had terrible pain all over. I had trouble rolling over in bed, getting out of bed, going up stairs, exercising. I couldn’t lift my young grandkids. I went to PT, OT and used heat and ice. I was only in my mid 60’s. After two years, my doctors listened and allowed me to stop. My recovery was slow, but I now get out of bed totally pain free most days. I can exercise, do yoga, and play with the kids. No more therapy! Unfortunately I had an allergic reaction to Repatha, so I’m trying some supplements and hoping for the best.

Lipitor put me in the hospital in 2004 when I was 48 with acute pancreatitus so bad it almost burst...the pain was the worst pain I ever had. So the doc took me off statins completely..
Fast forward 5 years.
Alarmed at my high cholesterol, I tried something more natural to lower my total cholesterol...red yeast rice. Within two weeks of taking red yeast rice daily the abdomen pain returned just as before but before it got worse I stopped the RYR and the pain subsided. Doing diligent research to understand why this was, I discovered that most statin drugs are synthesized from RYR. VOILA! Allergy confirmed! NO MORE STATINS FOR ME !
Fast forward to 2023.
Doctor suggests Zetia. Okay says me...not a statin. Within a week I'm back in ER with acute pancreatitus! Now I'm worried that my pancreas will be damaged permanently and susceptible to potential pancreatic cancer.
Long story short, I will NOT be taking any med that may have pancreatitus listed as even a remote possibility. Natural methods (i.e. diet) primarily for me although I seem to be tolerating Repatha pretty well going on the one year mark.

I started on Lipitor/Atorvastatin in 2005 at 20 mg. My doc told me at the time that some people experienced muscle pain, to let him know I did. I did not. It was increased to 40 mg at some point (I know by at least 2014), and I think I still tolerated it OK. It was bumped up again to 80 mg, max dosage, in summer of 2023.

My LDL was 51 that fall after being on it a few months. But at the end of the following year, I had muscle stiffness so severe I could barely walk. I thought my back had spasmed, although I've had back spasms and I knew that I really hadn't. Went to an urgent care and got shots for pain and inflammation and a script for a muscle relaxer.

Eventually, docs (I see a cardiologist too) had me take a break, then I was put on Crestor, and three weeks in, a repeat of the severe stiffness. I thought I might have MS. So they said I was statin-intolerant.

Then put on Nexletol and Zetia; a few months in, my LDL was nowhere near where they wanted it, so I was prescribed Repatha. About six injections in, the stiffness returned and even today, after being off it 10 and a half weeks (little over two months), it is the worst ever. Bilateral back stiffness (my back on both sides is like a rock), resulting in limited mobility and pain.

I had an appointment at the Mayo Clinic's Statin Intolerance Clinic scheduled for this past Tuesday, but I felt so bad (it was going to be a long day of travel) that I had to cancel, and now am scheduled for mid-Feb., when I will have been off Repatha three months (the end of its half-life).

Sorry to have hijacked this thread. I had a doctor's appointment today (PCP). He is skeptical that my musculoskeletal problems are caused by the Repatha, that it should be mostly out of my system by now and the side effects dwindling, not being as bad as ever. But all testing for autoimmune diseases, etc. have been negative.

I'm at wit's end. To answer you question: I had debilitating muscle stiffness once I was on Atorvastatin at 80 mg and whatever dosage of Crestor I was on. I wish I had never heard of Repatha, because of it's ridiculously long half life. A lot of people have great success on statins and PCSK9-inhibitors. I wish I were one of them.