Re: Shoulder Pain - Statins or Rotator Cuff?

[Guest guest]

Why were you on Statins? Were you told of side effects? Were you prescribed

or informed about any supplements that would help mitigate the effects of

the statins?

Mike S

Shoulder Pain - Statins or Rotator Cuff?

A brief background of my situation:

Retired last August at 57 and began an aggressive exercise program including

resistance training while on 40mg of Simvastatin. Developed neck pains by

the end of Sept. Pains spread to my thighs, back, and upper right arm by

Nov. Took several 1 1/2 week holidays from exercising. No joy.

Have quit exercising since mid-Dec. Cut my simvastatin to 20mg at that

time. Recovered from thigh and back pain. Completely quit taking statins

on Jan. 1. Neck and upper arm still hurting. Actually, my right upper arm

has become worst over the last couple of months of not exercising and not

taking statins.

I began exercising again this week. None of the resistance exercises cause

the pain, just reaching or certain movements cause the pain. Could I have a

rotator cuff injury instead of statin poisoning? Funny that the exercises

don't hurt the painful muscles! And not exercising did nothing to lessen

the pain. I'm seeing my doctor on Tues., but don't want to lay out

thousands of dollars to just be told I have myopathy. How would he/they be

able to tell if it is myopathy or rotator cuff injury? I've spent thousands

before on things that just took time to go away. The thousands did nothing

to make it happen faster.

Thanks for any replies!

------------------------------------

[Guest guest]

I, too, have rotator cuff pain in my right wrist joint and up into the large

thumb joint. It is a result of an immune system disfunction mimicking rheumatoid

arthritis, which has also resulted in " morning stiffness " in the fingers of both

hands. A year ago, I also experienced pain in both knees, which has disappeared

and not returned.

I attribute my condition to the statins, which severely depressed my body's

hormone production (cholesterol is a hormone precursor). Apparently, this in

turn resulted in an imbalance in the immune system (which the hormones help

regulate) and resulted in a rheumatoid like condition. My joint pain symptoms

started shortly after I had discontinued all statins, although I did experience

a rheumatic like fever prior to discontinuance.

Everything I have read so far indicates that statin induced damage to the immune

system is probably not reversible, unlike the muscular myopathy. This is

probably why the joint pain persists while the muscle myopathy is improving.

Good luck,

Dave Turgeon.

[Guest guest]

That was March 2010 not 2011 I stopped zocor. To: TakingLipitorAndHateIt Sent: Saturday, March 3, 2012 7:11 AM Subject:

Shoulder Pain - Statins or Rotator Cuff?

A brief background of my situation:

Retired last August at 57 and began an aggressive exercise program including resistance training while on 40mg of Simvastatin. Developed neck pains by the end of Sept. Pains spread to my thighs, back, and upper right arm by Nov. Took several 1 1/2 week holidays from exercising. No joy.

Have quit exercising since mid-Dec. Cut my simvastatin to 20mg at that time. Recovered from thigh and back pain. Completely quit taking statins on Jan. 1. Neck and upper arm still hurting. Actually, my right upper arm has become worst over the last couple of months of not exercising and not taking statins.

I began exercising again this week. None of the resistance exercises cause the pain, just reaching or certain movements cause the pain. Could I have a rotator cuff injury instead of statin poisoning? Funny that the exercises don't hurt the painful muscles! And not exercising did nothing to lessen the pain. I'm seeing my doctor on Tues., but don't want to lay out thousands of dollars to just be told I have myopathy. How would he/they be able to tell if it is myopathy or rotator cuff injury? I've spent thousands before on things that just took time to go away. The thousands did nothing to make it happen faster.

Thanks for any replies!

[Guest guest]

" Why were you on Statins? " Pre-diabetic and my LDL was 120-130. The doctor

wanted it below 100.

" Were you told of side effects? " Not initially.

" Were you prescribed or informed about any supplements that would help mitigate

the effects of the statins? " I had an initial adverse reaction and on a

follow-up visit 6 mos. later was told that Q-10 might help.

I had taken statins for 2 yrs - 9 mos before completely stopping on 1/1/12.

Took 100mg of Q-10 for all but the first 6 mos.

>

> Why were you on Statins? Were you told of side effects? Were you prescribed

> or informed about any supplements that would help mitigate the effects of

> the statins?

> Mike S

>

> Shoulder Pain - Statins or Rotator Cuff?

>

> A brief background of my situation:

>

> Retired last August at 57 and began an aggressive exercise program including

> resistance training while on 40mg of Simvastatin. Developed neck pains by

> the end of Sept. Pains spread to my thighs, back, and upper right arm by

> Nov. Took several 1 1/2 week holidays from exercising. No joy.

>

> Have quit exercising since mid-Dec. Cut my simvastatin to 20mg at that

> time. Recovered from thigh and back pain. Completely quit taking statins

> on Jan. 1. Neck and upper arm still hurting. Actually, my right upper arm

> has become worst over the last couple of months of not exercising and not

> taking statins.

>

> I began exercising again this week. None of the resistance exercises cause

> the pain, just reaching or certain movements cause the pain. Could I have a

> rotator cuff injury instead of statin poisoning? Funny that the exercises

> don't hurt the painful muscles! And not exercising did nothing to lessen

> the pain. I'm seeing my doctor on Tues., but don't want to lay out

> thousands of dollars to just be told I have myopathy. How would he/they be

> able to tell if it is myopathy or rotator cuff injury? I've spent thousands

> before on things that just took time to go away. The thousands did nothing

> to make it happen faster.

>

> Thanks for any replies!

>

>

>

> ------------------------------------

>

>

[Guest guest]

Blood test results from last week reflecting a little over two months without

any statins:

Cholesterol 206

HDL 60

LDL 134

Trigly 59

I requested a CK because of the muscle problems:

CK 169

>

> So you were given statins to address triglycerides................and no

> other information as to how to control them. Typical.

> What were your other Lipid values? HDL LDL

> Was any other testing done, Thyroid or CRP, inflammation, Vit. D or maybe

> Testosterone?

> Mike S

[Guest guest]

My statin problems began in my left shoulder. I was diagnosed with adhesive

capsulitis (frozen shoulder) because of limited range of motion and pain. An

MRI showed inflammation and calcium deposits in the biceps tendon.

I was prescribed 10 mg of Zocor in 1999 when I was 45, I am type 2 diabetic and

my doc told me that D increases the risk for CVD. Within 3 months I started

having shoulder pain. I was told the cause was my repetitive, manual labor job.

My shoulder then froze up because I was told that babying the shoulder and not

fully using it caused the frozen shoulder. By the way, my total cholesterol was

only a few points over 200 at the time.

In the next few months, I was prescribed physical therapy. I was not a big

exerciser because of the nature of my job, I just wanted to take it easy when I

got home after a day at work. I had P/T 4 different times in 2 years for both

shoulders, tennis elbow, and neck problems. The job was only part-time, but I

quit anyway. I did not get better. An MRI of my right elbow did show a partial

tear in the tendon. But no surgery was necessary.

During the last round of P/T, the free weights (one pound) and resistance band

work made me worse. I developed tendonitis in both biceps. The P/T was

adjusted, but the pain in my upper arms lasted for 3 more months. I was

diagnosed with myositis even though my CPK level was normal. After listening to

the Lipitor commercials on TV about " unexplained muscle pain or weakness, " I

asked my doc if I could stop the Zocor and the pain started to go away in 3

days.

I had many diagnostic tests to things out, but most were negative. I saw a

general orthopedist, 2 upper extremity orthos, and a physiatrist to see if

irregularites in my neck were causing radiculopathies in my arms. I also had 3

cortisone shots in the elbow, one in the left shoulder and also one in a

troublesome left knee. I did end up spending a considerable amount

out-of-pocket and co-pays to find no real definitive diagnosis.

Eventually, I seemed to diagnose myself by doing research on the internet and

that's how I found this group.

This last September, I gave in to my doc's bullying and agreed to try another

statin, so I asked for an older drug, which I thought my not be as strong or

problematic. It only took a few days for all the old problem areas to flare up.

I stopped taking the Pravastatin in less than 3 weeks.

One more detail, my mom, 78, has been taking statins for more than 15 years and

both of her shoulders have rotator cuff tears. She had MRI's of both in the

past 2 years when the pain was the worst. She hasn't done physical work for

years and in her words " hates to exercise. " Her orthopedist won't operate

because of her age and the state of her general health and the recovery required

after the surgeries. A CPK test done a while back was elevated, so she stopped

taking her 40 mg of Lipitor. At her doctor's urging, she has been taking

Crestor for about 2 years and she is paying the price for body-wide aches and

pains. She is afraid she will have a heart attack if she stops.

Connie

>

> A brief background of my situation:

>

> Retired last August at 57 and began an aggressive exercise program including

resistance training while on 40mg of Simvastatin. Developed neck pains by the

end of Sept. Pains spread to my thighs, back, and upper right arm by Nov. Took

several 1 1/2 week holidays from exercising. No joy.

>

> Have quit exercising since mid-Dec. Cut my simvastatin to 20mg at that time.

Recovered from thigh and back pain. Completely quit taking statins on Jan. 1.

Neck and upper arm still hurting. Actually, my right upper arm has become worst

over the last couple of months of not exercising and not taking statins.

>

> I began exercising again this week. None of the resistance exercises cause

the pain, just reaching or certain movements cause the pain. Could I have a

rotator cuff injury instead of statin poisoning? Funny that the exercises don't

hurt the painful muscles! And not exercising did nothing to lessen the pain.

I'm seeing my doctor on Tues., but don't want to lay out thousands of dollars to

just be told I have myopathy. How would he/they be able to tell if it is

myopathy or rotator cuff injury? I've spent thousands before on things that

just took time to go away. The thousands did nothing to make it happen faster.

>

> Thanks for any replies!

>